Anarchy in your Head Web Comics

[dalebert]

Just posted a new cartoon and a brief blog entry called Free State Project Myths. Please check it out and I encourage you to use the comments section, even if it's for some constructive criticism (or not so constructive criticism).

http://anarchyinyourhead.com/2008/03/01/free-state-project-myths/

If you enjoy it, please digg it.

http://digg.com/comedy/Free_State_Project_Myths

[error]

Dugg.

[FTL_Ian]

Grody!

[dalebert]

I got a call from Google Adwords yesterday offering a free consultation about my advertising campaign. I'm not sure what to think about it. My ads aren't getting clicked a lot which means I'm not spending a lot. I'm also not getting much traffic from it. The words I choose are more expensive if they are commonly searched words. They're offering to help me pick better words which would presumably use more of my ad budget (I'm sure they like that) and hopefully help traffic and therefore income.

Here's the thing. The site's not profitable; not even remotely. The site's not catching on. Traffic isn't going up at all from word of mouth. I'm not sure that spending more on ads, even if it's more effectively designed, is going to help. I know that the site needs work to be more appealing and I feel like that's where I need to be focusing before trying to promote it more aggressively. They're talking about driving traffic from people who want to buy libertarian products to my store. Thing is, the store isn't selling anything at all other than the Ron Paul Xmas cards. Not one item has sold. I don't think it's an issue of advertising. They claim that with well targeted ads, I'd draw traffic from people more likely to buy something but it seems like a stretch.

When I started with Adwords, the idea was not to spend a lot on advertising necessarily, but rather to put me in a more favorable position for searches. I just have this feeling the site is about to become more expensive for nothing. Any thoughts?

[Tom Ploszaj]

Darn Dale!
Checked out your store and there isn't anything I need.
Love your cartoons though.
It's not much but I'll start with a pledge of $10 to help keep them coming.
Someone remind me to make good on this at PorcFest.

[Russell Kanning]

I would say that spending more on adwords would not be worth it for you.
If you create great content it will be linked and spread and stuph.

[dalebert]

Thanx Tom. I didn't meant for it to come across as whining which belongs in that special section. I'm simply asking for feedback on my participation with Adwords. Your support is certainly appreciated. If you go to the "support" link on my page, it talks about ways to help. I noticed that you don't have a sig line. You can actually cut and paste the code to have a banner like mine which is particularly helpful if you visit other forums and use it there too. It will automatically update each time a new cartoon goes up. If you ever wanted to have text in your sigline, perhaps you can keep that and have a banner as well. I'm going to be adding an animated banner shortly.

Russell, you're affirming what I was already thinking. It's the content that's the problem. Or rather, it's not that it's a problem per se, but it's not catchy and it needs to be before I spend too much on promotion. If I was selling just a few products in the store, then I'd say marketing to the right people might increase my sales, but since I haven't sold anything, it doesn't seem like a few extra hits are going to make the difference. I do plan to add some things that make better t-shirt logos and what-not. Comic strips probably have a limited value in terms of a product line. People might read a comic and like it, but they don't necessarily make good images for t-shirts, mouse pads and such. I just have one design so far that's meant specifically for products.

Anyone else have feedback?

[srqrebel]

The only way to find out is to try what Google is suggesting for a few months, and see what happens.  That is what I would do.

How much extra would that cost?

(And by the way, I've been meaning to purchase a shirt with "Give Peace through superior firepower A Chance", and just haven't gotten around to doing it yet.) 

I think your wares are quite saleable, you just need to make far more people aware of them.

[srqrebel]

On second thought, Dale, could you explain the idea behind that particular slogan?  The description on Cafe Press sounds like it is meant to bolster support for gun rights and personal self-defense.

I thought it was a sarcastic take on the US gov's military strategy: Achieve world peace through superior firepower -- an oxymoron.  I do support the right to guns for personal self-defense, but I am not sure that particular slogan gets the message across very effectively.

[Jacobus]

I expect it would be difficult to generate revenue through the store. 

Here are a few ideas on how to raise money:
- Follow FTL's model of donation subscription
    - sign up for recurrent $n/month subscriptions
    - assign levels (e.g. gold, silver) for amount people subscribe to
    - list supporters on website in prominent location
    - think of percs you can provide for subscribers
- Encourage people to make a small contribution to you each time they repost or use a cartoon (when it is not a direct link to your site)
- "Syndicate" your cartoon to specific sites and publications.  They could pay you some money to have the strips appear on their site if you agree to focus on some issues that are important to them.  Maybe the comic would appear first on their site or pub, and then after a week it would appear on your site.
- Create holiday or other greeting cards.  Lots of people buy these, and it seems to me a better item to try to sell given your talents than T-shirts.  For example, try writing a few Christmas cards with libertarian themes (e.g. an Austrian economist defending Scrooge).  I think these might sell, and if you have enough for different holidays, it could potentially give you a source of income throughout the year.

Take these FWIW, as I've never made any money doing anything except work for The Man.

EDITs: added more ideas as they came to me

[dalebert]

Take these FWIW, as I've never made any money doing anything except work for The Man.

Thanx. I'll prolly use some ideas and not others. For instance, not sure a subscription service would work for the site as is. Have to give some thought to that. I like your ideas for products though. I do actually sell all kinds of things; not just t-shirts. You can get most of my cartoons on cards, but like I said before, they don't necessarily work for printed material like that. I think your idea for liberty-oriented holiday cards is a great idea. I'm kicking myself for not doing a V-day one now. haha.

[Jacobus]

For instance, not sure a subscription service would work for the site as is.

If you averaged at least one comic per week and continued themes related to NH/FSP, I'd sign up to donate $3/month. 

[dalebert]

The only way to find out is to try what Google is suggesting for a few months, and see what happens.  That is what I would do.

How much extra would that cost?

It's based on how many times people click my ads that link to my site. Each click has a cost depending on how common of a search term I've chosen to attach the ad to. It tends to range between a few cents to about 10 or 15 cents. I have a cap of a dollar a day. That means it could end up costing as much as $30 a month which is significant if it's not resulting in any additional revenue.

[dalebert]

On second thought, Dale, could you explain the idea behind that particular slogan?

"Peace through superior firepower" is a gun rights slogan. I combined it with "Give peace a chance." a popular hippie slogan for what I thought was an amusing dichotomy. So it's a gun rights slogan, essentially. The notion of peace through superior firepower, beyond the humor, is that having clearly superior firepower prevents you actually having to use it in self-defense. It's the idea that an armed populace is less of a target to criminals.

[Eli]

Dale,

  I think the main problem with your site, and consequently your numbers and funding,  is the irregularity of your postings.  In my experience, successful webcomics, blogs, podcasts, provide content at a very regular interval.  Ideally a webcomic posts Daily.  Successful image blogs like post secret post weekly.  But irregular content is a bug, not a feature.  I'd focus more of your time/money/effort on churning out regular content, and see what builds.

-Eli