Advertising in General?

[FabulousFox]

I'm a high school senior going into college, I plan on double majoring in Japanese and Business...but what I want to do with it is hopefully creating a small comic/book publishing company...kinda ridiculous sounding, huh? However, its what I really want to do~ : )

My problem is that so far, I've found I'm TERRIBLE at advertising. I have trouble convincing my close friends to read my webcomic, nonetheless strangers...
This topic may have already been up, but I'd like to ask you guys what advertising strategies you've found productive? Or any other tips you have for me?~

Thank you~ c:

[elrotram]

I have tips and tricks I use, as do many others, but most publishing companies HIRE people to do that sort of thing. If advertising isn't your strong point and you own a company, I advise you do that.

However, if you're simply trying to advertise for your webcomic, you're going have to look at it from a guerilla warfare point of view. I don't mean you should launch yourself at unsuspecting pedestrians. Wait, maybe I do.

Keep a banner in your forum signatures in ALL of the forums you frequent. Start a blog and create posts that would interest other artists (Comic Spotlights, tips on how you do your art, etc) - using your comic as reference. Ask other sites to review your comic. Offer webcomics you really admire or are close to your own to do an exchange - if you put their banner up on your site, they'll put yours up (sort of an "affiliate" offer). Hold a contest on the self-promo forum under your comic's title. The fifth (or whatever number you deem appropriate) person to post a kind comment about your comic will get some form of fan-service (you decide). Use social media sites like Twitter, FaceBook, tumblr, etc, to update often with sketches and funny little comics. One comic I know was a very music-intense one; the artist would post songs that inspired her to draw and they even offered a competition to local bands to make a jingle for the comic! (Alas, that comic is gone now.) Some people make AMVs on YouTube. Others go to conventions and hand out flyers and merch promoting their comic. There are all sorts of different ways to promote - just be unique and respectful. Spamming only creates a general blacklist-feeling among the web community and it's very easy to be banned. (Don't believe me? Check the Forum's Gallows.)

One thing that irks me about the Self-Promotion Forum. People make topics like it's the "thing to do" and then when it comes time for the monthly update-bump they're permitted, they literally just write, "Bump." What is that?!? If you're going to do the Self-Promo Forum, do it right. Include updates about scheduling changes, upcoming events in the storyline and any changes in the authorship. Remind everyone when the comic updates. Include pretty fan-art or even just illustration work you've created to promote the comic. Host a quiz about different details in the comic. Link back to the website, so people don't have to click on your profile and scroll like the dickens. Heck, have the website link to your forum topic. Introduce new characters. Just do something. That's an amazing opportunity to really hard-sell your comic. Don't be shy - do it!!

I bet you can't tell I've been getting more and more annoyed by that Self-Promo Forum. It actually turns me off of titles when the author doesn't even try to update the forum about them, and just say "bump." Nothing screams "I really don't care about this comic" than not even trying when you're being encouraged to put it all out on the line.

That is all on that subject. *ahem*

Anyone else have any ideas?

[corruption]

When it comes to marketing comics, it can be hard. One thing to keep in mind to give you hope is this small story; Neil Gunstive (or however you spell his last name) started a webcomic called Robot Stories, with the main strip being Retail Hell. He started selling merchandise of his strip and made some money from it. Other comic authors asked him to handle merchandise for them, since he showed he could. He eventually had to finish his webcomics so he could focus on all the business he was doing.

This was long ago when merchandising webcomics was new, so don't count on it.

One thing I can recommend is getting your comics listed on as many directories and indexes as possible.

Sometimes you can find a community on the net that is interested in some comics that are not printed, and use them as your base market, expanding from there. One example is TGcomics.com. It is a site dedicated to TG comics, and in the forums people mention other TG comics hosted elsewhere that they like. However, not many of them are published. If someone was to offer to publish them, then the authors and the site members would probably like that. Find some web communities you can do that for, and expand to a broader market base.

I'm guessing one of your major stumbling blocks is your age and inexperiance. After all, who wants a student to run a business they plan on using a lot? One recommendation is to find other people who are refused elsewhere by people who don't want to be linked to some new artist who has not shown they will be profitable, or who is considered too out there for a major company to be associated with.

One last thing is something I am not sure if anyone has done. Offer to host the comics, and get the rights to publish them in exchange for hosting. I don't know how that will work, but it's an idea to think about.


