Blogging My Way to Obscurity with BattleGrip
With Poe Ghostal announcing that his site was on hiatus (mentioned here) I find myself again exploring the why of the battlegrip.com website. I launched the site in late December of 2008, and as the site has grown it has changed multiple times, with the focus being on whatever interested me at that exact moment in time.
The randomness of the site could be a detriment to true success — books such as ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income* don’t exactly encourage bloggers to treat their sites as random masses of information — but it is that randomness that makes the site continue to work for me today. Even as work at the office gets busier I can still find time to be myself . . . and I think that’s part of why I am still posting.
I have written before about how I have failed all of you as a blogger — see “Six Mistakes I Have Made as a Blogger” — and despite attempts to improve on those failures I must admit that I continue to make the same mistakes. For those of you who don’t remember the older post these are the six mistakes I identified in that earlier post:
- Irregular Posting Schedule
- Lack of Focus
- Failure to Attract Comments
- Not Interacting Enough With Other Bloggers
- Not Reaching Out to Manufacturers
- Not Asking You What You Want
Photo by JD Hancock cc
I can admit that all six of those mistakes continue to this day, and I am wondering if they are truly mistakes or if I should embrace that I’m simply me . . . and then keep doing as I’ve always done. I encourage all of you interested in the site — or in running your own blog — to read that earlier post (“Six Mistakes I Have Made as a Blogger”) because it’s as true and honest today as it was when I first posted it in 2012.
I’d like to briefly touch on each of the six points, and then ask that all of you leave a comment to let me know your own thoughts on how the site is doing in your eyes. I’m still having a lot of fun, but I’m a bit torn as to whether or not I continue the same “I do it my way!!!” approach to the site, or if I try and start getting a bit more structured in an attempt to regularize the site and make it a little more expectable (really? expectable? I wrote that?) for each of you every day of the week.
- Irregular Posting Schedule – The only way I can think of to fix this is to basically drop “news-like” posts and only run reviews and features . . . and then only commit to three or four posts every week. I think that murdering the spontaneity of the site is less fun, but it’s the only I idea I have to make things very regular here.
- Lack of Focus – One way to make the site more “focused” would be to combine the regular schedule thing with “theme” weeks. Each and every week of three to four posts would be on a specific theme. The lack of focus would still be there, but at least at the start of the week everyone would know what to expect that week.
- Failure to Attract Comments – This one I’m stumped on. I really appreciate those of you who take the time to comment, but short of bribing everyone I’ve no idea how to encourage more comments. Comments, you may not realize, are the sparks of inspiration that help a blogger to keep writing.
- Not Interacting Enough With Other Bloggers – I think I’ve gotten a little better about this one, but that interaction is still “behind the scenes” through email and private messages. And I am still very much a fan of the whole “curate the web” idea I encountered in No One Cares What You Had for Lunch*. That is why I link to other sites as frequently as I do.
- Not Reaching Out to Manufacturers – I realized that I’m doing all of these toy manufacturers a service. I’m basically acting as an independent marketer for each and every company I write about . . . and very few of those companies even care. So I’m not even going to try. Hey, toy makers, use the contact page and reach out to me.
- Not Asking You What You Want – I feel I’ve gotten better about this. Not good enough, but better. What do you want to see on the site?
Thoughts?
So that’s where I stand with battlegrip.com as of today. I’m still random, far from regular with my posting schedule, and continue to be me. But is that okay with you? What do you guys want from the site and from the time I spend working on it?
Any comments are, as you may have guessed, welcome and appreciated.
Related articles
- The Future of BattleGrip? (battlegrip.com)
- Celebrate! Five Years of BattleGrip (battlegrip.com)
Keep doing what you are doing in my opinion. Trying to cater to a group in hopes of attracting more comments or visitors seems to rarely work. You have a good thing going and I find myself on your website often. Random stuff keeps it interesting.
Comments in my experience just don’t happen as often as they should. For instance I received four thousands hits on my blog for one article but received less than a dozen comments total. People just don’t comment.
