Seb’s reviews said “It’s a great read, about great characters, with great art” and “If you remember when the X-Men were great, or WILDCATS were fresh, then you’ll love THE CADRE!”  Check out the full reviews at the links below:

Cadre #1
http://www.projectfanboy.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1713

Cadre #2
http://www.projectfanboy.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1714

Cadre #3
http://www.projectfanboy.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1715

Cadre #4
http://www.projectfanboy.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1716

Cadre #5
http://www.projectfanboy.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1717

Origins of the Cadre #1
http://www.projectfanboy.com:80/vb/showthread.php?t=1754

Thanks to Seb and the Project Fanboy guys for the great reviews!  Check out ProjectFanboy.com for cool reviews on all things Geek-related.

-Mat Nastos, head honcho
Nifty Comics
http://www.NiftyComics.com

The Cadre takes a breather this month as the action focuses on the White Dwarf. What is the link between a crime spree in Empire City and the beautiful but mysterious woman known only as Nemesis? Pick up the issue to find out!

Check out what Diamond Comic Distributors says about the Cadre: “It’s just the sort of saga that got you hooked on comics in the first place.”

Written by Mat Nastos and Cary Kelley, with art by indy art sensation, Tim Rees. Cover by Johnny Saturn creator, Scott Story.

“If you remember when the X-Men were great, or WILDCATS were fresh, then you’ll love THE CADRE!”
–Project Fanboy

“Cadre is a thrilling tale of danger and adventure. An edge-of-the-seat, can’t-put-it-down comic book with potential for classic status!”
– Jazma Online

Title: Cadre #6, 32 pgs. B&W, with a full color cover
Created By: Mat Nastos
Written By: Mat Nastos & Cary Kelley
Art By: Tim Rees
Cover By: Scott Story
Price: $3.50
Ship Date: December 31, 2008

CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGES


 

Check it out and stay tuned to this website for upcoming Cadre release information.

Cadre #6 Cover Art Preview

-Mat Nastos
www.NiftyComics.com

I am very happy to announce that Nifty Comics will be returning to active comic book publishing in December 2008 with the release of Cadre #6, the first all-new issue of the Cadre since the end of 2007.  With issue 6, the Cadre will be going back to a bi-monthly release schedule with Cadre #7 following up in February 2009. 

Cadre #6 is written by Mat Nastos, with scripting by Cary Kelley, fantastic artwork by Tim Rees, lettering by Shane Woodis and an amazing cover by Johnny Saturn creator, Scott Story.  Issue 6 focuses on the White Dwarf and a new love interest for the Tiny Titan.  Check back here at Nifty Comics online in the next couple of weeks for full solicitation information for Cadre #6, along with preview pages and some other Nifty stuff.  For now, check out the image below for a sneak peek at Scott Story’s cover for the issue.

Check out the incredible cover artwork for Cadre #6 by Scott Story.

Until next time, Stay Nifty!

-Mat Nastos
http://www.niftycomics.com

Hey there, guys and gals.  It’s Mat Nastos back again with another bit of marketing advice for your indie comic book publishing adventures.  Today I’m going to talk about how to keep from losing your audience while you are making it grow.

Stan Lee is a genius.  Everyone in the comic book industry knows it.  Unfortunately, most people don’t realize his true genius lies outside of having created Spider-man, the Hulk, the X-men and the Marvel Universe itself.  The real force behind the genius of Stan Lee was that he knew the reason why most businesses lose customers. 

I know what you’re saying to yourself right now.  You’re saying, What in the hell are you talking about, Mat, and what on Earth does it have to do with drawing the Wolverine?”  Truth be told, it has absolutely nothing to do with drawing the Wolverine and absolutely everything to do with why a lot of comic book publishers lose sales after their first issue and, eventually, cancel their comics.

The major reason why comic book publishers (and businesses in general) lose business is because of customer apathy.  In other words, most comic book publishers are chasing away customers by ignoring them after the initial sale.  Marketing experts estimate that over 65 percent of all business lost in the US is from apathy after the sale.  And even back at the beginning of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee knew this. 

