A dilemma

[waxerParticipant 705xp 0]

About a year ago I started blog named Off-grid table top gamers. As a home dad, I had a time to devote to the blog, and it was on its way to have 10000 viewers in first year. I know there are blogs with much more traffic then mine, but I am grateful for any one of my riders.

This blog made me paint more and game more. I played games I wanted to play for years. I made and finished more terrain  then in all 14 years of doing this hobby. All in all, making a blog was very positive experience for me.

Then, hardship struck my family. Development problems of our youngest child made serious dent on our family budget, had made my hobby budget not existent, and shrinked my hobby time to almost none.

Now that we could see the light at the end of the tunnel, I’m back to thinking about my hobby and my blog. Our family budget would be under strain for foreseeable future, so my hobby budget would continue being nonexistent. I could keep making content for my blog with stuff I have, and there is a mountain of it. On the other hand, people like new shiny things, so I’m afraid that my blog would lose its audience if it does not stay “on the top of the game”. I could ask for the help of the world wide hobby community and make a Patreon page or a crowd founding campaign. Founds collected in this way would help me stay “in game”.

And now we come to my dilemma: would it be OK to ask from people to monetary support my hobby and my bloging, while I’m sitting on a mountain of metal/plastic/resin/games? These miniatures and games are not, maybe, top-notch and all new and shiny, but I have enough miniatures for painting and games for playing to last me for the rest of my life. Do we have to be trendy to be a part of the community?

What is the BOW community opinion on this subject?

[avien 2031xp 2]

I support good content producers. I don’t really care what they do with the money I use to support them. They are doing this for free so if I enjoy the content I have no problem supporting them. In a Patreon style set up you are being paid for the content you create.

 

I sort of disagree with with your underlying assumption. You are asking if it’s ok to ask people to support your hobby, but really you are asking people to support the content you are producing.

 

The reason I’m a backstager and the reason I support A couple of podcasts on Patreon are not the same reasons I give to charity. The former provide a service – in the form of hobby content which I consume and enjoy, the latter are in need of money to continue to help others, I am getting nothing from charities (actually I get too much post for my liking, but that’s another issue)

You are framing this wrong. If you put up a page asking for me to support your hobby, I’d scroll past. You post quality content that I enjoy and ask folks to support that content creation? If I think it’s worth supporting, then I will.

 

People expect free content far too much these days.

 

Good luck!

[limburger 21705xp 0]

@waxer :

It all depends on what you want your blog to be.

If it is to be a business then write what makes the most money … but expect to see your content drown in a sea of similar content.

Find your voice, share your passion … and the money will more or less follow.
It won’t be easy, but at least you’ll love what you’re doing and *that* will keep you productive when things get ugly.

Don’t expect this to be your ticket to a free lunch.

There are a ton of sites that post about the latest and greatest. You’d effectively be competing against BoW/OTT and others.

The most successful blogs however have a particular niche to cover. They’re different and that’s why they get noticed.

Getting the money is something you need to be comfortable with as well.
You need to feel like your product is worth something, because if you aren’t convinced it is … then how are you going to convince your audience ?

You’re not begging … you are providing a service and in order to keep providing it you need resources.

Might I suggest Patreon as a platform if you’re serious ? https://www.patreon.com/
If you want to lock content for subscribers then that probably is the easiest way to do it, because they do the heavy lifting (for a fee, because nothing is free).

I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about people getting locked out of their paypal accounts due to the way they tend to block first and ask questions later. It may not be a worry yet at first,but it can get expensive once people start abusing the system at your expense (credit card fraud is an issue to be aware of).

I have zero experience with this platform, but it is probably the biggest one out there that is exactly aimed at what you want as they allow you to have subscriptions for 1$/month …

Example :

https://www.patreon.com/simonegiertz

https://www.patreon.com/jimquisition

Both show a different approach … (just don’t expect to get that kind of income unless you’re really lucky)

[maledrakhParticipant 11996xp 0]

If I may be so bold…My two cents

I personally like coming across blogs and whatnot that does older stuff and not just the newest shiny, so that is not what I go for. Rather I like content where the blogger shows some enthusiasm and love for the subject matter, and also I like to see miniatures, models and games that few others blog about.