@Cody – “You have a good thing going and I find myself on your website often. Random stuff keeps it interesting.”
Thanks! The random is fun for me, I just sometimes wonder if people get confused by how much things jump around.
Really enjoyed this post Philip. Years ago, my blog turned the corner for me when I started to focus more on the topics that interested me and less on things I “thought” other people would want to read. The interaction I started to get with visitors to the site increased substantially in the comments.
I come to your site almost every day because you update it so often. Many of the items you talk about don’t even fall in my wheelhouse (Transformers — not for me!), but your site does a great job of keeping me in the loop about what’s out there. You kind of walk the line between wanting to be a blog and wanting to be a news site. Maybe this is what’s hurting the interaction?
When everyone and their mother is posting links and photos of the latest “hot” toy, what sets you apart from all of them?
I’ll run down your bullet points:
1. Post as irregularly as you want! Don’t feel like you NEED to post something every day, because then you’re just posting something to post. I’d much rather see a less intense schedule where you write about items that truly excite you as a collector.
2. Focus is good, but feel free to stray at will. You have a lock on the third-party Transformers and table-top games, but definitely talk about other items. Theme weeks are fine, but I wouldn’t let that be the standard, because then it could lock you into writing about one and only one topic. I once wrote about the same topic every day for a month, and by the end of that month I was fairly sick of that topic!
3. Comments come when you let the walls down and talk like you’re in a room with your readers. If you come across as an “authority” you run the risk of readers seeing you as such and not someone who can be approached. I know it sounds silly, but once I started writing more personal, passionate articles, the floodgates opened. I know you’re already doing this but ALWAYS reply to your commenters. People want to know they have been heard.
4. Definitely interact with other bloggers! We each run our own little little corner of the internet, and when we combine forces, amazing things can happen.
5. I’m with you. I think it’s about time the toy manufacturers did their part and reached out to our community. We promote them on a daily basis and what do we get in return — maybe a retweet when we talk about them. I’m kind of glad most of the items I tend to talk about were produced 20+ years ago!
6. This is a tough one, because I love your site. I think you would get a different answer from everyone you asked. I guess I’d like to see you personalize things a bit more. I am fascinated by your job and love seeing your tweets from Hong Kong and toy shows. This is the sort of thing you just don’t get from other sources.
It really is a challenge to keep the enthusiasm going for a site when you’re not getting paid and you’re not getting the level of interaction you might want. Many sites have faded away, but I hope Battlegrip will be around for a good long time, and it starts to deliver your just reward.
On a final note, if you haven’t seen it yet, Poe’s departure led to some great discussion on the blogging life over at Cool & Collected this past weekend. Check it out.. and leave a comment! 😉
@Brian (Cool and Collected) – “I’d much rather see a less intense schedule where you write about items that truly excite you as a collector.”
I try to only write about what either interests, consumes my brain, or triggers a reaction. Unfortunately, I seem to love almost everything at some point or other.
“I once wrote about the same topic every day for a month, and by the end of that month I was fairly sick of that topic!”
I always do wonder how the Star Wars-only, Transformers-only, etc. sites just stick to one topic. I can see how a solid month of one topic would drive you insane.
“If you come across as an “authority†you run the risk of readers seeing you as such and not someone who can be approached.”
I think you nailed it here. The last time this came up there was at least one comment stating that I sounded as if I wasn’t interested in comments. My mind was made up. I think I’m better in person than I am as a writer.
“Definitely interact with other bloggers!”
Your magazine is an example of fun stuff happening when bloggers work together.
“I think it’s about time the toy manufacturers did their part and reached out to our community.”
It almost feels like a manufacturer selects one or two sites to back and then just camps out there. I’d love to see them work at spreading to more sites.
“I guess I’d like to see you personalize things a bit more. I am fascinated by your job and love seeing your tweets from Hong Kong and toy shows. This is the sort of thing you just don’t get from other sources.”
