Indie Game Marketing Blog
Author
Hello everyone,
Some of you know me already and others I hope to know soon enough. For those that know me, skip to the link :)
I'm Joe Lieberman, I own VGsmart Marketing, the marketing company for indie game developers. After speaking at the IGC this year I realized that many indies out there are without a good guide for marketing. As my time becomes more limited by helping clients I came up with a great way to help the many newcomers and veterans without absorbing all of my time. I decided to write a book :)
Mostly it is so when people ask about my credentials I can honestly say "Credentials? I wrote the BOOK on the subject!" But seriously, as writing for this book commenses and continues (to be honest I am on page 95 currently) I will be updating my new Blog with excerpts from the manuscript of the book. These tidbits will hopefully entice you to purchase, but if not, I hope they will be very handy to you as free advice from a professional.
On with the link! Welcome one and all to the VGsmart Video Game Marketing Blog http://vgsmart.blogspot.com
Sincerely,
Joe Lieberman
PS: I am currently seeking link trades with like-minded blogs and sites :) Feel free to e-mail me at webmaster@vgsmart.com for more information on a link trade or the book in general.
It's good to see that a book's being written on this subject, as marketing is something I'll have to master at some point if I continue towards my goal of being successful as an indie developer.
For interest's sake; what games has your company marketed for, and how successful have they been? Plus how will your book on marketing for video games differ from a book on marketing in general?
Oh, and there are a few typos in your excerpts (and a typo in the word excerpt [smile]), but you state that you expect that already in your blog [smile].
For interest's sake; what games has your company marketed for, and how successful have they been? Plus how will your book on marketing for video games differ from a book on marketing in general?
Oh, and there are a few typos in your excerpts (and a typo in the word excerpt [smile]), but you state that you expect that already in your blog [smile].
Author
Yeah whoever ends up editing my book is in for a fun couple weeks of challenges. Sadly, I know that my writing is much better than the average American's.
Goodness... You asked for a resume basically :) Well, I have nothing to hide!
I founded my company 3 years ago and worked for free for a MMOG named FaitH. It is still around today, though I am no longer involved with it.
I have a BSBA in Marketing from University of Florida (one of the top business schools in the US... and also has a great football team).
That's where our story begins, but it is incredibly distant after 3 short years.
After leaving FaitH and Dragon Claw Studio I struck out on my own to see if other indie developers needed me. I worked with small studios that were of varying successes and on varying levels. Some of these included:
Rampant Games (www.rampantgames.com) and their title Void War (Multiplayer Game of the Year 2004)
Ninjabee Studio (www.ninjabee.com) and their title Outpost Kaloki (Sim Game of the Year 2004). Also I am now working with them on Outpost Kaloki X for the Xbox 360 Live Arcade.
Hamumu Software (www.hamumu.com) Zany games and a fairly successful indie
ApeZone Software (www.apezone.com) famed creators of Starships Unlimited
After helping these and other small studios and doing press releases for dozens of companies I began picking up larger clients in addition to the smaller ones. Over the next year I would have the privalidge of working with studios such as:
Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com) publisher of strategy titles both online and in retail stores including Gary Grigsby's World at War, the Decisive Battles series, and most recently a series of sports titles including Puresim Baseball 2005.
Tri Synergy (www.trisynergy.com) retail publisher of "A" and "B" level products including some fairly famous titles such as Saga of Ryzom and expansions for the Postal series.
ArcadeTown (www.arcadetown.com) online portal for indie and flash games. AT recieves someodd 2 million visitors a month if I recall correctly (that kinda knowledge isn't really a part of my job)
In addition to those "big three" I also had the opportunity to work with some smaller indies including:
Inhuman Games (www.inhumangames.com) creators of Trash, the critically hailed RTS
Enemy Technology (www.Ioftheenemy.com) creators of I of the Enemy, which has won a couple awards for best story and sound.
Silly Soft (www.sillysoft.net) the creators of Lux, which was voted Best AI of 2004.
