Well, the break is going well, the burnout is subsiding and the creative juices are following again, so you can expect some more guard hobby goodness coming your way soon! In the meantime, I'd like to get your thoughts on cross posting between blogs.
There's a few reasons why I raise the subject, one of which is that I've just been listening to a discussion on the latest Gamers Lounger podcast where the gents were against it and it's provoked me to reach out for more thoughts on the subject.
As some of you know, I also write for Ron's blog in the form of my semi regular FTW Warzone feature and on occasion, I've cross posted pieces on both my own blog and FTW. I don't do it with every piece that I write for Ron, just the tutorials I do. The reason for this is that quite a lot of effort goes into these tutorials and I want to share them with as many as possible via FTW whilst at the same time keeping them on my blog so they don't get lost in the mass of blogs posted on FTW.
So, what are peoples thoughts on this? Is cross posting a good thing? Is it a waste of your time? Does posting the content in multiple places devalue the content? What's your opinions guys?
These are sort of loaded questions, you see I've had an idea for a long term project that's scenery based and will take quite a bit time and effort. Now Ron's pretty good and pretty much lets me post what I want content wise but FTW does have an article style of writing which might not suit this project where's I'm a lot freer with my posts on here. So, I'm struggling to decide where the best place is to post the project and in what form. There's a few potential ways of doing it ...
- I can keep it exclusive to this blog, which means I can treat it as any other project with updates etc but it'll have a more limited audience.
- I can keep it exclusive to FTW, which will get it a greater audience but force me to take a more article approach to presenting it.
- I can cross post it on both blogs and try to merge the two styles into some sort of a hybrid form.
- I can post it as a project on this blog and cherry pick parts to cross post on FTW which will mean the project gets the maximum exposure whilst keeping true to the two styles.
15 comments:
I think cross-posting is a good thing. The reason being that you can reach out to more audiences. If I see a cross-post then I can simply avoid it on another blog I see. Also, it enables some of your followers access to all of your content without having to go to other blogs we might not usually go to, or want to go to.
One of the guys I link to, created a blog where his invited guests could discuss and identify unknown figures, before putting them on the more known blogs, it's not that secret as it's on our profiles, but we don't show links to it.
Now to begin with it worked quite well, then complacency (?) seemed to lead to a drop-off in comment, so he posted one mounted figure on it, and cross posted the same question to his main blog. On the members blog it's still waiting for comments...However when I posted something on it the other day, and cross posted to my blog, I got more feedback on the member blog, than on mine.
So conclusion seem to be - Cross-post for maximum coverage, it just won't always be the same site that gets the coverage, hence the NEED for cross posting.
However if a 'newbie' posted his first attempt at building a Model Spitfire on six different web pages, I think we'd all have a right to get a little ticked-off!
I missed a bit there...on his every day blog, he got 29 comments, i.e.; the other way round to my experience.
What I was trying to say is that it works both ways, so better to cross-post than not...
I have no problem seeing a post in two places, though if it's every post by someone being duplicated I'd stop looking at one of the blogs. It's not something I would do myself, but then again I'm finding it hard enough to get the time to post on my own blog lately ;)
As for your conundrum I'd go with the last option - say at the end of your Warzone Wednesday post have a mini-post with one pic of your project and a bit of blurb that "there's more over at my other blog, Corbania Prime".
That way you get the exposure (on a pre-existing platform) but don't have to sacrifice the way you want to do it.
I don't have an issue with it - in fact, I'm happy to do it with a lot of my stuff. My Planetstrike Article, published before it came out by 12 hours or something, (I got an advance copy as a Tourny prize) was posted on most major forums as well as my blog.
My only concern would be if the people getting this article felt it devalued by being non-exclusive. As long as Ron doesn't mind (and I doubt he would...) then I feel there's no biggie.
I definitely think that cross-posting is a good idea. Especially if the articles are somewhat different in tone or may have slightly different content.
If on FTW you mention that more stuff is printed on your blog, and on Corbania Prime you mention that you've on FTW, each blog is advertising for the other and will generate traffic for them both, which is a good thing.
Truthfully mate, don't put so much thought into it. It's admirable that you have a sense of responsibility about what you present and how often you present it.
Your first responsibility, however, should be to do what YOU are happy with. Do as much, or as little, as YOU want.
Until someone is laying a paycheck in your hand, trust your instincts. 225 people can't be wrong...LOL!!
Cheers mate!
I have to agree with the above posters... don't stress about it so much. Cross-posting a regular article series in 2 places isn't really a big deal. I just skip it if I've already read it. It's when you cross-post every single thing that it gets annoying.
I think the last of the options you put up is probably the best, if you're interested in the opinion of a blog newb.
Other than that I agree with what the others have said.
Cheers
E
Col. FTW is a great resource for all of us and while your site is more of a free writing style I believe it'll be a boon to both you and Ron if you do your full coverage here and small highlight featurettes on FTW.
This will let you spend the majority of your blogging time in your comfort zone and what we've come to expect and enjoy here while also allowing more people to be exposed to your high caliber of work. If they like it, I trust they will follow the link and follow you here like many of us already have.
Thank you for all of the inspiration and hard work for the community!
Go for it with the cross-posting! It's great that it will get extra coverage from being on both sites, but definitely include it here - you're already building up a really nice and comprehensive hobby resource, and I think keeping a record of them on your own site will continue to make it a one-stop-shop for a lot of people!
I agree with your reasons for cross posting and see no problem with it. I would want my material on my own blog too.
I see no problem with it, get your message out there as best you can...if that means cross posting...oh well, If you got the time to do it go for it!
Well, I don't think I need to reply to you all individually on this one as we all seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet.
So, I'm going to continue to cross post stuff but in the form of the main ongoing stuff on one blog and set tutorials on the other.
Ironically, I decided last night that I was going to setup another blog just for my scenery stuff, so it'll be that one that I'll be cross posting from.
Thanks for taking the time to give me your opinions guys.
Don't try to write in a style that isn't you, it will take the fun out of it and if you don't enjoy writing what is the chance I will end up enjoy reading it? Could add that I do enjoy reading your posts:) This hobby isn't about have tos, we have more than enough of that elsewhere. It should be about want to. If you want to write it turns out a lot better.
X-posting. Just state it nice and clearly on each post that it is cross posted and link to the other places it is published. Then only wackos could be upset:) Also known as, if *you* want to, do it!
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