Retropolis ads...

[Digger]

I want to congratulate the supremely talented Bradley W. Schenck for his success with his store (http://www.printfection.com/retro-future)! Yes, I know I've proclaimed (many times) that I'm a huge fan of his work...but hey, what can I say, I love the "yesterday's tomorrow" genre. And I think Bradley does it better than anyone else.

Bradley: I know that you've been linked around quite a bit, but read on your blog (http://www.webomator.com/) how effective your banner ads have been. But could you point to what sites your ads are running on...not talking other sites where you've simply been linked, I'm talkin' where you actually are placing (buying) ad space .

Dont' worry! I have no intention of going after your space, but just curious to see your ads in action. By the way, have you appoached at all the comic geek sites, like Newsarama or Comic Book Resources? That subculture would eat you stuff up!

Best,

D
DiggerTees (http://www.printfection.com/diggertees)
DelTees (http://www.printfection.com/deltees)

[Saga Shirts]

Bradley: I know that you've been linked around quite a bit, but read on your blog (http://www.webomator.com/) how effective your banner ads have been. But could you point to what sites your ads are running on...not talking other sites where you've simply been linked, I'm talkin' where you actually are placing (buying) ad space .


I've actually got a bunch of reasons for not talking specifically about which sites have worked well for me, but like I mentioned here awhile back the ads I'm having such luck with are placed through Project Wonderful - their publishers' sites are webcomics and blogs, more of the former than the latter.

Anyone who tries it should tread carefully, look for publisher sites that are a good match for your own content, and make sure that the ads that are running do lead directly to enough sales (at least) to pay for themselves. Early on I was getting back twice what I spent, and it's often been much better than that. It's something you need to manage carefully.

With any ads like this the first step is not to lose money. Once your ads are running profitably you can keep them running and at that point you may attract the attention of some blogs, forums and communities that can really take off for you in a big way. I was very lucky in April; I was incredibly lucky in May. There's no real way of knowing just how things will go in June - but better than if I wasn't advertising; that's pretty much certain.

Oh, and RE the comics sites, advertising there would be way too rich for my blood, and what I'm doing's not really on topic for their site content even though their readers might like it. This example is sci fi rather than comics, but an example is the io9 blog. Their minimum ad buy is $3000 and that works out to a rate that's just about guaranteed not to be profitable for me, at the rates I mark my shirts up. (See above, under whether or not to lose money) :).

[Digger]

Understood on all points, and here's to your continued success!

Best,

D