I’m sometimes torn on this sort of thing, but knowing that someone finds that sort of thing enjoyable makes me think I should devote a few more posts to work and the things I do at trade shows.
Thank you!
So, what ultimately do you really want from the blog? It seems like you’re setting a really high expectation for yourself, which is great, but could it possibly be unreasonable?
1.Irregular Posting Schedule – Huh? There’s typically several posts on this site nearly every day. That’s more than most people do on their pet blog projects!
2.Lack of Focus – Again, I think you keep pretty true to the conceit of the blog (action figures, toys, games). You return to topics you care about or have an opinion on. A theme week here and there can’t hurt, but you do plenty in this area already.
3.Failure to Attract Comments – Unless you’ve got an editoral staff of writers churning out the latest news or listicles every day, let this one go. The people who care, comment. The more readership you build, the more they’ll interact. I often try ending posts with a question to get people to engage (it’s helped, but it’s no magic bullet). There used to be an old adage in customer service that if you got one complaint that you could assume there were 10 more people who probablly thought the same. I think that goes for comments, if people see something they already agree with, they won’t bother commenting. That’s why Facebook invented the Like button!
4.Not Interacting Enough With Other Bloggers – You do this more than most–and do a pretty good job! You’re part of the community, not just tossing articles out into the ether. One suggestion is to make it possible for commentors to be notified if there’s a reply to their comment. I find myself having to remember to go back to look for replies. If the article has already dropped off the main page, well… In any case, it’ll help keep the conversation going if people know someone has responded.
5.Not Reaching Out to Manufacturers – I wouldn’t know about this one. What’s the goal? To get sponsorship? To do interviews and more behind-the-scenes?
6.Not Asking You What You Want – Dude, it’s YOUR blog! We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have shared interests. I get what you’re saying, but I think that unless you’re asking us for feedback about something in particular (e.g., like a book layout you’re working on) it’s all good. 🙂
In short, I think you’re doing a great job. You regularly post recaps of recent posts. If anything, you seem to really enjoy doing those magazine layouts so a flashy new banner up top. Maybe a tagline so people who stumble here know what “Battlegrip” is about.
You talk every once in a while about what you do outside of the blog. A short bio page to give the whole site context would be cool. Heck, I’d love to hear more about what you do for SJG in a post!
Keep up the good work Phillip, you’re doing much better than you think!
@Jay – “It seems like you’re setting a really high expectation for yourself, which is great, but could it possibly be unreasonable?”
Wait, are we talking about the office or my blog? 😉 I think there’s a reason Steve and I work so well together; we’re both always pushing to get better.
“I think you keep pretty true to the conceit of the blog (action figures, toys, games).”
I actually tend to write about games less than I sometimes want to, but that’s more about trying for a little separation between work and hobby than any other reason.
“That’s why Facebook invented the Like button!”
I sometimes thing about switching to a Facebook commenting system here. Would that make the site easier for people to interact with?
“To do interviews and more behind-the-scenes?”
With manufacturers definitely this more than anything else. I get the occasional request for banner ads, but that leads me to worry I need to then write more frequently and be a bit more focused. But access for interviews, early looks at stuff, and a chance to engage with toy makers is my ultimate wish here.
“A short bio page to give the whole site context would be cool. Heck, I’d love to hear more about what you do for SJG in a post!”
Okay, both things I’ll consider. Thank you!
Hey Phil,
I don’t think you’ve made any mistakes, I think the way people consume media has changed. You and I are aged out of the demographic were new readers / viewers / commenters lie.
I believe the world of toy collectors (aged 30 and up) is a shrinking universe. People sell off collections, give up the hobby, get married, have kids, or (sadly) die…there is not a lot of our peers getting into collecting for the first time. There is also an endemic misunderstanding with adult collectors that their tastes are always relevant and they are a powerful group to be catered to (when in reality they are a tiny market segment and typically “clearance buyers”).
