So Why the Ads?

Frequent readers of The MAD Blog may have noticed in the last week the presence of something not seen here in a long time… ads. If these bother you I apologize…the decision to put them back in after so many years was not made lightly. In the end the really insightful presentation on “Successful Cartooning in the Digital World” by Howard Tayler of Schlock Mercenary fame embedded above made me realize that not having them was dumb. They are unobtrusive, do not interfere with the enjoyment of the content on the site ad, and although the money that eventually gets back to me from their being on the site is miniscule compared to what a juggernaut like Howard’s site generates, it will probably end up paying for my web hosting costs.

Howard’s presentation, which he gave at this year’s AAEC convention in Salt Lake City and generously put online for those of us who could not attend that event, contains some very useful information and facts about how to get the content you create online to translate into paid bills and food on the table. Take some time and view the slideshow… it’s worth it. It also convinced me to start using social media to drive traffic this site a lot more effectively, so I now have a much stronger presence on places like Google+, Instagram, Pintrest, Tumblr, LinkedIn and about.me.

Hat tip to The Daily Cartoonist for the original link.