And literally hundreds of other developers in small ways such as press releases, advertising assitance, consulting, and general advice giving.
That's not all! I am also published on a variety of other places including having my own column on GameTunnel, a review column on Gamersinfo.net, and even have had columns appear on gamedev.net (with a new column coming soon that discusses an item you will find in Chapter 6 of the book under "advanced marketing theory."
Moving into 2006 I anticipate the release of my book and a slightly stronger emphasis as becoming a liason between large companies and indies. I also hope to hire my first employee this year to handle indie marketing while I focus on the larger clients. With my trained and fairly well paid lackey it is my goal to be the bridge builder between media, marketing, and publishing options.
My book, hopefully, will lay the foundation for any aspiring developer to begin seriously thinking along the marketing lines. The first five chapters are basics, what you would learn you freshman and sophmore years in marketing. The sixth chapter is advanced theory, taking all the things you would learn and applying them directly to the game industry.
The difference between it and a general marketing book is I delve into the specifics of games rather than an amorphic theory. For instance I have a chapter dedicated to selecting a keycode vs. full download and what the pros and cons are and under which circumstances you will want to use each (and the marketing theory behind that opinion).
Finally! I write this book as a giant opinionated piece of potential toilet-paper reserve. It isn't fact, it isn't a research paper, it isn't a text book. I use the word you, me, and a lot of "it is my feeling that..." This lets me write down exactly what I think and why I think it. I give the supporting facts for what I think and, if there are any, the dissenting facts: In the end it is a book of my experiences as they are applied DIRECTLY to the game market... and if you find that it is complete rubbish:
You will at least appreciate the fact it comes with handy resource guides that list things like graphic artists, musicians, sound effect people, power words, non-exclusive publishers (and their royalty rates/contact info as stated verbatim by the company), vending solutions (and their rates broken down into a chart), and a short list of websites to send your game to for feedback prior to pitching it to larger review sites.
*pant....*
Ok... any other questions?
Goodness... You asked for a resume basically :) Well, I have nothing to hide!
I founded my company 3 years ago and worked for free for a MMOG named FaitH. It is still around today, though I am no longer involved with it.
I have a BSBA in Marketing from University of Florida (one of the top business schools in the US... and also has a great football team).
That's where our story begins, but it is incredibly distant after 3 short years.
After leaving FaitH and Dragon Claw Studio I struck out on my own to see if other indie developers needed me. I worked with small studios that were of varying successes and on varying levels. Some of these included:
Rampant Games (www.rampantgames.com) and their title Void War (Multiplayer Game of the Year 2004)
Ninjabee Studio (www.ninjabee.com) and their title Outpost Kaloki (Sim Game of the Year 2004). Also I am now working with them on Outpost Kaloki X for the Xbox 360 Live Arcade.
Hamumu Software (www.hamumu.com) Zany games and a fairly successful indie
ApeZone Software (www.apezone.com) famed creators of Starships Unlimited
After helping these and other small studios and doing press releases for dozens of companies I began picking up larger clients in addition to the smaller ones. Over the next year I would have the privalidge of working with studios such as:
Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com) publisher of strategy titles both online and in retail stores including Gary Grigsby's World at War, the Decisive Battles series, and most recently a series of sports titles including Puresim Baseball 2005.
Tri Synergy (www.trisynergy.com) retail publisher of "A" and "B" level products including some fairly famous titles such as Saga of Ryzom and expansions for the Postal series.
ArcadeTown (www.arcadetown.com) online portal for indie and flash games. AT recieves someodd 2 million visitors a month if I recall correctly (that kinda knowledge isn't really a part of my job)
In addition to those "big three" I also had the opportunity to work with some smaller indies including:
Inhuman Games (www.inhumangames.com) creators of Trash, the critically hailed RTS
Enemy Technology (www.Ioftheenemy.com) creators of I of the Enemy, which has won a couple awards for best story and sound.
Silly Soft (www.sillysoft.net) the creators of Lux, which was voted Best AI of 2004.
