Doogs Models

What is a hobby doing on a portfolio site? It’s quite simple, really. While I picked up modeling as a diversion, a decompression tool, and a thing to do with my hands, I soon put it to work as something of a professional sandbox.

The year was 2010. The country was still reeling in the aftershocks of the Great Recession. Clients retreated into comfortable spaces, unwilling to take chances with budgets or executions. So my modeling, or rather the digital and social platform I erected around it, became my laboratory. 

In the safety of this sandbox, I've been able to put ideas to the test and gain insights that have proven useful time and again in my professional life.

BLOG

FACEBOOK

YOUTUBE

Initially a way to get comfortable with Wordpress, the Doogs Models blog quickly escalated into an ongoing exercise in content strategy, topic exploration, and some light dabbling in UX.

The best way to stay fresh on Facebook's various machinations, from ads to algorithms, is to maintain a Facebook page. 

Since its inception in 2010, the Doogs Models page has grown into one of the most prominent modeling pages on the social platform, and yield a steady stream of valuable insights into driving and maintaining engagement through compelling content. 

While I've been on my share of video shoots, production and editing were never my remit, so I started a YouTube channel to get some hands-on experience. As with the other channels, it has been a font of knowledge, and benefited me on every subsequent video project. 

VITAL STATS

1,264

Blog Followers

18,254

Facebook Followers

5.2 Million

Total Views

15,100

YouTube Subscribers

30-55K

Blog Views Per Month

7:23

Avg View Duration

In eleven years of operation, this sandbox has expanded considerably. The blog and Facebook page have grown into some of the larger ones in the hobby, outstripping the monthly circulation of many modeling publications. I have even attracted pitches from kit manufacturers looking to generate buzz around new releases and distributors seeking to sponsor reviews. 

Where the sandbox has proven most valuable, however, has been in the realm of content strategy.

A former boss used to say that there were three reasons people engaged with content online - "INFO, EGO and EMO". That is, exclusive information, content that strokes their egos, or content that stirs their emotions. Over time, I've found that is mostly the case, with a key twist.

The content that performs the best is a mix of information and emotion. Going deep on a controversial or complicated topic and planting a flag. 

Case in point - the top-performing post for 2018, The Problem with Panel Line Shading, is an extended takedown of a popular painting technique. It was originally posted in 2015, but such is its power that it continues to draw sizeable traffic three years later.