Two weeks ago, I set up a poll to help me find out what you like to see and read on this blog. More importantly to me, was to settle the question on monetizing the blog. I don’t know about other bloggers, but whenever I read articles on blogging looking for ways to improve, they almost all devolve into discussions about making money through advertising. But when I read other people’s blogs that have advertising, very few do it tastefully and in a way that doesn’t detract from the article, in my opinion.
So before I go off on a tangent, let’s look at the poll results!
What content do you want to see more often?
The results of this one wasn’t too surprising, though I thought more of you were K-Pop fans (Lol). I started this blog as an outlet for my creative writing, but soon discovered articles on the games and miniatures that inspired my stories also had interest.
- 48% want to see more game scenarios and game reports – after action reports
- 19% want to see more crafting and painting posts
- 16% want to see more historical articles related to gaming
- 15% would like to see more fiction – science fiction and fantasy stories
- 2% would like to see more K-Pop
Well, it’s clear I need to include more K-Pop to get that number up – just kidding. The K-Pop music videos, movie clips, etc. are just things I add to the end of some posts just for fun. I’ll keep doing all of the above, but keep it in the proportions listed above.
A question I forgot to ask was about links – I often include links to other sites, links to manufacturers and especially in the crafting articles are often links to the how-to videos I use. If you find the links useful, let me know in the comments.
How long should posts be?
As I mentioned earlier, I started the blog as an outlet for creative writing, so in the beginning my goal was to keep posts under 5,000 words. Now, nearly 10 years later, I find that around 1,500 words is best for a single post & if the article or story is longer, I break it into multiple posts. But here is what you said (and I think some of you were being kind):
- 61% said the length doesn’t matter
- 23% said about 1,000 to 2,000 words per post
- 16% indicated 500 words was best for them
How many pictures should be in a post?
Yes, I know, all of you read Playboy for the articles and found the centerfold to be a nuisance (said no one ever). Pictures are an important part of the media we consume. If if the product is a book, great care is taken to have the best possible picture on the cover. And if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you would have seen how a writer learned how to take pictures. Before starting the blog, I had never owned a tripod, never knew how to position lamps, never knew what light bulbs to use, never knew anything about focal lengths. I look at some of my early blurry pictures and wonder what the heck I was trying to do. I take lots of pictures – for every picture that appears in a post, there are 10 to 20 that aren’t used. I create a folder on my computer for each blog post to hold all of the media. There’s always at least 100 to 150 pictures in the folder.
So how many pictures should be in a post? Well, the answer in a perfect world is however many it takes to help tell the story or convey information. But taking pictures takes time, including pictures takes space and we all know there are limits to our time and space on this earth.
- 48% of you said number of pictures doesn’t matter
- 39% of you said about 10
- 13% of you are definitely graphic novel fans and would like to see posts of all pictures
How often do you want to see posts?
We consume a phenomenal amount of media everyday. Even looking across my healthy-diet conscious kitchen, there is a brightly colored toucan on a box announcing Froot-Loop flavored toaster pop tarts. So how often do you want to hear a floozy flap her gums?
- 47% said it doesn’t matter
- 28% would like to see something weekly
- 16% said I should at least post monthly, just to prove I’m still alive
- 9% of you must be either workaholics or merciless task-masters and want to see 2 or 3 posts a week
What genres of gaming do you want to see?
The answers here were a small surprise in that they followed the current trends in table top gaming almost exactly.
- 23% Science Fiction
- 19% Fantasy
- 14% World War II
- 12% Old West
- 10% Ancients
- 9% Colonial Era
- 7% Spanish Civil War
- 5% Seven Years War
- 1% Other
Those who chose other did not leave a comment as to what gaming genre they would like to see. I suspect it is Drunken Floozy Mud Wrestling in skimpy bathing suits, but they were too modest to say so.
What about funding the blog?
This is the question I agonized over. I like blogging, but it takes time that could be spent writing salable products and it has its own publishing costs (web hosting, etc.). Whenever you take a course on blogging or writing for that matter, a portion of the course is over marketing. I am a “lefty” – that means I suck at raw capitalism, yet bills have to get paid. I’m really pleased with the answers to this question:
- 68% chose pay what you want – I first encountered this method on DriveThru RPG & like it for the type of content found on my blog.
- 16% said keep it free – a great sentiment, but in my dotage something hard to maintain.
- 12% liked the Patreon account idea – a subscription service with perks for the subscribers, but requires more work on my end.
- 4% of you said I should stop blogging altogether & spend more time in local dives preying on men (& women) through an alcoholic haze,
- 0% of you wanted to see ads on my blog. I don’t like ads associated with my work that I have no control over. Did I say I was a “lefty”? The very last thing I would want to see on my blog would be some ad promoting neo-fascist politicians and their agendas.
In Conclusion
The poll was fun and informative, I hope you enjoyed it as well. However, don’t hold your breath hoping to see Drunken Floozy Mud Wrestling.
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DonateIf you haven’t seen it yet, DreamCatcher dropped a new music video & mini-album, here’s a teaser:
Atomic Floozy Adventures 
1. I have no idea what costs are involved in producing a blog. Hoping to learn something, I clicked on one of your links and what came up (that time) was suggestions for donations of 25 cents, 50 cents, and a dollar, with a fourth box for “other,” which had $50.00 in it (hint: I’m not sending $50). I like the one you posted better, since $5.00 seems like a reasonable amount. Does the system tell you who donated how much? I’d hate to be on the Wall of Shame with the other 25 centers!
2. While I’m not a fan of K-Pop, I do read your articles, and listen to the songs. It is an interesting insight into how other people and cultures think.
3. No, none of us were hoping for “Drunken Floozy Mud Wrestling.” However, I have been keeping my eyes open for rules that would allow me to game that antipodean import, Ladies’ Bikini Vegemite Wrestling, which the Aussies invented in 2010 to dignify the 222nd anniversary of Australia’s founding. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1246128/Aussies-celebrate-Australia-Day-regatta-Aboriginal-dance—girls-wrestling-vegemite.html
Well to answer your questions, I’m on a WordPress subscription plan that doesn’t have ads – you actually have to pay to have no ads on your blog, this plan also has several themes for presenting your material & lots of tools for making it easier to write posts. This plan began years ago at $90 & over the years is now up to about $150 a year. The other costs to the blog are incidental things like light bulbs for lamps, internet access, etc. Good heavens, I would hate to think anyone would blindly hit the $50 donation box without changing it. I better check to see if I can change that amount.
The system does tell me the username of the person donating, but not the person’s actual name. WordPress uses the Stripe Payment Platform for handling the transactions.
I’ve long been interested in music from other cultures and genres. I got hooked on K-Pop through my grandkids. I only follow a few groups & love how much the music companies invest in the visual aspect of their music sets. I’m also a big fan of the rock band Band-Maid from Japan.
Well, if you are looking for mud wrestling or Vegimite (talk about an acquired taste) wrestling, the ruleset that comes to mind is that you would have to do some kind of mash up using THW’s Chain Reaction & Macho Women with Guns. I’m not sure is MWwG is still available, but it is a hoot to read.
The poll results were not too unexpected and the majority is what I voted for as well. I am a sheep. On your question on links – I really like included links. Blogs that don’t have them I find I am selecting the key word/phrase and having to search.
Elaine I like all your adventure posts with Pictures of your Character Miniatures.Keep up the good work.. Richard Nelson