Promoting Your Web Sales

[Michael Hopcroft]

I've gotten only three web orders this month. This is the first month, and that bothers me.

I feel I need to do something to get people to the website, especially people in the anime.manga market I'm striving for. I still feel like I'm cut off from most of that market, which could really make me if I just had access to it.

How do I go about finding the right places to drop my name and get linked to?

[rafael]

well, chief, i know what you mean.  three in one month doesn't seem so hot to you.  okay.  but you know, it's all what you make of it.

<advice, feel free to disregard>

stick with those three.  be cool.  ask 'em how it's going.  send 'em character sheet pdfs or something.  stick with 'em.  when they ask questions, post errata on your site, and thank them.  go for that community thing.  they got friends.  they know other gamers.  word spreads fast.  so cultivate -- that's the word -- cultivate these resources.  three will be come nine, which will become twenty-seven, and so on.

also, go find yourself a manga forum.  if you haven't already.  and just post like a bastard, all damn day.  don't mention your game.  just hang out.  talk.  meet people.  talk about manga and shoujo and japanese ninja girls from outer space and whatnot and then it will eventually work itself into a conversation.  because the trick is not to sell your book by posing as a guy on this shoujo board or manga site or whatever.  the trick is to be sincere.  become part of that community.

it's like you got a garage metal band and you want some more shows.  well, open for someone else.  or don't even play, just go to other shows.  maybe get a part-time job at a record store.  help another band, be their roadie.

same principle here.  i mean, you can't afford no ad on tv, and magazines are real pricey -- so use the free advertising available to you.  pimp your game with pride, but do it with decorum.  it's possible, believe me.  it can be done.

just don't get discouraged and don't use phrases like "cut off" -- you're not cut off from the market.  you just aren't part of it right now, and i think you might want to consider getting all up in it.

</advice>

[Clinton R. Nixon]

Rafael's right on the target with his advice.

He's actually demonstrated it, too - go to RPG.net and look at Rafael's posts - he posts all day, and people love him. I've never seen him mention Dread, though, but when it goes on sale, I imagine he'll sale a huge amount because of the name recognition.

[Cynthia Celeste Miller]

Hello, Michael,

One thing I recommend is to include a blurb and a link to your website in your signature for every forum you go to (game related or not).

I took a slightly different approach than Raf did, in that I plugged my game on forums.  Granted, I would also get involved in lots of regular conversations too.  

Anyway, I would often go to Rpg.net's search feature and type in, say, "Masters of the Universe".  And if, for example,  any of those threads asked what system is best for running MotU, I would pipe up with a comment about Cartoon Action Hour.

It may seem kinda tacky, but it worked wonders for my sales.

I  hope this helps.

[rafael]

Hello, Michael,

I took a slightly different approach than Raf did, in that I plugged my game on forums.  Granted, I would also get involved in lots of regular conversations too.  

your modus operandi is a damn good one, cynthia.  i've seen you in both modes: personal and professional.  and i think the tactic is a good one.  your posts are well-targeted and well-thought-out.

now, personally, i post a lot of silliness on rpg.net because my day job is excruciatingly boring, and i have to kill eight hours every day.  however, when i have a finished game to plug, i'll probably do more advertising for it.

the thing to remember, michael, is that you have access to a monstrous engine for advertising.  you can post links to PDF demos of your game, you can email PDF demos to reviewers, or to people who run shoujo sites.  you can post reviews of your own game (rpg.net encourages this, from what i'm told), and that can help.

[Cynthia Celeste Miller]

Thanks for the kind words, Raf.  :)

You touched upon something that I have to avidly agree with.  Reviews are great for promotion.  Even bad reviews.  Anything that puts a game into the mind of the gamers is an absolute plus (well, almost anything).

Whenever a new CAH review pops up on RPG.net, we get a sharp spike in sales.  And it's a rather dramatic spike too.

[Matt Gwinn]

I use the Cynthia method.
I do web searches for wrestling games all the time.  In part I do it because I want to see if there is any buzz about Kayfabe; the rest of the time I'm searching for forums with people that play, or are looking for a wrestling game.  If it's a forum about games or wrestling I'll plug my game.  If it's not I might send an email to the owner of the web site.

The idea of posting a lot on forums is a good one, but I'm a member of a dozen wrestling forums (due to my game) and it would be insane for me to post continually on all of them.

getting someone to review your game on a popular web site is a big deal.  I got a lot of early interest from the early reviews on RPG.net.

Don't wory so much about the slow online sales just yet.  In the first couple months the Kayfabe PDF was available I think I sold around 5 or 6 copies.  Since then, sales have gone up.  It could be residual GenCon interest, but I sold 4 PDFs this Tuesday alone.  Most of my online sales are from wrestling forums or web searches.  Once the word starts spreading (and it could take a while) the orders will come.

One thing I have noticed is that the print version of Kayfabe hasn't been selling much online (which is a good thing, kind of, because I only have 3 copies left and no money to print more), but the PDFs are selling like hotcakes.  Try putting a PDF up on your site at a lower price.  The price cut might do you wonders and you can keep your print copies for distribution in stores.  Plus, your profits on the PDF are a hell of a lot better even with a 50% cut in price.

,Matt Gwinn

[Christian Walker]

I've gotten only three web orders this month. This is the first month, and that bothers me.

....

How do I go about finding the right places to drop my name and get linked to?

Hiya Michael,

I wouldn't sweat the three web orders. I wouldn't sweat it one bit.

I publish a monthly print 'zine by the name of Scrollworks. On Tuesday the 26th issue will go out in the mail. I have a paid circulation of about 80 ($3.50 per issue), with another 20 going out to freelancers and industry folks. In addition to those 80 paid issues, I prolly sell an additional 10-20 a single issue purchases. So, we're lookin' at 90-100 issues a month, paid, with 20 comps.

I don't think I was selling more than 10 copies a month for about the first 13 issues. It's only in the past year that things are looking up.

With no budget for advertising I have tried a few things: Sending issues to popular industry folks who I thought would be interested. Some were/are and they tell folks about the zine. I send comp issues to game clubs and shops to get the word out, grass-roots style. I offer to run company profiles and interviews in exchange for said publisher handing out copies at a con. Mostly, though, I just bide my time and wait for word of mouth to take effect. It is slowly panning out and like Monty Burns would say, "I'll bide my time..."

Hang in there!