The last BEHIND THE CURTAIN blog post we did caused about 70 comments or so and people seemed to really enjoy my frankness and honesty. Well, I’ve decided to go into that mode again and get real with all of you about how I release prints. You may be thinking, you release them online, what’s the big deal? I’m going to go through the process of how I actually put them up for sale so you can possibly improve your chances of getting your print of choice. I especially wanted to do this, not just for our current fanbase, but for the huge influx of people that just found out about us from the STAR WARS and STAR TREK announcements. Oh yeah, welcome everyone…we’ve got some great stuff lined up for in the coming year.
So, we have several ways of promoting/ announcing that a print is about to drop. As some of you have probably seen, we get covered by a lot of media sites…AICN, Chud, SlashFilm, I09, Twitch, Joblo, etc. Not counting any kind of reporting on our releases, we mainly use TWITTER, FACEBOOK and our NEWSLETTER to let people know that we’ve got something going on. Here is the order of how I do things. Take notes…this could definitely help you get an advantage over others in getting the print.
1. NEWSLETTER
I always lead with a blast to our mailing list. I recommend clicking HERE and signing up for it. This will have links to the sale and info. We don’t ever do “spam” mailing list things that says like “Here’s what we’ve been doing!” or whatever. If you see an email from Mondo in your inbox, it’s most likely something going on sale. So, time wise, if you get an email from our mailing list on a sale, you will have about a 10-15 minute lead time on everyone else. If a print is going on sale at noon, it’ll probably hit your inbox at about 11:45 or 11:50. Obviously, the time of when the email hits your individual inbox varies, but it’ll be in that time range. So, step 1 to improve your chances of getting that print, sign up to our mailing list. It’ll be your new best friend.
2. TWITTER
I don’t know what I’d do without Twitter. I really love it. It’s a great way to get instant feedback on releases and it’s a great way to answer fan’s questions. You can always email us at Store@MondoTees.com to ask questions, but if there is something you need to know about store hours, edition size, whatever….hit me up on Twitter. I’m officially addicted to checking @replies and my email, so I’ll get back to you ASAP. Besides all of that, I tend to drop a lot of hints on the release times and often even show previews of what’s coming up. On the day of release, I will post a blog post here and then copy the link, go to Tweetdeck, paste it in there and Tweet it. So, besides watching the blog, following us on Twitter is a really good idea. Most of the info you absolutely need to know will hit Twitter.
3. FACEBOOK
I’ll be honest, I don’t use Facebook as much as I should. I’m working on utilizing it more, but if you fan us (or whatever it’s called now) on there, you will get the Tweets I make on Twitter about releases. No new content…basically just Twitter again on a different site. This is the third thing I post to when I’m releasing posters.
To recap, in order, this is how I do things when a print is about to drop:
1. Send out an email blast to our Mailing List about the sale. You have about 10-15 minute lead time.
2. Post blog about the sale and post it to Twitter.
3. Post the Tweet from Twitter to Facebook.
I hope this helps. I know life would be much easier if we could just post times on when stuff was going to drop, but we just can’t. With the traffic we get on release days and even with our crazy new servers, it’s too big of a risk. If the site crashes, nobody gets posters and it’s a bigger mess than just doing it this way. If you have any questions, as always, you can hit us up at Store@MondoTees.com or just reply in the comments. We’ve got some great stuff coming this week, so try these tips out on that and see if it goes any smoother on release days.
-Justin
Step 4: Live in Austin. You can pick up the print on the day of release at the store most times instead of queuing at the website.
I’m confused about the mailing list part: I’ve been on it for a long time, but I’ve never gotten an email 10-15min before a release. I’ve checked my spam – nothing shows up there, and I receive the emails from Alamo, Fantastic Fest, etc, so that part works.
David-
Even though the Alamo, Fantastic Fest, etc. use the same bulk mailing company, we are all on different lists. If you’re not getting any emails from Mondo, that means you’re probably not signed up to the specific MONDO ONLY mailing list. You might try to sign up for it again and see if that works. If you don’t get an email in the next release, be sure to let me know and I’ll dig deeper into it. Thanks!
since it is Star Wars & Star Trek we’re dealing with…is making more an option?
I mean, would you get in trouble or something if you make….say….900 instead of a ridiculously low 350?
I agree with David,
I have been on the Alamo list for years now (live in Atlanta) and get those emails regularly. Never gotten a Mondo email. I am down w/ the Twit…but still seem to never get in on things. Re-signing up for the Mondo list… hopefully it’ll take.
Yo ladies it really is a matter of doing exactly what Justin said above. You keep your eyes on that Twitter feed (hint, for those without “computerphones” they can send you text messages so you don’t have to live in front of your computer on release days) and start participating in some of the community websites (OMG, EB, GP, etc..) and you’ll be fine for drops.
I’m about as intelligent as a cucumber and I get in on damn near EVERY mondo drop I’m interested in so I’m quite sure you boppers can score every so often.
Remember kids, these prints are LUXURY THINGS and as such are not eligible for whining about, pissing and moaning over or general child-like behavior. When you get one, be stoked. When you don’t, high five those who did. Done and done and done.
Hey Justin great stuff as usual man. Glad to see Mondo gettin such well deserved play, here’s hoping it only gets bigger
TWITTAH!
I’ve been able to buy both of the Posters I liked recently. Just kept hitting re-fresh on the site every 5-10 mins on the day of release, and around the approximate time. Worked like a charm
Twitter > Facebook
“I’m confused about the mailing list part: I’ve been on it for a long time, but I’ve never gotten an email 10-15min before a release. I’ve checked my spam – nothing shows up there, and I receive the emails from Alamo, Fantastic Fest, etc, so that part works.”
I had the same experience. I will try to sign up again. Thanks for the info!
I get tweets sent to my phone, so I don’t typically have a problem getting a heads up on the drops. I do get checkout errors now and then after the redirect to and from Paypal. There is a redundant double confirmation step at the end that can hang and reset during really crowded preorders. The hints and tweets get me there on time, but the checkout process still has a hiccup every now and then. I imagine that the server strain will only get more intense as more and more Star _ _ _ _ fans discover the site. Exciting times, if a bit stressful.
I have also signed up for the Alamo/Mondo/etc. newsletter but have never received one. I tried doing it again this time, but sure enough, didn’t get one about the Bride of Frankenstein release.
Justin-
I haven’t sent the Bride email out yet. That’s why you haven’t gotten it. Also, the sale starts at 11am CST. Just a heads up!
Will there be emails sent to people on the mailing list regarding the star wars/star trek posters? If so, like 5-10 minutes before as mentioned in the post?
I like the method you used for the Bride poster. I got the e-mail list about 2 minutes before the poster actually went on sale. I don’t have Twitter/Facebook access so the e-mail list is best and I appreciate the fact it goes out before the social media stuff which is often blocked at employers.
I also have to second dylansdad about the PayPal/check out process. I had the poster in my cart at 11:02, yet it wasn’t until 11:11 that the cart actually got my order through. I had several timeout issues and a modal dialog box with no actual text in it three times.
Nevertheless, I think this process is the best I’ve seen since I started ordering posters from Mondo (during that Tarantino Regional movie festival timeframe).
Thanks again for the info and transparency on the process.