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Best way to generate sales?

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Sat, 03/09/2013 - 13:38
dog bongo
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I am pretty far along in my game development process and need to prepare for my marketing strategy. I am self-publishing a small run of light/family card games and new to the industry, so I currently have no foot in any doors whatsoever. I have several elements in the works: a business plan, website, sales sheets, social media, etc.

My question is, what approach is best for a one man army like myself to sell? Do you recommend I concentrate my efforts on approaching retailers, pursuing distributors, working the conventions, or trying to generate online sales? Or is it a balance of all?

I'd love to hear what others have explored and experienced who are in the same boat as me. Thanks.

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Sat, 03/09/2013 - 21:35
#1
questccg
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Every game needs a Kickstarter

Well my experience (personally) has been that sales for an indie game are not fantastic. I have explored the POD (Print-On-Demand) as the way I would release my second game only to find out that the number of POD sales average out to about 20 games, some of the more popular games can maybe sell 100 games, still nothing to write home about.

So from those figures alone, I would guess your best bet is to have a Kickstarter: build up a small community of gamers for your game, get some funds to help your project along and spread the word about your game...

The next step, once you have a finished product would be to see if any publishers would want to pick up your game. If they can sell your game through distributors to brick and mortar shops, you might see a more sizeable volume. Note however you may only see 7% of the earnings (which again is nothing to write home about) but it means your game has been successful enough to make it in the real world.

Again, these are just my own opinions on the matter, others may feel differently and approach publishers before having a finished product...

Best of luck to you.

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Sun, 03/10/2013 - 10:59
#2
GrimFinger
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I'm not in the same boat that

I'm not in the same boat that you are in, nor do I intend to be, but just to offer up a couple of possibilities that come to mind off-the-cuff, you might want to consider networking with owners of friendly local gaming stores (even though all of them aren't really the friendly type), maybe offering some free copies (one for them and some for use as prizes), and maybe send some to radio stations to offer as free prizes.

Perhaps even paying the game store owners for space in their store might be a good idea. Just consider it to be an investment. You get traffic flow from game-oriented individuals already looking to buy, that way.

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Sun, 03/10/2013 - 14:09
#3
dog bongo
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Thanks for kickstarter recommendation

Yes, the Kickstarter concept is really intriguing. A bit intimidating having never done it before, but I think I'm at a stage where that might be a good fit for me. Need to do some more homework on the process, but thanks for the advice.

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Sun, 03/10/2013 - 14:45
#4
dog bongo
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Starting local...

Thanks GrimFinger. Yes, I've questioned my sanity on trying to self-publish! We'll see how it goes. As for your advice to start with local game store owners, I wholeheartedly agree. I hadn't thought of the freebie prizes to owners and radio stations, and think that's a great idea. Right now, I'm leaning toward trying to get launch/sales support from a distribution partner.

If you or anyone knows of any good distribution partners that would consider light card games with marketability beyond gaming stores (think coffee houses, boutique shops, bookstores), I'd love to know! Thanks.

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Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:02
#5
Redonesgofaster
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Glad to hear it!

I started a company with a pair of friends of mine to self-publish games we have some stuff that is almost ready to be released right now, our plan is to just do a lot of legwork. LGS is a great place to start, obviously online sales but also going to cons and getting word out on your own as well. We also are interested in encouraging people to do what you are doing by testing games and vouching for them at whatever LGS's we are present in.

When we have a few games released in small runs we are going to kickstart the whole catalog at once and hope that is enough to get us rolling.

When you get something together, maybe we can combine forces a bit and put you in the stores we have a relationship with.

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