So, you think you can do webcomics as a job?
Working as an indie comic publisher since 1989 I’ve heard a lot utter nonsense about making money with sequential art. Too often people seem to be under the impression that webcomics are somehow exempt from the basics laws of how businesses work. I’ve made many of these mistakes, so don’t assume that I’m think of myself as perfect. Read this article, so you avoid making a (broke) ass out of yourself.
If I’m not making as much money as [insert comic title here,] then I’m a failure.
There are very few rock stars in the world of webcomics, this is true. I’ll readily admit that I am not one of them, but I’ve done fine for myself. When you enter this field, you need ask yourself a ton of questions before you constrain yourself into a single one-size-fits-all vision of what success looks like.
Do you want to have a family and a big house in the city?
Do you want to travel a lot?
How big do you want to grow your business?
Do you want to appeal to the mainstream for maximum profit potential, or would you be more content focusing on a specific vision while meeting your basic needs with a bit of savings to spare?
Are you frugal and willing to downsize your lifestyle?
Are you risk adverse when it comes to investments?
Do you want a huge staff, or are you more comfortable with a small crew?
Would you rather work alone?
Do you have a spouse to support you, or do you have to support your spouse?
Are you comfortable committing to your webcomic full-time without a safety net, or would you rather save up by having a bread and butter job first.
Until you answer these questions, and formulate even more based upon your values, lifestyle choices, research and goals, it’s not useful to define success by someone else’s criteria. Only you know for sure what your ideal scenario looks like.
Don’t annoy your visitors by plastering ads all over your site.
I am so glad that this idiotic piece of blanket-statement dogma didn’t exist when I first started the now-defunct Killer Dyke or the still alive Rasputin Catamite webcomics. One of my biggest money making periods happened shortly after I had enough pages to plaster them with banner ads.
I still plaster my comics with banner ads and I have no shame about it. Why? Because those banner ads and in-comic watermarks are the price of admission. If my visitors would rather avoid them, they can use an ad blocker. That still won’t stop the affiliate links, manually posted banner ads or in-comic watermarks. If people don’t want to endure these nuisances at all, then I politely encourage them to buy the much nicer and non-watermarked eBook versions of my webcomics.
I realize that this might strike some people as a jerk move, but honestly, I have no desire to work for free, if I am not doing my webcomic solely as a hobby. It is my hope that all webcomickers are jerks to people that expect you to work for free AND have the audacity to make demands on how your free service is delivered. Unless you’re a charity with unlimited funds, that’s not fair or reasonable expectation for others to have of you. This doesn’t mean that your site has to look like a chaotic banner farm, cluttered with noisy video ads, irritating pop-ups, sneaky pop-unders and other rectangular neon monstrosities. It’s okay to be a jerk, but don’t be a total asshole.
As long as you pay mind to your presentation and keep your ads tasteful and well placed, you should be able to balance profit motive and aesthetic considerations with no problem at all.
“You need a large audience to make it as a webcomic creator.”
There is a saying in the exotic dance industry that goes, “All you need is one guy with a loose wallet to make bank.” This is true for many industries, including webcomics. Even if your audience is tiny, if its loyal and willing to spend money, you will do much better for yourself than in the long-run than if you have a million indifferent page views that only spike once. Some people say that it takes luck to get connected with the “right” people. That’s true to an extent, but it in my experience the “right” people are more often earned than found.
It doesn’t matter if a professional webcomic’s audience consists of two or, two million. Always give them these folks best work, even if you don’t think your work is good enough. You never know who will reward you with opportunities and dollars. While you are at it, keep your damn mouth shut about any insecurities you have about your work, unless you specifically for a critique or suggestion. Few things will make your audience feel like crap faster than a creator who tells them that the comic they love is terrible.
A professional webcomic’s audience does not consist solely of disembodied eyeballs. They are customers who are passionate about your work, and it is in your best interest to develop a good relationship with them, even if it’s not necessarily personal or close. Exceptional customer service makes or breaks businesses, and the webcomic industry is no exception. So, unless your comics are being done solely as a hobby that you partake in publicly, you need to make an extra effort to meet your clientele’s needs.
“You can’t make an income on webcomics alone.”
