Gitsplitta wrote:
Alf wrote:

So Gits, I'm about to start a P&M Blog, and I was like "I saw a thread on Dakka about 'what makes a good P&M blog.'" So, I was curious about the advice I saw there, in comparison to what you and a few other threads I subscribe to have." According to some of the advice I saw, they were talking about the OP containing lots of painted images (no one is going to want to read about the painting you plan on doing blah blah blah)... So I noticed you didn't have any painted minis on the first post (updates to that post obviously have since fixed that), but you didn't have anything painted on the first page either... So I did some digging, and found you didn't have any painting until page 4 of your blog. Then it got me thinking about the longevity of this blog, and the community aspect centered around it. Obviously this is just more than your Mantis Warriors, but their development as a community influenced project.

Hey Alf, thanks for the comments and compliments... I really appreciate it.

Keep in mind I'm still a relative newbie to the whole blog game. This was only the second blog (or thread) I'd ever done... the first being the thread about my son's Doom Eagle army started a month before this one. So keep in mind that in spite of the size of this particular thread... I'm still pretty much learning as I go.


Generally, my comments have very little to do with content as there are virtually infinite ways of structuring a blog that is interesting, vibrant and engaging. I will however, make a number of comments about things that I think are important as far as content goes.

1) Title: The title of the blog is very important as it is the first, and perhaps only thing that 100% of potential readers will see. Make it as detailed and specific as you can without making it too lengthy. You want to leave room for update announcements. Also, if you can leave a bit of a question in people's minds without being obtuse, or use language that adds a bit of flair... it may pique their curiosity. Make sure to note key updates in the title with a date and brief description.

2) OP: Provide a little information about yourself. Doesn't have to be personal, mainly your gaming/modeling background so people have some context to view your work.

3) OP: Briefly lay out the scope of what you're trying to accomplish and why. Look for a "hook"... something interesting or unique about your project that may cause people to care about following you. For me (I think), it was a combination of the era that I started 40k (i.e. my age) and the fact that at the time I began the blog, the Mantis Warriors were a forgotten chapter along with the entire Badab War. As a reader, you probably know better than I what first attracts folks to this blog.

4) OP: A picture is worth a thousand words. In spite of how I started this blog, I agree with the advice you cite 100%. I don't care what skill level you are, just show me a pic so I can start helping you (or oooh & aaah if you're better than I am). I just got lucky in having an engaging topic... I also started by asking for people's opinions on my background, ideas I had for modeling, etc... at least that's my recollection, that goes back to the hook I mentioned earlier. Note* a blurry pic, is a useless pic.

5) Body: What keeps a blog going is your audience... you're just kind a catalyst that throws fuel on the fire once in a while. It's their ideas, their interest, their willingness to comment & contribute that not only grows the blog but keeps it up near the top of the "recent threads" list, which ultimately gets you more eyeballs. It's also what makes YOU better... so never think that your blog is about you... it's about them. Community is everything with this type of blog.

6) Body: #5 applies unless you are a P&M god... in which case you can just throw your stuff up and let it ride on it's own merits.

7) Body: Engage you listeners as often as possible. Ask opinions on figures *early* in the process, ask questions about painting techniques. BE SPECIFIC!! Don't waste people time by asking questions so broad that they'd need to write a novel to answer them. Questions like: Should I try glowing eyes or clear lens style eyes? Does anyone know of a good OSL tutorial? What's the best way to make rocks for a base? Does this pose look natural or forced? Can someone point me to somewhere to learn about wet blending? Etc. etc.

8) Body: If you're going to ask for CnC, you'd damn well be willing to take it. Nothing is dumber than someone asking for comments and suggestions and then arguing with everyone who makes them. I've seen this more often than you'd imagine.

9) Body: That being said, that doesn't mean you need to accept every suggestion made. Stand up for yourself from time to time and you'll earn your readers respect. However... be nice. Recognize the validity of the suggestion, kick it around a bit, discuss it... even if you don't intend to take the advice, let the reader know that you appreciate the suggestion and will keep it in mind for later projects.

10) Body: Relating to 8 and 9... be honest with your readers. If you're really just showing off a figure or build with no intention of changing it... just post it and say something like "hope you like it!". It's OK to state non-negotiables to your readers... but it helps if you can also state things that your undecided about and are looking for ideas about at the same time. If you read the first few pages of my blog, you've seen me lay out a few non-negotiables right from the onset. They didn't seem to hamper the discussion however, because they were plenty of negotiables for people to chew on.

11) Etiquette: Be polite. Answer your readers posts by name. Don't always quote them, it's cumbersome... just do the "@Alf:" thing and you'll be fine most of the time. Save quotes for when time has passed between post and reply, or if what you say might be of interest to more than just the questioner. Thank people for their contributions. Show them that you're heeding their advice. Welcome new posters warmly and try to give them a bit of insight (in a sentence or two) to help them get caught up.

12) Reciprocate in Kind: Visit other peoples blogs and comment honestly and genuinely on their work. Try to be helpful rather than just "wow" posts (though I admit I do too many of these myself... there's just too many amazingly talented artists on Dakka). I often find that when I post on someone else's blog, they post on mine in return. More importantly it's the give-and-take between blogs that allows you to develop relationships with other Dakkanaughts, which is really what keeps the whole thing humming along.

