Leviatham
Explorer
During the the last thread I started recently, the guys at Bedrock Games asked about what could be done, specially by smaller companies to promote their products, since it can be an expensive endeavour.
Usually my posts are critical, mainly because I am an opinionated sod and I like controversy (I know, I know...), but this time I thought I'd try a different approach and just try to start something to get ideas out there and discuss if they'd work and how. Or if they wouldn't.
I have been a volunteer counsellor for a long time. I have worked in relationships counselling and with some perpetrators of domestic abuse. One of my colleagues once gave me a maxim that I not just absolutely adore, but I actually live by it:
If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always got (IYADWYADYWAGWYAG).
Of course this has it’s limitations. In fact, I would say that, in some if not most aspects of life, if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll eventually lose it because you’ll get stagnant and bored with it. And how this links into the real subject of this article? Keep reading.
It seems things are starting to happen in the gaming industry and it could keep becoming more and more popular. Boardgames are becoming mainstream. Publishing and self publishing are becoming more obtainable and easier. Reaching people is a lot cheaper, easier and more effective than 15 years ago… anyone would think we have it all going for us!
Well, no. We don’t. Times are difficult with money. Shops are not doing very well (at least in Europe. I hear similar things in the USA, but I have next to no experience in there). It might be easy to reach out to people, but to actually get the product to them? Not so!
To find out why this is the case, we need to get to the roots of the problem. It is very easy to blame others for this. “Amazon takes a massive cut”. “The post office charges a lot”. “People prefer to buy online”. “We are no longer mainstream”. Those are some of the few things I hear people say sometimes.
I wouldn't call them reasons, even if they are. I think those are just obstacles.
I am going to be controversial here: You are not doing enough for your product, or not doing the right things. If you are a publisher, a distributor, an author or a retailer, you are probably not doing enough or the right things. I am sure you work hard. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not implying you are lazy. You are not (probably!). In fact some of the people in the gaming industry I have met are some of the most hard working people ever. But are you moving with the times? Are you doing enough or the right things?
So far I have been very vague. I talk about “things” and “doing enough”. This is deliberate. I want to concentrate on four aspects of the gaming creation process: Authors, Publishers, distributors and retailers. There are others, like consumers and the media, but about consumers we've already debated, and about the media I may not be the best to start the conversation since I am kind of part of it.
Something that changed the way we make business the most (if not THE thing) is the Internet. Funnily enough, it has drawn us closer together in some aspects, and has separated us in others.
When I was a young lad in Spain, reading fantasy books, I had the authors as some sort of impossible to approach beings. It was the late 80’s. I would never dream I could get to meet them, know them or talk to them. When I started to read RPGs, the same was true for those authors. Tell Gary Gigax what I had done to make things better for D&D? Phhhhtttt!!!!
Now Twitter, Facebook, Forums, emails and other myriad tools have brought authors and the public closer together. To actually maintain a conversation with some authors is indeed a daily occurrence. For a fanboy like me (though the “boy” bit doesn’t apply… at all!), there hasn’t been a better time for being into the hobby!
So what else could you do if you are an author? Well, the first thing I would say is: The least known you are, the more racket you have to make.
There are a lot of people out there competing for attention and plenty of games competing for game time. The ones that will get the attention are the ones which, either are already well known, or are making a lot of noise. The right sort of noise. Being an idiot will bring you a lot of attention, but it is not the type of attention you want. We’ve all attracted that sort of attention before, but make sure it is sporadic. Even if you don’t always please everyone (it’s virtually impossible), you want to be out there and making yourself known.
So, this is a list of things you could do to grab attention. This is not exhaustive and you might think these things wouldn't work for you. I am just brainstorming ideas and strategies that I have seen work for some people. Please feel free to comment as to why you think they're not useful, but do offer something constructive in return.
If you have tried these things already and they haven’t worked for you, why not? What do you think happened there for it not to work?
Do you do something different? If so, what?
Usually my posts are critical, mainly because I am an opinionated sod and I like controversy (I know, I know...), but this time I thought I'd try a different approach and just try to start something to get ideas out there and discuss if they'd work and how. Or if they wouldn't.
I have been a volunteer counsellor for a long time. I have worked in relationships counselling and with some perpetrators of domestic abuse. One of my colleagues once gave me a maxim that I not just absolutely adore, but I actually live by it:
If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always got (IYADWYADYWAGWYAG).
Of course this has it’s limitations. In fact, I would say that, in some if not most aspects of life, if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll eventually lose it because you’ll get stagnant and bored with it. And how this links into the real subject of this article? Keep reading.
It seems things are starting to happen in the gaming industry and it could keep becoming more and more popular. Boardgames are becoming mainstream. Publishing and self publishing are becoming more obtainable and easier. Reaching people is a lot cheaper, easier and more effective than 15 years ago… anyone would think we have it all going for us!
Well, no. We don’t. Times are difficult with money. Shops are not doing very well (at least in Europe. I hear similar things in the USA, but I have next to no experience in there). It might be easy to reach out to people, but to actually get the product to them? Not so!