If you look at the generation born in 1990 and on, they use snapchat, they use instagram, they blog on tumblr, they are already over facebook. They typically visit youtube 3-4 times a day. The idea of a message board or a traditional blog is an antiqued notion to them. Their consumption habits are really based on a single hi-res image and / or a video under 4 minutes.
If you can hook them with either, they’ll read more on a subject.
My advice is just to write the best possible content for people like me and you and not worry about branching out or seeing a visible uptick. Or you can try to court a younger audience…but if you are not 100% into that it would be a disingenuous effort.
@Jesse – “Or you can try to court a younger audience…but if you are not 100% into that it would be a disingenuous effort.”
This is exactly why I haven’t really jumped into the video thing. I’m interested in trying a podcast, but I don’t have the skills or excitement to really tackle videos.
“Their consumption habits are really based on a single hi-res image and / or a video under 4 minutes.”
Articles on how to write for the web clearly support this idea. And it’s part of the reason I often wish I was creating a physical magazine instead of a blog. I enjoy the blog a lot, but I miss magazines.
I come to your site everyday to see what’s new. You’ve helped me find other blogs to visit through your links and I love reading your reviews as well. I’ll echo, keep doing what you’re doing and sorry for not commenting more 😉
I for one appreciate the news that you post on a daily basis. I rarely post comments on any website as I suspect many viewers do the same – I don’t have any blogger genes in me I guess. I’m only in this hobby for MOTUC and when that well dries up I’ll probably be done collecting (a 6″ gi joe would pull me back in though). While I don’t collect star wars or transformers, it is fun looking at what is for sale and I’m happy for those collectors. And your site helps viewers find the news they need. I think the reward is in the enjoyment you get from blogging. Keep up the good work!
“Failure to Attract Comments – This one I’m stumped on. I really appreciate those of you who take the time to comment, but short of bribing everyone I’ve no idea how to encourage more comments. Comments, you may not realize, are the sparks of inspiration that help a blogger to keep writing.”
YES YES YES A MILLION TIMES YES.
I’ve noticed that comments have dropped way off in the advent of social media for smaller to mid tier blogs. They used to be the only way to communicate to the writer or on that particular topic. Now people just comment on Twitter or Facebook or what have you. It seems a lot harder to get comments if you’re not writing controversial posts or posts about things people have REALLY strong opinions on.
I try not to let lack of comments get me down, except for my Friday Round Ups. Out of anything I write, I expect those to do better in that department since I have so many things I’m hitting on to spark interest in leaving a response.
I guess this all depends on what you do it for. My schedule at the Super-DuperToyBox is whenever I can get to it- in the last couple years, my career has ramped up, so my posting is much less frequent than before- I’m a busy guy with lots of hobbies, what can I say? Truth be told, I kinda do it for myself- glad when other people interact, but I enjoy the “art” of toy photography & writing. I happen to like your blog, and hope you do as well- there’s no shame in walking away from something for awhile, though. Your happiness in what you do for fun is what’s most important here- don’t forget that. Make it FUN!
Personally, I’m a huge believer you have to blog about what you love. That’s what blogging is all about. Forget all this other stuff! If you blog about what you love the rest of that stuff will fall into line. I’ve made some great friends through blogging and made connections with fellow collectors, artists and toy producers. That’s about all I can ask for.
Nothing makes me laugh harder than when people say they’re going to start blogging to make money (not that I think this post is about that in any way). But because very few ever make money or notoriety off blogging (especially toy blogging) then you really do have to do it because you love it and want to do it.
I’ve definitely thought about quitting over the years and hate seeing a long time blogger like Poe put his blog on hiatus, but that’s the nature of providing free entertainment. Hopefully you’re blogging for years to come!
Just keep doing what you’re doing. Write what you care about & people will read it our they won’t. I’ve been following you here for a solid 2 years. You’re into things I’m not (transformers, gaming), but I still like checking those out.
I reply quite a bit to your posts with little response, but I’m not really expecting it either. That’s generally how the interwebs works. I only ever had poe respond on twitter & I was a regular to his blog for 5+ years!