And finally, lucky number 13...
13) Edit, edit, edit!: I am constantly going back and adjusting my language, adding thoughts, correcting verbage. In a written medium, being clear and concise in expressing your ideas is absolutely critical. Become a wordsmith, it will serve you well on Dakka and in life.

I could go on for hours... (actually I did I guess)... but that's the meat of it from my perspective.


I'd welcome anyone else's comments. They don't have to pertain to MY blog... just things in general that you find really work well or that you really like in a blog.

 Arakasi wrote:
I think you have to balance your goal for your blog, the time you can commit to it and your hobby, and the stage your blog is at - and that is going to be different for everyone, which leads to no hard and fast answers...

If your goal is simply to have a popular blog, there are some very tough decisions for you to make before you even start - mainly what are you good at (or have a strong and/or interesting opinion about) that is already popular on Dakka. You are going to have a much easier time with Imperial Guard than Beastmen for example - and you need to tailor accordingly. Of course, most people want to actually blog about what *they* are interested in/doing, which tends to narrow the interest pool somewhat (unless that just happens to match something popular...) This is why it is better to blog for you, not everyone else - certainly in the beginning...

If I was to start a new blog that I wanted to be successful (not necessarily immensely popular) that was tailored to my hobby, I would start with the following:

1) At least a page to get started (though probably not more than 2) - including pictures, with an appropriate (hopefully catchy) title, where you introduce yourself and the blog - outline a bit about yourself, the topic and goals of the blog, and kicking off with something actually related.

It is important at this stage to realise that the people who are reading at this point either like looking at new threads, or have an interest in the army/theme, or just found the title catchy - or just arrived by accident. At this point - any views or comments are a bonus! This step is an important foundation for later - but remember, you can always go back and update your first post! (Which also where you can update the blog title)

2) Next, you want regular updates. Now, this is going to depend on your hobby time and time to blog, but is also a balancing act against views/comments. Early on, you will want as many as possible - once a day is ideal, but you probably don't want to leave it more than once every second day. Don't worry - this gets easier! If your hobby time is limited, and especially if you have a large backlog of completed and/or wip projects, it would be better to spread this out so that you are updating regularly rather than bombing it all at once. Make each post about one item, make sure it contains at least one picture and go into some detail - at least a paragraph, but no more than a page. If you can ask specific questions (not just asking for comments) even better, but not necessary.

Your first goal shouldn't be to get people to comment, but to subscribe. Now the default setting if they comment is that they become subscribed, so that's a win-win for you, but don't get too demoralised if you have a high view count and low comments to begin with. You want to post regularly to keep your blog near the top of the recent threads - this gives you the most potential exposure, shows commitment, and gets you into a routine. You want people subscribed because it is easier to keep at the top of a person's subscribed list than the recent threads (it also means they will see when you have updated easier) People will subscribe if they are interested in updates to your thread, but only if they found it in the first place - and only if there was content of interest when they did!

You won't be able to measure subscribers, so the next goal is comments - though like subscribers, you can't force this to happen. I guess it is like a filter - viewers > subscribers > commenters - you have to work on increasing viewers so that subscribers and commenters will sort themselves out (though the better and more regular your content, the greater the conversion from viewers to subscribers to commenters will be...) This leads to..

3) Now that we have a blog, with content and regular updates, we need to get more viewers. There are a number of strategies you can employ. Some are:
a) Make sure you have a link to your blog, maybe with a sentence of additional information, in your signature. Everywhere you post now has an "unobtrusive" link to your blog!
b) Add a post announcing and linking to your blog in your introduction thread (you made an introduction thread post right?)
c) Start commenting in other people's blogs, especially those that are of interest to you - and in a meaningful way. Each post reinforces a) above, and increases your potential pool of viewers - firstly from that blog owner who might check you out, but also their readers - but you have to contribute something useful!
d) Request help or comments, via blogs or PMs. I would do this sparingly - you don't want to spam blogs/PMs or you will have the opposite effect and drive people away. But if you find someone who has a technique that would help a project you are blogging on, if it's useful to just you - PM them, if it's useful to everyone - comment your request.

The DCMs keep a private thread for pointing out great blogs that are not getting enough love to send a tide of DCMs their way

The reason we don't do this earlier is that we want the best chance to convert people to subscribers/commenters. If you tell everyone about your new blog, but there is nothing there, you have pretty much wasted the announcement

4) Reply to comments. Realistically, you need to be doing this as comments appear, but here's the "get's easier" part - every time someone comments on your blog (or you respond) - you get bumped back to the top of the recent threads list! It's like posting an update without having to! So - where initially it would be best to be putting up stuff once a day, you can now count *other* people's comments and your replies towards this. This will allow you to start reducing your hobby updates to 2-3 times a week. As your comments increase, so can your hobby updates decrease until you fall into a balance you are happy with. Some people can go a week, some a couple - depends on the blog.

I'm starting to think this should be an article...

Anyway - I hope someone gets something useful out of this very long post!