Works great for me by using the above disliked method.
I use several methods when making my own posts, but the one which converts best is blog > gallery > tour, which is probably why they stick with it. You have to understand that the reason why the surfer is at your free blog is because it's just that, free. They need to be extremely enticed to sign-up to said site. Of course you can't give away too much, or too little, but you do need to give them something, and a few little thumbnails will not cut it.