Since last week's "Black Friday Event" here at Make It So Marketing's Facebook Comic Con Exhibitor Table, I've been busy listing, selling, and shipping comics and graphic novels to our customers.  This included listing hundreds of more items in time for 'Cyber Monday'... 

That has been taking a toll on my 'free time' in blogging and contributing to the social media and comics forums that I am associated with.  I haven't been able to read and reply fully to the emails and messages that have come in to me.

However, a message sent last night to me made me want to stop and re-publish a series of blog posts that my wife Tina LoSasso had guest blogged two seasons ago.  Those blog posts are no longer visible, because they were in the eBay version of our Blog, which has been discontinued by eBay itself.

So when this eBayer friend of mine asked if I could re-post the blogs here I said yes.  So the following are all Five of the Tips that Tina posted two seasons ago.  I thought it would be timely as well as informative, because on my Facebook Network of Friends alone, there are many self-publishers that are probably wondering what to give to their business network of associates this year.  Plus there are a lot of creators that are holding down day jobs until their own creations are published!

Here is a brief intro and then the 5 tips from Tina LoSasso:

Anyone braving the shopping malls during the holiday season knows that finding the perfect gift for family or friends is not easy. Business gift giving can be even more challenging. "Choosing the right business gift actually requires more time and thoughtfulness," says Tina LoSasso, Managing Editor of SalesDog.com, in one of 80 sales lessons in the new business book, Top Dog Sales Secrets. LoSasso identifies five common business gift-giving gaffes:  

1) Quality trumps quantity. "A small box of exquisite, handmade truffles will be appreciated far more than a big box of run-of-the-mill chocolates," LoSasso advises. "If the head honcho at your biggest account is a wine connoisseur, remember, it's far better to send one bottle of the very best than several ordinary bottles he'll never uncork."

2) Reject run-of-the-mill. Shun the ho hum food baskets and opt for a more memorable gift. "Check your client notes," suggests LoSasso. "What are his hobbies? Does he golf, cook or play sports? If your client, the gourmet cook, is still raving about the meals he enjoyed during his vacation in Tuscany, send him a beautifully illustrated regional cookbook. Your gift, and you, will be remembered far longer than a generic tin of cookies."

3) Don't even think of advertising. "Sending gifts with your company's logo on them make you look stingier than Scrooge," says LoSasso. "Save the logo-imprinted pens, paperweights, mouse pads and calculators for your next trade show. Instead, send a gift from your region of the country: Ghirardelli chocolate from San Francisco, smoked salmon from the Northwest, citrus from Florida or California, or barbecue sauce from Texas."

4) Beware of booze. "Alcoholic beverages are usually risky business," warns LoSasso. "The one exception is when you know someone loves a certain brand of rare Scotch, a particular wine, or a regional microbrew. Never send a bottle of champagne to that key account in Salt Lake City, or for that matter, frozen steaks to your customer who is a vegetarian. Don't laugh -- it happens."

5) The gender trap. Gender differences present their own gift-giving dangers. While it is generally acceptable for a saleswoman to send her stressed-out women clients personal items, like lotions or a spa kit, salesmen should not be so familiar. "Sorry guys," says LoSasso. "You're not in the club."

LoSasso's advice is excerpted from the bestselling book, Top Dog Sales Secrets, authored by 50 renowned sales lecturers, consultants, and corporate trainers. Top Dog Sales Secrets is available from the publisher or from Amazon and other online retailers.

That ends the 5 Tips and the introductory info about Tina's contributions at SalesDog.com. BTW, SalesDog.com features advice from America's leading sales experts. Their free weekly newsletter has over 25,000 subscribers. You are invited to sign up there for that newsletter if advice on Sales can help you bring 2009 to a satisfying close!

My thanks to Tina for allowing me to re-publish those earlier five blog posts into one Blog here today!  

Silver Comics for the Holidays? 

That's no typo... I didn't mean 'Silver Age Comics' for the Holidays; I did mean 'Silver Comics' as shown in the above right top photo!  That's because I was asked by a potential customer what comic books I would recommend for a pre-teen son of theirs...

This question was asked in between the time we held a 'Black Friday Special Event' and then our 'Cyber Monday' listings.  This question is one of the HARDEST questions nowadays for me to answer, because most of the comic books being published today are definitely NOT for Kids!

And yes, I do read, and possibly review those other comics and also graphic novels here in my Blog!   But I do put warnings as to whom I think those comics / graphic novels are meant for.

