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posted on March 10th, 2009 in Commerce, Merchandise, Tools 

Rizzo Tees gives a coupon code to every new Twitter follower. Smart.

Joel

Rizzo Tees followed Undependent on Twitter.  I followed back. Check this promotional offer within the Bio:
Follow me and I’ll auto-DM you a 10% off coupon code to my funny t-shirt website.
Smart stuff.
I can confirm the DM arrives. If this code also escapes into the coupon aggregators, that’s even better since more new [...]

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posted on December 2nd, 2008 in Community, Tools, Videos 

ICHC’s Ben Huh talks community growth

Joel

I Can Has Cheezburger’s Ben Huh addressed FOWA in London this October.  He shared the story of Lolcats and discussed these tools and tactics:

  1. The Funnel
  2. Sharing is Caring
  3. Pr0n
  4. Where to Start
  5. Git Paiiiiid
  6. tinypower
  7. Thefting

His talk offers all Undies excellent insights about fostering community.    You can see his slides here.

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posted on December 1st, 2008 in Best Practices, Merch, Undependence, Web Comics 

Undie Gifts: How To Make Webcomics

Joel

Perhaps you know someone who would like to make a career of their creative pursuits?  The book How To Make Webcomics contains many helpful ideas and lessons for creators of every stripe, not just webcomics.

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For years, cartoonists of all stripes have dreamed about making a living from their comics. But until recently their only avenue of success was through a syndicate or publisher. Now, more and more cartoonists are doing it on their own and self-publishing their comic strips on the Web. This 200-page book from Image Comics takes you through everything you’ll need to take your idea from concept to strip…from strip to hobby…and from hobby to full-time job.

Written by four pros who know the ins and outs of the Web — Dave Kellet (Sheldon), Scott Kurtz (PvP), Brad Guigar (Evil Inc.) and Kris Straub (Starslip Crisis) — “How To Make Webcomics” takes you on a step-by-step tour of everything you need to know to make, post and profit from your online comics.

Also enjoy webcomics.com for related content and community.

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posted on July 1st, 2008 in Best Practices, Commerce, News 

Something Completely Different: Eyes on the Price

Jef

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This is going somewhere, I promise.

(more…)

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posted on April 23rd, 2008 in Community, Conventions, Dumbrella, Flash, Homestar Runner, JibJab, Live Action, Machinima, News, Penny Arcade, Rooster Teeth, Series, Web Comics 

ROFLCon kicks off Tomorrow

Jef

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The guest list really is a who’s who of Internet fame and/or ignominy. Amplifier’s own Joel Bush will be there to hopefully document the event. We gave him a great video camera so honestly, he’s without excuse!

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posted on March 13th, 2008 in Best Practices, Content, Glennz Tees, Merch 

A T-Shirt Rock Star declares his Undependence

Jef

We Have Liftoff!

Arguably one of the most influential working t-shirt designers today, Glenn Jones, has launched his own t-shirt company, Glennz Tees. If you’ve spent much time in the t-shirt world, you already know his work. He’s won more Threadless contests than anyone. He combines a richly-colored, insanely detailed illustrative style with a laugh-out loud funny visual gag.

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posted on February 14th, 2008 in Best Practices, Content, News, Undependence, Undies 

Plug in to the Undies!

Joel

Micropersuasion.com’s Steve Rubel recently described the revolution underway as (i.) content production and distribution explodes and (ii.) creators bypass intermediaries to go direct. Providing an apt metaphor, he called for Digital Curators to help audiences discover, experience, and understand the best “finds” within this ever-increasing flow of content.

Nice call, Steve. Thank you.

We help audiences (all of us) find, follow, and enjoy the best work from the emerging class of self-sustaining Internet-based artists, aka the Undependents or Undies, who are telling amazing stories within podcasts, video, webcomics, machinima, animation, etc.

