I am doing a number of different things right now, and from the outside looking in, it probably looks like too much stuff, with none of it connected.
That’s not the case though, see…it’s all part of the plan.
Here are the things I have on the go right now.
This is my “Monday to Friday”, I’m working on a major project for All New Comics that will launch November 2nd. I am also working on a SaaS (Software as a Service) component that will benefit not just All New Comics, but any comic store that wants to be able to better manage their pre-order system. I call this system “Manage Comics”. I have two other clients whom I am building web presences for. In addition to that, I have four different proposals in various states of readiness. I’m already booked through mid-November, and I expect to be booked through December by the end of this month.
It’s going extremely well.
Sequential Fiction – The Pop Culture Megacast
This is a weekly 45 minute podcast featuring comics and pop culture news, reviews and interviews. I spend about 2-4 hours a week on this. It’s not particularly hard, in fact I find it a lot of fun.
My plan is to build this up to about 1000 listeners a week and start charging for ads.
Moderating Panels at the Forest City Comicon
I am moderating two panels at the Forest City Comicon, DC vs Marvel Movies, and The ABC’s of Comics. I’ll dedicate probably four to six hours to prep for these two shows.
Kickstart Formula – Guide to Marketing
We haven’t come up with a name for it yet, but I’m going to be working on some strategic tools and templates for small businesses to help them get up and running with their websites and make more money. This is for people who already have a website and need someone like me to come in and show them what they need to do to get to the next level. This will eventually become an online tool where they can self-assess and track their results in real time.
Now how are these things connected?
Well, the Kickstart Formula is a direct tie-in to NorthIQ, I’m essentially going to figure out how to package what I do and make it entirely self-serve. I’ll be available for larger consulting jobs, but I want to help as many companies as possible use the internet to make more money. There is a lot of really crappy information out there, and there are more websites that need my help than I could ever get to.
Sequential Fiction is a promotional tool for the work I am doing on All New Comics, which is a showcase site for NorthIQ, I am working extra hard to make this the best looking damn comic site on the internets.
Manage Comics has the potential to help any comic store make more money. It is essentially a self-service Customer Management System that lets customers figure out what they want to get, and modify their own subscription pull list. The system will have tons of promotional tools and I eventually want to make it smart enough that it will give you suggestions based on what you are already subscribed to. Sites like Amazon have proven time and time again that if you lessen the barriers to making decisions, people will spend more money. Manage Comics will make that happen.
I would be incredibly happy if all I did in 2016 is improve Manage Comics, and I am going to make every effort to be able to put a lot of time into it because I think it can be the thing that helps comic stores stay profitable.
I also think there’s a ton of possibility for other verticals. Games are really hot right now, there’s potential there, but I’ll bet there are other possibilities as well.
The panels will help to promote Sequential Fiction, which feeds into All New Comics, which feeds into Manage Comics, which feeds into NorthIQ, which will feed into the unnamed information product.
Everything is connected!
Because “It’s all part of the plan”!