So I mentioned the above 'Silver Comics' to the potential customer, and sent them to the Silver Comics web site to purchase them from since we don't currently have them in stock.  I also mentioned at the same time that I had grown up during the 'Silver Age of Comics' and really enjoyed this  9 issues series myself, and that others that grew up during that time period would more than likely also enjoy this series!

I've already blogged about issue #1 here before (click here)... and then jumped to Issue #3 that had covers by George Tuska, (who passed away recently), and Nick Cardy, (click here for that post).

However, I'll just backtrack for a moment and blog here about issue #2.  First, here is the press release info on the second issue, as to what stories it contains:

Cloud Buster: "The Bigger They Are -- The Harder They Fall!" Johnny Ortiz (story, penciller), Dan Beltran (writer), Alfredo Nunez (inker) Doctor Prime works with Tom (and his damaged Cloud Buster armor) in the lab. Tom remains a giant; he and the armor will not reduce back to normal size. General Holt's army attacks Ash Island. Dr. Ash transfers his mind into the body of a giant troll.

Sea-Bolt: "The Attack of Dr. Dark's Brain!" Johnny Ortiz (writer, penciller), Dan Beltran (co-writer), Tony Hamad (inker) Zarro's sub (with the captured Sea-Bolt inside) is attacked by another sub controlled by Dr. Dark's brain. An American destroyer drops a sonic charge at both subs. Sea-Bolt retrieves his helmet and tail section and fights Zarro. Both subs explode. Sea-Bolt survives, but is captured by a giant sea-serpent.

Dr. Monster: "The Origin of Dr. Monster, Part 2: When Titans Crumble!" Johnny Ortiz (story, penciller), Dan Beltran (writer), Lou Rodriguez (inker) Timo watches in shock as Man-Star, under arrest for murder, is led into a transport rocket. Timo hopes that Countess Kira can help Man-Star. Kira's father, set to take control of the Council, assures her that although Man-Star has been a hero to their world, the law must be upheld.

The Man Called Santa: "Jingle Hell! Jingle Hell!" Johnny Ortiz (writer, artist), Dan Beltran (co-writer) Santa fights back against Satan. Rudolph the Laser-Nosed Reindeer defeats the Martian commander Nodge. However, Satan has captured Santa's soul.

Here are my thoughts on those stories:

Cloud Buster:   This series continued to remind me of the early 1960's tales when the MoNSTer comics were evolving into Sci-Fi and then Superheroes comics.  Still kept my interest!

Sea Bolt:   In a previous blog I mentioned that this story reminded me of the Sub-Mariner stories in the 'Tales To Astonish' title.  Subby is NOT one of my favorite Marvel characters, I liked it mostly for the Adam Austin (Gene Colan) art, but this Sea Bolt storyline continued to remind me of why I liked the Subby series!

Dr. Monster:  The origin of Dr. Monster continues... like most 'origin stories' you kind of are waiting for the action to begin... but this origin has a good background going on.

The Man Called Santa:  Because of the 'cartoony' aspect of the artwork, I'm okay with still recommending this comic book title as a whole for pre-teens, even though Satan is involved in the storyline.

So I've presented you with what the 2nd issue contains and my thoughts on it.  Also I've provided you with links to my blog posts on the 1st and 3rd issues for my other reviews.  So you can see that I do enjoy this series, and do highly recommend it for those that are looking to get others interested into comics that are NOT ready for the 'grim n gritty' comics that you find so often out there at the LCBS in your area.  Plus, I truly believe that they make a great gift for someone who used to read comics during the 'Silver Age of Comics' and hasn't read a comic book in years!  And you know what...?  I'd even mention it to those that like the 'grim n gritty' comics of today just to expand their horizons in reading!

You can find out about their latest updates plus what you can purchase from the Silver Comics folks by going to their Facebook Fan Page by clicking here!

If you aren't a member of Facebook, then you can go directly to their web site at: http://www.silvercomics.org/

Thanks again to Johnny and Vince for taking the time to introduce me to this series when I met them at the recent Long Beach Comic Con (LBCC)! 

Last Friday, Tina and I held a 'Black Friday Special Event' at our exhibitor table at the Facebook Comic Con for ten hours...

Facebook Comic Con is a 'virtual comic convention', so having what is traditionally seen as a 'brick n mortar' event online on a Friday may seem a little strange.  However we were attempting to tie into the national event that according to CNN's Heidi Collins report that I just viewed while having breafast, had 195 million shoppers attend!  The average of what each shopper spent however was $343, which was down from last year.