No shit! If you think that you can draw comics all day and post them on your website, so you can bask in a rain of ad money, then you are delusional. In the unlikely chance that such great fortune showers upon you, don’t think that your good luck will last forever, because it probably won’t. Webcomic readers are very fickle and ad providers often change their policies in seemingly capricious ways. All it takes is one minor misstep on your part for readers and advertisers to bail out on supporting your project.
Every single small business venture has to deal with a myriad of tasks that are completely unrelated to product creation, and webcomics are no exception. For this reason, I get driven into a frothy rage any time people think that doing a lot more than just comics somehow makes the webcomic industry less legitimate or plausible. Such myopia ensures a creator’s perpetual mediocrity, or possible failure.
Running a business involves doing lots of tasks that you will absolutely hate such as client communications, procuring funds and record-keeping. You’ll need to brainstorm constantly and, carefully watch industry trends. You’ll deal with intellectual property issues, outraged people and, other such nuisances. More than likely, you will run your own social media campaign and create promotional materials yourself. You will also have to decide what your diversification strategy will be. The last one is of special importance, because it can make or break you.
If you believe that this industry is unique because you can’t make money by solely relying on your seed property (e.g. your webcomic,) then you’ll need to rethink your aspirations a small business person. That type of narrow mindset about what business should be, will doom you to failure. Unless you are a rock star comic artist with an agent and famous clients, you’ll need to diversify your revenue streams, regardless of what your primary creative focus is. More than likely, if you are a rock star comic artist with an agent and famous clients, then you are probably already taking full advantage of multiple streams of income, ranging from tiny licensing deals to large investments in real estate.
Have you noticed how many large corporations seem to own a variety of often disparate businesses? For example, did you know that Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Axe body spray and Vaseline petroleum jelly are owned by the same company? In most industries, being a one-trick pony will doom your prospects for business growth. Webcomics are not exempt from this phenomenon. Economic conditions, aesthetic trends and audience demographics are in constant flux. Diversification will make these natural business ebbs and flows more bearable for you as a creator.
Want some ideas for ways on diversifying and monetizing your webcomic business in ways that go beyond just plastering your site with banner ads? Here’s just a small sampling of what you can dabble in:
Teach continuing ed courses on webcomics or other related topics
Create a video game
Work the comic convention circuit
Use crowdsourcing for print book pre-orders
Offer paid public speaking gig or art symposium presentations
Create comic-inspired manuals or videos for corporations looking to spice up training materials
Collaborate with text book makers
License your art and text for products and publications
Create and sell music based upon your comics
Organize mini-conventions for your fans
Freelance art commissions, such as sketches, sculptures or mural
Do paid puppet shows for kids and/or adults
Post monetization-enabled videos on YouTube with information that fellow webcomic artists will find interesting, or that your webcomic’s audience will find entertaining
Publish and sell print-on-demand books or eBooks from websites like Amazon.com
Invest your earnings in stocks, EFTs, mutual bonds or a retirement account
Sell handmade merchandise on Etsy
Give private classes on creating comics
Find patrons
Apply for grants
Show your work at galleries or other exhibit venues
Find agent representation
Sell off intellectual property rights to projects that are no longer of interest to you
The possibilities are endless if you put yourself in a mindset of how your webcomic knowledge can be put to work, while at the same time expanding your brand. Keep in mind that the best way to find a diversification path for your business, lies in the needs of your customers. Listen to them and your instincts very carefully for best results when developing a great business growth strategy.
One word of caution: Do not overextend yourself or your business. Diversification is a process that takes a very long time, research and observation. Move slowly and deliberately as you try new income earning strategies. If you feel overwhelmed, scale back or hire someone to help you, before you get in over your head. Otherwise, your business will collapse under its own weight and you will burn out.
“What you’re talking about goes far beyond monetizing a webcomic and audience reach, you’re talking about CLIENTS!”
I am incredibly disturbed by the attitude of not seeing one’s audience as your primary client base when working as a professional webcomic artist. What this says to me is that some creators view their audience as nothing but eyeballs and convention wallets. While this business strategy often works surprisingly well, it makes me queasy. As I mentioned before, webcomic viewers are not disembodied body parts or wallets independent of their owners. These are people who want to engage and support creators. Even when your audience doesn’t pay directly for your online webcomic content, they still pay you by viewing your site’s ads.
The moment you are getting money from someone, they are your clients, and you need to treat them accordingly. When your business model obsesses solely on monetizing and completely ignores the human element of running a business and diversifying it in order to satisfy customer needs, don’t be surprised when your proverbial cooked goose stops laying her golden eggs.
