Holy effin’ crap, guys! It’s been 1 year to the day since I started The Experiment (read the original announcement here)! For new readers or old school Fancy Bastard who may have forgotten, The Experiment is my attempt to make a living from my webcomic. Originally I gave myself 4-6 months to try this out after I lost my day job. Since it’s been 12 months, you might think The Experiment has been a success. Success is a relative term. This is certainly the most rewarding job I have ever had, and I wouldn’t trade these last 12 months for anything, but as of today HijiNKS Ensue only provides a little less than half the income my family needs to meet our basic responsibilities. This income comes from your DONATIONS and store purchases. A tiny tiny tiny tiny sliver comes from advertising (almost enough to pay the car note!), and the rest comes from my personal savings. The savings well has dried up several times in the last year, but has been occasionally replenished by tax refunds and other such unexpected allocations of cash.

So now it’s “do or die” time. Phase 1 of The Experiment was all about “make the best comic you can and see what happens money-wise.” Phase 2 (this is Phase 2) is all about “The comic is pretty good, let’s get serious about the money part!”

A big part of the new money seriousness is that the fine folks at Topatoco will now be selling HijiNKS Ensue Shirts along with the shirts they already offer from all of your other favorite webcomics.

Check them out HERE!

This is a pretty big deal for me and it’s great news for you. Topatoco is a top notch operation and all they do is sell webcomics merchandise. The shirts are cheaper than they were before, the are professionally screenprinted and you can save on shipping when you buy multiple shirts from me or any other artist. I’m extremely excited. I really want the Topatoco guys to see they made the right choice in adding HijiNKS Ensue to their roster and a great way to show them would be to pick up one (or all) of the new shirts (hint cough hint).

What about the old store? It’s still there… for now. It’s run through Yahoo Stores and I have ALWAYS hated their back end and every other aspect of using them, so I will be shutting this store down in the next couple of weeks. You can still purchase any of the shirts or prints available in the old store as long as it’s still there. I will be moving to a different store front service (same URL for your convenience) shortly. You will still be able to buy prints there and eventually it will have the first HE book. Seriously. I’m watching my wife lay it out right now. It’s happening. I will probably still offer some of the non-Topatoco shirts in the store but not many. If there’s one you want I would suggest getting it now.

What about the Donation Drive? Your monthly donations currently total a little over $700. I am so freaking grateful for this, I can barely express it. The original idea was to reach a goal of $1500 in monthly donation subscriptions. Then the economy went to shit and the donations dried up. Anyone who has donated any amount, especially those of you that have stuck it out and continued your subscriptions have my heartfelt thanks. I’m not going to be shooting for a specific goal any more with the donations. Instead I’m just going to post the monthly totals in the sidebar of the site. I don’t want you guys to feel like “we are never going to get there” in terms of donations. What you are doing now is already more generous than I could have ever imagined.

What about The Vault? The Vault is the “premium content” site that all donators and subscribers get access to. I have big plans for it in this phase of The Experiment, but you can already get Post Shows for the HE Podcast, Destop Wallpapers, iPhone Wallpapers, unfinished art, behind the scenes/making of type stuff, and much more when you donate or subscrbe.

So that’s the current “State of The Experiment.” Treading water but hopeful. The new shirts, the book, and a few other things I have planned for this year are really going to decide the fate of HijiNKS Ensue. If you want to help (with money) you can buy a shirt, buy a print or subscribe to The Vault. If you want to help (without money) you can tell a friend about the site, post a comic on your blog, or send me an encouraging email. Every little bit helps.

Thank you all so much for making the last 12 months so geektastically amazing.

-Joel

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Back in October 2007 i made the first HijiNKS Ensue iPhone wallpaper. Now I’ve worked up 8 more for your mobile device enjoyment.

If you are a subscriber to the Vault or have donated this month you can download them here. If you don’t know about the Vault, or the Experiment, please do read a bit about them and what I’m trying to accomplish with HE.

The wallpapers are formatted for iPhone dimensions but I’m sure you can crop and resize them to fit on other phones.

If you do download and use one, why not send me a pic of your showing off your HE iPhoney goodness?

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Today we reached $600 in monthly donation subscriptions. Thank you all so much. We are nearly halfway to the $1500 monthly goal. I am so grateful for you generosity.

As of last month I am looking for part time work or freelance/contract work in order to keep the Experiment and HE alive.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

If you know of anyone (your company perhaps) that might require my services (illustration, graphic design, writing, etc) please drop me a line. I am also available for personal contracts like logo design or freelance illustration.

If you or anyone you know would be interested in SPONSORING HijiNKS Ensue, I am working on the details of a sponsorship advertising program now. Please let me know. You know what kind of audience HE attracts, so you probably know if HE is a good fit for your company or organization.

Here’s a new desktop wallpaper for anyone that that donates or subscribes to the Vault:

Thanks, guys!

-Joel

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Greetings Fancy Bastards and casual readers alike.

Four months ago I began an experiment, provoked by the sudden loss of my day job, to see if I could make a living from HijiNKS Ensue. In that time I’ve focused almost exclusively on the content of HE (the comics, the podcast, etc) and the community (emails, comments, the forum, Twitter), and less so on the capitalist endeavors. I did launch a New Store last month. I also began offering Comic Prints and Custom Designed Avatars for the first time, but I haven’t added to the shirts the way I intended.

