Saturday, March 8th, 2008...11:14 pm
Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics is my hero.
” I think giving how-to tips on marketing comics is rather condescending to retailers in general. ”
Aiiiiiiiiiii! I totally disagree. I am *extremely* interested in how other retailers try to get new customers, do promotions, what their approach to subscribers is, and generally what they do to make more money. Your sales are up. Mine are flat. You spend a much greater percentage of sales on advertising. I want to know how much!!! 
Does it work? Would it be worth the investment?
I’m using the definition of marketing to mean anything a retailer does to get the product from out the box into the customer’s hands. I’m not interested in clean the bathrooms, but I want to know what you do (that you probably take for granted) that I’m not doing.
I don’t want “For the kids, I have an Archie rack by the front door.”
For example, I want “For the kids I have an Archie Rack by the front door with 48 pockets and 3 copies deep on every issue of Archie. I sell through 85%. On digests I sell (mostly to college age and older female customers) 10-15 a week. The Archie rack generates $500 a month in sales. I e-mail myrep@diamondcomics.com once a month and ask for an updated in-stock Archie list from which I restock. My 16 year-old part-timer Billybob is in charge of the Archie rack. He gets free posters from Paul of Archie Comics (601-555-1212) Once a month he re-orders after I approve his P.O.. At {my store} we also run a free Archie comic coupon (4 coulmn inches) in the kid’s comics section in the Sunday paper for about $250 a month. I get 5 coupons a week and anecdotally about one out of five of those customers sticks around. We have a kids club where any 12-year-old (or younger) child gets a membership card, a free comic out of back issues once a month, and a copy of our quarterly kids newsletter. I “invest” $200 a month in free back issues (which I don’t pay inventory tax on because they’;re gone, and I can write off the lost profit as an expense - see your CPA), and I have more kids reading comics than any other store.Twice a year we have a coloring contest (for girls - mostly) and a design your own costume if you were a superhero. I get about 200 responses to each. Everyone gets prizes for entering (more comics!) but the top 20 winners get a free in-store art lesson from Dan DeCarlo Field.
Would this be condescending? Not to me. You guys on the left coast play in a totally separate universe from 95% of the rest of us. For the boonies, we’re pretty advanced, but this is *STILL* the sticks. Write for all of us. Not just for the DLG.
I do like retailers having a voice like Brian to really pound the idiots, but tell me to how have a store that had sales increases like yours.
Respectfully,
Rob
2 Comments
March 8th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
One last thought. You’re a comics specialist where I’m a comics generalist. In my markets I have to be. I would also venture to say the largest part of your readership is more like me than like you. Tell us how to sell more comics. Many of us love comics, but the trouble isn’t worth the pitiful profits that shrink every year.
Your sales are up without adult anime, beanie babies, witchblade variant toys, limited nipple covers, magic cards, dog food, or tamagooches. Your store is a terrific barometer of comics in general. Insight, please!
Heal us, Brother Joe!
Rob
March 8th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
You do it if you want. You can quote me as a comics retailer on the roof with a rifle. The one thing at being at this point in my business career is that I feel like I have nothing to lose, so I’m letting it flow.
I feel like I have a unique situation in that I’ve got people taking care of the day-to-day stuff, and in between doing our other things, I can sit back and take a look at the comics business’s “big picture,” and what I see scares the hell out of me.
The funny thing is that the problem as I see it is more with the publishers than with Diamond. We’re really happy with Diamond, and the distributor has always been the problem-area in our business. Now we get our comics on time, every time. Our rep is great to work with, and we pay our bills on time. I like Diamond.
Marvel’s not in a position to do much of anything, DC does what they do, but Time-Warner won’t let them do anything radical, Image is a bunch of rock-star egos who sales won’t support their lifestyles (except Todd and maybe Jim), and no one else has the money the pump up the DM.
The best thing that I see is the publishers being able to let that press run a few minutes more for pennies a book and doing something to get those books in my store. I’ll take a lesser discount. Whatever, but I’d love to see at least one copy of every book available in every store IF THE RETAILER WANTED THEM.
We’re doing a publishing project, and all of you will get advance copies, blah, blah, blah. Diamond will let me send you one in your weekly order (or 10) for a handling charge of .10 per book plus whatever the cost of the freight subsidy. My cost per retailer impression is 42-cents. That’s almost free!
Maybe getting and keeping the books on the shelves isn’t the problem, but I see too many people in CR saying “Hot! I sold out on the first day!” Are they proud of that? They missed ! If you can get reorders, great
I love the comics business. Comics got me started in business. I started my company because I saw a business opportunity, not because I wanted to be surrounded by comics. It’s the same reason I opened 4 more stores. It’s the same reason I closed a store (I saw no more opportunity in that market). The same reason I opened Copy Cow, and put momma on the internet. (Sounds kind of dirty. Sean will feel all funny in his pants again.)
I just see opportunities for retailers shrinking, and the powers that be (Diamond included) dragging their feet towards making things better for all retailers.
I’ve learned that I can make things better for my company by being a rogue agent , and instead of lobbying for the greater good a la PACER or trying to get companies to test anything across the greater whole of retailers.
As far as the big picture is concerned I see a giant-sized asteroid speeding towards Earth, and I’m looking for columns on how to dig a shelter, or build a spaceship, not how it would be good if this asteroid went away.
It’s a guerilla war at this point. We need bayonets and billyclubs, not high strategy, and…
And I’m ranting again…
Let me know what you want to do and I’ll participate in any way, shape, form, what have you…
Rob
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