I was approached by a member who has started actively selling ads on his site (as opposed to running ads from an ad network like Google AdSense or Project Wonderful). The exchange was enlightening, so, with his kind permission, I'm sharing it here.

Q.: I have three ads on my site (a Leaderboard and two Skyscraper ads). All of the ad slots are being taken by companies that "own" that ad slot for that month (they have the option to submit up to five ads of their own to rotate throughout the month). Currently, in total, I am making $250 per ad slot for a total of $750 per month. Am I charging enough for these ads?

In my opinion, I think you're making a big mistake.

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So, if you'd like to participate in the next Banner Ad Hot Seat, please give me the following in the Comments section below...

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Pop-ups and pop-unders are pretty universally reviled, and most publishers opt out of this kind of ad delivery instinctively. After all, we don't like visiting sites with those kinds of ads, so we don't want to force that on out readers.

But in-text ads present a much more subtle intrusion on our site, and therefore, they might be a little more tempting.

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As always, click on the images to see them bigger.

Deadeye Dick

The Fourth

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As always, click on the images to see them bigger.

Kiwi Blitz

Pierresito

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If you're like me, you feel completely awkward when it comes to adding color to your comic. After all, finding two hues that harmonize is difficult. But harmonizing enough colors to make a pleasing scene? That's a color-theory challenge that has eluded me for almost a decade. It doesn't help to read about the old-time animation colorists who point out that sometimes they'd use purple for a tree trunk because it made the scene better.

Please feel free to add to the discussion under the original thread.

In a thread on Facebook Fan Pages, member Zachary Smith provided some excellent information on Facebook's Edgerank system -- the system that determines what you see (and from whom) when you sign into your Facebook account. I wanted to pull it out front to make sure you didn't miss it.

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Here are the broad strokes.

There's a strong demand for the return of a podcast they started a couple years ago called "Downloadable Content." The podcast faltered and stalled because (1) it wasn't able to be easily monetized and (2) it required time and resources to produce that couldn't be justified abecause of reason #1.

They set the goal at $10 (and, obviously, they met their goal and have gone well on their way towards acheiving several Push Goals). Why $10? According their their FAQ:

We basically wanted it to be pay what you want.  People have been telling us to make this stuff for years, it was never about the goal.   We thought might as well set it at a level where even one backer would get us there. That way, no matter what, we’re committed to creating and delivering a radical new era in podcasting (it will probably be very similar to the previous era).

The pushback was startling. And it tends to come down along the same lines:

• Penny Arcade doesn't need the money.
• They could do the podcast without funding
• The $10 funding goal proves the above two points
• Therefore they're asking for money for doing something they're willing to do anyway

So, who's the villain? Penny Arcade for trying to monetize a podcast? Or readers overreacting to a Kickstarter campaign?

In the words of Walt Kelly: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

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@geekscomicstrip @webcomic_alli @guigar went to pay what you can from his fixed prices?That's not giving me a happy feeling.

— Shawn Granger (@MrGranger) May 7, 2013

I wanted to let my numbers mature a bit before discussing this, but when I saw that yesterday, I knew what today's post had to be.

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