Top 5 Ways to Promote Your Comic Online?

TJBehe · Post by **TJBehe** » Mon May 21, 2007 3:10 am

Based on a few months bashing around the net, here are some of promo tactics I hacked away at that seem to work OK for drumming up interest for:

http://www.contrabandcomic.com

1. Post Your Sample for Free:
- DrunkDuck (attracts younger manga-mainc audience and has great stats functionality)
- ComicSpace.com (the full market and improving functionality)
- Comicgenesis (slightly older but great customisation and Keenspot placing for best stuff)
- Deviantart (slightly limited functionality but strong archive of high quality work)
- OnlineComics.net (one of the largest collections online)
- WebcomicNation (smaller but strong older webcomics)
- Clickwheel (growing collections and great viral site)

2. Buy Some Banner/Button Ads
- Project Wonderful (growing quickly and still around 1-2 cents per click-thru/1000 page views)
- Google Adwords (about 5-10 times more expensive than PW)
- Overture (again, way more expensive)

3. Stick your Site on Webcomic Ranking & Listing Sites
- TopWebcomics
- BuzzComix
- Thewebcomiclist
- Webcomics Super 100
- Killboredom
- digitalstrips
- ohnorobot
- comicnation
- comicalert
- webbedcomics.com

4. Plug Away on Forums and Group postings
- the webcomiclist
- topwebcomics
- comicgenesis
- comicbloc
- digitalwebbing
- buzzcomix.net
- Buzzcomics.com (France)

5. A Bunch of Other Traditional Web Stuff?
- Link exchanges
- Banner exchange programs
- Online Press Releases
- Ezine Newsletter (opt-in email)
- Free Business Directories listing
- Free newsletter adverts
- Search engine optimization
- RSS Feeds
- Prize and Competitions

Please feel free to drop me a line if you know other/better tactics as a few of these schemes may now be a tad dated?

Cheers, TJ

http://www.contrabandcomic.com

Valkyrk · Post by **Valkyrk** » Tue May 22, 2007 3:16 pm

I don't know if you sneaked this into one of the ten you described, but putting your comic on a ranking site like Top Web Comics or BuzzComix might be an additional method. Of course, this requires that your readers actually care enough about your comic to vote for it......

Warofwinds · Post by **Warofwinds** » Wed May 23, 2007 12:22 pm

There's also conventions. Pimping your comic in person in a giant crowd interested in the same kinds of things has great results, if you know your way around a pitch. Not all promoting must be virtual.

Tetsuo75 · Post by **Tetsuo75** » Wed May 23, 2007 5:30 pm

Submit your comic to webcomic listing sites like http://www.onlinecomics.net and http://www.thewebcomiclist.com
Those places usually have a "latest comics" section that advertises your comic for about a week or so after you submit it.

NakedElf · Post by **NakedElf** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 3:27 am

Very similar to link and banner exchanges, but I use webrings. No individual webring gets me a lot of hits, but they do bring in a few folks per day.

Search engine optimization is what has *really* worked best for me, though.

MoulinSP85 · Post by **MoulinSP85** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:03 pm

No one mentioned word of mouth...

The ultimate form of advertisement... doesn't cost a dime but guarantees amazing results!

Fourth Floor · Post by **Fourth Floor** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:01 pm

Yeah, but word-of-mouth kinda happens by itself. That one's a given. Although I won't argue with you about its power. In my experience things that spread by word of mouth achieve the kind of success that never goes away.

Just look at Harry Potter. And Google. They both spread that way and just look at them now.

Biev · Post by **Biev** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:23 pm

In my short and humble experience here's what works best:

1) Paying to get your banner on popular sites
2) Vote incentives for the ranking sites
3) Making friends with as many other comic artists as possible
4) Staying active on as many forums as possible

These are all either time or wallet consuming. Advertising is hard work, which is why people pay others to do it : P

Anime cons probably work better than all of that, but then again it's a bigger time and money investment. I'll have to give it a shot one day when I have enough of both to invest : )

Themacnut · Post by **Themacnut** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:58 am

Fourth Floor wrote:Yeah, but word-of-mouth kinda happens by itself. That one's a given. Although I won't argue with you about its power. In my experience things that spread by word of mouth achieve the kind of success that never goes away.