As curators, we feature these programs:

The Undependent Universe’s Collection continues to grow. It currently includes the following, in no particular order (visit the site for links):

  • Webcomics: The Perry Bible Fellowship; Girl Genius; PvP; Starslip Crisis; Sheldon; Evil, Inc.; Piled Higher and Deeper; Wondermark; Unshelved; Dinosaur Comics; xkcd; A Softer World; Cat and Girl; Dresden Codak; AppleGeeks; Ctrl+Alt+Del; User Friendly; White Ninja Comics; and Octopus Pie.
  • The Drumbrella Exhibit: Boy on a Stick and Slither; explodingdog; The Creatures in My Head; Diesel Sweeties; Overcompensating; Scary Go Round; Goats; Wigu; as well as RSS feeds from the creators;
  • The Achewood Exhibit: featuring all character blogs;
  • Videos/shows: Funny or Die; College Humor; The Onion; Heavy.com.
  • Others: Penny Arcade; Rooster Teeth Productions; Angry Alien Productions; JibJab; Despair, Inc.; Ask A Ninja; Smosh; Homestar Runner; Those Lil’ Rabbits; Tiki Bar TV; Engrish.com.
  • How To’s and News: Fleen; Webcomics Weekly; Comixtalk; Cold Hard Flash; NewTeeVee; Halfpixel; Web TV Wire; Thinking Machinima; Digital Strips.
  • Rotating special exhibits highlighting great stuff, and much more!

We hope our programs help you enjoy the Undies more easily and regularly. We live in such an exciting time, eh? Creative expression flourishes, and newly empowered creators keep inventing more ways to delight their fans.

Thanks again, Steve, for your great post and ongoing work. And thanks, too, to all the Undies and especially all the fans who support them. Without you, this revolution doesn’t happen.

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posted on January 26th, 2008 in Best Practices, Commerce, Merchandise, Monetizing, Podcast, Tiki Bar TV 

Tiki Bar TV introduces ‘The Drinkbot Decanter’

Jef

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Previously in Undependent…

  • We profiled Tiki Bar TV’s Lala Pinup Calendar and praised it for:
    • Its direct function as a wall calendar
    • Its value as a shibboleth for Tiki Bar TV fans…
    • Its deepening of the Tiki Bar TV brand thanks in part to its perfectly executed Vargas-style retro aesthetic

So now we’re introducing to Undependent readers Tiki Bar TV’s new “Drinkbot Decanter.”

Again, Tiki Bar has produced a genuinely original product here. Like the Lala Calendar and the Charooba Mug before it, Drinkbot Decanter scores a direct hit for true fans. But we at Undependent, presuming as we do to be experts, also have to praise Tiki Bar TV particularly their manufacturer Tiki Farm for a tiny detail which serves as the crowning achievement of this product. As this will factor into future merchandise profiles, we’ll call it the “You’ve Got to be Kidding Me” factor.

Drinkbot Decanter’s capstone is the tiny, detailed lampshade included with the order. If you haven’t done so already, watch the classic Drinkbot episode for this perfect bit of prop comedy. Being confident comedians, they don’t stop everything to ensure viewers see the lampshade on Drinkbot’s head. It’s just another example of theinspired lunacy that is the signature of Tiki Bar TV.

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So, if you were making an expensive, completely custom mug, would you go to the trouble and add more cost to it for this small joke? Of course you wouldn’t. That’s why we’re not writing about you, we’re writing about someone who really gets how tangible the little intangibles ARE. Cheers and mahalo to Tiki Bar and Tiki Farm for really going the extra mile for a joke.

Now that you think about it, you agree, right? Buy a Drinkbot Decanter to say so!

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posted on November 17th, 2007 in Best Practices, Commerce, Content, Merch, Monetizing, Penny Arcade, Web Comics 

Penny Arcade adds Prints of almost every Comic Ever

Jef

Penny Arcade today pulled the curtain off of their new Print-on-Demand Comics. Now almost every comic they’ve ever made is available as a super high quality 11×17 (or 11×11) poster.

Ordering couldn’t be simpler. The familiar navigator located beneath each comic strip simply has a new button that reads “Buy a Print.” Click it and you’re done. No Ajax, no Logins, the item is automatically added to the Penny Arcade shopping cart. You can return to the navigator to add more strips, shop for other PA merch in their store, or just checkout.

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A simple, subtle, nearly frictionless purchase process. You can read more about it in Gabe’s announcement here.


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posted on November 16th, 2007 in Best Practices, Catalog, Commerce, Despair, Inc., Monetizing 

Despair launches its own line of Plastic Gift Cards

Jef

So today Despair soft-launched their new line of Gift Cards.

These cards parody the seemingly endless number of precious-metal credit cards. Despair’s Card comes in Rust, Pyrite (shown) and Tin. But this isn’t everything. The cards are working physical gift certificates. Each is serialized, like any gift card, each can be redeemed online at their store. They’re printed on metallic card stocks, feature embossed alphanumeric gift codes as well as a scratch off panel on the back. (What’s under the scratch off? I’ll never tell.)

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