Not to put too finer point on it, I just started reading your comic, and I believe that it is not the kind of comic most people would think of paying for if published. I admit the art is decent, and you have decent main plot and characters, as far as I have read, but it is to specalized. Mostly only Pokemon fans would be interested, and unless your friends are manga fans, I think that may explain why you have trouble getting them to read it.

I'm sorry to have to tell you that, but when looked at from a business point of view, you have to think about what other people want, not what you like. If you tried starting with a comic that is not as niche market as Pokemon comics are, you should have better success.

[elrotram]

I disagree with corruption. One of my favorite quotes is, "Just because you've decided to sell out, doesn't mean anyone's going to buy." Having a niche comic is good - it means you have an easy target audience. See where they post and go there to advertise. I know Pokemon forums exist - go there and post relevant things, with a link to your webcomic in the signature. No, a niche comic won't have as large an audience as something more generic BUT the audience will be much more loyal and probably will follow you to your next project.

[corruption]

I disagree with corruption. One of my favorite quotes is, "Just because you've decided to sell out, doesn't mean anyone's going to buy." Having a niche comic is good - it means you have an easy target audience. See where they post and go there to advertise. I know Pokemon forums exist - go there and post relevant things, with a link to your webcomic in the signature. No, a niche comic won't have as large an audience as something more generic BUT the audience will be much more loyal and probably will follow you to your next project.

I did not mean to sell out. I'm just saying that having a niche comic is going to make it hard to get started. If you try to do another comic, and it's what a broader market likes, you would likely have more success, in general. Don't do something you don't like, since it will show through in your work and drive away your audiance.

Besides, I believe if in one expression that sums up what Elrotram quoted; "Selling out doesn't sell."

If you can find the market you are interested in and put the word out about your publishing idea, you would probably get people coming to you. Just had a thought: try pokemon forums and fan sites.

Just had another, more serious thought. If you are going to try publishing fancomics, consider the fact that people who own the characters, worlds, trademarks and other such things may be able to take legal action. On the web it is considered fine, mainly because there is considered to be not enough money in it to make it worth their while to come after you. That does not consider the matter or juristication and other such thing. If you publish them, that is different.

[FabulousFox]

When it comes to marketing comics, it can be hard. One thing to keep in mind to give you hope is this small story; Neil Gunstive (or however you spell his last name) started a webcomic called Robot Stories, with the main strip being Retail Hell. He started selling merchandise of his strip and made some money from it. Other comic authors asked him to handle merchandise for them, since he showed he could. He eventually had to finish his webcomics so he could focus on all the business he was doing.

This was long ago when merchandising webcomics was new, so don't count on it.

One thing I can recommend is getting your comics listed on as many directories and indexes as possible.

Sometimes you can find a community on the net that is interested in some comics that are not printed, and use them as your base market, expanding from there. One example is TGcomics.com. It is a site dedicated to TG comics, and in the forums people mention other TG comics hosted elsewhere that they like. However, not many of them are published. If someone was to offer to publish them, then the authors and the site members would probably like that. Find some web communities you can do that for, and expand to a broader market base.

I'm guessing one of your major stumbling blocks is your age and inexperiance. After all, who wants a student to run a business they plan on using a lot? One recommendation is to find other people who are refused elsewhere by people who don't want to be linked to some new artist who has not shown they will be profitable, or who is considered too out there for a major company to be associated with.

One last thing is something I am not sure if anyone has done. Offer to host the comics, and get the rights to publish them in exchange for hosting. I don't know how that will work, but it's an idea to think about.


Not to put too finer point on it, I just started reading your comic, and I believe that it is not the kind of comic most people would think of paying for if published. I admit the art is decent, and you have decent main plot and characters, as far as I have read, but it is to specalized. Mostly only Pokemon fans would be interested, and unless your friends are manga fans, I think that may explain why you have trouble getting them to read it.

I'm sorry to have to tell you that, but when looked at from a business point of view, you have to think about what other people want, not what you like. If you tried starting with a comic that is not as niche market as Pokemon comics are, you should have better success.

