You guys know  I’m not here to bash anyone for not doing something. I’m here to ENCOURAGE all you webcomic creators out there to help OTHER webcomic creators, without expecting anything back. Is it so hard to add a link to a links page? To a news post? To write a sentence about a new comic you’ve discovered that you think people should read? Do you think that if you send your audience to another site, they won’t come back? ‘Cause seriously, it doesn’t work like that! :D

I ran a short survey on my site about how people first discovered The War of Winds. 59% answered “a link from another comic.” So, MORE THAN HALFthe people who took the survey came because someone linked me on another site. This cost me nothing, as opposed to the 18% who selected “from a Project Wonderful advertisement.”  The other 20% came from places like TopWebComics and forums I frequent.

These numbers are important because what’s true for me is probably true for the majority of other webcomickers as well: people find your comic by a link from another comic, by a recommendation on the site of someone whose comic they enjoy, or by a blog post somewheres.

There are so many comics out there who deserve more readers than they have, just like Galaxion. We together already have the audiences, and while I doubt the cumulative effect of what was done for Galaxion will happen all too often, the numbers DO add up over time. So this is what I propose:

Add comics you read to your links page. You don’t have to get permission first (UNLESS!!!! you’re M-rated linking a G-rated site. Then get permission first please).  It’s the internet. Take the initiative and DO IT. No one except you will mind if your links page has tons of links. If you have to, because you have some OCD tendencies, organize links on separate pages (for example, I have a page for link exchanges, recommended reading and resources), that’s ok. Provide links to the other link pages on every links page.

Give a polite review in your news. You don’t have a shred their work, after all, you’re linking them because you want people to GO there. Try not to say anything bad at all!  Tell your readers what you like and appreciate about it.  Keep the link up as long as you can!

Stumble/Digg/Redit/etc them. Don’t ask for permission.  If you use those things (I personally love Stumble Upon, and it’s one of the few add-ons I have for Firefox), use them for more than just YOUR work! Ever see the movie Pay It Forward? Yeah. Like that.

Use social network sites. If you have a Live Journal or Deviant Art or Blogspot or Twitter account, post about the comics you read.  Especially you people on DA who have subscriptions and tons of followers. All it takes is one journal entry!

If you want to start your own campaign like Campaign: Galaxion, follow the fine example set by lonelyfetus, who started it. JUMP IN. Just do it. You’re in charge, and people ask YOU what they can do. Don’t start a thread asking for what you can do or who you should do it for [at an ambiguous time in the future] …because everyone will give you their opinions, or tell you what you’re doing wrong, and that means nothing will get done at all.  You can only have one driver in the car at a time; the car crashes otherwise.  [please insert appropriate colloquialism here that I could not remember.]

We as webcomic readers/creators have the ability to send our audience where we want. Use this power for good, but above all, USE IT.  The SpiderForest collective (I’m a member there) does this indirectly with our top rotating banner. Even being part of the network automatically means a member would recommend you, because you got in. If you have a collective, or are part of one, consider more cross-advertising possibilities.

If you’re a popular comic, getting 5k+ uniques a day, you would be far more loved by the webcomic community if you bothered to link the little guys. They would probably all link you back just to say thanks, even if you took down your link to them (for example, if it was just in the news).

Above all, just help each other grow. We’re all out here spending hours on a hobby that makes little to no money, and readers rarely take the initiative to FIND new comics themselves. Point the way, and they will go.

That’s it from me today. Webcomic website reviews are still coming. Those take a couple hours to write up, so I’m still looking for that time. Trying hard!

Here is the result of my first networking attempt, using Deviant Art as a means of free advertising through their pre-existing network of art-minded folks. I call this “networking” instead of “free advertising” because to get it to work, you really have to network (ie, connect) with people there.  You’ll need to do some legwork and make friends with others first OR have art that is great enough people will try to make friends with YOU.

First, for those of you who have not heard of Deviant Art, have no clue how it works, or how it differs from a gallery on your site, an explanation: DA is like the internet of art galleries. In one member’s gallery, you find links to their favorite pieces, and from them, more and more links. It is a web of links, and sharing who and what you like is what it makes popular (and how the whole things works).  You upload your work, and it’s posted on the front page of Deviant Art itself.  If you have people who “watch” or “follow” you there, they are notified of every update you make. This notification and exposure system it what makes it different from a gallery on your own site–AND how it brings you new visitors.

I have been a member of Deviant Art since August 2008.  By posting my comic pages there, with a link back to my site in the author’s notes, my DA account is my 19th (108 visits to be exact) top referrer this past month. And I’m not very active there! If I posted more art, more sketches, made more contacts there, I could easily increase that number.  But my point is that this type of networking is FREE advertising for you.  For the minimum amount of effort (creating a gallery, posting your comics, putting a link back to your site) you get access to a HUGE pool of prospective readers.

So, to summarize, webcomic networking via Deviant Art works with even minimal effort.

I will write articles on them later, but Twitter and Stumble Upon also work well with minimal effort. Most webcomic forums I visit have threads expressly for networking via sites like these. I encourage you to try these places out, one at a time, if you haven’t already. I say “one at a time” because if you are trying these out for the first time, don’t overdo it.  Results can be slow if you do not already have a base of people with which to network, and you may feel disappointed. But, you can take it from me, it DOES work, but how successful it will be will depend on VOLUME: how many people are linked to you as friends/watchers/etc, and how often you update.  Not to mention, of course, the quality of your content.

That’s it for today, just something simple! Next up, a review of the ad company Adtegrity.