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Hello again, recently i've tried starting a new blog pertaining to my Necron army. I was simply wondering what makes a good blog? My p&m skills are okay(like a 6/10 max), and my budget is very small, so that might do something. But my real questions are: How often exactly should you post an update? What stages should you chronicle exactly? And most importantly, what draws in and keeps viewers entertained?

Thanks for all your advice,
JATW

Personally I feel that PM blogs moves too fast, it's hard to get exposure for any length of time without very regular updates. Without those you are reliant on subscribers so you need to find a way to make people post in your threads.
Pictures, asking/answering questions and asking opinions on test pieces, updating the title in your first post (and asking questions in it) and when it gets big an index in your first post.
I'd say that in terms of frequency once per day is probably best but once or twice a week should keep people interested.
If you haven't managed to get any painting or modelling done then some fluff or army lists/tactics or more details about proposed sub projects tends to keep people interested.
Cross linking between threads (like this one!) in other relevant forums might snag you some traffic.
Keep it fun and fairly light and keep people involved in the processes that way they can create an army vicariously from the comfort of their computer screen!

Edit: Okay, ive just had a look at it, be humble, ask for advice on how to improve, the painting isn't the best or that exciting a scheme, fluff is fairly generic, the posing is quite bland. I don't mean to be overly critical but watching you churn through that army to that standard is going to be a pretty dull blog. Find a way to make it fun.
Watching someone improve throughout their blog is rewarding for those giving input.

considering the title of the thread, ill post here?

first though, thanks for the reminders Alex.
too right with the pace, but i also think it end up too slow eventually. unless its step by step to the max and ends up becoming a tutorial blog for a whole army.
the format varies too widely, and the process is maybe too easy to get lost in to be precise about it.
also the transitions are maybe too choppy so a sense of progression is somewhat lost.
keeping it rolling, encouraging specific feedback etc... good stuff.
fluff for filler too.
was not big on fluff myself til the other day, just skimming wiki timelines on public transport
but little bits here and there where i have time in the HH red books melted my brain by the intricacies and scale of the impact the heresy wrought on the imperium.
also the odd gems of unimaginably discerning social analyses that pop up here and there, probably by history majors or something.

had been thinking of starting one up since early this year, but finals and technical difficulties alongside the itch to get all the material sorted...
been shying away from the p&m section lately but as i recall
there are a few good ones out there that are still going after 2 years with regular updates. (???)
My painting schedule the past year and a half has been subject to according by the availability afforded by my life schedule.
the more i think about it, it seems to make more sense that maybe 2 lots of around 5-600 points (what i reckon ill have got finished come october or so) released over the course of 2/3 weeks ended with a 'see you next year' is more realistic, depending on other commitments.
more details about restrictions etc, but too bogged down already in that so

(end points of this year so far for me)
3 suits painted with final pics, unfortunately no mid process.
6 suits glued and primed with step by step pics, weapons based dark grey boltgun mix
30 firewarriors (new sculpts) half finished with odd pictures here and there mid process
8 firewarriors primed, pics to be taken.
16 drones done, end pics, another 12 to go for which i have process pics to do.
1 ethereal, end pic only, another primed for a nicer finish.
(guard were like 4 years old and in need of a do over)
20 cadians primed and based grey with pics.
1 HW base primed and based grey with pics.
2 chimeras primed and based grey, not dismantled first.
20 cadians dismantled (armless + headless) mounted on a ruler for priming (arms and heads on toothpicks and sponges)
2 chimeras falling apart from transit but not broken, to be primed
3 HW bases taken off bases for prime
2 sentinels dismantled with one small break to be covered by weapon, for prime.

ive got plenty left for sufficient mid process pics
but i wasnt thorough about it at the start.
also got a few DV models for examples of older work and BAC marines for sloppy job that i dont mind leaving as is (IW for the havocs and the easy paintjob).
for the time being will more likely be looking at it being a step by step with minimal fluff
a general template i would probably split in 2 over the course of the year, painting and uploading (step 9ish) for ongoing while uploading and responding to any feedback

take it at usual pace (fast, not sloppy)
loosely:

1) off sprue
2)a) de-flashed
2)b) flash all over the floor
3) glue appropriately, leaving hard to reach areas
4) mounted (plastic toothpicks in hard sponge)
5) primed
6) rearranged
gets wavey here with patience/gluing order for some, but take it step by step?
7) base coat
8) inks
9)a) next layer
9)b) if youre doing cloth?
once here abouts, probably start arranging folders for photos and write notes that if long enough will accompany images.
maybe lump 1) to 7) or 8) into one day for upload and do that twice a week from then on until you get to the end, from which maybe get a game in sometime after or something.
10) more ink/layers depending on what youre doing
11) highlights if applying
12) GLUE
13) details
14) i havent got into basing or sealing models yet, but do that here?
15) group shots + army shots
done?

so if you load 2 pictures per step (maybe more depending on details) that should come to around 30 odd pictures for each 10man squad.
any anomalies wont really bump the total up much
guessing around 60 final pics for the models i listed above will come to a decent end, if not fewer, probably releasing 10 step by steps a day for 3 weeks and finishing with group shots in week 4.
hard to say whether ill still be painting while i upload or just finished and uploaded seperately now i think about it.
that part doesnt really matter though as long as the materials all there.

im not a photographer myself and all my pics will likely be phone pics unfortunately, will have to format them to an appropriate size.

id probably rate myself 7/10 for my hatred of cloth always being noticeably bad with 5 layers if its cloth coloured.
my skin needs practice and winged skulls on lasrifles are a pain to get properly right.
guard uniform verges on cell shaded (no transition, slim, sharp creases, light grey.)
tau - flat surfaces.

3 weeks til end of exams and everyones on holiday or working so ill get as much done as i can before late august?



Automatically Appended Next Post:
stripper bucket lol

First of all, thank you both for your advice, I really appreciate this.

I'm with Snail22 when it comes to the finals situation right now, but it'll be over in 2 weeks, allowing for more time to paint!

I'll have one more update out hopefully by the end of the week, and the scheduling of the posts won't be my biggest issue. I definitely agree that the fluff could use some work, but i'm fairly new at that stuff, so it will take some practice. I generally try not to cross link between threads because it seems like a cheap n' easy plug for my blog. But according to your edits, i've a slightly bigger problem then that. I do hope i'm not coming off as arrogant or too confident, as that's not quite what i was trying to be.

Question wise I must ask, how do I improve on those critiques then? The models were sent to me pre-assembled(this leads to a problem with my immortals), so I don't know if I could change the posing that easily. I agree that my blue could be a bit brighter and could use a touch up. And naturally, how would you think I could improve?

And if I needed to purchase something and I only had like, say, $7, what would you think I should get?

Thanks so much,
JATW

Perhaps humble was too strong a word. You've not come across too strong at all, let's gloss over that.
Your final paragraph are all questions, statements or implied questions that should be in the blog, cut and paste this over there and I'll be sure to chime in. Let's keep this thread as general as possible.

Personally I enjoy seeing the thought process and , even if you have made your decisions, it's nice to know what your other options were.
There's little more dull than reading a blog of someone who has it all figured out unless the work is astounding.

Don't feel bad about cross linking, it's all good and nobody has to click the link.
Here's a couple of my blogs in chronological order if you fancy clicking and making a comment or two .....

Slannesh CSM Army
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/225318.page
Dark Eldar
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/533452.page
Horus Heresy Imperial Fists
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/672291.page

and yours!!!!
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/693066.page

Ok, i'll be sure to keep this thread on track with my comments from now on. I'll probably just put the link to my blog in my signature to cross link.

Don't try and work it out mathematically. I've had my blog running for a couple of years now, as well as my slightly biogger one offsite on Wordpress that has been going for a couple years longer.

Show progress, but make it interesting progress. No-one is going to care about photos of a pile of unassembled bits, or even models partially assembled unless they're interesting in some way. Generally speaking, painted WIP are more interesting.

Have a look/skim through these blogs.

Krautscientist's blog is full of assembly shots, but he's creating interesting kitbashes that make for great inspiration for others.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/432972.page

Knightley has some WIP posts here showing progress and taking on board feedback
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/4890/349329.page#8690963

I personally only do WIP sometimes, but my posts tend to discuss the paints and colours I use(d) on the models, and rationale for doing so, as well as how they might fit into a larger army or picture.

The other thing is of course to read and post in other people's blogs. I think that and having a link to your own in your sig is probably one of the most important aspects of this form of "community building". Generally people crossover a lot with a group of others who follow each others' work, so you'll see many of the same people posting in each others' threads. And yes, there's a time investment involved in that, but it is what it is.

just speaking as someone who loves to read painting blogs, these are the things I tend to look for:

interesting or different colour schemes (rather than 'oh look it's another silver necron warrior')
well titled updates, by which I mean try to be descriptive of what you're doing, or put in key words so if I search, which I probably will, I'll come across your stuff
Good pictures!! by which I mean, as best you can - try to get them in focus (one of my personal pet peeves), try to crop where required to show the part/mini in question; also, related, whole army shots! not necessarily the whole thing finished, but a "this is where I am now" is always cool to see once in a while
Doing conversions? WIP - please! even if it's more a description of how you did it, rather than pictures
Discussion of your paint palette - what did you choose and why? not necessarily just 'fluff' but a simple, I like blue, so I used XYZ to get the final shade
Stuck on something? or between two options? I love giving feedback! ok maybe it's not always timely but sometimes it's nice to see how other people are making their decisions to do certain things as well.
It's very nice to see awesomely painted minatures, I think everyone pretty much enjoys that - but if that's all I wanted to do, I'd stick with CMON (and probably throw my paint brushes away). Seeing someone learning and improving is more fun.

Anyway, just some points to consider good luck and have fun! If you're having fun, we'll probably have fun

Welcome to the P&M blogging arena.

First, the mighty Gitsplitta has a post that sums up what a blog needs quite nicely: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/8130/289929.page#4026806
It's the first thing I think of when this "what makes a good blog" question comes up.

But I can't just leave it at that and I'll add my own thoughts here (that may well overlap with the above).
In no particular order:

Don't be discouraged at the start. It will take time for your audience to find you, don't think you are doing something wrong because you are not getting comments. I spent the first 4 pages of my first blog mainly talking to myself before I gained some regular visitors. I think many people will hold off commenting until they see a blog moving on it's own steam.

Engage the audience. If you get a comment, reply to that comment. I've seen some blogs where the writer doesn't acknowledge the audience and is just broadcasting their own thoughts and work. However nice the work may be if, as a reader, you don't feel engaged by the writer you soon lose interest in returning and certainly in commenting again.
If they say "nice job" (and this is probably the most common comment on the whole of DDakka), say "thanks".
*As a side note, don't feel the need to reply to every reply immediately and individually, unless you have something to update with. I find it frustrating to see a blog highlighted as the author posted, to find that they have just said "thanks" and nothing else.

If they ask a question, answer it as best you can.
Equally, if you are given feedback/critique, show that you have considered it. You don't need to do everything that you are told (and often your readers may be in conflict, so you can't please everyone), it's your work and your models, do what YOU want with them. But at least thank them for the input and discuss the relative merits of each way of achieving the "thing":
"That's a good Idea, thanks. I'll give it a go"
"Thanks, that's a nice idea, but I see this model more in this other light, so that wouldn't really work for me".
etc.

Visit other blogs. If someone takes the time to comment in your blog, take the time to visit their's and leave a comment (don't feel obliged, but it's a nice thing to do). This will encourage the other blogger to return to your blog and comment more often.
Also, more people will see your name and may be more tempted to pop in and visit you.
And if you've found a blog you like, leave a comment and the author may just return the favour and post in your blog.

Update regularly. You mentioned this in the OP, and it is important. I've found that if I update daily, I'll get many comments. But if I miss only a few days (and the longer the larger the effect) I get many fewer comments each time I post.
e.g. If I post 3 separate wip post over 3 consecutive days, I may get 10 comments overall.
If I'd saved those posts and posted them after a 3 day gap, I'll probably only get 3 comments. It's very disproportionate.

Every comment you generate, means your blog goes back to the top of the list and more people will see it... and will generate more comments.

However, don't post an update that just shows that you've glued an arm on, just for the sake of posting. You can't always have something to show every day, this is fine.
But if you've modified the angle of the arm, drilled and pinned, added putty. Then that will certainly be more interesting, even though you have "only" glued an arm on.
Also, the aforementioned fluff posts, thoughts on future work, questions to the reader, are all good to keep a blog ticking over.

After a while, you've built up a following posse, you do all of the above, the last post you made got loads of responses. Don't worry if the next post doesn't get many comments. Sometimes people just aren't about, a regular may have gone on holiday, the internet may be down somewhere. There's all manner of reasons that this can happen, it's not that you've lost the audience, they will be back... if you keep posting.
Time of day, day of the week, and time of year will all affect site-wide traffic and you will notice that posting at certain times will yield less comments.

And lastly, just see how it goes. Pay attention to what receives more comments and do that more often.

Good luck.

Thanks for your advice! I too, look to Gitsplitta for wisdom. I'll be sure to use what knowledge you and GS have given me!

Justaerin, since you spent the time to run through all those pics, and postings of me, pretty much talking to myself at the looted pod p&m blog of mine, then you'll understand this bit of advice.

Bear in mind that the looted pod is my first blog, Ever. So, I'm not an expert by far, but i have noticed in many other threads, and as the guys above state, keeping your audience interested is a key thing.
In my blog, you may have noticed that one trick i used several times was humor and a willingness to admonish myself for mistakes, and then work through those. This brings you down to the same level, as your audience can understand your mistakes, feels empathy/sympathy, and makes you more human than just a bunch of words on a screen.
Hope this helps you, as i actually gained some insight myself just reading through the posts here.

Every piece of wisdom helps Sebastion, so I thank you for yours! I definitely find that self-depreciation is a helpful, and humorous weapon in a bloggers arsenal. All humans can make mistakes, it's just our fault for catching it on camera!