…most comic book publishers are chasing away customers by ignoring them after the initial sale.

You see, even back in the early 60s, Stan Lee knew that selling product to a new customer costs 10 times more than selling to an existing customer.  Realizing this, he knew that continuing to sell and resell to his existing audience was as important as selling books to new customers (and was considerably cheaper).  In present day terminology, he knew that keeping his current email list active with new marketing was just as important as the marketing dollars spent on reaching new customers. 

…selling product to a new customer costs 10 times more than selling to an existing customer.

This is point where I realize a few of you, my readers, are going to jump up with your hands in the air and yell “Wait a minute!  You’ve been telling us the whole time that finding new readership is the only way for the industry to survive and relying on current readership is a chump’s game.”  To that group I say, “Sit down and shaddup!”  You’ve missed the point.  What I’m talking about here is making sure not to ignore the readership you’ve developed and the email list you’ve developed (or should have developed).  One of the absolute dumbest things you can do is to ignore someone who has already spent money on your product or allow them to forget about you.  The reason for this, as I just mentioned, is because your conversion rate (your SALE rate) is ten times higher with a previous customer than with a potential new customer. 

With that sort of conversion rate a comic book publisher would be foolish to allow apathy to develop in their current customer base.

How to Combat Customer Apathy?

So, what can a comic book publisher do in order to keep customer apathy levels to a minimum?  The key is to develop a follow-up strategy along with your regular marketing strategies.  The follow-up marketing strategy you develop will dictate how you will follow-up with your current customer base and how often you’ll do it.  This strategy should become your guide for helping to avoid a decrease in your customer base and, more importantly, a decrease in your sales numbers.  The thing to remember is that this follow-up strategy should become a part of your day-to-day business activities.  When you wake up every day you should not only be working on getting new customers but also on how to keep your current ones.

I know, it sounds like a lot of work, and it can be, but this additional work is what it takes to make enough money to publish comic books for a living instead of just working at a comic book store.  In the old days, Stan Lee used everything from his Bullpen Bulletins to the Merry Marvel Marching Society to keep his readership strong and active.  In the 21st century we use email.  Either way, we’re doing the same job: combating customer apathy.

Stan Lee used everything from his Bullpen Bulletins to the Merry Marvel Marching Society to keep his readership strong and active.

Now, the first thing a comic book publisher should do after making a sale is to send the customer a thank you message.  This very simple thing can make the difference between a return sale and a lost customer.  As a comic book publisher, when was the last time you sent out a follow-up thank you note to a customer?  From now on, that thank you note should be a permanent part of you marketing arsenal.  Have either your shopping cart software or your email system set up to send out an automatic email to a customer once they make a purchase.  Thanks to modern technology this is an incredibly simple thing to do and most customers have been trained by companies like Amazon.com to expect it.

This thank you email is also a great place to offer customers an incentive for a return sale — offer $5 off their next order, a free poster or whatever.  If you don’t go out of your way to GIVE them a reason to buy again then they won’t have a reason to buy again.  Make sure to personalize the email so the customer begins to relate to you on a more human and less business level.  Give them a “face” to go along with the name of your company. 

A smart comic book publisher will follow-up (there’s that phrase again) with their customer again after 30 days to make sure everything went ok with the sale and to see if the customer has any questions, comments or problems.  This note allows you to continue to develop a relationship with your customer, and developing those relationships is going to be the key to your survival as a business. 

The 30-day follow-up email gives you another opportunity to offer a return incentive to your customer…to give them another reason to buy from you while your company and your product is fresh in their memory.  10% off or free shipping on their next order are great little things to toss in — or, a free artist sketch or signed & numbered upgrade edition work well.

Develop and maintain the relationship

90-Day Follow-up: Continue to follow-up and maintain that new relationship.  Send another email after 90 days to announce any new products you have coming out.  This is especially affective if the new product is related to the customer’s original purchase — perhaps a new issue is being released. 

Six-Month Follow-Up:  From there, you should follow-up after 6 months to announce a sale (sure, this sale may only be offered to those receiving the email, but that is fine).  Give the customer a deal on purchasing additional back issues of the title they ordered, or give them a sale on a related title or book they might be interested in.  Developing this sale in a personal way for the customer to relate to or identify with.  A great piece to add on to the 6 month email is to offer a “refer it” program to the customer.  Give them a chance to send out a “check this out” notice to three of their friends and give them an additional 5% off their next purchase for sending out that notice. 

A 9 month follow-up is going to be very similar to your 90-day follow-up.  Detail any new offerings you have online and discuss any new features or services you now have.  I also like to give “exclusive” information or deals at this point — talk about a “huge” sale coming up or give behind-the-scenes information on upcoming projects.  A sketchbook, creator-interviews and the like are all great.  This makes the customer feel connected and closer to you because of this “exclusive” relationship they have with your company.

The one year follow-up is an opportunity a lot of business forget or miss out on.  This is your chance to send the customer a “one year anniversary of your first sale” message.  Thank them for their continued support and offer them the biggest discount so far.  If the customer hasn’t purchased anything in the year, go as far as to offer them a free copy of the latest issue of your comics.  In marketing this is called a “loss leader” and can be a great way to turn an old customer into a new one.  The theme behind the one year follow-up is thanks and appreciation for the customer.  Let them know their business means a lot to you.

Continuing the Follow-Ups

From there I’ve found the best tactic for a small press comic book publisher is to continue to follow-up with the customer every 3 months.  Any more than that and your messages can begin to feel like SPAM, any less and you run the risk of the customer forgetting you and your comics.  Continue to announce new products and services, continue to offer discounts and special sales for return customers, and continue to let your customer know you appreciate them.  Solidify the relationship and you’ll build an incredible bond with your customers. 

Doing this and developing your follow-up marketing strategy will turn a one-time customer into someone that could wind up buying three or four times a year and who refers your comic books to three or four of their friends.  With luck, you’ll have turned a single sale into four sales or more all at the cost of a few free emails.

In the end, ignoring your customers may cost you more than keeping them.

-Mat Nastos
http://www.niftycomics.com

Since I started this series of articles on marketing for comic book publishers I’ve been getting email questions from my readers (and watchers of the new videos). The most common question from comic publishers and creators so far is “What is an affiliate program and how do I get one started?” I hope to answers those questions in today’s video post.

This covers and expands upon some of the material I talked about in Part IV, What the heck are affiliate programs?”. I suggest checking out that post as well.

One of the things I wanted to talk about in the video but I completely forgot (because I’m old) is the idea of allowing reviewers to use your affiliate links with their reviews of your books. This is a fantastic way to expand your sales while at the same time encouraging reviewers to cover your titles. Most reviews will already offer a link over to your website, but allowing a reviewer to make that an affiliate link allows them to make a little bit of cash for their hard work.

As always, feel free to post a comment below if you have any questions. I’ll answer any and all comments or emails, and I’ll even cover the best ones in one of my video posts. Also, check out my affiliate marketing targeted website, www.NewAffiliateHelp.com. It gives a lot of information, tips and techniques for anyone interested in getting started with affiliate marketing. Check it out.

Until next time, stay Nifty!

-Mat Nastos
http://www.niftycomics.com

A school of thought that has become prevailant in the comic book industry is the idea of “if you built it, they will come.”  In other words, the act of creating and printing a comic book will automatically result in sales.  Comic creators believe this, a lot of comic book publishers believe this and even some online comic distributors believe this.  My automatic response would be to call these people “morons,” but I’m in a good mood today and will just call them “uneducated.”

The problem with a lot of indy comics is that they are created without an iota of thought towards commercial success or a book’s target market.  The majority of comic creators and comic book publishers create a book with the ideo of selling it to comic book buyers.  They are attempting to sell their book based on its format and not its content, which is incredibly near-sighted and leads to commercial failure in almost all cases.

If you are looking for any level of commercial success then you should be thinking about your potential market and your book’s target niche from the very beginning.  Properly aiming your book at a niche is as important a part of the creative process and should be tied in to every stage of comic book creation - doing research, writing your story and even doing your artwork. 

Finding a solid niche for your comic book (or any product, really) can be the key to a commercially successful, profitable business versus an obscure failure.  Check out the above video for more info on how to do it.

-Mat Nastos
http://www.NiftyComics.com

I just found out I’ll be on Planet Comic Book Radio tomorrow night, speaking with Javier Hernandez of El Muerte fame.  He puts together a great show and it should be a lot of fun.  I see Javier all the time at the Frank and Son Shows down here in Southern California, but this will be my first chance to chat with him.  Check it out:  http://www.planetcomicbookradio.com

 -Mat N.
http://www.niftycomics.com

I know a lot of comic book publishers and comic creators are already familiar with blogs, and many of them run blogs for their books.  What I also know is the majority of them are doing it completely wrong.  While it is a noble effort to run a personal journal or gallery blog, they do absolutely nothing to aid you in building either your brand presence or valid, targeted traffic that will help sell more comic books.

And, yes, I realize the top of my head is cut off in the post.  I’m using a new camera and haven’t quite got it down yet!

In the video I discuss how to format your blog postings and the how’s and why’s of writing your posts around keyword phrases aimed at your comic book’s niche.  The best way to figure out what keywords or keyword phrases to focus on in your blog is by using one of the many keyword tools out on the internet.  One of the easiest tools to use is the keyword tool in Google Adwords.  It is simple, easy and free to use.  You can check it out by going directly to the Google Keyword and dropping in what you think are good keywords for your niche.  The Keyword tool will do the rest, giving you information on alternative keywords, keyword traffic and advertising competition for each.

Start writing your articles with keyword phrases in mind and you’ll see your traffic and your sales grow.

-Mat Nastos
http://www.niftycomics.com

It doesn’t matter how they do it, what matters is they bring sales to you in exchange for a commission that can be anywhere from 5% up to 50% or more. The percentage in any given case is determined by the company recruiting the affiliates and is based on what margins the company can give up and still make a decent profit. A lot of affiliate programs pay in the 8-12% range. As a comic publisher I’d probably offer around 25% of a sale to my affiliates. But that’s me. If you go too low, you won’t get anyone to sign up…too high and you won’t make any money.

As for getting your program started, there are a number of options. I mentioned idevaffiliate.com before, which is one of the do-it-yourself options. They give you the software to track cookies and register sales to your affiliates and all that fun stuff. You have to do more work than with some of the affiliate networks but it is a great option for those of us on a budget. Another great low cost option is BlueDogAffiliate.com which costs $15 a month.

Other options are FusionQuest which has about a $300 set up fee and costs about $25 a month. ShareAsale.com has a $350 setup cost and charges a fee equal to a percentage of your affiliate commissions. There are a number of other options such as Commission Junction, but they tend to be quite a bit more expensive, costing in the thousands of dollars to get started and maintain.

Yes, I know I’m speaking blasphemy by actually suggestion you, a comic book publisher, should spend money on something. Just do it. Getting an affiliate program started for your company can give you a great boost in sales…but the programs do need to be maintained and take a bit of work to keep going. But if you can get some of the bigger affiliates attracted to your progam you will see some very nice returns from their work.

Oh, and the affiliate programs tend to work better for higher price point product such as graphic novels or trade paperbacks. It’s tough to interest an affiliate with even 25% of $3.50. My advice is to wait until you have a trade paperback or multiple trades in print. You could probably make an affiliate program work with the lower cost of comic book singles, it’ll just take a lot more work and a lot more sales to break even.

 A great alternative-thinking use of affiliate links would be to make sure to let any reviewers know they can post affiliate links for your books in any reviews they write on them.  It’ll let them make a little extra cabbage for their hard work and may result in some nice sales for you.

-Mat N.
http://www.niftycomics.com

Next Time: Comic Book Marketing for the Mentally Challenged, Part V: Blogging for Dollars and Why your Blog Sucks