Posted in: Comics | Tagged: comic store in your future, hype
Comic Store In Your Future: Hyping Your Shop By Any Means Necessary
Comic Store In Your Future: Hyping Your Store By Any Means Necessary
Article Summary
- Comic Store In Your Future means actively hyping the shop, sales, and comics so customers notice what makes it special.
- Positive recommendations, free bags and boards, and tailored picks help match readers with comics that truly entertain.
- Decades of comic knowledge guide smart suggestions, from Geoff Johns titles to easy-entry books like Geiger and Junkyard Joe.
- Trust matters at Comic Store In Your Future, with no prepay model and a constant push to try new ways to bring readers in.
I wish comic book publishers would return to the days when they had their people properly hyping their books. Dan DiDio used to do that for DC Comics at conventions and online. Marvel has really needed someone to hype their books more. But also, as a comic store owner, I should be hyping up my own store more as well. When I worked for other organizations, I was told I did not hype myself. I was always confused by that, because I thought my work spoke for itself.
As time has gone on, people seem less and less observant. New posters put up on the store window seem to be noticed by fewer and fewer people. We post flyers on the windows and the counter about upcoming sales, but people act like they were invisible until I point them out. I have noticed that telling people about upcoming sales is effective, and any questions that they may have get answered.
People react to positivity. Be positive. We give out free bags and boards with every new comic purchase, which is something I should be pushing more. Hundreds of comics come out each month, but do I understand each one? No, though I sure the heck do not speak ill of the comics. If people want to buy them, so be it. What I enjoy or like, others may not. Art and creativity are subjective. Walking into a comic store and hearing the owner or workers there say how much they dislike a comic is not going to help sell it.
Hype your store if you have one, heck, hype yourself. What does your store offer that other stores do not? What do you do that is unique or do well? I have been told I am a creative person. I believe that. I spend a lot of time thinking about trying different things and how to improve. Being embarrassed is something I do less of than when I first opened. I am fine with trying something new, and if it does not work, either moving on or trying it again with some changes.
I have been collecting comics for over forty years. People have asked me how I know that when it comes to comics. Comics were my iPhone when I was a kid. I know kids are influenced as they grow up. The first issue of Rom had a big impact on me all those years ago. Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Batman, Green Arrow, Justice League of America, Uncanny X-Men, and more comics made for memories as a kid and a social tool to talk with other kids at the time. They were entertaining.
The Gladiator movie quote, “Are you not entertained?” That is what comic books should be doing for people: entertaining them. My job is to match the comic book or books to the people they will most entertain.
There are advantages and disadvantages to everything. Put a positive spin on things when able to. When writer Geoff Johns left DC Comics, I was bummed. He was responsible for some of my favorite comics, such as Flash, Green Lantern, Justice League, JSA, and more, while he was with DC. People would come in asking what they should be reading, and I would often let them know one of the books he was working on at the time. If you liked comic history, he was the writer for you. Geoff Johns launched his own publishing imprint, Ghost Machine, and JunkyardJoe and Geiger would be among the first titles. People who would come in and ask for comics without a lot of backstory, I would then suggest the two books. I would tell them that after reading the first issues, they would know as much as I know. It worked. People enjoyed them. Junkyard Joe was a limited series, and Geiger is still coming out.
I had people tell me that after a comic store in the area closed, they had prepaid for their comics and were out of money. I explained that we do not offer prepay, as if something were ever to happen to me or my store, they would not be out any money. It helped me pick up some new customers.
I’ve <a href="https://rodmancomics.com/" rel="nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>been open sixteen years, which is amazing even to me. I still read comics and still enjoy them. The never-ending battle to get comics to as many people as possible continues. Sometimes you have to find new ways to bring folk in… without putting everyone else off.
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