Low-Tech Solution to a High-Tech Problem
Remember last April when I was blog-whining (or "blining") about my comic strip "Up to Bat" not being seen at the coffee shop where I post it? I received and applied sage advice received from friends (for instance, someone suggested taking the strip down mid-week so that it's a little more obvious that a new strip has been put up on Sunday) and I kept the strips consistently weekly. Soon I had people asking me on Saturdays "where is the strip?" Cool beans!
I uploaded all the strips to www.uptobat.blogspot.com, and I've been uploading new strips on Monday mornings -- fairly consistently. I've also been promoting the weblog at the coffee house. I was getting around 10 hits a week. So I registered the strip with www.onlinecomics.net and the numbers doubled. I registered with www.thewebcomiclist.com and got another little boost in traffic.
I got cocky. I announced a t-shirt design contest. My wife entered her suggestion into the contest. She won by default.
Well, the latest development is I quit the part-time coffee house job. (I've been meaning to for about a year now, but it never seemed to be the right time. Yeah, it got to be the right time this past week.) I think it's safe to say the owner won't be open to me coming in on Sunday mornings and taping my strip next to the register anymore. So what now?
See the picture at the top of this entry. I thumbtacked it to the bulletin board at the coffee shop. I'm not selling a bicycle or house-sitting, I'm selling a comic strip. No one remembers URLs (let alone what "URL" stands for) so I put the web address on the little tear-tags. I'll check back next Monday and see how many have been torn off. How exciting! A project!
2 comments:
Congratulations on quitting your job. Sounds like you may have burned some brigdes though. For pointers on doing that with amazing precision and the largest possible flames, see Garrick. He is a master at quitting jobs and prides himself on doing so dramatically and in new and exciting ways. I think his favorite had a "Dear John" letter flavor to it. He'd love to tell you the story.
Good luck on getting the word - and products - out there for your strip. Garrick and I read it every week.
Best wishes.
Thank you! It's funny, I didn't set out to burn any bridges. Sometimes it just happens.
As it turns out, I booked a short film that shoots on my last days at the coffee shop. I get to play a scientist who is skinned alive by zombies.
Now let's see . . . work at the coffee shop or be in a zombie movie . . . hmmm.
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