A little bit ago, Jeph Jacques, creator of the web comic Questionable Content (BTW, you can follow him at @jephjacques) was talking about how he gets annoyed when people ask him how to make money with webcomics or didn't do a web comic because it wasn't a good way to make money.
I admit, early on when I was working on Adventures Of Jim And Bob, I thought about this question. How can I make money off of this. Not because I wanted to quit my job and do Jim and Bob for a living, but because I figured "why not." Why not see if I can make a few bucks off this. If I make enough to cover the cost of ad and pro accounts and stuff like that each month, great. if not, oh well. If I get to the point where I can do it for a living that would be awesome, but if not no big deal.
That's the great thing about sites like Cafe Press. A lot of web comics I read, especially ones that have been around for a while, order cases of t-shirts and other merchandise and handle shipping themselves, meaning they have to have the merchandise and storage space for it before they can sell it. With sites like Cafe Press, you can let someone else worry about that. You don't make as much money, but you make a bit, don't have to worry about how to store stuff, don't have to worry about packaging and shipping, and don't have to worry about raising the money to order the stuff in the first place. You just send in the logo or what ever you want on the merchandise, chose what type, sizes (if applicable) and colors and let someone else handle the other stuff. Like I said, you don't make as much, but it is a good way to get started. and if you do start selling lots and having lots of readers each day, most of them offer deals for the "store owner" (you) so you can get your stuff cheaper for conventions or something. like handling packaging and shipping yourself.
In the end, the reason I stopped doing it wasn't due to lack of a feasible business model, but laziness. Kind of hard to over come that some times. Might start it up again, but if I do, I will start working on how to make money off it for the very same reason. just to see if I can.
I admit, early on when I was working on Adventures Of Jim And Bob, I thought about this question. How can I make money off of this. Not because I wanted to quit my job and do Jim and Bob for a living, but because I figured "why not." Why not see if I can make a few bucks off this. If I make enough to cover the cost of ad and pro accounts and stuff like that each month, great. if not, oh well. If I get to the point where I can do it for a living that would be awesome, but if not no big deal.
That's the great thing about sites like Cafe Press. A lot of web comics I read, especially ones that have been around for a while, order cases of t-shirts and other merchandise and handle shipping themselves, meaning they have to have the merchandise and storage space for it before they can sell it. With sites like Cafe Press, you can let someone else worry about that. You don't make as much money, but you make a bit, don't have to worry about how to store stuff, don't have to worry about packaging and shipping, and don't have to worry about raising the money to order the stuff in the first place. You just send in the logo or what ever you want on the merchandise, chose what type, sizes (if applicable) and colors and let someone else handle the other stuff. Like I said, you don't make as much, but it is a good way to get started. and if you do start selling lots and having lots of readers each day, most of them offer deals for the "store owner" (you) so you can get your stuff cheaper for conventions or something. like handling packaging and shipping yourself.
In the end, the reason I stopped doing it wasn't due to lack of a feasible business model, but laziness. Kind of hard to over come that some times. Might start it up again, but if I do, I will start working on how to make money off it for the very same reason. just to see if I can.
posted by R.C. at
10:04 AM
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