Fanflow: Awesome at a Premium
Have you ever collected box tops or proofs of purchase? Have you ever known the thrill of deciphering a secret code that only your new club decoder ring will show you? No? Well get ready, because webcomics are about to bring it back for a new generation.
We’re talking about fan clubs.
Specifically we’re talking about Fanflow brought to you by the good people at assetbar.com. Assetbar is an innovative group of tech developers specializing in flexible and customizable web tools that help you manage your content and connect with your audience. In their words: “Fanflow helps artists afford to create new content that otherwise wouldn’t exist. If you have fans who crave more from you, then premium content Fanflows may be a great addition to your free work.”
This is especially attractive to webcomic creators who, almost by definition, are the exact people Fanflow was designed for.
Comic creators Chris Onstad and Scott Kurtz have signed on and are offering their readers additional content using the Fanflow service, with many more comic creators sure to follow. The main comic strip is still free but now with a small payment you can access premium content and “members only” features. Most of this content creators are already producing and releasing erratically through multiple, unconnected channels. With Fanflow, all the content is brought together and made accessible only to subscribers. Content offered can include: community moderated comment and message boards, streaming video while the artist works, members-only messages from the characters and authors, exclusive wallpapers downloads, podcasts, photos, in-progress previews, even music. But really, there’s no limit to what creators can give their Fanflow members.
Of course, premium content memberships already exist; Sluggy Freelance fans will be familiar with Pete Abram‘s Defenders of the Nifty community. And getting special downloads as incentives for donations is also pretty common. Fanflow updates the process and makes it easier for users no matter what size audience you start with. Of course, the quality of the club depends mostly on the comic creator’s diligence in continuously updating their members with more and more content. So if you’re just barely able to keep your comic’s update schedule as it is, Fanflow may not be for you. Still, it’s good to see new tools being released that work so easily with the webcomics model. Keep an eye on Assetbar.com for more.
Comics we’ve found using Fanflow:Achewood, Octopuspie, PVP, Starslip. ( By the time this posts we’re sure there will be more.)
February 6th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
I think this is great. I’d pay for sure, and if this can be intertwined with an rss feed so that the extra content comes right too me, then I’d be in heaven.
With Diamond increasing their minimum threshold, I see this being a very appealing option to future comic creators.
January 17th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
You guys really know how to write a blog! This was extremely helpful. Thank you vey much.