Heroes of Cosplay Sanctuary

My next guest comes to us from her own epic Channel, where she showcases her talents as an artist and cosplayer, as well as talks to many Cosplayers from all over the globe. One of the most genuine people you will ever meet in the community, she is supportive, informative, and creative – adding a geeky flavor to the fandom, cosplay, and comic community, listen to our discussion on Comics, Cosplay,...

For Cosplayers and those who want to support Cosplayers, it can get very overwhelming in a somewhat crowded space what you should do as an enthusiast or even as a Cosplayer to support the Cosplay community. Almost everyone has a linktree which goes to Websites, Patreon, Etsy, and many other spaces where products and services can be sold. There are also links to charitable sites, places to crowdfun...

Some may disagree with the subject of this Podcast and say – these are actually good ways to make money.  They are ways to make money online, but I’ll tell you first what I believe is the best way to do it. Or really - today we're taking about how to avoid some suggested ways to make money in Cosplay that don't always work out too well. Amazon wish lists do not really pay you, and any si...

Making money with Cosplay is not easy. Many see it as a hobby, and at it’s core, it is heavy on costume and graphic design. So if you just want to have fun with it, that’s completely fine. Many of us do. But for those of us who do want to monetize, what’s getting in our way of really making something out of it? Let’s look at 5 reasons why we do not focus on monetization and instead try to gain att...

Cosplay costs money.  I want a proton pack, and they’re like $2500 dollars.  Even if I could build one myself, it would still cost a lot of time and hundreds of dollars. How do you finance it?  And all the things that surround it. In general, thinking about money – you need to thank it, and pay yourself first. That’s what I’ve learned. Money presents options, so the more you have, the more options...

Today friends, I have the pleasure of welcoming a cosplayer who has turned tragedy into triumph. A truly selfless individual, his story matches those characters he portrays, most notably a symbol of light coming out of Darkness. Listen to his inspiring story, a victim of a hit and run, who took something tragic in his life, and created a way to give back to the community and become a symbol for ot...

This is not the episode where I tell you who to follow, support, collaborate with, or what fandoms you SHOULD be a part of in order to grow your following. This is about who you gravitate towards, and those parts of the geek culture and fandoms that you already enjoy – its more about how you share it than engineering an Instagram feed. You Cosplay, or you Podcast, or you are a creator on YouTube o...

When you don’t have creative space, you can feel like you want to quit. On the other hand, if it takes over your whole house, that can be overwhelming too, and probably will make everything look really messy – clutter everywhere – hard to find things – stuff on top of stuff on top of everything else you use to cook and clean – never mind having non-cosplay people over to visit and trying to clean...

We are limited most by time. Everyone online is telling us to quit our jobs, follow our passions, work less, do more, be productive, and stop trading time for dollars – create passive income and live with passion. Just to find an hour or two to make a costume and a weekend or two to go to a convention. But it’s very true – it’s hard to find time and energy to do anything – work out, hobbies, visit...

Where do you go online for cosplay tutorials?  Do you hit up people in their DMs or just look around for videos on YouTube? Chances are YouTube has something you’re looking for, but are you motivated to figure out where you need to go and what you need to do to make a costume? There are so many places to look - some of my favorite channels to watch to figure things out: Tiffany Gordon Cosplay Cosp...

A phenomenal Cosplayer and Model, this week, we're talking to Adi Rodrigues on many of her accomplishments, cosplays, and really just catching up.  We also talk about an important topic inside of Cosplay - Women Supporting Women. As I've spent some time in the World of Cosplay, I've seen a lot of women tear others down, bully, and ridicule other women in this space. It's much m...

There’s also nothing to say about the quality of followers you get on TikTok.  Possibly the most important part to keep track of on this platform is who is watching – especially if you want to drive income to your platform.  You can have a million TikTok followers, but they could all be 14 and from Russia, so you’re not going to get them to buy a $1500 online marketing course. And what about Twitc...

