"how to create your own global microbrand"

I’m a cartoonist. I’ve been blogging since May, 2001.

I basically make my living four ways:

1. Selling fine art prints via the online gallery, which we market via the newsletter. It goes out to tens of thousands of people, five days a week.
2. Drawing commissions for clients. “Cube Grenades”, I call them.
3. Writing books. One book is already a bestseller, and another one is coming out in February.
4. Speaking gigs. It’s isn’t a huge part of my business [I’m frankly too busy to travel much], but it’s fun when it happens.

Not bad for a formerly unemployed hack copywriter. I was thinking about what I learned along the way, that could be useful for other people trying to create their own global microbrand, so here are some notes: