Today, as the title suggests, is one of the more dull posts I'll put up! The Blog has been doing very well the past few months with a solid 20-25k views a month and a good latent view count. By latent view count I mean how many views I get on days that I don't post.
The blog has really helped me cut the chaff from my none-work and social activities, discarding half-hearted forays into other hobbies, as I realise like many of us do that 40k or Fantasy or even now 30k is our first and one true love as a hobby.
I thought very much that I would be bored of blogging after a few months and/or be terrible at it in the sense that nobody much would like to read my crap or see my hobby. Thankfully that hasn't been the case (I think and hope!) and I've enjoying pushing the blog on and I will continue to keep pushing the blog on as far as an Amateur such as myself is able to do. As much as I would like to make the hobby a profession (so say we all) my skills sadly lie in other areas.
Which neatly segues us into the Impact of Real Life. As many of you will know I am a researcher at the university of Bristol in the UK and I have been studying for my PhD for some time and the time is rapidly approaching where I will have to actually start writing my The Damn Thesis of Doom.
Obviously this is going to be quite the endeavour and will take up a good chunk of my time, thus the rate at which I blog will go down. I average around 22 blog posts a month currently and I expect that to go down to around the 10-15 mark, as much as it might be good for productivity to drop lower, the blog is a keystone of my sanity so to hell with stopping!
I expect this'll bump my views down, but I haven't spent £30k plus of my own cash to let that worry me too much at this stage! Additionally a fair amount of the hobby work I will post is likely to be commissions that will help me live whilst writing my thesis as in addition to taking holiday to write I may well have to take some unpaid leave that Commissions can help pull the slack up on.
Anyway, that's an overly wordy update on my life an the blog as it goes!
Any suggestions for improvements to the blog are always well appreciated indeed. I would be very keen for someone to help with the design of the blog as I dislike the current 'myspace' feel of it aesthetic. Though that may be an inherent Blogger issue, I am a dummy in these situations so can't really say!
Oh and finally Greg, I have a tripod for my camera and I am buying a bigger light box with some varied back grounds... Always working on the photography I promise you :P
Peace out,
Rob
Good luck with that dude. Just a dissertation filled me with horror so I cannot even comprehend the magnitude of pain involved in a PhD!
ReplyDeleteAs to blog post amount, don't feel prsssured to post a set amount. Most bloggers usually post about once a week (twice if we are lucky) so the amount you have set yourself is still pretty high. Real life is sadly more important sometimes so concentrate on your thesis, then come back refreshed and full of hobby bounce after.
Oh and 20-25k views a month?? Holy shit man that is immense. I get about 2000 for my humble scribblings :)
Cheers mate :) I'm hoping any time away will just fuel the burning hunger inside! Its hobby or fudge as I see it...
DeleteAlso I think the difference in our views is down to a Wife, Mortgage and child!!! Certainly not converting skill or painting prowess!
Good luck with the thesis write up! (Been there and done that, it does take a while). No blog advice, but on the thesis front- get your experimental written up first. Makes writing your results and discussion so much easier.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mike! You and Marc are good examples of humans that have survived the PhD aspirant process :P
DeleteRound about what I'm getting, I'd actually be surprised if your latency dropped that much, mine stays reasonably static when I hit a fallow period. I've apologised myself for slowing down the blog but know full well readers are understanding and there is no need to apologise - we do it anyway though, that's just being polite ;)
ReplyDeletePersonally I like the background ;) but if you're unhappy with it then change it. There are some updated dynamic templates in the blogger layout interface, is it worth looking at those?
I'm not sure I'd want to change mine, it's become a signature even if it is a bit twee now. I contemplated a new starfield backdrop but couldn't get it to scroll quite the same way.
Good luck with phd
As always, your words of wisdom regarding the blog are particularly welcome Dave :) being the wise man of the ways of blogging, hobby and real life as you are!
DeleteThanks as always!
Mate, blog when you want and forget chasing stats! We'll still read it when you post! Enjoy your Commission painting and more importantly spending the funds!
ReplyDeleteAh yes well as long as that money doesn't have to go on bills or damn tuition fees!
DeleteBlog whenever. I am sure I am alone in thinking your real life comes first.
ReplyDeleteYou are NEVER alone Rory :P
DeletePlease don't worry, we won't go off you if you drop the post count! (10 a month would still put me to shame...) Good luck with the PhD and I hope it doesn't burn you out.
ReplyDeleteThe blog is quite alright as it is; but have you considered compiling a background with one of your armies against a nice backdrop?
Burn out is my bigger fear but other life events machinating in the background at the moment will hopefully prevent that.
DeleteI am in the process of selling off a huge amount of what I own from half done, failed, never started projects and the money raised from this (well some of it) will be going towards a much larger photo set up and some quality printed scenic backgrounds to take pictures against.
Still haven't really found the right picture for that though mind you!
What everyone else said ^ :o) As for the look of the Blog, I would just have a troll through the available backgrounds and see if there is one that suits you better, or as D said, make your own.
ReplyDeleteI know how much a thesis can take out of a person; I really do need to make that "Dr40K" badge for us all. If you need an objective eye to do some editing I would be happy to do it. I have edited quite a few from my old research group and abroad; the work from India was always the hardest to edit. Then again, if I had to do Science-speak in Indian I don't think it would read very good either :o)
Cheers mate, As I said to Mike you are an aspirant who's made it through the trials!
DeleteI feel like we should be Mad Dok's to be honest :P