Just look at Harry Potter. And Google. They both spread that way and just look at them now.

The problem is getting that kind of thing started. And if you can't, does it mean your comic sucks? or just that enough people haven't seen it for them to generate the buzz?

NakedElf · Post by **NakedElf** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 7:58 pm

Well, Google did become successful because it genuinely offered a search engine which worked *better* than the competition. HP is a genuinely good quality kids' book.

If you're not getting word of mouth, it means that you aren't exceptional. (or that you're just too obscure for people to find. I mean, people *do* have to find you in order to talk about you...) it doesn't necessarily mean that you suck. Most of us are just average...

Jackhass · Post by **Jackhass** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:34 pm

There's only one real garaunteed way for a website or webcomic to make it big and that's to have a large more popular website take pity on you and link/promote you.

Advertising doesn't really have much of a lasting effect...once your money runs out and the ad is gone the benefit usually goes with it. Webrings/ranking sites may work for a small number of people willing to spend large amounts of time working the system...most people just get lost in the shuffle. Establishing yourself on certain messageboards and in certain communities helps, but again...most people only really have the time and energy to establish themselves as a known face in a handful of places.

So really the best way to get ahead is to try and cozy up to more popular webcomic creators and hope they're nice enough to link to you someday. Also, don't just go for other webcomic creators, think of what other communities or websites outside of webcomic fans who might be interested in your comic.

That and pray, because really, what makes it what doesn't is largely luck.

That guy · Post by **That guy** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 4:34 am

Jackhass wrote:There's only one real garaunteed way for a website or webcomic to make it big and that's to have a large more popular website take pity on you and link/promote you...

You still need to be good, but I think you hit it on the head. The most effective advertismement has always been word-of-mouth... if your unpopular friend tells his unpopular friend it doesn't move very fast, but chum up with Mr. Popular and you're in like Flynn (as long as you have the stuff to back it up).

Moonlightace · Post by **Moonlightace** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 9:56 pm

So in summing up...It all boils down to one key point...

Don't suck?

Themacnut · Post by **Themacnut** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:37 pm

moonlightace wrote:So in summing up...It all boils down to one key point...

Don't suck?

And get someone more popular than you to like you and toot your horn. Really, webcomics are a lot like high school that way

TJBehe · Post by **TJBehe** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 3:18 am

been getting lots of freaky friend requests on facebook and comicspace - something tells me they might be giving me a bit of spam treatment pretty soon?

http://www.CONTRABANDcomic.blogspot.com

TJBehe · Post by **TJBehe** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 12:05 am

and...

Probably behind the curve on this one but what's seems to be working really well for some is this "pencil preview for a vote" scheme folks have running (Ie..PC Weenies)...stats show they snag a few thousand unique visits each day from folks simply keen to see a glimpse into the next's day's content...T

www.contrabandcomic.blogspot.com

Fabio Ciccone · Post by **Fabio Ciccone** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:29 am

Nice tips! Lots of webcomic listing sites I didn't know

Cullen · Post by **Cullen** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:20 am

Very interesting.

Yep. Big talker. That's me.

TJBehe · Post by **TJBehe** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 8:48 am

Search engine submission sites (ie..Addme)

Anyone know if any of these even work - or do you need to fork out cash to regularly get listed on yahoo, ask, etc?

http://www.contrabandcomic.com

ChaosBurnFlame · Post by **ChaosBurnFlame** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 12:27 pm

1) Plug Yourself on a national radio show

2) Talk about your comic on a podcast show

3) Start a fight with someone bigger than you.

4) Pay for a banner ad on a more popular comic

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Top 5 Ways to Promote Your Comic Online?

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