Can you get buried on Vero?  It kind of starts there. Vero is unique in that its algorithm does not place you above or below anyone – you’re just in the feed, which gets really crowded – almost like combining Instagram with Twitter, which can be very difficult to keep up with as an alternate platform to reach more people. You can go back and listen to the Vero episode for more on Vero True Social...

Instagram was one of my favorite platforms to start, and I’m not really sure why – the content that I create for it does not play well into the system – it’s not the ‘in the moment’ shareable content that they’re trying to have it lean into. It’s really easy to connect and message – that’s the draw for me.  And now...it's all about video content. Of course you’re buried on Instagram – we all...

If you are a maker, or a Cosplay creator/influencer, consider YouTube even if you are getting buried on the platform. For me and my little channel, it’s a body of work being developed to lead to other things – larger platforms and a community where YouTubers in this space can help each other grow and eventually go beyond breaking even with a channel – inside or outside of Cosplay. It’s becoming mo...

This week, we're talking to Morganite Cosplay about her experiences inside the industry. She's telling you about her journey in Cosplay and how it's helped her steer towards better health, towards helping others, and building a genuine space online where she can support others who struggle with similar things from body positivity to the many issues we run into with the cosplays them...

To round out our 2nd week of content, and coming in last place on streaming right now is our old friend Netflix.  They revolutionized how we consume content and killed DVDs and Blockbuster Video as we know them, but will they survive the next few years as more and more streaming services bring themselves online and cater to the fandom culture that we've created to support the many shows that...

Today's episode focuses on HBO/Max and the fandoms that have come out of this streaming service recently, such as DC Comics, many cartoons, anime, Game of Thrones and Mortal Kombat.  We touch on Justice League, and discuss how HBO/Max can stay relevant in the streaming service mix as we search for the latest fandoms. We'll be bringing you content Monday thru Friday every week from now un...

Disney+ has become the go-to streaming service if you want to talk about Fandoms. Anything Star Wars or Marvel right now mean having to have a subscription to their service in order to see what's been going on in either of these spaces. It's not the only service out there, but it seems like it sometimes with the vast majority of Cosplayers who portray Marvel, Star Wars, and other Disney...

This week, we're talking about fandoms and where to find them. So much of our content is now coming from streaming, and more and more creators are giving breakdowns of shows and new series coming out of each of these streaming services. Let's break down where to go for the newest content and how to avoid the high cost of keeping up with Fandoms all this week. We'll be bringing you c...

My guest today has dazzled the community with her combination of the two, pairing fun and delicious food creations with all things pop culture. Creator of #FoodandCosplay, please welcome model, cosplayer, cook, creator, and mom, The Yummy Geek to the show this week. We're talking about all things Yummy this week, and a what a great way to start off Season III: United by talking about somethin...

What are we willing to spend, and what lengths are we willing to go to in order to gain visibility and traction in Cosplay Online?  Whatever it is, it will be expensive. Even if you make the Cosplays yourself, it's still a high cost industry with low returns for the majority. We can gain followers, but likes don't pay bills.  Comments don't afford more content and subscribers don&ap...

What irritates me the most about Cosplay?  It's supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be an outlet. It's supposed to be...well a lot of things. But what has it become? What do we spend most of our time chasing now?  We want more followers, more attention, more recognition, and at an increasing pace.  A pace that no longer allows us to slow down, or (forbid the thought) stop completel...

What happened to the creator space? It's become about reach, about gaining followers, and about getting the attention of brands and celebrities in order to promote who we are and what we're doing.  Recognition instead of appreciation. How do we, as Cosplayer, as people inside of this community, all vying for clicks and hustling the Cosplay come together and make it about more than '...

Welcome to Season 3: United.  We've been away for a while, but we haven't forgotten about the important parts of Cosplay since we ended season 2. We'll be bringing you content Monday thru Friday every week from now until C2E2  to talk about coming together with cosplay an in fandoms, the costs, the marketing & business behind what you do (and what we do), and of course, we'...