Promoting Webcomics?

krf asks: "Have any other Slashdot readers ever tried to get a webcomic off the ground? What promotional tricks have you used? I've been doing my strip for a couple of months now. Traffic is good, but not great. I think that most of my visitors are friends or people who heard of the site via word-of-mouth. I'm looking for ways to bring the strip to a larger audience. I've submitted links to most of the big webcomics pages, but a lot of the 'top 100'ish lists seem pretty tacky - kind of like linking pyramid schemes. I've paid for some very targeted advertising, but not many people click on ads any more. I've even tried getting in to local print outlets, with very limited success. I enjoy writing and drawing the strip, but it's always nice to know that other people are reading it. I'd appreciate any advice Slashdot readers might have to offer."

Comments

Comic

[secolactico]

Maybe I'm just being obtuse, but quite frankly I don't get most of your comics.

For example: http://simulatedcomicproduct.com/index.php?cid=12

I don't get it.

Same old same old

[nakly]

It's a lot harder to make a successful webcomic than it used to be. A few years ago, webcomics were a relatively new idea, and people were having fun exploring the new medium. They found strips they like, and have worked them into their weekly schedule.

Now, though, there's not a real audience for new webcomics. People already have webcomics they like, and the excitement's gone in looking for new ones. Most people take an "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach.

The way to make anything successful is to offer everyone wants, but they can't get anywhere else. Your webcomic's material is a dime a dozen; you didn't start soon enough. I really don't see your strip getting off the ground.

Then again, you did get yourself a link off slashdot. That's not gonna hurt.

Re:Nothing to worry about

[Yokaze]

I thought that was why it is accompanied with the "Foot"-icon, because it is a post, which is (also) mocking itself. Just maybe, the sublety is misplaced in this forum. OTOH, maybe I'm reading to much into it.

Nice sig, but it might be in order to credit the source.

I say this

[focitrixilous P]

Put a link in your sig at the most, and focus your energy on making a quality strip. Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door. Don't worrying about being an overnight star, just keep going. I can already see the improvement over 20 strips, the last 5 are better overall then the first 5. A lot of the best humor sites (maddox, achewood, penny-arcade) don't do any advertising at all, and lots of people have heard of them. Be funny, don't give up, and see what happens. If you aren't funny, admit it to yourself, and change things until you are, or find someone online to help you. Lots of funny things get posted to slashdot, it's possible someone would help you if your narrow the focus a little bit.

I've tried some creative ventures, but I had never had the drive to keep anything going. If you want to learn from my mistakes, check out My attempt at a series of short stories, updated once every 4 months or so.

RSS Feed

[wka]

Publish an RSS or Atom feed of your comic. It should show your actual comic images, not just links to each comic. This way, you let readers subscribe to the comic -- it will come to them, showing up in the feed reader of their choice. They will not have to go to your site all the time to check for updates.