So I was skimming around on Digg.com today and I learned that someone Dugg my comic “Harrison Ford Never Rides Bitch” from a couple of months ago. The article had almost 2,000 other people Digg it, as well. Pretty cool, huh?
Well, actually no. It wasn’t cool because the person who Dugg the comic linked directly to the image and not back to the page in the archvie where it’s being displayed. So not only did I miss out on a huge revenue generating opportunity, I was also denied credit on the piece and people are unaware that there’s a larger site behind the comic – so it’s unlikely that I gained any new readers from the exposure. What’s worse, is because the dude linked to the image itself, it’s sucking down my bandwidth without any of the positive side effects!
So here’s the thing – you know that I appreciate it when you link Theater Hopper through the various social bookmarking outlets. But you’re doing more harm than good if you’re not linking back to the site itself. So be cool, please?
I understand that this is the nature of doing business of the web and you can’t control how people choose to disseminate your stuff. I suppose if I’ve learned anything, it’s that I need to start putting the title of the comic, my name and the URL of the site into the comic image so at least then I’m getting credit for my work if this happens again. Either that, or I need to slap some code onto my server that keeps people from directly linking to my images. Does anyone out there know how to do that? Let me know.
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I have a design question for you guys.
Where do you think would be the most prominent place for me to put a StumbleUpon button? I’m thinking of removing the one I have now and putting it even closer to the comic navigation.
Bonus question: If the StumbleUpon button goes closer to the comic navigation, where should the site bookmarking tool go? You know, the one that keeps your place if you’re combing through the archives.
Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
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I just wanted to collect some feedback on something site-related I’m toying with.
Under the comic, there is a link to the ShareThis! application that, on rollover, reveals dozens of links to different social bookmarking sites.
The other day I stumbled onto the Sociable plugin and really liked the way that it displayed the icons of the social bookmarking sites I choose.
My main problem with their plugin is the coding. Specifically the CSS. I want to put text around it to kind of explain what all these little images are doing there (“Bookmark this comic!”) but the way the code is written, it won’t let me.
At this point, I’m afraid I’m overthinking it.
So let me as you this: Does there need to be any text on the page explaining what those icons are for? Twitter, StumbleUpon, Reddit and the like? Or is it safe to assume that if people see those icons and the like the comic enough to bookmark it, they will?
I’m trying to get a sense of how you guys use these social bookmarking plugins (if it all) because I want to make it as easy for you as possible to help share Theater Hopper with others.
Right now I have a sneaking suspicion that the ShareThis! plugin I’m currently using is forcing you to jump through hoops by clicking on the link, then hunting for the social bookmarking service you want versus seeing the icon for that service front and center, clicking on it and getting it done.
What do you think? I could really use your perspective.
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Hey, guys. I’m trying to make a push for Theater Hopper through Reddit and wanted to let you know that a link to Monday’s comic can be found here. If you have a Reddit account, please give the link a few thumbs up or a comment to help it move up the list a little bit.
In the past, I would submit to Reddit’s main area with very little luck. But this time I’m testing out links to Reddit’s sub-category for comics under http://www.reddit.com/r/comics/. I think it will help to actually target people who WANT to read comics for a change.
By the way, if you submit one of Theater Hopper’s comics to Reddit’s Comics category, please let me know so I can promote the link here.
I would submit my own links to Reddit, but they’re pretty savvy about people who try to self-promote. I feel this approach kind of splits the difference between an authentic representation of word-of-mouth on your part and callous marketing on my part.
Whatever works, right?
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