Month: January 2025

Sometimes the difference between security and compromise comes down to a single click – and a healthy dose of suspicion. And it’s because scammers are getting increasingly sophisticated with their phishing attempts. It’s to the point where even following standard security best practices isn’t enough to protect you. Case in point: last week’s near-successful phishing attack on Zach Latta.

The new DeepSeek R1 model from China launched last week. If you’re into AI or even into technology more broadly, it was hard to miss the news. Everyone was talking about it. But it’s not just that. It’s the way everyone was talking about it. I was left with the impression that DeepSeek is going to drive a stake through the heart of OpenAI and Anthropic.

Web Comics Are Now Mainstream

By the 2000s, webcomics gained momentum with the advent of tools like RSS feeds and platforms like Tumblr, offering creators unprecedented reach. Fast forward to today, webcomics have become a global phenomenon, with platforms like Webtoon and Tapas attracting millions of readers and fostering professional-grade series like Lore Olympus. The medium, now approaching four decades, continues to innovate, blending art, storytelling, and digital technology to redefine how we consume comics.

Are webcomics rewriting the rules of storytelling and entrepreneurship? Absolutely. With millions of readers worldwide, webtoons are where creativity meets opportunity. Yet, for every breakout hit, thousands of creators struggle to build an audience—let alone monetize their work. This post offers six actionable steps to elevate your webcomic and explore strategies to turn passion into profit. We’ll cover storytelling fundamentals, examples of standout webtoons, and proven internet marketing tactics to help you thrive in this competitive space.

Step 1: Master the Art of Thumbnails

• Your thumbnail is your billboard on the busiest digital highway. Without a striking one, potential readers may never give your work a chance.
• Tips: Use bold, contrasting colors, a dynamic character pose, and minimal text to keep it clear at any size.
• Example: Lore Olympus excels by combining its mythological aesthetic with emotionally evocative thumbnails that tease the story’s tone.

Step 2: Craft a Shareable Title

• Importance: A good title does more than identify your comic—it markets it. A shareable title makes it easier for fans to recommend your work.
• Best Practices: Use alliteration, intrigue, or unique phrasing. Avoid overly generic or overly complex titles.
• Example: Consider how Spells From Hell taps into its genre and instantly conveys its supernatural themes.

Step 3: Build a Reader Funnel Through Marketing Fundamentals

• Internet marketing thrives on one thing: guiding users from casual interest to committed fans—and eventually customers. This strategy works perfectly for webcomics too.
• Key Steps:
  • Awareness: Use social media, ads, or collaborations with other creators to bring visibility to your comic. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Webtoon forums are ideal starting points.
  • Engagement: Create engaging posts—sneak peeks, polls, or short animations—to build a connection.
  • Conversion: Provide links to your webcomic’s main platform or merch store, making it easy for readers to subscribe or purchase.
• Example: Lore Olympus creator Rachel Smythe uses Instagram to share art snippets and announcements, constantly driving followers to her comic.

Step 4: Monetize Through Multiple Revenue Streams

• The Strategy: Relying solely on ad revenue can be limiting. Successful creators diversify.
• Ideas:
  • Offer exclusive content or early access through platforms like Patreon.
  • Sell merchandise, like posters, pins, or character-themed products.
  • Explore partnerships for sponsored episodes or cross-promotions.
• Example: Sirens Lament turned its most iconic visuals into high-demand merchandise, creating an additional revenue stream outside Webtoon ads.

Step 5: Optimize Your Webcomic for Search and Social Sharing

• The best comic in the world is useless if no one can find it.
• SEO for Creators:
  • Use keywords in your comic’s description and metadata.
  • Tag your comic effectively when posting on platforms.
  • Create a website or blog to centralize updates and build authority.
• Social Media Tips:
  • Encourage fans to share episodes or their favorite panels.
  • Post consistently during peak hours for your target audience.
• Example: A hashtag campaign like #FanArtFriday can bring in fan content and keep your comic trending.

Step 6: Build an Email List and Community

Social platforms change algorithms all the time. An email list is direct access to your fans.

• How-To:
  • Offer a free downloadable like a desktop wallpaper in exchange for emails.
  • Use newsletters to share updates, exclusive sketches, and upcoming merch drops.
  • Funnel email readers to your webcomic or shop.
• Example: Many indie creators use Substack to keep fans engaged while maintaining ownership of their audience.

The Creator-Marketer Mindset

Dual Role: Great creators don’t just make art; they market it. Internet marketing isn’t the enemy of creativity—it amplifies it.

• What to Focus On: Start small. You don’t need to master every platform or strategy overnight. Consistency beats perfection.
• Motivation: Remember, every fan who shares, subscribes, or buys is a step toward making your webcomic a sustainable venture.

Conclusion

These six steps aren’t just a blueprint for creating a standout webcomic—they’re the foundation for building a profitable one. Thumbnails, titles, marketing funnels, revenue streams, SEO, and email lists are your tools to succeed.

Where will you start? Take one strategy and commit to it this week.

With creativity, persistence, and smart marketing, your webcomic can transform from a passion project to a thriving career.

This morning, I came across some interesting news about Google’s updated site reputation abuse policies. Apparently, they’ve revised their main guidelines with some fresh updates.

While the web buzzes with anxiety about AI taking our jobs or achieving consciousness, real artificial intelligence systems have already been making life-altering decisions about healthcare, housing, and basic human rights – often with devastating consequences.In this article I’m going to examine three real-life cases where AI systems destroyed thousands of lives. Then I’ll share my opinion on what we can do about it.

Google has made a significant change: you now need to enable JavaScript to use Google Search. According to them, this move is about security and improving the experience for users like you and me. By requiring JavaScript, Google says it can better protect its platform against spam, bots, and other types of abuse. It also claims this change ensures you get “the most relevant and up-to-date information.”

Last week, Automattic announced that they’d be cutting their weekly contributor hours to WordPress.org from roughly 4,000 to a mere 45. This is a massive shift in how open-source WordPress has functioned for over a decade. Let’s explore four possible implications of this major change.

If you’ve used Google lately, you’ve probably noticed a change: instead of just getting a mix of links and snippets, you’re now seeing AI-generated responses that synthesize information from multiple sources right there in your results. This is what’s known as generative search and it’s changing how we optimize content for search engines. In this post, I’ll explain how traditional SEO differs from GEO and where the concept of GEO originated from. Then I’ll go over some best practices so you can improve your odds of getting featured in generative search results.