This has to be the hurdle that broke the camel's back. Tasting that sweet, sweet victory of finishing volume 1 of STL and then getting gut punched by Mike Tyson as an advertising necessity. So we've got to spread the word about the work. Lesson #1 as a creator - Just because you build it... doesn't mean they'll come.
Get out your pen and paper and start writing out the ways you can push your work, and get ready because it's a battle all the way. Nobody wants to have to sling product on friends and family but they're your first platform. I'd recommend personally calling your inner circle when you have a product ready and letting them know about the project, process, excitement of finishing and marketing goals for the foreseeable future. Ask them to support you. This means that you believe in yourself and your work. It has value - that's an enormous lesson to learn, you have to believe in yourself and your work and you have to provide value to your audience. My first movie was pretty damn cool but it was technically flawed. I found it entertaining and could get people to sit through it but after awhile I started becoming ashamed of it's flaws... If only I could have spent a little more time tweaking this or fixing that in the moment of creation, I wouldn't have to live with a broken film forever. Anyways, I stopped believing it had value and my sales immediately tapered off and never returned. Not the case with STL I'm happy to say. We've got quality on every frame and that's something that's worth marketing.
So you need to get your friends and family onboard. Then do some self serving Facebook posts. These wont likely amount to anything but it does let your circle know what's going on and in the rare case you peak someone's interest, they'll come to you for more information. If nothing else, it's an exercise in self-branding which again, as a creator is vital.
Now you've got some tough choices to make. Invest more money into advertising? Hire a publicist? Work with a marketing firm? To be honest, this depends on the niche and type of media you're putting out. I've found a handful of inexpensive promotions that have had varying degrees of success. I've also tried some experimental marketing from sites like Fiverr. These results were un-measurable so I'd recommend passing on the shotgun approach and being a little more surgical with the sniper riffle. My campaigns are just beginning so I'll update this with a Marketing V2 post shortly. In the meantime, if you have any questions or suggestions, just contact me.