Every web entrepreneur dreams of making it big someday. They dream of being able to attract an audience so large that advertisers come knocking at the door with wads of cash enough to bankroll their most ambitious mainstream projects. Whether or not you can handle that transition however, is a whole other animal.

Take this example of my favorite webcomic as they have decided to produce an infomercial to help finance their aspirations to move the comic into an animated series:

I have every respect for Sohmer and his team at Blind Ferret Entertainment but I have to admit, this piece fell short of my expectations. Before I explain why, let’s start out with what I think they did right:

• They took a product that is just to the left of “Head On” and wove it into the tone and style of “Least I Could Do.”
• They did a great job of transitioning the characters’ personalities into an animated format (even if the mouth movements were a tad off)
• They took a risk to make a project they have long-stated to be a goal and made it a reality, financially.

In terms of my critique of this ad all I have to say is this; “You couldn’t wait for a better advertiser?”

Frankly, what LICD is doing is setting itself up for a perceptual split in its online brand. On one hand, they are trail-blazing storytellers with a great asset on their hands. On the other, they are basically saying that short-term tactics to get the animated series on the air is more important than the long-term strategy of the comic.

Its a challenge felt by many online businesspeople and one that could go either way. If the move enables the animated series to come to life and then Sohmer can bring even 1/3rd of the sharpness of the comic with it, he’ll be fine. If he continues to mismatch his advertisers with his audience, he might be in for a bumpy ride.

Technorati Tags: Blind Ferret Entertainment, infomercial, Least I Could Do, Nullo, Sohmer, webcomic