Thursday 12 May 2016

Blog Changes and a Question about Money

Hi Readers,


Today I just wanted to go over a few additions to the blog that I have been busily trying to do in my spare time!

Organisation

After changing the name of the blog to properly reflect its focus on 30k very heavily as well as 40k content, I have also been labouring through updating my tabs to make my content a lot more accessible for those who have just stumbled across my blog or for those who want to revisit certain posts. The word cloud on the left has gotten a little out of hand and I need to go through posts and trim back on labels at some point for one!

Primarily though you should look up and see some nice Tabs that are clearly labelled. These should congregate together all of my reviews for the Taghmata Omnissiah in one place as well as all my Legiones Astartes reviews. I also intend to start a Tab that specifically takes you to reviews I've used a lot. A good example of this would be Mike at St Andrews Wargaming Blog, where he has a much better and comprehensive review of the current Dark Angels Codex than the sparse one I did. 

Additionally I have been trying to collate all my pictures together of each army to better show them off, this has been a bit trickier but they certainly look better than they did!

I've picked out the aspects of the blog that I think are important to viewers but if I've missed anything that you think could do with a Tab for better locating then please leave a comment below!


Monetisation

This is a "dirty" word that I have been thinking of for a while now, something that really got me thinking was the adsense competition that Dave Weston at 40k Addict so brilliantly out together not that long ago. Incidentally he has a nice article about monetising a blog that is well worth a read.

I have always been very against putting adverts on the blog as I think they can ruin your general hobby rumbling around the net and the like, BUT I do now put in an obscene amount of my spare time into the blog. The reward I get from chatting to people and hopefully helping people is pretty immense but I would like to do more content for the blog as I move forward. Funds however, are becoming quite limiting.

One of the Key things I would like to do is to be able to buy more current book releases from forgeworld so that I don't have to beg borrow and steal source books to read and review. I don't actually want to profit from this blog at all, simply be able to pour more money into its endlessly hungry belly. 

So, my question to you the readers is, would you prefer:

A) Adverts to click on

B) A donate button

C) A Patreon button with some level of reward system

or D) none of the above, leave it as is and man the f**k up

I was considering a poll for this but I don't particularly want to hear from someone passing through my blog once who will click on it. I want to hear from you lovely people who regularly support my blog by viewing it week in week out and often have the time and kindness to comment as well. 

So if you have a view on this, please comment below with your choice and why, OR provide another option (if this could be a cheque made out to R Hill that would be smashing) that you think is better. 


Overview

So there we have my blog updates and me begging for money... The blog itself is doing really well, with an average of about 400-500 views a day. Though that has to be mitigated by the fact I do post most days... Is that irritating? I don't know, I like to jabber on like a fool, you're lucky you aren't around me after imbibing herbal remedies... I think my "latent" views probably sit around 200-250 which I am still very pleased with. 

I also have a small pocket of saving for a decent video recorder so that I can make some videos of how I paint things and convert them. As well as a general stream of consciousness chatting about books, fluff and hobby related jazz. 

Thanks for reading a post full of words and not punching the screen :)

Peace out,

Rob

14 comments:

  1. If there were adverts on your blog mate, I'd click them!

    In my experience the funds build up slowly (I've made about £4 a month for the last few) but it'll be a nice lump sum when they pay out.

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  2. I agree, I think adverts are the way to go. I would click on it every time I visit; if you post everyday I'll be clicking every day. When I think about my own blog, I don't want to perceive it, or have it perceived, as a product. To me, these things are a diary; getting to read every body else's diary is fun, but I probably wouldn't pay for it ;-)

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  3. I think ads are the way to go. They are not too obtrusive and more likely to get clicks than a donate button. It's something I've been thinking about myself recently and may go that route too. I'm not sure how often the labels are used. I rarely click on any myself, but unfortunately, Blogger doesn't let you know if they are clicked on.

    As for the regular postings, I am quite happy to have something pop up on the blog list on a regular basis. It's not like the posts take too long to read. I feel that I seem to be posting every day now too, but that should slow down once I get my Angels of Death review finished. I think a photo gallery tab highlighting your different armies and painting will be a great addition.

    (Also, thanks for the shout out once more, I'm glad people are still using my reviews on a regular basis!).

    I think it's a great idea to get your tabs sorted out. I always try to keep mine up to date whenever I post something new.

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  4. D) none of the above, leave it as is and man the f**k up

    Contrary to all the guys above, I bloody hate adverts on blogs (and on most other things too). I find them annoying and obtrusive, but I do see that the money is an attraction. I've always said I blog for the pleasure of sharing my stuff and interacting with the community, and the need to monetise that felt wrong to me. Whichever way you go though mate I will continue to visit and enjoy your blog, but with a slight grimace if I see any ads as I read :)

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  5. Monetizing content can be a pain in the ass because it trickles down so slowly. Ads are probably the way to start, maybe some YouTube monetized videos? I find YouTube ads easiers to tolerate now and would be an interesting way to show extra content.