To find out why this is the case, we need to get to the roots of the problem. It is very easy to blame others for this. “Amazon takes a massive cut”. “The post office charges a lot”. “People prefer to buy online”. “We are no longer mainstream”. Those are some of the few things I hear people say sometimes.
I wouldn't call them reasons, even if they are. I think those are just obstacles.
I am going to be controversial here: You are not doing enough for your product, or not doing the right things. If you are a publisher, a distributor, an author or a retailer, you are probably not doing enough or the right things. I am sure you work hard. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not implying you are lazy. You are not (probably!). In fact some of the people in the gaming industry I have met are some of the most hard working people ever. But are you moving with the times? Are you doing enough or the right things?
So far I have been very vague. I talk about “things” and “doing enough”. This is deliberate. I want to concentrate on four aspects of the gaming creation process: Authors, Publishers, distributors and retailers. There are others, like consumers and the media, but about consumers we've already debated, and about the media I may not be the best to start the conversation since I am kind of part of it.
Something that changed the way we make business the most (if not THE thing) is the Internet. Funnily enough, it has drawn us closer together in some aspects, and has separated us in others.
When I was a young lad in Spain, reading fantasy books, I had the authors as some sort of impossible to approach beings. It was the late 80’s. I would never dream I could get to meet them, know them or talk to them. When I started to read RPGs, the same was true for those authors. Tell Gary Gigax what I had done to make things better for D&D? Phhhhtttt!!!!
Now Twitter, Facebook, Forums, emails and other myriad tools have brought authors and the public closer together. To actually maintain a conversation with some authors is indeed a daily occurrence. For a fanboy like me (though the “boy” bit doesn’t apply… at all!), there hasn’t been a better time for being into the hobby!
So what else could you do if you are an author? Well, the first thing I would say is: The least known you are, the more racket you have to make.
There are a lot of people out there competing for attention and plenty of games competing for game time. The ones that will get the attention are the ones which, either are already well known, or are making a lot of noise. The right sort of noise. Being an idiot will bring you a lot of attention, but it is not the type of attention you want. We’ve all attracted that sort of attention before, but make sure it is sporadic. Even if you don’t always please everyone (it’s virtually impossible), you want to be out there and making yourself known.
So, this is a list of things you could do to grab attention. This is not exhaustive and you might think these things wouldn't work for you. I am just brainstorming ideas and strategies that I have seen work for some people. Please feel free to comment as to why you think they're not useful, but do offer something constructive in return.
- Tweet. If you already tweet, then tweet more. Even of some of the tweets you read sound silly, interact with your potential public. People who feel you’ve got their attention are more likely to buy your products.
- Have a decent blog. If you don’t have a blog where you write about whatever it is you want to write about, you are missing out. Big time.
- Make the blog as nice and inviting as you can. Even though the writing should be the focus, reading a nice looking blog is miles more likely than reading an ugly looking one. If you don’t know how to do it, ask your Twitter followers, or go to a forum and ask for help. You don’t need to hire someone to ask for advice and with a tiny bit of learning and a bit of effort, your presence could become much better very quickly.
- Don’t limit your blog to your game. If we have the feeling we know you, we’ll be more likely to, actually, like you and want to help your books and games. Tell us about your thought process, your ideas, your successes and your failures. Some of us love to hear about that sort of thing!
- Start a Facebook page. I know, you might not like Facebook, but it is undeniable that it has its advantages and it is a good platform to reach people.
- Start a LinkdIn profile. Although more marginal, it is a truly excellent tool to network and cyber-socialise with other authors and players. It also is perceived as a more professional environment, so it will increase your reputation somewhat.
- Give advice. If you want people to believe you know what you’re talking about, the best way to do it is to show them.
- Get acquainted with the media. There are no more magazines like in the 80’s and 90’s. The existing ones are very few and they can’t support everyone. Develop a relationship with other bloggers, podcasters and websites. Send press releases, ask to be in podcasts. Check out if they’ll add a banner with your product for advertising. Make sure they write reviews of your products. Offer to be in their podcast. Of course, you can’t do that for everyone, but choose blogs and podcasts you like and ones that will be prepared to put the effort back into you and help you promote your games.
- Get published! Yes, you! You can get published! Send a short story, an article, a review, some thoughts… just send stuff to websites you like. Get your name out there! The more your name is out there, the more likely it is you’ll be recognised and that people will want to read who you are. Just make sure we know you!
- Shout! When someone writes a review about your game, make sure you tell everyone. Add a link to your website and social networks. Get the conversation going.
- Attend games shows and conventions. There is nothing like face to face interaction with your potential customers. No matter how good your website is, no matter how good you are at tweeting, Facebook and everything else… show yourself to this sort of places and you’ll get more fans and more sales!
- You might be doing some of those things. You might be doing them all and I am teaching my grandma to suck eggs here, I don’t know. What I know, is that, doing all of those things, even though it is time consuming, you will be better off.
If you have tried these things already and they haven’t worked for you, why not? What do you think happened there for it not to work?
Do you do something different? If so, what?