Today's "Cyber Monday" is expected to have 100 million 'attendees' browsing on computers, especially at those attendees' places of work!  Tina commented while watching the CNN report with me about who doesn't have some sort of computer at home by now?  But I could see that several persons were too busy with guests over the long weekend, and otherwise occupied, so I could see several persons sneaking onto their 'work computers' to attend 'Cyber Monday'!

Anyways, I'm just posting a shorter blog post this morning, so I can get back to listing comics, graphic novels, toys, etc. in our own online store at: http://www.MakeItSoMarketing.com .  We had almost 6,000 listings posted as of last night, after selling quite a bit over the 'Black Friday Event / Weekend'.  So we'll see what happens today on 'Cyber Monday' saleswise.   

Thanks again to those that joined us during our 'Black Friday Event', and for those that stopped in at our online store over the weekend!  For those of you that are looking for inexpensive comics or back issues for yourself or your comics collector / reader friends, our store is always 'open' whether it's Cyber Monday or just a regular Tuesday!  We do have several thousand back issues of comics starting at only $1.95 plus shipping! 

Two Weeks ago I started blogging a series about "The State Of Comics Retailing In 2009 Metro San Diego", as told by Jamie Newbold  of Southern California Comics in San Diego, (click here for Part I) and (click here for Part II)...

Southern California Comics, a.k.a. SoCal Comics, is owned by Jamie Newbold and is one of the major places in Metro San Diego area that I stop in at for comic book supplies and new comics for myself. 

When I stopped there the previous week for the FACTION comic book signing, (click here for that blog), Jamie and I went over what's been going on in San Diego sales wise for comics. 

Part I of this series was an introduction to the Store, Store Sales, and New Comics. Part II was on individual Comic Book Publishers' titles sales at his store. The following is from Jamie's own words about his activities at Southern California comic book conventions:

"CONVENTION SALES:  On a convention level, my main show presence is at the San Diego Comic Con International. I also attend one or two other shows during the year. I gather gossip and stories from other dealers (including other Overstreet advisors).

Patterns develop each year and I’m privy to the information that explains those patterns. One pattern that escaped my best prediction was the lack of sales at the 2009 San Diego Con.

2008 was a banner year for us in that the convention was just a good, easy show all the way around. However, in 2009, the show was set squarely in the second year of our country’s economic recession. In contrast to the previous show, I felt the reluctance of buyer’s spending money this year. Factors included an overcrowded dealer’s room, freebie frenzy by attendees, a lack of back-issue buyers (the common feeling was that many held off until Sunday to make their purchases) and the Hollywood distraction.

I commiserated with many fellow dealers and learned it wasn’t just me who experienced low sales. No one changed seller styles or offered different products...which generally stay the same each year. The fact is that we didn’t change--the Con changed. One major difference that many have seen is that the Gold and Silver Age sellers have reduced in numbers but attendance has increased.

Where and why have all the buyers gone? One dire consequence of dealer placement and large crowds are the throngs of people blocking access to one booth to get freebies or signings at another. Small press and publishers have been crammed into the same, tight area we occupy. They run promotions that generate huge lines of people and block aisles.

Back issue guys don’t draw large crowds so we can’t fight back. The Con managers do little or nothing to alleviate the stress. What a zoo. The sheer volume of people at our end of the room makes access to our booths a struggle. I’d like to see the show authorities fix that.

One irksome, logistical nightmare that Comic Con presents is their feedback period. Dealers with issues relating to convention problems are welcome to present them on the last day of the show. As a veteran of many Cons, I’ve gathered plenty of complaints, but I never get to air them.

Why? The main reason is that the forum is held for one hour late in the afternoon on the last day when business and theft are especially heavy. When we are all busy standing in long pre-registration lines for next year’s show. When the crush to leave the dealer’s room is at its greatest I’m stuck at my booth working. In fifteen years I’ve never had a problem-free show and never been able to make it to the forum. COME ON!

I give kudos to the fledgling Long Beach Comic Con. Wizard World LA left a gap when it disappeared. The Long Beach people happily filled that gap. I thought the little show had heart. Now, go see it and spend some money when it returns!

Terry’s Comics runs its own annual show in Orange County. It’s dominated by Terry’s desire to honor the traditions of shows of yesteryear where back issues were the draw. Support Terry and all of us Gold/Silver/Bronze guys and show up."  (Michael's Note: Show is called the CalComicCon)

Jamie went on to talk about his Web Site Sales / and eBay & other Auction Site Sales, which I will be posting in Part IV to follow soon... 

Thanks again to Jamie Newbold for sharing the above with me and giving me permission to post it in my Blog!