Thank you for tips, I'll definitely ponder about hosting the comics and finding new underestimated artists~ :D

And also my bad, I should have mentioned I have no intention on publishing or selling my current Pokemon comic. Its more of a fun thing that my partner and I love to do, and practice for us. However, we do still love all of our characters and the plot, so at the same time we do want to advertise it online for people to read it...I'd be too afraid of Nintendo suing me to ever print my The City is at War comic~ xP lol

The first comic I plan on selling is a superhero-esque comic that we've been working on for about 3 years, which may also have the niche audience problem, but we're hoping at least someone would like to read it~ :3

[FabulousFox]

I have tips and tricks I use, as do many others, but most publishing companies HIRE people to do that sort of thing. If advertising isn't your strong point and you own a company, I advise you do that.

However, if you're simply trying to advertise for your webcomic, you're going have to look at it from a guerilla warfare point of view. I don't mean you should launch yourself at unsuspecting pedestrians. Wait, maybe I do.

Keep a banner in your forum signatures in ALL of the forums you frequent. Start a blog and create posts that would interest other artists (Comic Spotlights, tips on how you do your art, etc) - using your comic as reference. Ask other sites to review your comic. Offer webcomics you really admire or are close to your own to do an exchange - if you put their banner up on your site, they'll put yours up (sort of an "affiliate" offer). Hold a contest on the self-promo forum under your comic's title. The fifth (or whatever number you deem appropriate) person to post a kind comment about your comic will get some form of fan-service (you decide). Use social media sites like Twitter, FaceBook, tumblr, etc, to update often with sketches and funny little comics. One comic I know was a very music-intense one; the artist would post songs that inspired her to draw and they even offered a competition to local bands to make a jingle for the comic! (Alas, that comic is gone now.) Some people make AMVs on YouTube. Others go to conventions and hand out flyers and merch promoting their comic. There are all sorts of different ways to promote - just be unique and respectful. Spamming only creates a general blacklist-feeling among the web community and it's very easy to be banned. (Don't believe me? Check the Forum's Gallows.)

One thing that irks me about the Self-Promotion Forum. People make topics like it's the "thing to do" and then when it comes time for the monthly update-bump they're permitted, they literally just write, "Bump." What is that?!? If you're going to do the Self-Promo Forum, do it right. Include updates about scheduling changes, upcoming events in the storyline and any changes in the authorship. Remind everyone when the comic updates. Include pretty fan-art or even just illustration work you've created to promote the comic. Host a quiz about different details in the comic. Link back to the website, so people don't have to click on your profile and scroll like the dickens. Heck, have the website link to your forum topic. Introduce new characters. Just do something. That's an amazing opportunity to really hard-sell your comic. Don't be shy - do it!!

I bet you can't tell I've been getting more and more annoyed by that Self-Promo Forum. It actually turns me off of titles when the author doesn't even try to update the forum about them, and just say "bump." Nothing screams "I really don't care about this comic" than not even trying when you're being encouraged to put it all out on the line.

That is all on that subject. *ahem*

Anyone else have any ideas?

Hmm, true, if I was planning on going professional it would be a good idea to hire someone for advertising, but its always good to have some under your belt~

Ah well, throwing myself at people is the only technique I've tried so far~ >.> lol

Thank you for all that, those are definitely all doable for me, I'll get right on the guerilla warfare tactic! My partner and I have been actually discussing handing out flyers for our others comics at conventions and local comic book stores once they're ready to be print and such~ :3
And don't worry, I always update my self-promo forum by saying new pages, characters, etc...its just no one has read the forum so far~ xP

[elrotram]

stuff

You just have to be willing to spend a few hours a week promoting yourself like hella whoa. If you're willing to put several hours in a week and feel a wee bit silly, you're bound to lure in readers. Good luck~!

[corruption]

One thing you can do is to get more experiance and some referances by publishing a few things other then comics. I am not sure exactly what it is a publisher does, so I can't be too specific. Things like helping to publish a local Church paper at cost. Once you start doing things like this, people will see you can handle the job.

About superhero comics. Some are fairly original. The looser/ idiot superhero has been overused in my experiance. Some Superhero web comics out there are good. Examples include The Milkmaid and it's spinoff The Chocoloate Milkmaid (Published by White Lightening Productions), Spinerette (Self published, I think), Grrl Power, Supermegatopia (Before they were removed from the net, damnit!) and more.

About fancomics being too risky to publish, there may be a way around it. Go to a representitive of the company who owns the comic and ask for permission to publish non-cannon fancomics. Maybe offer them a slice of the profit, or something. Just an idea, but it could work.

[Taiki]

If you want to publish other people's webcomics, I would be very careful. A lot of people abandon their comics and you don't want to be publishing their's if they do that. (Best example that I can think of being Hanna is Not a Boy's Name). I would make sure to know the person's track record of comics before considering them. Have they abandoned comics in the past? For me, I want to be taken seriously as a comic artist/writer so I am making sure that I finish any comic that I start.

A good way of advertising that I think someone mentioned was to give away fliers and stuff at cons. I just went to my first major con last weekend and put a bunch of free bookmarks with my site url on the Freebies Table (most cons have these) and I got a lot of traffic from it. :] Knowing which genre/fanbase follows your comic is always beneficial. For example, on inkOUTBREAK there is a banner exchange and if you look into the data they provide you, you can see which comics get you the most clicks. I then go to those comics and if they have advertising available, I would invest in more full time ads on their site because the banner exchange is random.

[Jeremy Ray]

It actually turns me off of titles when the author doesn't even try to update the forum about them, and just say "bump." Nothing screams "I really don't care about this comic" than not even trying when you're being encouraged to put it all out on the line.

I "bump." Click on my link and tell me I don't care about my comic. I had a decent publisher offer to publish it.

The truth is that 99% of webcomic artists need to put in five more years of dedicated practice before they'll have pencilling skills worth pimping. If you want color and you want to write, double or triple that number. Don't put the cart before the horse. Time spent promoting a comic is wasted if the comic sucks. One thing that amazes me is how much time people will put into giving advice on forums, promoting, or, heaven forbid, practicing their signature like they're a master and the world cares, instead of drawing.

About niche comics, oddly enough I've found it's no guarantee of an audience, let alone a devoted audience, at all. Maybe that's limited to the horror genre, but I've posted on multiple horror forums and I don't think I got more than a bit of traffic from them. I posted in a comic thread on AVPgalaxy, but all they wanted to talk about was Marvel and DC.

The only good advice is to do the comic you want to do because most likely you'll be the only one who cares about it for a very long time.

[elrotram]

It actually turns me off of titles when the author doesn't even try to update the forum about them, and just say "bump." Nothing screams "I really don't care about this comic" than not even trying when you're being encouraged to put it all out on the line.

I "bump." Click on my link and tell me I don't care about my comic. I had a decent publisher offer to publish it.

The truth is that 99% of webcomic artists need to put in five more years of dedicated practice before they'll have pencilling skills worth pimping. If you want color and you want to write, double or triple that number. Don't put the cart before the horse. Time spent promoting a comic is wasted if the comic sucks. One thing that amazes me is how much time people will put into giving advice on forums, promoting, or, heaven forbid, practicing their signature like they're a master and the world cares, instead of drawing.

About niche comics, oddly enough I've found it's no guarantee of an audience, let alone a devoted audience, at all. Maybe that's limited to the horror genre, but I've posted on multiple horror forums and I don't think I got more than a bit of traffic from them. I posted in a comic thread on AVPgalaxy, but all they wanted to talk about was Marvel and DC.

The only good advice is to do the comic you want to do because most likely you'll be the only one who cares about it for a very long time.

If you're looking to truly advertise to the masses, then you bump by including information. You have a beautiful comic (though lettering is not your strong point but we all have weaknesses), I'm happy that a company wants to publish it, but she/he (sorry, I don't know) wants to start an advertising company. Therefore, knowing that you have to "bump" in the forums doing more than just saying, "bump" is important. Advertising is different than drawing. A lot of artists have to do both.

And the sad part is it takes so. very. little. time. All you have to say is, "We're in the middle of chapter one!" "We finished chapter two!" "Here's the pencil for page XX." I don't need paragraphs, I just want a sentence stating that you care about keeping your audience in the know and are letting the new readers know what they're getting themselves into. It's a kindness to your readers. Most authors who don't have the art to fall on, as you do, post a simple "bump" and that isn't enticing. If you have the skills to get away with it, a sentence as I mentioned, is fine; if you don't, then you have to wrok a little harder and include a little more.

Advertising and art are two very different spheres. I mean no offense to you (I fear my post may seem a little snappish) and respect you as an artist. I just happen to think more about the advertising aspect of comics (I worked under a mentor who failed at it, you see, and I had to pull slack for him) and have read enough and practiced enough on the subject to speak with a wee bit of authority. If you asked me to explain how to do a complex art style, I might not be able to; you ask me how to advertise something, I can give you about twenty ideas in five minutes flat. We all have our own little talents.

Congratulations again on the offer.