Income Guide.

[Shishio]

This is not directly related to webcomics, but an Income Guide has been posted on the Damn Small Linux website. It is a guide for open source developers to earn money from their projects, which may, I think, be of help to webcomic artists as well.

[Mercury Hat]

This is not directly related to webcomics...

Should have stopped right there before putting it in the wrong forum.

The backseat moderator is right in this case. Punting off to OT.

[Rock_dash]

*is crushed by a falling thread*

Urg x.X

[McDuffies]

'K then let it be. Maybe someone will find it useful after all.

[Rkolter]

Actually, it is useful, if you're into linux. Oh FAUB...

[Jackhass]

[Reads about a quarter of it and gives up]...

...was that enough to start the money flowing in?

[Prettydragoon]

1. Read the link.
2. ???
3. Profit!

[Faub]

From what I gather of the article (I'm about 6 pages in at this point):

1. The road to profit is Google ads. Write a tutorial on how to make money then divide the information into as many pages as you can get away with, keeping just enough of a hook in your readers to keep them flipping pages. Then put a google ad on every page.

Basically, this is how webcomics work. I've seen sites divide their comics into individual panels, each with an ad. Elsie Hooper anybody?

So, what do you want to do with your comic?

First thing you need to do is set a goal, pick one of the three:
1 I want my project to not cost me money
2 I want to make a little when I help so many others
3 Make enough to quit your day job and really have your project shine

My desires are clearly directed to goal #3, and I am going to assume your goal is the same.

So, here is your first step:
Get a real domain name and pay for real hosting where you can do what needs to be done.

(I have my own domain, http://faubcomic.com but I don't pay for hosting yet.)

make sure you go with a hosting company with a good reputation, one that is reliable and has not been abused by spammers.

that website of yours, with that great name and solid hosting, needs to become your new best friend. You need to boast about it, ask people to check it out and put your best work into it

Good, solid advice so far. PIMP YOUR COMICS! Make sampler submissions. Actually print and distribute the sampler. Wouldn't it be cool to see your artwork in print? Buy banner space on other comics. Make yourself known.

Your site needs interactivity. It also needs size. Both are critical to building community, and community is critical to you pulling a living from your project

Basically, these are things that ComicGen gives us. We have forums and a wiki, but blogging software is something we have to mess with ourselves. Basically, the more you have in your site, the more there is to look at and the more page views you gleen.

Post udpates on sites that collect information about a lot of comics together, such as The Webcomics List, Online Comics.net, Belfry.com and others. Places people go to looking for new comics.

Use static pages if you can
Pay attention to the content of the page and make sure that the title reflects the content of the page
Don't use Java, flash or javascript for navigation or content
Don't use session IDs if you can help it
Don't use crazy redirects or meta refreshes
Simple page construction is better
Don't do anything deceptive such as hidden text

If knock offs pop up (and they will because this is OS software) make sure their name is not to be confused with yours. It may be wise to copyright your name -- this way if push comes to shove you have the legal stance on that brand you worked so hard to develop.

There have been many threads on how to submit your work to the Library of Congress and others so you have a legal basis for your copyright.

You...as a web publisher need to know that there is no shame in wanting to pull some income from your project. It is a noble profession!...So, if you have any guilt from wanting to do this, you need to let it go. ...Don't try to hide it as if you are doing something sneaky. You will need to be bold if you want to succeed.

Here is a quick list of ways to earn money:
Advertisement <-- Google Ads, Burst.net, Ghastly style, many others
Donations
Selling your software <-- Print copies of your comic
Selling related items <-- Merchandise

Advertising will end up being your biggest source of income.

This is something we can't do on ComicGen. Basically, the largest potential form of profit we can make is removed from us. The only way to "make it" is to go indy.

Don't be afraid of them, you may think that being too aggressive with advertising will hurt your viewership, but it won't. Also, you may want to place small ads in quiet little corners of your page that can be easily ignored, but that is a bad idea. You need to place ads where they are clearly visible. Do not be afraid of them, or what your community will say about them. When looking at your pages the ads need to be in a place where they get attention. Many of the advertisement only pay if they are clicked on, if no one sees the ads, then no one will click on them, and you will not earn any money. Bottom line, place ads where people will see them.

Hmm... it appears that text ads are cost per click and image ads are cost per thousand impressions. You can make money from image ads by just having them on your site, but text ads require a click to make any money? I didn't know that.

Make no attempts to water down your requests for financial support.

Sell your comic. Your put a lot of work into it. So print a few copies for $1 and sell them for $5. You have every reason to do this.

He references CafePress. You can do better.

This looks like Joel's Advertising guide and a lot of others. It doesn't say much that you don't already know, but it says a lot that most of us don't already do.

I think White Hydra is a decent example of what he describes. Van has a store that's plainly obvious. He sells banner ads. He keeps a blog (but he somehow needs to include viewer responses). The first thing you see on his site is the logo and it's EVERYWHERE on the site. He's on several top 100 sites. Etc.

So, yeah. Read it or don't. It's a guide to making money with a website. The open source aspects are just the differences between open source software and webcomics. The rest is the same. Making money is about ads and traffic. More traffic = more money.

[McDuffies]

Basically, this is how webcomics work. I've seen sites divide their comics into individual panels, each with an ad. Elsie Hooper anybody?

Ack. I avoid such comics. Partly due to the fact that I'm a fan of neat-looking pages and single panels can never do the same for me. And partly because I'm on dial-up.
I'm having troubles even making myself read "Wapsi square" because a single strip contains so little action and dialogue, no background or details, that you can usually skim through it in a few seconds.