Believe your comic is popular and awesome and it will come true!

Catchy title eh? I've been watching webcomics come and go and I've noticed something interesting.

Webcomics that act like hotshots become hotshots. I think people can be too afraid to put their comics in big sites. Too afraid to expose!

For example... a stupid stupid webcomic The Book of Biff makes it to The Webcomic Choice awards. It advertised like crazy at big sites like Red String.

Example 2 After Lily (heart you deepcheese!) has only been out since 2008. AL advertised at big sites. Also put AL in http://tvtropes.org/ [tvtropes.org] right along side Sluggyfreelance and No Rest for the Wicked just like it was just as awesome.

I think Sailorsun, Lady Star, Pikatrix, and Between Failures are examples of comics not afraid to expose themselves thus becoming popular.

So... perhaps a raid of tv tropes is in order.

Yeah, that does sound like a good philosophy. If you act like you deserve it, you will get it. And I'm going to try this out with the mass advertising.

Once I find someone with a spare $100 I can borrow for advertising.

It's not so much acting like a 'hotshot' as it is advertising and not having the typical 'boo my webcomic is crappy and not worthy of a bunch of readers' attitude people seem to have. Getting word that your comic exists is the only 'secret' of more readers :P

But you do mention an excellent time-honored advertising strategy- acting like your comic has something to offer people-even if it doesn't. For example sore thumbs is a pretty mediocre comic, but it's ads are sexy and feature artwork 30x better than the strip, making you think it's going to offer that. It doesn't, but the few people that don't immediately click the back button are going to trudge through sore thumbs archives anyways.


And I got to the #3 spot on DD with 4$ in advertising on sites like misfile and flipside then canceling them both after 4$ were gone.

I think it can be more though. I'd wouldn't expect Book of Biff to have much luck advertising on a site(Red String) that's geared around shojo manga. It makes me wonder if getting the sheer amount of clicks makes a bigger audience vs just advertising in your genre.

Well, I suppose your right in a way. I guess it'd be like a train yourself to think that, and it will happen kind of thing.
I've heard of people who train themselves to think positively and all that, and they start doing better in like everything.
So I guess the same basic rule would apply to comics. If you keep thinking to yourself that you have to improve, and that it is/will be awesome, then you'll work on it so much that eventually, it will actually become awesome.

As far as marketing is concerned, item no. 3 on this list is the best piece of advice I've seen lately.

No idea how to put it into practice, but it's certainly made me think!

For advertising, here's something that's worked well for me, even though it only started last Thursday. I registered Living With Insanity over at onlinecomics.net and last week I bought a sponsership. Almost immediately my number of hits jumped into the thousands. Also, I had a naked girl in the avatar, so that probably helped a little too.

But yeah, thanks to that, I think I'm in the top 50 comics on drunkduck now. Maybe if I start acting like a hotshot for tomorrow's update I'll reach the top ten. By the way, remember to read Living With Insanity. It's the best comic available on this site. And the author is a god to you!

I don't know why uou have to make sure everyone knows that you don't like book of biff. It's a good webcomic and if you can't appreciate it then don't whine about it being succsessfull only because of advertisement.

Advertising and already having a fanbase for your work helps a lot of comics.

But yeah, I don't think anyone's afraid to get their comic out there like that - not anyone who wants to. They're just extremely poor, and don't realize how important actually getting the word out is.

Lord knows some of us believe in our comics more than enough.

Well, acting like a hot shot won't help you if you've got nothing to back it up with. That said, I'm a firm believer in "fake it 'til you make it". I can't speak much for webcomics, because it's new territory for me. But every opportunity I've had as an artist, I've gotten with swagger. ;)

You do need to self-promote ruthlessly in every creative field. There's this idea of "if I'm good enough, and work hard enough, good things will happen to me!". Like the popular romantic delusion that your genius will be "discovered" by some wealthy benefactor... Ha. Naw, man. It's all legwork!

Not everyone here has the means to do that; I don't think it's a question of confidence. By "means" I don't necessarily mean financial means, though. It also takes time and strategy- a lot of people making webcomics for fun aren't looking to go out of their way to get more hits, or have a defined "plan" as to how to promote their book.

There are dozens of free options to promote your comic to a large number of viewers; some of them are more distasteful than others (like spamming stumble reviews, attracting bots to boost your page views so search engines put you at the top, or creating fake twitter accounts to make it seem that you're more popular than you really are). It all boils down to how hard you're going to look.

this thread reminds me of that law of attraction thing in the movie "The Secret".

Skullbie
But you do mention an excellent time-honored advertising strategy- acting like your comic has something to offer people-even if it doesn't. For example sore thumbs is a pretty mediocre comic, but it's ads are sexy and feature artwork 30x better than the strip, making you think it's going to offer that. It doesn't, but the few people that don't immediately click the back button are going to trudge through sore thumbs archives anyways.


And I got to the #3 spot on DD with 4$ in advertising on sites like misfile and flipside then canceling them both after 4$ were gone.

Same. Just for kicks and giggles, I made a Last Words ad with a naked woman on it that flipped to a little bit after 5 seconds that called the people who clicked it right away pervs, about a week after I got featured and I ended up in the #3 spot while only paying about $6 on Buttersafe.