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  6. I am fairly indifferent to the idea of ads or attempts to monetise the blog. I tried it before and it didn't work out for me, to the extent I forgot I had eBay ads on my blog until this reminded me.

    I do like your articles though, so I don't mind how often you blog ;) I wish I could get that many views to be honest.

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  7. I hate adverts on Blogs, look at the state of BoLs with pop ups being the number 1 reason I now do not visit unless an article title means I really should! I agree with NafNaf mate, please don't monetize, if you do, make the adverts appear at the very bottom or side bar where I can avoid them and don't get distracted by them, thanks :)

    As for your frequent ramblings, post as often as you wish, we'll pop in, see what you are on about and if it isn't something that grabs us, we'll merrily be on my way again. If we stay and read - all the better. But, It is your Blog, so post as frequently as you want to about whatever you wish to.

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  8. You know my views but I will add that Siph and NafNaf have equally valid points. I might be pushing for folk not to feel bad about adverts, I see them as the least obtusive because although potentially bigger on the page than B) and C) no one is out of pocket, whereas a donate button or patreon someone has to feel some obligation to part with money. That said I hate adverts on TV and Radio so I can see where D) is attractive.

    So long as they're not overshadowing the blog, covering Siph's concerns I'm sure AdSense can be viable, but only in the long term, I'm guessing 3-5 years for your first £60. I think it's worthwhile but that kind of timescale may suggest - why bother? But then I've seaid all this before, My suggestion is be true to yourself and do what you're comfortable with.

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    Replies
    1. And yes that Label tab has definitely got out of hand, all you need to do is in the layout tab, choose the labels gadget, edit and instead of show All Labels, choose selected labels and edit. Then go down your list and choose those that are used most.

      You can see what's most popular at a glance by Sorting the list by frequency before you do the above, recording the most popular 40 or 50 laabels and then selecting those in the 'Show' edit.

      A better option than retrospectively trimming the labels.

      Meanwhile, remember this is your blog, your house, we're only guests in it. Should you want to post every day we'll either pop round to visit or not. Apologise all you want [its what Brits do] but never feel obligated to do so on a personal blog. These are your thoughts, feelings and efforts you should be able to post them without reproach or guilt. Of course I do exactly the same thing and say the same, write too much, apologise too often and still feel guilty about the ads. So F%*K it lets go play toy soldiers!

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    2. Hear hear. Aye. And good tip on labels, thanks. Mine is too big too.

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  9. When I lived in Aus, I monetised Warpstone Flux through Google. I got a little bit of money from it -- enough to buy a new heldrake after 1.5 years(!) having come back to the UK I had to cancel it and reapply as the UK tax system is different. Blogger told me I didn't have enough content (what a joke!).
    So, if you want a bit of cash to buy a miniature after about a year, then yes, Google ads are fine and not that much in the way. But for me, I'm just as happy without at the moment to be honest, and their absence has made my site look less cluttered and cleaner as a consequence.

    Anyway, that's just my perspective. If you apply, they might turn you down anyway, and you can always cancel regardless.

    And if you want to see what 8 yrs of blogging does to expand your tags, then you know where to come(!) I feel overwhelmed at the thought of retagging everything now!

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  10. I don't come here often but it seems that the Patreon seems to work fairly well for some of the other sites I visit.

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  11. It's clearly a tricky subject that will divide. I've been aware of ads, and usually just ignore them. If a site has lots of ads and pop ups, I'm tend not to go back... but I think Dave has it right on his blog, and to be honest, never really noticed them until the Adsense comp... now I tap them every visit, and I can imagine doing the same here (guess I'd better start tapping Nick's too!).

    I don't really like the donate/paetron route, but that said, it may work for others... particularly since the payout on the ads could take a while.

    As for how much you post... It's your blog, post as much or as little as you need... And I'll read as much as I want. My only concern is if you burn yourself out.

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  12. Thank you everyone for your feedback! I appreciate your reading of a pretty self-indulgent/egotistical post and taking the time to write some salient thoughts :)

    Normally I'd reply individually but I'd just be repeating myself a lot I feel!

    Based on the overall feeling from the comments and my own general misgivings, I'm just going to leave the blog as is. I'd never really considered the monetisation of the blog until relatively recently. This was because I have received a fair amount of requests to review certain things I don't have available to myself. But I have decided I'll just dig into my own pockets rather than beg from yours.

    I would love to make this more than a hobby, but I think its safe to say that it was a moment of overestimation to take it so far.

    I am however glad that none of you seem to be too bothered by the frequency of my posts. My blog is an excellent from of therapy for me and prevents me pursuing more self-destructive tendencies that are rather inherent in my personality and life!

    Thanks again for all of your opinions and feedback, if anything it has been nice to see so many people taking the time to advise and help guide me as I continue to learn and adapt.

    Cheers one and all.

    Peace out,

    Rob

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