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Is the Free Content Model Hurting Artists?

by Palle Schmidt 4 Comments

Give away your best stuff for free and people will become fans, and a percentage of those fans will end up paying you. But is this really true? Can you put the genie back in the bottle?

We all saw how it happened with the traditional media. Whenever a news site put up a pay wall, we just skipped to the next – free – news source. When customers get used to getting content for free it’s hard to charge money for the same content later.

When I started this site, a friend of mine advised against charging money for it. People can find free comics tutorials on YouTube, why would they pay for it? Nevertheless, I have people paying for access to my premium program every month. People I am sure would NOT be paying for access, if I hadn’t already built trust with them through all the free content here and on the newsletter.

And speaking of building trust, have you noticed there aren’t any ads on this site? That’s because I made a conscious decision not to try and cash in by putting blinking banners and sponsored content here. This is my site and my message, end of story. The reason I can keep the site up and running is because of the awesome people who sign up for premium access.

If you’re a semi-pro artist I’m sure you use stuff like Instagram to promote your art. Some artists are wary of putting their content on these platforms as it might get stolen or copied. And while it certainly happens once in a while, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You can post work-in-progress or detail shots rather than finished artwork and your followers will be just as happy. Besides, the more loyal fans you have out there, the bigger the chance that they will let you know if your work shows up in weird places.

A lot of web artists are having success with Patreon or other micro funding sources and others again use their free online comic as promotion for a printed copy. It turns out that a lot of people are actually willing to pay for something you already gave away for free, because now they have a relationship with you and want to support the work you do. The pay-first-get-content-later model has been turned on it’s head and artists need to navigate this new world. But it seems a lot more people are finding ways to make money on their art without being chosen by the gatekeepers previously needed to connect with an audience. There has never been a better time to create your own job, even though it may be a patchwork of tiny income streams.

That said, I sometimes worry that by giving stuff away for free, you could be attracting the wrong audience. I mean, if people sign up to get something for free doesn’t mean they will ever pay you a dime. You could argue that the reason they go for your free stuff is because they are freeloaders. While posting our art on Instagram may very well help build an audience, it could also have a downside. Are we not just training people that art is something that should be available at your fingertips for free?

I realize this post doesn’t provide many answers. If there’s one thing I want you to take away, it is this: Be mindful of how and why you give away free content. Focusing your efforts on getting followers and likes on Facebook is not a sure-fire way to pay the bills. And unless you have a buy-button on your site (or a sign-up or support-my-Patreon button) you could very well be running in circles, trying to fill a bucket that has a hole in the bottom. You need to be able to capture some of those visitors, convert some of those likes and clicks into cash. Maybe not right now, but some day when you have a favor to ask, a book to launch or a Kickstarter that needs support. We all need to eat. And likes aren’t that nourishing in the long run.

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What’s you take on this? I’d love to hear your thoughts, just comment below. Thanks!

Filed Under: News, Pro Tips Tagged With: buy-button, clicks, earning a living, fans, followers, free, freelance life, freeloaders, freemium, indie creators, instagram, Kickstarter, likes, marketing, Patreon, sign-up

8 Steps to Comics Success – Comics for Beginners podcast episode 24

by Palle Schmidt 14 Comments

As you may know, my first monthly book Thomas Alsop is out from BOOM! Studios and is doing very well. Hooray! But how do you get there? In the first episode of this podcast, I discussed the three biggest mistakes of my comics career. But it was a different time back then. In this episode I go into what I would do if I was starting out making comics today. Follow these 8 simple steps and your comics career is guaranteed! Er, no… But there are some good tips in this episode, that’s a promise.

Related podcast: The Three Biggest Mistakes of my Comics Career

 

Filed Under: Podcast, Pro Tips Tagged With: career, collaboration, comics, comics industry, creativity, how to, improving as an artist, instagram, making comics, mistakes, planning, PR, productivity, self promotion, social media, webcomics, workflow

5 great apps for freelance artists

by Palle Schmidt Leave a Comment

Apps

Life as an artist is not always easy. But parts of it have gotten way easier, with the arrival of mobile technology. Here are 5 awesome iPhone apps that will boost your workflow, all free and super easy to use.

Instagram

Sharing your artwork on social media has never been easier. Take a shot of whatever is on your art table, hashtag it or write a sentence describing it and click share. You can even hook it up with your Facebook and Twitter, and get a wider reach instantly.

Learning curve: 5 minutes. 10 out of 10.

Tripit

Go to conventions often? Get the free version of Tripit and keep all your travel info in one place. Go to Tripit.com to set up your account. Book your flight however you choose and ust forward your ticket email to plans@tripit.com and your info will be in the easily accesible app in mere seconds. SO much cooler than print outs or scrooling through your inbox for a flight number.

Learning curve: None. 8 out of 10.

Dropbox

This is hardly news, but the Dropbox app is absolutely awesome and essential for artists. Save all the documents you need, like your portfolio, a pdf of your graphic novel or sample pages and have access to them everywhere, anytime. The app allows for easy sharing, so you can email a link to files of any size to people you meet – on the spot. Another great feature is the photo upload that you can enable for on-the-go back up of your photo library, so you can clear more space on your phone without plugging in to anything. The free version of Dropbox gives you 2 GB of storage, the pricing for more is reasonable not to mention tax deductable.

Learning curve: 2 minutes. 10 out of 10.

PocketCasts

Why not get smarter while you’re working on your art? Drawing usually only requires a part of your brain to pay attention, you can easily listen to podcasts while you’re sketching and inking. PocketCasts allows you to add your favorite podcasts and stream or download episodes individually. The free version let’s you only add a handful of podcasts, so get the paid one, it’s cheap.

Learning curve: 3 minutes. 7 out of 10.

WordPress

If you have a blog, it’s probably WordPress. But did you know they have an awesome app that let’s you manage several blogs, write posts and add pictures on the go, approve and reply to comments without ever opening a browser? Well, you know now.

Learning curve: 8-10 minutes. 9 out of 10.

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Hope these tips help you get more done on the road and makes life easier for you! Got any apps I should know about? Please comment below!

Filed Under: Pro Tips Tagged With: apps, comics, Dropbox, easy, Facebook, freelance, instagram, Iphone apps, mobile, on-the-go, PocketCasts, pro tips, productivity, social media, technology, Tripit, Twitter, Wordpress, workflow

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