Helping Creatives Build Better Businesses
Today we talked to John Dover, who a fantastic professional trumpet player and writer. We talked to him about his origins in music, in working sales to build his business chops, and in expanding his brand into writing. You can check his out at
We did another live event! This time at Long Beach Comic Expo! We had a great time at the show, and I came back with the froggiest of throats. However, I muscled through to show you exactly why live events are so important, and I talked to a bunch of amazing creators.
Today we talked to Cat Ranson about living in New Zealand, in a small town, and still making a living as an artist. I think this is fascinating as somebody that living in Los Angeles and has access to much more opportunity on the surface. We talked to Cat a lot about that, but also about devaluing yourself as an artist, creating a brand, and kickstarter...my favorite topic.
You can check out Cat on facebook @ Cat Ranson or Deviant Art @ Sunktokeca. Also, don't forget to check out our Kickstarter for My Father Didn't Kill Himself. If you want more info about Kickstarter, head to www.kickstarteruniversity.com and check out our courses. Or if you want some cool comics, check out www.wannabepress.com
It's a question we get asked all the time. Are we profitable? And since we just finished our taxes this is a great time to tackle it.
Sometimes I think people ask too much, but I'm glad people are talking about it, so on the other hand I'm flattered. I mean it's a valid question. We are a small press. We put out a lot of books, so are we? Unfortunately, both for us and for whomever asked, it's not just a simple yes no question. There's a lot of ins, outs, and what have yous. So I tackle both the simple answer to the question, and the much more complex answer. On top of that, I flip it back to YOU and tell you how you can use everything I've learned to help you, and what it means for your career.
This week...honestly not much happened with the Kickstarter. We've been really trying to focus on what works and cut out what doesn't work. You'll be surprised what doesn't work for us, even though it worked well on the last two campaigns we ran. Additionally, we talk about how important it is to just have focus, because if you know what works you can drive all your attention to it.
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Today is the soft official launch of Kickstarter University, a project I've been working on since late last year. It's a big one, our biggest launch to date, and I have big plans. However, I am today filled with dread, so I take to the air to talk about it, about KU, about why we did it, and about why I'm filled with fear today instead of excitement.
I loved this episode. Les has been working as a professional artist since 1992, and he's seen everything. He's been and still is a comic book artist, 3d modeler, storyboard artist and more. He's been punched in the gut by this business more times than he can count, and come out stronger on the other side.
This week we hit 100 backers! That's a huge thing for me b/c 100 backers is sort of the mark of a successful campaign. Once you get to 200+ backers we're talking mega successful, but 100 backers is a great benchmark. After we talk about that, then we talk about the mission for Wannabe Press, and why companies should be vertically instead of horizontally delineated.
This is a new experiment for The Business of Art. I'm part of a networking group called Comic Book Sunday, which is a fantastic place to meet creators, artists, writers, directors, producers, and people making a living in the business of art. So I thought it would be a good idea to talk with some of them and get their best advice on how to turn your art into a business.
This is an extra special launch day episode. Extra long too. Throughout the day we come back to talk about what's happened at that moment, from pushing the launch button through the next morning wrap up. This is a RAW episode, as I'm pretty much just stream of consciousness throughout, talking about things. I may have repeated myself in different segments, but if you want to know what it's like to launch a Kickstarter, this is as real as it gets.
Bob Salley is universally adored in the indie comic scene, because he is already ready to help. Seriously, if you find him online and ask him a question, Bob will open up like a geyser. I brought Bob on for two reasons:
In the second episode of our mini-season we talk about how things are different this time that our last kickstarter which we ran just a few months ago, plus what we're doing now that we're less than a week away from our campaign going live.
Today, things didn't go my way. Our website team didn't deliver our website so I had to go about creating a site from scratch. I talk about it here as a way to discuss getting through the hard times when the chips are down, and how you can keep laying track even when things don't go your way.
Today we talk to Gene Hoyle of Nerd Nation Publishing. Gene has a history of podcasting, which is why he makes me sound so dang good. We dig into creating a comic book, making something that lasts, building on Kickstarter success, building an audience, and much more.
Since we're launching a kickstarter in two weeks for My Father Didn't Kill Himself (www.myfatherdidntkillhimself.com), and because I have a kickstarter training academy, I thought it would be fun to do little mini-episodes to show exactly how we go about doing a kickstarter.
Today, we're talking about prepping a Kickstarter through Facebook events and landing pages. If you like this, check out www.kickstarteruniversity.com.
Today we talk to Marc Goldner of Golden Bell. He gives us an incredibly amount of insight on how to run a comics company. He recent Kickstarter raised 1700% of it's goal, and now he's back with a follow up Indiegogo.
We go deep in this one. It's long, but worth it. We talk about everything from creating an ideal client avatar, to how forming a Kickstarter doesn't mean you're going to come out in the black, even if you go way over your goal, and even how we are artists devalue our own work. You can check out Marc's Indiegogo campaign at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-sunday-comics#/. It's already raising money even though the original campaign just finished. We also talk about Backerkit in this episode, who I absolutely love. www.backerkit.com. You can check out Golden Bell on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/TheSundayComicsPaper and on twitter @thesundaycomics.
In this episode we interview...me. I talk about why I started this podcast, give a history of myself and my companies.
Basically, this podcast is for anybody who's a creative or business owner, bootstrapping their company, and trying to figure out how to bring more business into their art and more art into their business. I bring on people every week, except this one, who are growing their business one person at a time, utilizing social media in cool ways, and working at their passion as a career. If you want more information about my companies, Wannabe Press is the publishing company (www.wannabepress.com). That's where we published Ichabod, Katrina, Gumshoes, Little Bird, and others. Our consulting practice wherein we show people how to treat their passion like a business is Kickstarter University. You can sign up for free stuff there @ www.kickstarteruniversity.com
