One of the things I love about Steemit is all the comics I get each week to make me laugh and think. I'd recommend you check out @katharsisdrill, @scritchbeat, @mynameisbrian, @lighteye, @spottyproduction. I'm sure there are others, so let me know.
It would be great to see some bigger names posting their work here. We did have @joyoftech, but they have not been around recently. They told me that the money they can make here does make a difference, but their rewards were very erratic. Here's what they said to me.
Here are some others I'd like to see. Screenshots are just to tempt you to visit their sites. We can drop them some hints about Steemit, although it's not the ideal time to join whilst rewards are reduced. We can at least get it on their radar. I'm declining payout on this as I'm using their work and shouldn't profit from it.
Savage Chickens are fun little comics. Often a bit surreal.
xkcd is one of the top comics for geeks. He's clued up enough to put his comics out under Creative Commons licence. I think he makes a lot from merchandise.
CommitStrip is also geeky in that it's about developers.
Ideally it should be made even simpler for people to get their content onto Steemit. I'm sure they use tools to get it on Facebook, Twitter etc when they post a new comic. Can we get Steemit added to those? They will also have share buttons. Steemit ought to be in there. Not sure how that works with the licencing as rewards need to get back to the creator. On some of the social sites you tend to share a thumbnail of the post so that people need to click through to see it. Ideally Steemit should also be able to insert some sort of image when you paste a link. That would be useful generally.
Just throwing these ideas out there. I have been trying to engage with various creators to make them aware of Steemit. Just making them aware is a good first step.
Steem on!
Mine cryptocurrency in the cloud at Eobot, including Steem. You can earn as you chat using WowApp. If you use these links I get a small reward. You can recruit others to do the same.
Great post as usual, Steev. I think guys in the XKCD level of fame are too comfortable to want to explore Steemit right now - to be frank, the rewards here (even once the reward pool fills up) just won't be even close to hitting their radar.
If we can find those up-and-comers - people who have a few thousand fans, generate a bit of revenue, but aren't full time yet - THAT's the target market. And now that I'm thinking about it, a few of my own friends might fit that description. Time to make some phone calls.
He's just someone I'd love to see here. The Joy of Tech guys said it was an appreciable amount to them, at least when they were getting $60 on a post.
I've been thinking it's better for the 'niche' creators who are on the edge of making a living from their art. If they re-post what they have elsewhere and can respond to any comments then they have a chance to make something extra. If they are willing to sell music, art etc for Steem/SBD then they could do even better.
A lot of these people are being ripped off by Facebook etc. Steemit seems a better way to engage with the fans. I hope your friends at least have a look. Of course we have to set realistic expectations.
You know, you're right. Who knows who might be interested? The only way to find out is to try.
I'm just thinking out loud now - but perhaps the best target for outreach would be the owners / operators of collectives, record labels, management groups, book publishers - people who work with a large group of niche creators. We could get dozens of new users off of a single successful "sale" of steemit in that way.
I hoped that this article in Rolling Stone would reach some of those people, but it still seems to be under the radar. Big companies will already have a 'marketing strategy', but smaller operators may be more open to alternatives.
Agreed @steevc - I would love to see people like adogaday which was famous on tsu, not sure if still active - here the Facebook link - also from your country i recall?
https://www.facebook.com/idrawdogs/
I bought one of her pictures for Tsu$ and I know others did too. I think in the end she was not selling so many and so moved on. I think she could do well on Steemit. I plan to buy more art for Steem when I can
Great post @steevc.
I've been a fan of xkcd for years.
Share on Steemit is a great idea. I'd just hope it doesn't lead to a barrage of bare posts with a single image or video etc.
I know artists and others have to dedicate time to those platforms where they get the best results. If it's at least easy to get stuff on Steemit then they could get a following. They either need to work on it for a while or have fans who will help out. I'm no marketing expert, but I can see that some only visit to post.
I am a cartoonist but I don't post often strips because "comics" is the least voted/viewed of my tags.
Probably my strips are not funny enough. ;)
Got an example? Actually being funny is hard and it depends on who reads it. What do you think of Steemit's potential for artists in general?
Steemit is still a really small community. For artists it can be a little source of money. One can also make some sale, and I hope that there will be soon a feature for buying/selling within the platform.
I'm working to create a shop in Steemit myself, for me and for others.
We've seen some people do really well from posts, but we don't know if that can scale when there are thousands of creators and millions of users. People are selling on Peerhub, but we need something integrated, e.g. "Buy this" button that can collect delivery details.
exactly
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No problem. Hope it's working for you
Thanks for the mention! Your support and comments are very much appreciated on Appetite for Distraction and throughout the Steemit comics community.
I think the licensing and rewards discussion you bring up is interesting. We're all still developing the social norms of the Steem community. I'm inclined to feel that as long as you're not taking credit for the work, and you properly and prominently link to the official site of the artist involved, there's not an inherent need to share post rewards or decline payout. This view is coming from a content creator, albeit a content creator who is already on Steemit of course!
When we share content to Steemit in such a manner, we're not truly monetizing the content, but we're actually monetizing our act of sharing it and the attention paid to it. It's a fine line, but it deserves discussion and distinction.
An artist who sees posts on Steemit spreading their work and raking in rewards should be the most incentivized to set up an official account and take that market for themselves! Having an official account also will give them the actual leverage to down vote posts that reproduce their official Steemit content, as opposed to appropriately using resteem and sharing functions that would properly reward an author on Steem.
While I say there is no inherent need to share post rewards, I do think it's a great way to support your favorite artists, and to market and invite new creators. Rather than decline post rewards, I favor setting that reward aside with a public mention that those Steem are transferrable to the content creator at such time as they join and create a verified Steem account. Alternatively you can actively cash out that reward and use it to donate to the artist's Patreon, or purchase some merchandise, hopefully with a note describing the Steem based origin of the funds! The creator can be made aware of any "bounty" that has been created for them and choose what to do. I guarantee the decision to sign up and claim some free Steem power will be made easier as the Steem gains in value!
I'm still anxiously awaiting community features. I think they will help with user satisfaction and retention, and at that point I foresee myself truly joining the marketing effort, directing my attention toward comic creator centric online communities and live comic conventions.
There are some interesting ways to monetise such posts. I know some people set up accounts for organisations they wanted to come on Steemit and even gave them some SP. There may be a 'land grab' for names at some point.