I find that the “the newest shiny” rapidly gets old if you are not really on the ball and manage to make your content very fast, especially if you are not one of the big blogs that get free preview stuff weeks before their retail release date.

My advice would be to do whatever hobby you enjoy, and specifically not to make content solely because you think that is what your audience want to see. Unless you yourself have a passion for your content, the quality and “feel” of said content will suffer.

When it comes to patreon or a tip jar or such, don’t be ashamed to ask for help to pay for the upkeep. Just be honest about it. It is common enough to have a patreon, and it is up to the reader to decide whether it is worth supporting your content or not.

 

[osbad 4279xp 0]

I suspect there are a lot of guys and gals out there with piles of older stuff sitting around as well just waiting for someone to tickle their enthusiasm to dig into the pile rather than persuade them to spend even more money adding to it.  If I were in your position I probably would focus on making my content as interesting and well- produced as possible with my existing pile of stuff. That in itself is pretty unique, and probably an easier route and a lot less stressful than trying to squeeze money out of a crowded market place. After all, this is your hobby.  Once you monetise it, it will cease to be your hobby and end up being a job. Which is a completely different thing.

[waxerParticipant 705xp 0]

Thank you guys for kind words and good advices.

@paul Mullis  Turning hobby into a job is something that I have to seriously consider.

@maledrakh I like small games, niche games, so even if I start a Patreon page, I will keep on blogging about games I love. I don’t expect that any new Patreon page could bring a lot of money right away, so even in that case I would have to go with things I have for some time.

@limburger Patreon would be my platform of choice if I make a decision to monetize my blog. I have some ideas about how to make things little bit different than on other Patreon pages (would they work – who knows 🙂

@avien I had a hard time differentiating my hobby and bloging because I kept records on my blog of everything I done related to hobby last year. Thank you for setting me straight on this topic.

[warworksdkParticipant 1221xp 0]

My two cents, for what they’re worth…

Beasts of War is the only tabletop-oriented website I’ve ever supported. And quite frankly, I’m seriously considering if it’s worth it anymore. It’s come a long way since the humble beginnings and the days when we gathered for Turn 8, and not all the changed have been for the better, if you ask me.

Do I simply want to bash Beasts of War? No, I want to make a point. There is a LOT of free content out there, so to get people to pay you to do content you have to really stand out. It’s not just delivering great content, it’s also doing it in a great way. I loved the way Beasts of War did it in the beginning. Now though… Not so much… And with so much content out there, it’s all too easy to find somewhere else.

Is it okay for you to ask money to produce content? Yes, of course… But the content better be top-notch, otherwise it simply won’t stand out in the crowd.

[kiranamida 5791xp 0]

I think I echo the sentiments above: people will pay for it they think it’s worth it. There are people out there who will only ever bother with something when it is free and there are people that will pay to support something on the principal that they enjoy it.

If you are serious about this a job (even a part time one) then the later are what you should be concerned with as the former will never add to your resources. Now whether you provide something that people will pay for? That’s a more intimate question.

As mentioned above: what does your blog provide that brings people to it over anything else? If you need resources to provide that then people who care about seeing it will care about making sure it continues. Find a niche, find an audience for it and provide to their needs: that’s how you get support these days.

The other thing I feel is that, so long as you are honest about the money goes towards (in this case: materials and opportunities to create new and interesting content), there is rarely any harm in starting something like a Patreon account and putting out there. If people want to support you, they will and there’s no better way to test it than trying. Just be open and honest with your readers and be sure that you have a feedback channel to ensure you understand why people are or are not supporting you. You’ll never know if you never provide the oppurtunity.

[jamjarst 4011xp 0]

Would you be willing to paint other people’s stuff? I have aload of stuff that I would love painted but I don’t have the time. I could give it to you to paint for me if you like 😉

[torros 23816xp 0]

The only thing I pay for is BoW and that really only for XLBS for something to watch on Sunday

 

Everything else I want to look is free on 1 or 2 blogs or on niche Facebook groups or horror of horrors yahoo groups so I doubt if I would pay for anything else but good luck with your venture

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