Blog birthday; 3 years of Terrible Loss

Let's celebrate with some funky fresh beats..

"keep it going keep it going keep it going full STEAM

Stewie B (that's me) on the blogging SCENE

I'm not fat, but I'm not LEAN

I like to write about war-game-ING

Here I am with a brand new POST

Read it with some jam and TOAST

Not one to brag, not one to BOAST

3 years down and let's make the MOST...

...of it."  

I'm like a long lost Beastie Boy.  Really long lost...

3 Years of Blogging

That seemed to go fast, I must be getting older.  End of July is the blog birthday; 3 years is not a terribly long time compared to other blogs but I'm still new enough to the blogging world that it's a worthy benchmark to celebrate.  I imagine it's like being married; during the early years you celebrate each little anniversary but once you've been married for a decade or so you only celebrate the significant milestones.  But unlike marriage you can quit blogging as soon as it gets too fat and bossy, go find yourself a young new blog with enough energy to take care of the children so you can have more hobby time ......  I got distracted.  

As I have before, I like to spend the blog birthday talking my blogging experience. 

Blogging has become very much part of my routine now, and I have found that it really improves my enjoyment of the hobby.  Mainly because it provides a way to interact with others about miniature wargaming and share thoughts, projects, opinions, information, and etc.. It's that wargame club mentality that I talked about before.  For me it's a big tent and everyone is welcome.

It also helps me feel more engaged in my hobby.  There is a drive to actually get stuff painted and posted.  And during those periods where there isn't much time for painting due to work and family, there a fun opinion and review posts to write that help keep me motivated and feeling involved.  

I think that everyone who writes a blog wants people to read it.  I know I do, otherwise I would just write my little thoughts down in my secret diary that I keep under the bed.  So I am pleased that in 3 years the blog has 62 followers; that's about 60 more than I thought it would ever have.  Course I don't think that means 62 people actually read the blog (I mean there blogs on my follow list that I don't read much anymore....no, not you, not YOUR blog, I mean those other blogs).  

And I have no idea if 62 followers over 3 years is a respectable number or not. 

I’ve been periodically looking at the stats that blogger provides; and I’ve figured out that a new post reaches over 100 hits in about a week and a half.  I feel that is a fair number.  Older posts have higher numbers as time goes on.  The number also goes up if I link to forum like TMP which I do every once in a while if I think it’s especially interesting.  These numbers might be influenced by bots, but I like to think that 100 ish people check out the blog on a consistent basis.  Gives me the warm fuzzes. 

At the time of writing this blog of A Terrible Loss of Lead and Wealth has generated 63,691 views.  The top 3 posts are 

DIY Wargame mat

Hail Caesar Sheildwall Supplement Review

DIY wargame roads (and fields)

I just find that interesting, just goes to show what people are searching for in google. 

Of course, all these numbers are kinda meaningless overall since I could get all the traffic in the world and there’s no profit from it.  Because in the end, I’m all about them dollars. Least I still like the name of the blog.  It's kinda funny and kinda sad, just like me.  

But I am sincerely pleased that the number of comments that each post generates has gone up over the years; averaging these days at around 24 comments (well 12 comments, as the other 12 are me replying).  And the number of what I call “Symbiotic Blogging Relationships” has also increased.    This is the circle of bloggers that regularly leave comments on my blog and I return the favor by regularly leaving comments on their blog; creating a circle of mutual encouragement.  These I like best.  As Norm has pointed out correctly (and I usually take almost everything Norm says as correct); it’d be impossible to comment on everything and every post that you come across in the wild world of the internet.  It would just take too much time, and there is SO much stuff out there.  For free even.  So I take it as a real compliment when someone bothers to leave a comment here.  Even if just a short one, because time is what really matters in this life.  To the people who give me their time, it seems fair for me to give them mine.  I do enjoy reading other people's blogs and leaving comments.  And it doesn’t even really matter so much what the blog content is, as I kinda like all things miniature wargaming (and board gaming).  But what I love is the interaction and making online friendships.  So to all you Best Blogging Buddies out there, old and new, thank you for your encouragement.  It can be weird to think that some of you have been online friends for years now, and we’ve never met.  We might never meet, and it would be my loss.

The only (slightly) negative to blogging is that I feel a self imposed pressure in two areas:

1) That I want to post regularly.  When someone stumbles onto the blog I want them to see that the blog is active and being updated.  I think people are more likely to follow a blog if they see that it's still producing content.  2-3 times a month is not an onerous schedule (especially because more often than not it's two times) but it can be hard to keep up.  If too long goes by without a post I begin to feel neglectful.  It's kinda like exercise where if you skip it too much you get out of the habit.  Except blogging is better than exercise because it doesn't involve getting out of breath and sweaty.  It's not that I don;t have plenty of topics in my brain.  There are a ton of topics out there.  Which leads me to number 2..

2) That I want each post to be good.  "Good" is subjective of course.  After 3 years I'm still defining my winning formula for 'a good blog post but I got the basic format nailed down.  I like my posts to be a little longer than a typical post but not too long.  I want included some humor, some pretty pics, some format with a beginning, a middle and an end.  Sometimes include some personal information so that you see I'm human and you'll want to be my friend.  I want good editing and few typos.  I want a positive feel.  I would love it if each post was interesting and had something to say.  

I know I am over thinking it.  It's just a silly wargaming blog.  But that's part of the fun.  We're all responsible grown ups with a silly hobby and spending time talking about it together.  Especially during these stressful times of pandemic and unrest I hope this blog is a pleasant distraction.  

So...But No Wargaming Content in this Post Then? 

 

Course not, it's much too late for that.  Wargaming content shall resume shortly.  Thank you for celebrating 3 years of blogging with me.  I think I'm out of the rookie blogger phase and into the next, whatever that might be called.  

Thank you for your time and thanks for reading.