For those of you that are looking at visiting the San Diego area soon, be sure to visit Jamie's SoCal Comics store.  There is much more to comics in San Diego than just the once a year Comic Con International: San Diego (CCI / SDCC) that over 125,000 people attend!

Here's the direct link to Jamie's store:  http://www.socalcomics.com/!

Yesterday was our Facebook Comic Con | Make It So Marketing exhibitor table's Black Friday Special Event...

I decided to set up and run this special event, on my own, after seeing no other Facebook Fan Pages or Group Pages that I belong to, doing such an event, or at least publicizing it by Tuesday evening.

So, I set up the 'Event Page' first with just the preliminary data to have a 'flyer / poster' to promote. That was finished at 6:45 PM on Tuesday evening.

What's an Event without prizes?  So I thought since the Black Friday Event would be running from 8AM PST to 6PM PST on Friday, I should have hourly prizes.  So I pulled a few comic book sets and graphic novels that I had been sent by the creators of those projects for possible review to give away as prizes.  I only pulled the items that I posted favorable reviews on, as in the back of my mind I wanted to use those publications as additional promotional bonus for those creators / publishers. 

Then I started sending out 'invites' on Wednesday Morning, the day before Thanksgiving Day to those 'Facebook Friends' of mine at 4:45 AM. 

Since I was going to have to shut down operations for the day to drive up to Los Angeles at 10AM, there was only so much I could do to send out invites and continue setting up the event.  So only approximately half of the 3,200 Facebook Friends that I have in my network were sent 'invites' to attend at that time.

When I arrived back to my 'home office' later that day, I was able to send out a few more invites, but the final ones were sent Thursday morning, (yes... Thanksgiving Day), to the rest of the Facebook Friends.  Since I was getting a late start in setting up and promoting this Black Friday Event, I wasn't able to send out email invites to non-Facebook Friends.  That would have involved retrieving their email addresses and inserting into the invitation messages.

Next I started adding more Free Prizes to be given away.  There would have to be a total of ten prizes, as I figured giving out one an hour, on the hour.  So the first one would be given away at 9AM PST.  That went smoothly, except for one thing I noticed...

In the Event text, and in the communications I was sending out, it stated that to be eligible to win a Free Prize you had to be 'attending'.  What?  Isn't Facebook Comic Con a 'virtual comic convention'?  How could you be 'attending' an event that is in a 'virtual world'? 

Well... in the RSVP Box at the Event itself, there were three choices to choose from:  'Attending', 'Maybe Attending' and 'Not Attending'.  In the actual emailed invites that went out to my Facebook Friends there was another choice, 'Ignore'.   

With over 3,200 Facebook Friends I get a LOT of invites to Fan Pages, Group Pages, Events, Causes, Game Applications, etc.  And yes, I do click the 'Ignore' button on 'Causes' and 'Game Applications'... I do admit that! 

Additionally, since I am a comic book dealer online as well as a blogger that reviews comics, graphic novels and other publications, I don't want to possibly alienate my potential sales or reader base by joining causes!  Causes that I either believe in that may not be 'popular' with some or all of my friends, group members, or readers, OR causes that I just don't want to be associated with, even though they may be 'popular' with many others but not with me.  So I do click the 'Ignore' button on Causes that are sent to me to join. 

I also click on the 'Ignore' button for All Applications sent to me now.  I used to participate in several, but found as my 'Friends' Network grew, it took longer and longer for several of the applications to work.  It had to be something about pulling up the increasing numbers of Facebook Friends in the Network I've been building to make the application (app) work.

As a side note, I read recently that the 'average' Facebook user had 152 Facebook Friends.  My network is now over 3,200.  The maximum number of 'Friends' a person is allowed to have is 5,000! So if you have a smaller network of 'Friends' then an app would probably work faster... 

Getting back to our Facebook Comic Con (FBCC) Group Page... I also want to mention that the FBCC is a network of creators and other exhibitors such as ourselves that are involved in the comics / cartooning industry.  Tina and I are online comic book dealers, who also happen to have a Blog, (http://www.comicbookcollectorsblog.com/  ), that you are reading right now.  

The Facebook Comic Con network has over 380 'exhibitor tables' under the FBCC umbrella.  FBCC was founded earlier in 2009 by Michael Netzer.  I have written a few blog posts about other sanctioned events that the FBCC has put on.  An important number to remember is that according to Facebook policy, a 'Group Page' can only have 5,000 group members.   You may see other pages that have up to a million 'fans'.  Those pages are 'Fan Pages', which don't have a maximum set number of who can join.  A 'Group Page' is limited because there are supposed to be only so many members in a 'group', and 5,000 was the chosen number of maximum membership.