I agreed to run that experiment for 4-6 months depending on how my finances held up. I must have run the numbers pretty accurately because in two months I’ll be out of funds (as in unable to pay bills). Considering the job market, I certainly can’t wait 60 days to START looking for work.

I believe in slow, managed growth of a business. This is why I haven’t jumped the gun and plastered the site with ads, put up 40 crappy shirt designs, or rushed a book to print. I want to do these things right. The truth is that this IS going to take longer than 6 months. I feel like if I quit now (return to a day job) I won’t be able to recapture the momentum I’ve gained since beginning the Experiment.  Quitting now would most likely mean the end of HijiNKS Ensue.

So, is this the end of The Experiment? Not necessarily (this is where you come in).

I have 100% faith that given another 6 months to a year I will have no problem generating a full time income (enough to support my family, pay for our modest house and cars, and not be entirely broke at the end of the month).

After much deliberation, the only solution I have arrived at is a DONATION DRIVE.

If we can come up with at least half of the income I need to meet my monthly obligations ($2000-$2500) through Donations, I should be able to continue The Experiment. I don’t plan for this to be a permanent solution, but rather a stop gap measure to buy more time until ads, and t-shirts and such can really take over supporting the site.

To this effect I have set up PAYPAL DONATION SUBSCRIPTIONS. This will allow you to set up a recurring monthly donation of $5, $10 or $20. You are certainly still welcomed to make one time donations in any amount you are comfortable with. The subscriptions will allow me to better gauge how much to expect each month, but a donation of $50 or more has the same effect as a 1 year subscription. Subscribers will get access to The Vault each month. Regular donors will get Vault access for the month they donate.

The DONATION DRIVE TO SAVE HIJINKS ENSUE is starting today. If, at the end of 30 days, things are looking promising I will continue the Experiment for as long as possible. If they are not looking so promising I will have to find a (real) job and scale back my involvement in HE. This will most likely mean less comics and fewer (to zero) Podcasts.

“I Don’t Want to Subscribe. How Can I Still Help?”

Glad you asked.  Again, you are welcomed to make a one time donation. This is very much appreciated. Many of you have given more than I would ever expect and for that I am very grateful.

You also don’t have to contribute and get nothing in return. You can still purcase T-Shirts, Comic Prints and Avatars. I’ll be adding new print packages and shirts to the store this week (if possible).

Since starting the experiment 4 months ago I have received around $1000 in one time donations and $110 in donation subscriptions. The goal is roughly 20 times that number of subscriptions to keep HE alive. Can we do it? I sure as hell hope so, because this has been the most rewarding work I have ever done. I LOVE THIS JOB and I don’t want to give it up without a fight.

Regardless of what happens I want to thank you all, you Fancy Bastards, for you support both financially and emotionally. Your encouragement and generosity never cease to astound me. Often I’ll find myself in a moment of self doubt and at just the right moment receive an email from a reader telling me that HE is the favorite comic or a notification from Payapl saying someone just donated $100. $100!?

I’ll add a counter to the sidebar so you can see how close we are to the goal. The next 30 days will decide the future of HE, so let’s make it count.

Thanks,

Joel Watson

“Godspeed, You Fancy Bastards”

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If you’ve been following The Experiment you know that HijiNKS Ensue is now my full time job. Thus I am at least mildly interested in making a full time living from this endeavor.

To further that end I have (finally) launched my donation incentives site “The HijiNKS Ensue Vault of Secret Awesome.“

Every donation will get you access to:

• Desktop Wallpapers
  (New Desktops Each Month!)
• Behind the Scenes Art
  and Blog Entries
• Works in Progress
• Original Sketches/ Concept Art
• Exclusive Audio & Video
• Contests and Giveaways

If you have already donated you’ll be getting an email with a password to access The Vault. Also, considering the month’s almost over I’ll be using the same password from now through July.

I’ve posted a few cool behind the scenes things on the vault, as well as desktops, and will be adding to it all through out the month. If you have ideas for Vault content feel free to drop me a line.

You can learn more about how Donations fit into the HijiNKS Ensue Experiment here on the new Donations Page.

If you enjoy any part of HijiNKS Ensue (the comic, the blog, the forum, the podcast or the videos) and you want to show your support, please consider donating through Paypal.

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“The Cost of Doing Business”

Part of my Video Blog where I record the trials and tribulations of trying to make a living from my webcomic. The end goal is to create a road map for creative people to earn an honest living from their creativity.

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A glimpse into some of the initial mistakes I made with the first round of shirts. Nothing negative. Just learning from, and trying not to repeat them.

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I think this might be it. Thoughts before I post it in the store?+

UPDATE!!

It’s in the store now!

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Episode #4 “Make Your Passion Your Job”

Episode #5 “Geeks with Double Lives”

Links: 

• Blogkitten.com
• TechSnark Podcast
• Revjim.net
• Arranging Light
• Daniel James on Flickr

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Thanks for all the input on the GYFB shirt, guys. I’m going to have to put it on the backburner for today and do Friday’s comic. Maybe after I’m not staring at it for a while, the perfect idea will come to me.

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