And literally hundreds of other developers in small ways such as press releases, advertising assitance, consulting, and general advice giving.
That's not all! I am also published on a variety of other places including having my own column on GameTunnel, a review column on Gamersinfo.net, and even have had columns appear on gamedev.net (with a new column coming soon that discusses an item you will find in Chapter 6 of the book under "advanced marketing theory."
Moving into 2006 I anticipate the release of my book and a slightly stronger emphasis as becoming a liason between large companies and indies. I also hope to hire my first employee this year to handle indie marketing while I focus on the larger clients. With my trained and fairly well paid lackey it is my goal to be the bridge builder between media, marketing, and publishing options.
My book, hopefully, will lay the foundation for any aspiring developer to begin seriously thinking along the marketing lines. The first five chapters are basics, what you would learn you freshman and sophmore years in marketing. The sixth chapter is advanced theory, taking all the things you would learn and applying them directly to the game industry.
The difference between it and a general marketing book is I delve into the specifics of games rather than an amorphic theory. For instance I have a chapter dedicated to selecting a keycode vs. full download and what the pros and cons are and under which circumstances you will want to use each (and the marketing theory behind that opinion).
Finally! I write this book as a giant opinionated piece of potential toilet-paper reserve. It isn't fact, it isn't a research paper, it isn't a text book. I use the word you, me, and a lot of "it is my feeling that..." This lets me write down exactly what I think and why I think it. I give the supporting facts for what I think and, if there are any, the dissenting facts: In the end it is a book of my experiences as they are applied DIRECTLY to the game market... and if you find that it is complete rubbish:
You will at least appreciate the fact it comes with handy resource guides that list things like graphic artists, musicians, sound effect people, power words, non-exclusive publishers (and their royalty rates/contact info as stated verbatim by the company), vending solutions (and their rates broken down into a chart), and a short list of websites to send your game to for feedback prior to pitching it to larger review sites.
*pant....*
Ok... any other questions?
That's quite the resume. I've added the RSS feed of your blog to my bookmark toolbar, so you better keep updating it [wink]
When do you anticipate releasing this book? It sounds like it would be a great asset to anyone need guidance about that sort of thing. Also, how large a scale will the book be produced on(ie. will I be able to buy it at barnes and noble) or will it be online sales? Thanks.
-AJ
-AJ
Author
It's been a busy three years :) Somewhere in there I also got married and moved 3,200 miles across the united states (Florida to Oregon).
The book I am hoping for an early summer release, maybe late summer, depending on how much I end up revising it. As it is my first book I am unsure how long it will take me before I am happy with it. I say worst case scenario middle of 2006 for release. I anticipate the first draft will be finished around early December.
The publishing is not yet finalized. Assuming I do self publish the book (which is likely), I know for sure it will be available online. I have not yet selected if I will also opt for making it available for stores to order.
I will probably make it avaiable to major book retailers as well, but it will be a special order item almost for certain. In the end, I would rather everyone purchase it directly :)
Anyway, that is all up for debate still. Till the book is released the blog will tell you all kinds of interesting things. There will be another update friday or saturday :)
-Joe
The book I am hoping for an early summer release, maybe late summer, depending on how much I end up revising it. As it is my first book I am unsure how long it will take me before I am happy with it. I say worst case scenario middle of 2006 for release. I anticipate the first draft will be finished around early December.
The publishing is not yet finalized. Assuming I do self publish the book (which is likely), I know for sure it will be available online. I have not yet selected if I will also opt for making it available for stores to order.
I will probably make it avaiable to major book retailers as well, but it will be a special order item almost for certain. In the end, I would rather everyone purchase it directly :)
Anyway, that is all up for debate still. Till the book is released the blog will tell you all kinds of interesting things. There will be another update friday or saturday :)
-Joe
If you want to discuss marketing here that is fine. If you want to advertise updates to your blog please do so in the Your Announcements forum.
This topic is closed to new replies.
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