Okay, so I've covered FBCC itself, our FBCC - MISM exhibitor table, and the special FBCC - MISM Black Friday Event.  From there I've gone into setting up the Free Prizes to be awarded, and the invitations... So What Happened Yesterday?

First, sending out invites and the responses:   The person(s) setting up the event can't see how many invitees actually clicked the 'Ignore' button on the actual invation.  The person(s) setting up the event can see the number of 'Confirmed Guests' - those that clicked the Attending radio button.  They can also see the number of 'Maybe Attending'.  In my Event's case I deliberately set the 'Not Attending' persons to Not be seen by others, as those numbers would more likely be higher than those 'Attending'.  I could still see those persons named as 'Not Attending' in the Event administrator's control box.  The last number would be those that I would be 'Awaiting Reply'.  As you can see below, that number is quite large for this event.  But remember I only started setting this up on Tuesday night.

Here is a link to the actual event from yesterday:  

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=345907200385&ref=mf

Here is a link to the main Facebook Comic Con Page, which is actually defined as: FACEBOOK COMIC CON is an unofficial virtual comics, animation and media convention bringing together the robust community of industry professionals and fans registered on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=63366131619&ref=ts

So, I've covered the invites and responses participation.

What about the Prizes?   Yes, All ten of the prizes were awarded!  And will be shipped Free of Charge by us to the winners. The full list of winners will be posted on 'The Wall' of the Event, as I have received a message this morning already asking for a full list.  What I had posted was each winner's name along with the prize that was awarded after each hour.

Participation is the next part of this blog's topic.   For whatever reasons, there were still invitees that chose to only 'Maybe Attend', even though in the communications sent out and on the event page itself, it stated that you had to click the 'Attending' radio button to be eligible to 'win' a Free Prize.   I do appreciate those that chose to 'Maybe Attend', but sorry to see that their names would not be eligible to 'win' a prize.  And the Prizes were good! 

Here's the link to the prizes that were given away:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=345907200385&ref=mf#/photo_search.php?oid=345907200385&view=all 

My thanks to those creators / publishers that sent me those publications to read and possibly review in this Blog!  They made wonderful prizes, and I included a link on each photo's page to the review blog I wrote about each publication.

My thoughts yesterday, and now this morning after the event as to why the participation was lower than we would have liked.  Yes, the event invitations went out a little late.  But usually 'Black Friday Events' are sprung on the public just a day or two in advance in the 'real world'. 

Secondly, it seems that the idea of 'Attending' an Event, even though it is a 'virtual event' in a 'virtual world' is a little hard to convey to the invitees.  I've noticed that before at other sanctioned events at the main Facebook Comic Con.  All I was asking for was for the invitee to click the 'Attending' radio button in the 'RSVP' box to be eligible to win a Free Prize!  No Purchase necessary!

Purchases?  Yes, during this 10 hour Black Friday special event, we at http://www.MakeItSoMarketing.com were  giving 'Free Shipping' to any purchases made by those with US mailing addresses during this time. Besides getting our own online store's name made more 'visible', along with our Group Page for 'Facebook Comic Con | Make It So Marketing', our intent was to also give our Facebook Friends OR our Group Page Members a chance to purchase back issues of comics, graphic novels, and other items with FREE shipping as a Bonus during that ten hour period.  

I have learned a lot during the past few days on setting up a Facebook Event, promoting it, running it, and communicating before, during, and now after the event itself.   Those that say every business should have a 'Facebook Presence' probably have never set up and run a 'Facebook Event'!

I have already set up several Fan Pages or Group Pages for others during the past year+ I have been on Facebook as a paid consultant.  Trust me on this one our blog readers, setting up an Event on Facebook is 'rewarding' in more ways than one.  But it is a LOT of work!  Especially if You are the person that is doing the majority of the set up and running it, in the hopes of making it 'interactive' during that period of time the Event is running.  I'm glad that we decided to only run our Event for the 10 hour time period... I was groggy by 6:00 PM after being up at 4:45 AM yesterday getting ready for the Event! 

My Thanks to all that participated in this special Event yesterday, whether by donating the prizes awarded, or by clicking the 'Attending' or 'Maybe Attending' buttons.  And my Thanks for those that either publicly wrote on the Event's wall or my own personal Facebook member wall or sent me a private message!

AND... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!  We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, comic cons, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films as they are shown!