TWCL

[balderduck]

Hello everyone!

I've started my webcomic on November and have about 30 updates.
I get about 100 unique visitors on a day without an update and from 200 to 3000 on a day with updates depending on how well the strip does on Reddit

Having already a comic strip in greek for the past 3 years I know that building a readership is very hard and takes a lot of time, but even so I still struggle with the frustration that my comic isn't good enough to have a dedicated following

It's especially hard when I post a strip that I think is great on reddit /r/comics and it gets downvoted! THIS drives me crazy!

So most of us here are artists, and in the beginning it must be super hard for anyone to show a work that he considers great to people and get no feedback... How do you deal with it? What is it that drives you to continue to work?

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By the way my comic's url is this:
www.balderduck.com

[Luke]

We have the same amount of updates, and you have 10 times the readership, so I wouldn't be frustrated if I was you.

When I get frustrated, I usually just try to work through it. Being annoyed won't get my comic done.

Either that, or I ragequit my comic and start from the beginning.
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[Sivasubramanian]

200 to 3000?! We've been going for 9 months, have about 72 pages, and are extremely lucky to get numbers anywhere near that.

You've only been going for three months. It's hard to imagine your readership won't grow as long as you keep at it.

Kumar
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[smbhax.com]

When I get frustrated, I usually buy more advertising on Project Wonderful. :/

My stuff usually got downvoted on Reddit too, so I stopped posting it there. Readers seem to post it there from time to time, which is nice.
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[theSOOZ]

fffff I don't even get 100 readers on an UPDATE day.

I keep working because I have readers who are reading, and a story I want to finish. There is no other reason to keep going for me.
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[Sivasubramanian]

smbhax.com wrote:

My stuff usually got downvoted on Reddit too, so I stopped posting it there. Readers seem to post it there from time to time, which is nice.

I see people on here complain about getting down-voted on Reddit, but you do get a number of clickthroughs either way, and a few of those people at least stick around to look at your archive, even if they don't go back to reddit and vote you up.

Kumar
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[balderduck]

Well let me make somethings clear:

My comic is a gag-a-day type comic, so it's natural to hit better stats on reddit than some of your works which may be superior, but follow one storyline.

The 3000 hits happened twice during these 3 months and thanks to reddit. Basically about 70% of all unique visitors I get are due to reddit.

So that means I don't have a certain readership, and the reddit trick doesn't always work, since some of my favourite strips have been downvoted right away.

But I believe every one of us deals with frustration. I have high expectations of my comic, as I'm sure you all do, and unless you get super famous, you're bound to have very few viewers on your first year or so...

So how does that make you feel?

[Spencey]

If you only look at the total number of uniques, fluctuations in readership are bound to be frustrating, and you will inevitably feel a disconnect between your work and your readership.

A more constructive way to look at your numbers could be to focus your attention on your Returning Readers. If they are showing an overall upward trend week on week, then you are heading in the right direction and building a readership. Although the bottom line will never be as high as your Uniques, it will be a better indication of your readership rather than your traffic.

Focusing your promotional activities on reader retention instead of unique visitors is a better long term strategy (especially when you want to monetise the strip). This means promoting your RSS feeds, encouraging comments, targeting your ads at places your readership is likely to hang out and analysing the average number of pages by source (so you can target your ad budget at the places that bring the most active readers).

I read through some of your comics and I enjoyed what I read. I would imagine you would stand a good chance of building up a returning base readership, and this will ease your frustration.

Just a thought.
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[RussSpruce]

I agree completely with Spency. Number of views can bring a person down if they aren't what they expected, but that's all the more reason to keep it up. You won't expect any solid numbers until you've been updating for about a year or two, and even then it's iffy. Not many people have instant success, and those that do usually don't last very long unless they keep up the quality of the comic that got them the views in the first place.

This is actually a pretty difficult topic to dissect, since there is no surefire way to ensure returning readership other than keep it up. You could get all the advice, and still not have any luck.

The best thing to do (and I'm speaking of my own experience) is to keep updating and advertise a little, cause that is the best way to make sure you keep them coming back. Do some guest art/comic, draw some doodles and post them up, even if it has little to do with the comic. It's up to you what you wish to do or not. Best of luck, and keep up the comic!
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[AdamC]

This is probably going to sound pretentious or something, but if someone is going to quit because they don't think they have enough readers maybe they should. If just doing it isn't enough to keep you happy it's probably not your thing.

I think I keep myself mellow by having low expectations. I know people aren't going to like my comic. I've had several forums/sites post my comic and make fun of it. That's why I haven't bothered to get it linked in my sig here.

I like what I do and I get better as I keep doing it so whatever.

[jpcline]

Instead of getting frustrated, fuel that passion into improving your art, your writing and your website. Make your comic better and better each week. The readers will follow.
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http://calmblueoceans.com/

[theSOOZ]

AdamC and jpcline have it exactly right.
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[mooncity]

AdamC wrote:

I know people aren't going to like my comic. I've had several forums/sites post my comic and make fun of it.

Your comic is already way more popular than mine then, if people bother talkin' smack about it.
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Mooncity
Reversing the polarity of the neutron flow since 1976!


The comic strip that never was.

[AdamC]

mooncity wrote:

AdamC wrote: I know people aren't going to like my comic. I've had several forums/sites post my comic and make fun of it. Your comic is already way more popular than mine then, if people bother talkin' smack about it.

I had a PW ad on a "popular" site they mentioned it mockingly on their twitter and a few forums and a blog caught wind of it and had their way. It's always the same thing so it doesn't really bother me.

[Luke]

AdamC wrote:

mooncity wrote: AdamC wrote: I know people aren't going to like my comic. I've had several forums/sites post my comic and make fun of it. Your comic is already way more popular than mine then, if people bother talkin' smack about it. I had a PW ad on a "popular" site they mentioned it mockingly on their twitter and a few forums and a blog caught wind of it and had their way. It's always the same thing so it doesn't really bother me.

Be comforted by the fact that those people are morons. You were paying them money to advertise on their site, and they crapped on you? Idiots.

Smart people don't publicly insult the ones paying their wage.
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