In the desire to spread the word about my comic, I have been experimenting with various ways to network in the hope that 1) it would be successful and 2) I could share the results with you.
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.
January 22nd, 2009 - 6:43 pm
DA is definitely a great place. I’ve been there since 2003.
Though, it is a good place to meet new artists and network, I wouldn’t’ really call it the place to ‘advertise’ It’s for commenting/critiquing artwork. It’s a community.
It’s true, you get hits from it as people come to visit you and the like, but if you’re going ONLY for advertising your comic and just commenting to get hits; I’d almost recommend taking that somewhere else.
My two-cents as a long time deviant: participate fully and genuinely. You’re there to make connections; not get hits. :)
January 22nd, 2009 - 11:13 pm
You bring up a really good point! Any place people network, it’s really important to be a member there, and NOT be ONLY about you or what you do. Networking works both ways.
However, the point of the article was that DA is a good place to find more readers for your comic, not to get art critiques, though I agree it can be a good place to get honest opinions.
I’ve made a bunch of new readers there for my Not Alone comic, mainly because it’s easy to attract the demographic of that comic. All I’ve done is post those pages, find my friends there, and once in a while browse through the new art area. I’ve made new contacts, definitely, and through them, even more contacts. But I’m definitely leaning towards using a DA gallery as a tool to get more readers, not it’s original intention as an art critiquing and sharing community.
No matter where you try to network, it’s important to 1) not be a poser, and 2) not be a pimp. There is definitely a middle ground. No one clicks the links left by the annoying “me-me-me” people.
January 23rd, 2009 - 9:35 pm
“However, the point of the article was that DA is a good place to find more readers for your comic, not to get art critiques, though I agree it can be a good place to get honest opinions.”
That’s the mindset I was arguing against; I know that’s what this article is about – I’m just saying I’m not sure if Deviant art is the place to do that as It’s the other way around; DA is supposed to be for getting art critiques – not just readers. “How’s my panel layout?” “Does that font get that emotion across” etc. It’s for growth and community more so than “Hey! Come read me!”
Sadly, the site has developed into a ‘here’s the next page, enjoy reading it!” – which is where the different comment requests came from (Critique desired, no critique, etc.). Even I find myself guilty of merely giving short comments in return for comments on my own work. *sigh*
January 23rd, 2009 - 11:05 pm
I disagree that DeviantArt is a good advertising tool. Though I’m well aware I have readers from there and my “hey, like my brushes? Why not check out my comic, I use them over there so it’s kinda relevant!” links get me some decent hits… that is neither the purpose or the mindset.
I’ve made new contacts, I’ve made friends and readers and some of my most dedicated readers were originally from DeviantArt. But I got them, not from advertising or linking myself, but by networking and making friends and commenting and CRITIQUING and accepting critique. Yeah, I post up the occasional page there and link back to my comic. And wallpapers and occasionally single panels. It gets me a few hits.
But. The valuable hits and readers came from me making friends, not just posting up art. DeviantArt is for connecting with other artists, not just posting your stuff and getting links. It won’t work as well if that’s all you ever do. And that’s why it’s not a good advertising tool.
And I also agree that I prefer it as a critique tool. Unfortunately… when I leave comments even a paragraph long, people reply to me and go “wow, I’ve never had such an in depth comment before, thank you so much!” It shouldn’t have degraded to “great picture, nice colors!” just to get people to look at your own.
Also, I disagree on the thought that “it works with minimal effort”. In order to get hits from DeviantArt, you must be an artist in certain forms of art (manga, generally), you need to be a good artist to draw attention if you’re not commenting–I’ve seen amazing pictures get two comments and 16 views–and you need to comment and fav and thank people for faving and otherwise draw attention to yourself. There’s too much submitted in too little time for it to be minimal effort. It’s pure chance.
Yeah, you can get readers there. I have. They don’t have a high bounce rate, either, visitors from there. But to draw attention to yourself, you need to either be an artist that’s jawdroppingly amazing, active in the community, or decent in a niche form of art, or a friend of someone popular.
DeviantArt: a side effect of which is free advertising.
But it’s a good article on what DeviantArt has to offer for anyone who actually doesn’t have an account yet, too. ^_^ I just kind of agree with Lilly’s points.