I don’t know…between you and Poe, I’m wondering if there’s something more I should be doing. Nah! And same for you: stay the course, you’re doing fine!
“I sometimes thing about switching to a Facebook commenting system here. Would that make the site easier for people to interact with?”
I’m likely a different kind of cat on that one. I use FB exclusively for personal stuff. I prefer not to annoy my friends and family with my online comments (since public stuff shows up through the feed). But that’s just me.
I know there are other widgets though that let the user choose which profile they want (FB, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Disqus, etc.). That might actually be more helpful for getting commentors who already have accounts with those services to participate or check back.
In any case, keep up the good work!
I hear ya’ man. I talk to guys like Googum, and other fellow bloggers about getting burnt out or just not feeling the same enthusiasm as I initially had when I started. That being said, as you pointed out, short of bribing or being a super known name, there’s not much you can do about people not leaving comments. I’m guilty of that at times myself, but that’s due to laziness on my part.
I often wonder about doing topical issues as well, but then that would seem very forced, and if it doesn’t interest me, it’s not going to interest you.
In any event, keep up the good work, because I honestly feel there’s just not enough decent, quality toy blogs out there. Especially those that do the sort of Robot Chicken-eque stuff that bloggers like Googum and myself do.
Btw, in case you’re interested, here’s the link to my blog:
http://dbsuniverse.blogspot.com.
It’s called Mr. Morbid’s House of Fun, and man is it not for the kids sometimes, but still funny. Or at least I think so;)
I dig the complete randomness and it has helped me find other things that I am into.
My browsing habits have definitely changed over the last couple years. I infrequently visit websites, so sticking to a specific posting routine doesn’t really mean much to me. Sites I used to visit multiple times, daily, I now maybe only visit a handful of times a month.
I’m not pointing fingers at anyone in particular (especially not this site) but when I finally got off the hyperbole train a long while back a lot of things just seemed less important. My interests shifted (but not waned) and I still love reading about and talking toys. I care much less about toy reviews these days than I used to. I enjoy commentary/background much more than hearing about paint apps and points of articulation.
My advice to you sir is keep on keepin’ on. When you’re not interested in you are writing about how can you expect your audience to be? Don’t pander to your audience, do what interests you and I think that will shine through.
Best of luck!
C.hris/RKO.LemonJack
I think I posed in the last thread about how I enjoy your blog’s lack of theme. I’m in the same boat as one of the posters above, I don’t care about Transformers, but I DO enjoy reading about the whole 3rd party market. (Not to mention the debate over 3rd party vs. bootlegs.) It’s interesting to see what’s happening, even if I have no interest in actually joining in the action. (Who has time (and space!) for all these toys when there are so many records to track down?)
It’s your blog; do with it what you want.
The only rationale I can think of for tightening the post schedule and focus would be to garner more hits. But you don’t run advertisements, so I don’t really see a point behind that course of action. Maybe to build a better relationship with manufacturers?
It looks as if you already have a career you enjoy, so just keep this as a side-, fun-project. You don’t owe us anything.
Random is good. I like when you post your insider opinions about the industry. I’d love to hear more about what you think about the future of the industry when it comes to smaller companies like the whole Four Horsemen, Onell design and all of the other little players popping up in the Glyos universe. I’d like to hear your take on the future of crowd funding, kickstarter when it comes to toys, preorders and how the rising costs of Chinese labor are going to affect the industry.
Don’t think you’ve failed at a blogger in any way that matters to readers. While not all your posts fall within my interests, I still find myself stopping in and scanning through what you’ve posted a couple of times a week.
Question falls more to the business side of blogging. ie: Do you want the blog to generate a certain amount of income? If so, is it doing so? (Questions asked rhetorically, because the answers are none of my business!) I think better focus might lead to better earnings. Though I think if you tried focusing the blog more tightly, some of my favorite articles might go away (Hot Wheels and Legos).