posted on November 28th, 2008 in Merch, Penny Arcade, Web Comics 

Undie gifts: Penny Arcade compilation bundle

Give all of Penny Arcade with one click:

Also share prints, apparel, and more.

posted on May 27th, 2008 in Ask a Ninja, Content, Despair, Inc., News, Penny Arcade, Rooster Teeth, Tiki Bar TV, Undies 

upTweets: Undies doin’ it for themselves.

I am going to go on an extended non-blogging break.

If you’re following along on Twitter, you haven’t missed this good stuff:

• Despair’s latest vividly demonstrates awesome longer-form storytelling via video (here you go, Mr. Eisner), parts 1 and 2;
• Ask A Ninja isn’t shy about anything talking web video;
• Rooster Teeth has launched Red Vs Blue: Reconstruction;
• Laughing Squid captured the world’s largest lolcat;
• SoHo has a 20′ Lala;
• Diesel Sweeties celebrated a six-year undiversary. Congrats, yo!
• AppleGeeks honored Memorial Day;
• Kris Straub has opened his sketchbooks. So cool.
• Go inside PAA Episode 1.

More soon. Promise.

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

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 6th, 2008 in Achewood, Content, Music, News, Penny Arcade, Rooster Teeth, Undependence, Undies, Web Comics 

Undies Remember Gary Gygax (1938-2008)

The death of Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax earlier this week wasn’t just a loss for gamers and fantasy fans, but for creative types and undependents all over the world. Some of the web’s best and brightest undependents have been remembering the role-playing game titan as only they can.

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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

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.

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

posted on October 26th, 2007 in Content, Despair, Inc., Homestar Runner, JibJab, Penny Arcade, Tiki Bar TV 

inside the Undies: Despair; Homestar Runner; Penny Arcade; Tiki Bar TV; JibJab.

Recent Undie goodness:

• Get out your credit card. Share the Despair. You can see all five new Demotivators here. I think this one is my favorite.
• Strong Bad answered an email about business travel. His commentary on webcomics last week reminded me of a classic from the Penny Arcade archives. It seems Gabe and Tycho anticipated the joke by, oh, about eight years.
• Tiki Bar TV unveiled their latest, Ice Breaker. Check the awesome new mug at the end of the episode.
• Just in time for Halloween, JibJab has served up two zombie reels (one featuring Democrats, the other Republicans) for their popular Starring You series of Sendables. Undie cat Aaron Simpson created his; you can, too.

Click the mug to get your drink on:

Your store links: Despair; Homestar Runner; Penny Arcade; Tiki Bar TV; JibJab; Aaron Simpson’s Cold Hard Flash.

posted on September 29th, 2007 in Ask a Ninja, Community, Despair, Inc., JibJab, Penny Arcade, Rooster Teeth 

on the importance of being earnest about community

Undies thrive on a direct connection with their fans. Audiences definitely appreciate the ability to interact with creators, whether at conventions or online. This direct relationship lets creators earn and enjoy high unit margins on their sales because they often need no label, publisher, wholesaler, retailer, etc.

Successful community strategies vary as widely as the Undies themselves. For instance:

• Despair, Inc. lets their fans build their own Demotivators. In addition, Despair offers excellent promotions to members of their Wailing List.
• JibJab has a massive community presence and lets fans star in their own clips;
• Penny Arcade has forums at their site, and they host their own monster convention, the Penny Arcade Expo, that this year brought together almost 40,000 fans for three days of gaming festivities.
• Rooster Teeth Productions has built perhaps the greatest Undie community site around. Check these amazing stats:

The web continues to evolve new ways to build and manage your community. TechCrunch has reviewed nine such tools. I like Ning a lot myself.
Ask A Ninja has announced an upcoming upgrade to their community platform. We’re eager to see what the Ninja unleashes for fans.
Creators, how do you encourage and engage your tribe?

Fans, what community features do you like the most?

–JLB

posted on September 4th, 2007 in Conventions, Penny Arcade 

hugeness from Penny Arcade

It’s one thing – and quite a good thing – to grow both your audience and your operation to the point where you can confidently attend various conventions around the country. Many undependents exhibit at shows to meet fans, have fun, and sell stuff.

It is another thing entirely to become so huge that you can run your own convention.

The fourth annual Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) brought 30,000 folks to 130,000 square feet in downtown Seattle’s Washington State Convention and Trade Center for a great experience. Wired Magazine recently reported that this event is now the largest gaming convention in the USA.

Now that’s undependence.

For more on Penny Arcade and PAX:

• Recent Gabe and Tycho posts on PAX;
• Kiko photos from PAX;
• Wikipedia on Penny Arcade and PAX;
• Please also learn about and support Child’s Play (Wikipedia entry).

-JLB

posted on August 30th, 2007 in Despair, Inc., Homestar Runner, News, Penny Arcade, Rooster Teeth 

Behind the scenes at Despair…

Recent article goes semi-behind the scenes at Despair and finds a big Amplifier.

You may know them better by their clients: Besides Despair, there’s Penny Arcade, Rooster Teeth, JibJab, Ask a Ninja, and Tiki Bar TV. Amplifier is designed to facilitate business for the creative sector, whether that’s fulfillment, distribution, customer service, or anything else that might otherwise be outsourced. This lets small businesses do things like personalize orders, include bonus items for certain customers, tailor their phone support to the feel of their company, and be able to focus on ideas, not management.