Benchmarking your PDF company

[lmpjr007]

This is something I have been doing lately, benchmarking myself against other PDF companies in the market. I use Phil Reed and Ronin Arts as the company I should try to emulate their publishing model. Since Phil is at the top of his game in PDFs I love seeing what his is going to do next. Thanks Phil, keep up the good work.

 

[mroberon1972]

Little hard to do in some cases...

I mean, other than a few of us, most PDF companies keep their business info private.

We can see reviews and such, but all that does is tell us an opinion on the quality of the product, not how well it sells.


later,
John Bowden

 

[lmpjr007]

Little hard to do in some cases...

I mean, other than a few of us, most PDF companies keep their business info private.

We can see reviews and such, but all that does is tell us an opinion on the quality of the product, not how well it sells.


later,
John Bowden

I am thinking of the sense of "Who looks like they are doing the right thing when it comes to PDFs and promotion of their products?"

 

[mroberon1972]

I am thinking of the sense of "Who looks like they are doing the right thing when it comes to PDFs and promotion of their products?"

Not meaning to look for a fight, but in most companies, is that not based on profit from sales?

If you mean most popular (and I don't think this directly equates to sales... It helps, but it's not a direct corrilation), then it would have to be EN Publishing.

Let's get right to it, they have the forum that everyone comes to...

 

[philreed]

This is something I have been doing lately, benchmarking myself against other PDF companies in the market. I use Phil Reed and Ronin Arts as the company I should try to emulate their publishing model. Since Phil is at the top of his game in PDFs I love seeing what his is going to do next. Thanks Phil, keep up the good work.

Thank you. I'm just trying to keep a steady stream of releases and working to improve the process behind production. I've actually been taking more time lately to do some marketing and planning.

A company that's impressed me is SkeletonKey Games. Ed has done a remarkable job of building his PDF company.

 

[Bloodstone Press]

I mean, other than a few of us, most PDF companies keep their business info private.

We can see reviews and such, but all that does is tell us an opinion on the quality of the product, not how well it sells.

"Bench marking" is a business term that means comparing your business to that of your competitors. All well run companies do it, and most don't get to see their competitor's books.

Bench marking includes:
1. Buying your competitor’s products, using them and evaluating them against your own products.
2. Search industry media, looking for your competitor’s advertisements to get an idea of their marketing strategy and budget. Compare that estimate to your own.
3. Comparing your prices and quantity of material to that of your competitor.
4. Check RPGnow top lists to see where your competitor’s products re ranked. Compare that to your own rankings.
5. visit their web site.
6. Read their product schedules and press releases.
7. Analyze their product mix. Again, compare that to your own.

If you mean most popular (and I don't think this directly equates to sales... It helps, but it's not a direct correlation), then it would have to be EN Publishing.

Let's get right to it, they have the forum that everyone comes to...

EN World is a fine company to benchmark against, but they are far from the only company in this industry. And they are not the only ones doing innovative things.

The best thing to do is to keep your eye on most of the major players and a few of the promising smaller players. The problem is, there are so many of us, it is hard to do that. My attention usually roams from one to another every couple of weeks or so.

 

[marketingman]

Benchmarking is a set process in many business but to set percieved sales quota from anothers information can be the road to ruin. After all if their numbers are SKUed differantly it will thow off all demographic ( speaking for the oldest, farthest travelling native american woman at several Origins)

However emulation of anothers standard of production isright on the money for what would have happened with the early Judges Guild if they could have matched TSR productio values with their own content values.. Who knows,

The other factor in benchmarking is it allows for one to see a hole in the industry by watching waht others are doing and how thier product is recieved it allows for developemnt beyond the current offerings,

Even you Louis are a benchmark tohow the indusrty is changing and growing to the media that is the web. I sold a lot of your magazines over the years at my stores and conventions thoughtout the midwest.

The health of the industry I find to bench mark agains is the amount of Polyhedral dice that are imported by Koplow, Crystal Caste andChessex, For all gamers need dice to play and the amount of dice they have grows with the lenght of time they play.

But I like to keep my benchmark/stalking list close to the vest and see how it develops. Ed and Phil are both great to set the bench mark for the up and comers,

 

[Warden]

I consider the ranking on RPGNow to be a fairly accurate benchmark, especially against a product with poor sales. When we relased Labyrinth of Oversoul and could only reach as high as a dozen sales (hey, I'll admit it), I realised that this particular corner of the d20 zone was slow as a whole because we were still listed as the top d20 Location/Setting guide. I allowed my heart to start beating again and learn from that.

As far as comparing ourselves to other companies such as Ronin, SkeletonKey, EN Publishing, and others, we try not to, but do like to pay attention to the marketing actions and such of the "competition" (a term that I use loosely because my sales are just as dependent on your sales as most PDFs are bought in groups) to see what works. Each of us offers our own brand of product and customers will always come looking for the product that they want so long as they can find it. So long as my products can maintain themselves alongside the other new releases on the main page, I am satisfied. If they can do better, I buy a bottle of wine.

 

[jmucchiello]

Little hard to do in some cases...

I mean, other than a few of us, most PDF companies keep their business info private.

There have been many threads in the past where companies posted their sales info. It's not that hard. You know how many of your book you've sold. Everyone above you in the top 100 on RPGNow have sold more. Everyone else has sold less. (I guess this does assume you've had a book break the top 100.) Simple.

 

[Vigilance]

Hmm... not sure if I should be worried or offended that no one mentioned us as a company they should bookmark against.

Chuck