I have to agree with skullbie that the lesson is more "advertise your comic and you will get more readers" rather then act like a hot shot!

I believe my comic is awesome, but not many people will also believe this unless I fork out the dough for some adverts!

BffSatan
I don't know why uou have to make sure everyone knows that you don't like book of biff. It's a good webcomic and if you can't appreciate it then don't whine about it being succsessfull only because of advertisement.

I didn't say I hated it or liked it. I just said it was stupid, because that's the kind of comic it is. I'm sure some people like stupid slapstick comedy like that.

Edit: Relooked at it. Yeah it's funny. Stupid funny. :)

angry_black_guy
There are dozens of free options to promote your comic to a large number of viewers; some of them are more distasteful than others (like spamming stumble reviews, attracting bots to boost your page views so search engines put you at the top, or creating fake twitter accounts to make it seem that you're more popular than you really are). It all boils down to how hard you're going to look.

You don't even have to bot it. Just look at Picatrix, it's taken advantage of every free promotion you can do. I'm sorry ahead if I'm putting up comics for examples, but that's the easiest way for you to see what I mean first hand.

my problem with this philosophy is....Im not trying to sell my webcomic. Im trying to sell MYSELF.

Im not a long term guy. I do short contained stories. there is an end to KFK, in fact, we are more than halfway towards it. it will end, I will start a new strip. Im not looking to create a brand with my comic, Im trying to create a brand for my name. I want people to read my comics because they are made by me, not because "its KFK by that guy!"

so yeah. its harder this way.

NickGuy
my problem with this philosophy is....Im not trying to sell my webcomic. Im trying to sell MYSELF.

*slips dollar bill into your thong*

But, Nick, doesn't selling your comic kinda go hand in hand with selling your name (and vice versa), even if your comic(s) is (are) not endless?

If you're selling yourself, then you just need to be an ostensibly awesome person. And well, advice on how to do that is a little bit harder.

I'm awesome and for sale; how's that for hot shot?

Hello everyone,

First I want to thank DAJB for linking my article on this forum. I read everyone's comments about this subject. Coming from a marketing standpoint, one definitely needs to have confidence in their webcomic in order to sell it (or yourself). However, there are ways of doing it PROPERLY. Some people know exactly what to do in order to give exposure to your work while others need a few lessons here and there. That is fine too.

Tomorrow I will be doing an interview about how to sell your webcomics on WEBCOMICS REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS at 6pm EST. I would love to hear your thoughts and questions. For more information on this interview go to www.belkisnyc.com.

Thanks!

-Belkis
www.belkisnyc.com
Marketing for the Creative Soul

fukujinzuke
But, Nick, doesn't selling your comic kinda go hand in hand with selling your name (and vice versa), even if your comic(s) is (are) not endless?

oh definately...but think about the creators who focus on one long running comic...for instance, how many people know Dragonball first, then Akira Toriyama? I dont want my work to be bigger than me. Im bigger than my work. That is one thing that I like about American comics, is that alot of creators arent simply referred to as "the guy who does *insert comic here*" Frank Miller is bigger than just sin city and 300. I want that. I want my name to sell books, not the title of my comic.

In the short term, Its quicker and easier to just keep doing a comic strip on and on until it gets noticed and accumulates fans. when you stop and start something new, theres no guarantee that fans of the first work will pick up the new stuff.

I don't have to "believe" my comic is popular and awesome. My comic IS awesome. The title character is awesome. I as the artist, however, am struggling to catch up with its awesomeness :D

My comics are so awesome that I read them 100x a day over and over again and I so wanna scream and flip out because they're just so awesome that I just wanna do that over and over again you know what I mean.

They should be in the top 10 of drunkduck.

And if you dont think that my comics are awesome, you have mental problems. Because theyre not in the top 10, the drunkduck admins (as well as everyone else who thinks that the current top 10 are really the ones that should be in the top 10) have mental problems and are politically incorrect. They should go to the mental hospital and take prozac. nuff said.

lol!

Nick: Ahhh, good point.

My comic is so awe i'm still working on the some part. I personally love my comic I wish I had better computer skills to really make it look awesome.

I'm watch Colbert right now, and if there's anyone that proves that acting like you're the king of the world makes you the king of the world, he is it.
He demands that everyone should love him because he's awesome... and it works.

I believe my comic is awesome and well written. I am however starting to advertise as money makes things more awesome. The only issue I have is decided whether to promote the drunk dunk one or the actual site.

megan_rose
I'm watch Colbert right now, and if there's anyone that proves that acting like you're the king of the world makes you the king of the world, he is it.
He demands that everyone should love him because he's awesome... and it works.

Best example. :D LOL.

I don't mind if my comics become bigger than me. It'd be kind of weird, though. There're other aspects of me and my work that I want to promote a bit more, despite how much time I put into my webcomics, heh.

JillyFoo
I didn't say I hated it or liked it. I just said it was stupid, because that's the kind of comic it is. I'm sure some people like stupid slapstick comedy like that.

Edit: Relooked at it. Yeah it's funny. Stupid funny. :)

oh, ok, sorry then.