517 – You didn’t know that was your nickname?

Just in case you don’t remember, Gerta lives in a halfdome kind of yurt… thing.

So, the Great MeatShield Planehopping contest….

*sigh*

I think I made it too hard to participate. I probably should have just asked folks to retweet with the hashtag #planehopping. Too late for that now, though. Since no one has yet to participate as of 2/8/15 (when I am writing this), I have decided that as of 5:00PM on the 9th the contest will end and you will all now be at my mercy as to where the story goes from here. Bwa-ha-ha. 🙂

However, it’s not too late! You can still enter by going on the social media outlet of your choice and telling folks about MeatShield, then sending me a link to that post via rob(at)meatshield(dot)net. Thanks!

Take care,

~Rob

5 Comments

search for the hashtag you mentioned

Doesn’t Gerta have to lift the geas before they run off?

@DJH: Nope. The conditions of the geas were met, and once they are, it lifts. That’s how I’ve always ruled it. Anyway, it’s not the gang’s fault that Rey-Rey wasn’t what Gerta was expecting. 🙂

Actually, I did send in my vote. Please check your e-mail.

Hey Rob,

I know you had some issues with participation, and I think it could be related to a traffic issue. You’ve got a great comic, but I think the issue is that not enough people know about it.

I’m sure that funding for ads is probably one of your hold-ups, but you could offset some of your cost if you setup a Cafe Press store. Right now all you’re selling are books — but you could also make some T-Shirts, Hoodies, Keychains, etc by recycling some funny/popular strips.

It may take a little bit to get steady income from the store, but if you have some extra revenue sources on here, it could be a big benefit for you, especially once you start getting more traffic.

You’ve got several years worth of comics, so there’s a lot of content for someone to see — you just have to put it in front of them.

I think I first saw your comic on a banner ad from Sluggy Freelance at sluggy.com. I’m not sure if you approached them specifically, or if you just bought some Google Ads — but at least for me, you’ve had a reader for over a year now.

If you can contact some webcomics with similar gaming themes — Erfworld (erfworld.com), Order of the Stick (giantitp.com), then you could put your ad up there. But for free, you could also go into their forums. Of course, don’t just post something that’s purely promotional — but you could post something in their forums saying that you’re a webcomic author and ask them for feedback.

To come across as more disarming (and honest), I’d mention that you don’t get a lot of traffic. People love to be helpful…but don’t overload them. Try to ask like one question and let the discussion take off from there. You could make it as simple as “How do you think I can improve my comic?” “What do you think of the storyline?” “Are the characters likeable enough?” or even “How do you think I could promote my comic?”

If you get other people talking about it in other places, it will help your website’s visibility on search engines — and you’ll also generate some organic traffic. Since it’s REAL DISCUSSIONS in RELEVANT AREAS, it’s not scamming, it’s not sleazy, and it’s a win for everyone. You get more traffic and more income, so you are more likely to continue the comic, you get more readers that enjoy your material, and your growing reader base is further ensured they get MORE Meatshield for more years to come.

I hope that any part of this is helpful, and that I wasn’t just a nuisance. Thanks for the great comic, Rob. I check your site daily (even though I know it doesn’t update everyday, hah) 😉

Thanks!
-Jake

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MeatShield by Rob Chambers

Bi-Weekly D&D-style Fantasy Hijinks!

517 – You didn’t know that was your nickname?