when it comes to your audience, size doesn’t matter. A small and engaged readership beats a huge, lukewarm audience every time. Here’s why…
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I polled my Patreon backers, and I asked them one simple question: How did you find out about my Patreon? The answers were surprising to me, so I made the poll ongoing — making the question a part of the welcome package that new Patreon backers receive. After several months of collecting data, I’d like to share my results…
Surprisingly, the vast majority of my Patreon backers are discovering my Patreon content through my site — and not through social media. (Although you could argue that come of them discovered the site itself through social media.) As much as I’m a proponent of publishing through social media, this is a strong argument in favor of continuing my efforts on my own site as well.
Second was Patreon itself. As you know, I don’t feel as if Patreon should be relied upon for discovery — and I talk about that in this episode of Webcomics Confidential…
…however, it’s good to know that Patreon is a solid contributor in that category. (It’s especially impressive since, due to the NSFW nature of my Patreon page, I don’t show up in Patreon’s search results.)
Social media — including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter — are nearly nonexistent players. They account for less than 1.5% apiece. However, as I said earlier, it may well be the case that my backers discovered the site itself through social media.
But that Patreon Content Exchange! That’s a very solid performer, accounting for nearly 4%. And that’s especially impressive since I don’t do content exchanges every month.
Every once in a while, I search Patreon for people who are doing something similar to what I’m doing.
Then I approach the person about a content trade. I’ll post something of theirs exclusively to my patrons. (Something they’ve already offered to their patrons.) And they can post something from myPatreon archive exclusively for their patrons.
(This works best with exclusive content — something that folks can’t get outside of Patreon.)
It’s a win-win.
We both get content that we think our patrons will enjoy. We both get an opportunity to expose our work to the people pledging to the other person.
I know the fear. “They’ll like the other person better, and ditch me in favor of them.” That.s not the case. Look at this chart from a content exchange between Javis Ray and me…
I can tell you from experience, I get a lot of new pledges who are continuing their pledge to the other person. (I know, because I always click that button to see who else they’re supporting.) For me, it has been a “rising tide lifts all boats ” situation.
Today’s show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One! Are you self-conscious about self-promotion? Brad has a suggestion: Talk about your Pride or talk about your Joy. It’s a bulletproof marketing technique!
Questions asked and topics covered…
Brad Guigar is the creator of Evil Inc and the editor of Webcomics.com Dave Kellett is the creator of Sheldon and Drive.
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ComicLab is hosted on Simplecast, helping podcasters since 2013. with industry-leading publishing, distribution, and sharing tools.
Talent is overrated. And skill beats talent every time. Here’s why…
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Comicraft, makers of excellent digital fonts for comics and cartooning, is having a half-off sale that ends July 31. The sale price will be applied upon checkout and applies to all fonts. Here’s a few that I highly recommend…
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Here’s an exclusive video I recorded during a recent livestream in my studio. During this session, I talked about writer’s block, leaving my day job to become a full-time cartoonist, the concept of a pro-am cartoonist, comic-convention dinners, working in newspapers, publishing my first webcomics on a GeoCities website, how teaching storytelling has taught me about comics, and great places to eat when visiting Philadelphia! More importantly, during the recording of the livestream, a fledgling cartoonist hit the Publish button on their very first comic! We all cheered them on and celebrated adding a new cartoonist to our ranks!
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It can be frustrating to “hit the wall” in your creative output, but — speaking from experience — that wall isn’t a wall. And once you realize what’s actually happening, you’ll feel a lot better about your journey as an artist.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.Today’s show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One! What’s your elevator pitch? If you had to sum up your comic for a new reader, could you do it effectively in under 60 seconds?
Questions asked and topics covered…
Brad Guigar is the creator of Evil Inc and the editor of Webcomics.com Dave Kellett is the creator of Sheldon and Drive.
Listen to ComicLab on…
ComicLab is hosted on Simplecast, helping podcasters since 2013. with industry-leading publishing, distribution, and sharing tools.
Rodney Dangerfield was one of the greatest “second acts” in entertainment history. His first attempt at comedy was so back that he later quipped, “at the time I quit, I was the only one who knew I quit.” But what happened next holds an important lesson for the rest of us who are struggling to build a career in the creative arts.
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