Your audience aren’t the only members of your clientele. Other valued customers of your webcomics venture include:
People who purchase webcomic-related merchandise, whether a site visitor or not, and regardless of venue
Tippers or “donors,” (people who contribute money in exchange for an incentive of some sort,) whether as individuals or as a part of a crowdsourced pre-ordering strategy
People who attend webcomic-related performance events or speaking engagements, whether they are familiar with the seed (webcomic) product itself, or not
Freelance or incidental event caricature clients
People who attend gallery events related to the webcomic, and consider spending money on art
In addition to your customers, patrons and donors are often eager to support your work. Unless we are talking about we are talking about incentive-driven crowdfunding ventures, the traditional type of patron or donor can rarely be considered a client. These folks are willing to fund artists for the express purpose of supporting the creative process rather than purchasing a product. Nevertheless, you need to afford these supporters the same respect you give your customer with a little extra consideration on the side. Especially for more experimental or fringe-niche webcomics, donor and patron generosity can mean the difference between finishing a project as envisioned, or running out of money and quitting before the project is concluded.
“I’m making money, but I can’t afford anything.”
Newsflash: If you are spending more money that you are earning, you aren’t making a profit, period. If your expenditures exceed your proceeds, then you are in debt. Mortgages, student loans, car payments count as debt too; it’s not just about your credit card. While debt is a normal part of any businesses life cycle, it needs paying off as quickly as possible.
Keep careful records of your earnings and losses, if you want to ditch the day job. If you’d rather not do this, or can’t find someone to do it for you, then you might as well keep your day job and call your webcomic a hobby. You will be much happier.
Personally, I love finances! Spreadsheets thrill me to no end. While most people shudder at the sight of bills, I am full of anticipation at the prospect of paying them off. Knowing when to incur calculated debt or make an investment, gives me a rush. Seeing my plans pay off, makes me even giddier. Stress and uncertainty motivate the hell out of me. If there’s a hiccup in my business operation’s stability, I have no shame whatsoever in swallowing my pride, telling the truth about how badly I’m doing my job and, asking for help. If I have nothing to eat but powdered milk, beans, rice and whatever edible plants I can forage to get out of unplanned debt and save some emergency money, I will gladly do it again.
If the previous paragraph does not describe you, or someone willing to help you run your business, then you’ll need to reexamine your aspirations for self-employment. Alternatively, you need to start falling in love with your finances and risk. Otherwise, misery, anxiety and paranoia will be your constant companions, while you begin to develop an unrelenting hatred for life. This is true for all small businesses and not just webcomics.
It takes years to make any money on webcomics.
Most often this is the case. However, you can cut down on years of work by finding major sponsors, venture capital seed funding, philantrophic patrons or, by applying for grants. The odds will be against you, but there is nothing to lose in trying.
Once you get over the initial intimidation that you may feel when you send a proposal or finish filling out an application, the process will likely not be as hard as it seems. If you have an existing relationship with someone who is willing to take a risk on you, it will be even less of a hassle. I’ve personally had good luck with sponsors and patrons. If you are uncomfortable selling yourself as an artist face-to-face, applying for a grant might be a better option for you. Venture capital seems to have the biggest potential for a huge monetary win, if you can make the right connections. Members of art councils, chambers of commerce and other volunteer organizations, will typically have an easier time with grants, so joining your local groups might be worth your while.
It’s very important that you are passionate about your webcomic work and not shy about spreading the word, even if social interaction comes hard. I am very socially phobic, but I feel that obtaining this type of high-value funding is worth the discomfort. Don’t limit yourself to the Internet either. People willing to help you succeed are hiding in the least expected places. Keep your eyes peeled for them.
In summary…
Webcomics are not much different than any other business, except that the barriers to entry are practically non-existent, and the amount of sacrifice required to succeed is much greater. If you are willing to work effectively, network, engage in good customer service and sound business practices, then you will increase your chances of success. Never forget the human element, and treat your audience to the best you can offer. Keep in mind, that nothing in life is a guaranteed success, and that you will need to develop the discipline of a monk to survive the ups and downs of the industry. Doing webcomics professionally is not for everyone, but that’s okay. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing your webcomic as a hobby completely devoid of expectations and monetization worries, but I’ll save that topic for another post.