3 Things a Nine-Hour Drive Taught Me About Writing
Over the weekend, I went to Fan Expo in Toronto, which required a nine-hour drive up from Maryland. The drive wasn’t bad and, over the course of the weekend, I made some observations about writing that are going to be worthwhile.
They Did It First, We Do It Better
We drove through Buffalo, New York, which meant that we simply had to stop for wings. On the way to Toronto, we stopped at Duff’s Famous Wings and noticed the wait staff wearing shirts that read “They did it first. We do it better.” It didn’t make sense until our drive home, when we stopped at the Anchor Bar on our way home.
The Anchor Bar proudly proclaims itself the home of the original Buffalo chicken wing. The two restaurants are considered the best in Buffalo for wings and have something of a rivalry going. And, as far as my opinion goes, Duff’s has it right. The Anchor Bar may have invented the Buffalo chicken wing, but Duff’s does it better.
It’s a good lesson to keep in mind in the hustle and bustle of writing online. There always seems to be some new strategy coming out for SEO or social media, which some enterprising individual is pioneering in order to make a name for herself. But just because someone else got to a strategy first, you shouldn’t write it off. Looking for the next newest thing can be a tough way to build a writing business. Rather, picking up the strategies that you can be the best at — whether or not you were first — makes sense.
Creativity is Easy, Money is Hard
At the FanExpo, I met some incredibly creative and passionate people, but several people told me that while they’re willing to shell out $500 bucks just for a booth at FanExpo, it’s not something that they expect to ever make money at. Being the consummate networker I am, I started asking about the promotion strategies they use (especially whether they use content to promote themselves).
For a surprising number, their promotional efforts amounted to building a website and showing up at FanExpo. They would love to take their projects full-time, but they’re focusing entirely on the creative aspects. That’s okay if it’s going to remain a hobby, but if you’re serious about something like that, you’ve got to give a fair amount of time to marketing. It’s hard (especially if you’re also working full-time), but if you want to make a living writing fantasy novels, putting together an online television show or pursuing some other creative venture, your only option is to push hard.
It’s been done before and it will be done again, but it will never be easy.
Warm Audiences Are Always Easier
There were big name draws at FanExpo — William Shatner and Stan Lee were both there. But there were also attendees who came specifically because their favorite vendor or their favorite web comic had announced they’d be attending. An email newsletter was enough to bring out fifty committed buyers for one vendor I talked with. He sees the same truly excited fans at every convention he goes to and those fans always buy something.
In comparison, he has to work hard to get cold audiences to come to him. He spends three days straight yelling, cajoling and tempting people who have never heard of him to come to his booth and look at what he’s selling, while taking the money of the fans already on his mailing list.
It’s a good comparison of what happens when a writer wants to sell a product or land a new client. The more we can do to warm up an audience ahead of time, the more likely we are to walk away with money at the end of the day. Maybe we run blogs that cater to our target clients so that they’re already warm to our names and ideas before we ever start talking about money. Maybe we warm up a cold audience at a convention by using social media to see who is going to be there ahead of time — then we can reach out and make sure that an introduction in person is simply a matter of continuing an online conversation.
FanExpo is one of the first events in a while that I didn’t have an idea (beyond the speakers) of who would be there and who I wanted to talk to. It wasn’t a conference I wanted to work, but honestly, since I knew so few people ahead of time, it was harder to get into the swing of things. I do wish I’d at least looked a little bit online before heading up there.
Image by Flickr user Benson Kua
View original story : make+money+online
Feed : Brazen Careerist
My Interview w/GoozerNation about Used Games
http://goozernation.com/Gamers/TroyBenedict/Newface.htm
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion on the Internet about how
video game developers don't profit from the preowned video game market.
For resellers like GameStop, the preowned industry has been extremely
lucrative for them.
In what appears to be an effort to encourage gamers to buy brand new
video games rather than preowned copies, there is a new trend to include
"free" downloadable content, in the form of a one-time redeemable code,
with brand new boxed copies. Gamers who choose to purchase a preowned
copy will either have to do without this content, or pay an additional
cost to access it.
Some of this exclusive downloadable content comes in the form of bonus
in-game items, usually only diminishing the gaming experience from a
cosmetic standpoint rather than restricting game's functionality.
However, this is not always the case. Electronic Arts has begun
"removing" the multiplayer components from their new and upcoming EA
Sports games. Gamers who acquire preowned copies of games like Tiger
Woods PGA Tour 11 or Madden NFL 11, can access a free 7-day trial, but
will need to purchase an online pass for $10 if they want to continue
playing online. This also creates an additional step for those who
purchase a new copy, requiring them to activate their game before
playing online.
On Wednesday Penny Arcade, an influential video game industry web site,
announced their stance, in this controversial argument, siding with the
interests of the development studios rather than preowned resellers.
This caused quite a frenzy within the video game community.
I contacted Mark Nebesky, Co-Founder of Goozex.com, to get his thoughts
on the whole situation and how this may affect Goozex's game-trading
community.
GoozerNation.com's Troy Benedict (TB): Goozex is not a used game
reseller per se, like GameStop, but because a majority of the games
traded on Goozex.com are preowned, this new face of the used games
market will likely affect the functionality of some game trades. What
is Goozex's response to this situation?
Goozex.com's Mark Nebesky (MN): Let me start by saying that we,
as a company, are only as healthy as the new game sales of the video
game industry. Goozex is a gaming community that is seeking to find the
best value in their home entertainment libraries and save money. The
home libraries that are traded on Goozex started out as new purchases
somewhere. If your game sells well, then it trades well on Goozex.
At Goozex, we have a lot of good economic data that comes in from our
users. In particular we can gauge the popularity of a new release by
the demand data we have. And what the demand data often suggests is
that publishers have a lot of control on the how a game sells at retail.
Games with high demand often correlate to those that we see
marketed heavily, have great previews, and some kind of unique buzz
associated with them. We also see that games vary in speed to which
they access the secondary market. Some games, like Modern Warfare 2,
are quick to enter the used market. Other games, such as Super Mario
Galaxy 2, are very slow. And of course, content is king (think Rogue
Warrior versus Red Dead Redemption). So if I was a publisher, I'd focus
on making a superb video game, market it to the best of my resources
and support the community that grows around my Intellectual Property. I
will also want to make sure my price point accurately reflects what I'm
putting out there. At what point do more sales at a lower price point
outweigh lower sales at a higher price tag?
Focusing on making used games a public enemy seems to be a red herring.
The argument comes close to attacking the very consumer that purchases
your games new and that can't be good for business.
TB: Do you have any suggestions as to how the gamer/reseller and the
developer can both profit from preowned sales without gamers having to
spend more money to access exclusive content that would otherwise
"cripple" their preowned copy of a game?
MN: Sure, developers can benefit in the used game market. It
already happens in the form of good DLC. Once a game enters the
secondary market the developer can generate revenue and extend the IP's
life cycle with great DLC that a gamer wants to get. Red Dead
Redemption, Dragon's Age and Borderlands DLC comes to mind.
Additionally, the focus should be on how to make the most immediate
impact on new sales right out of the gate. And along those lines, why
shouldn't the developers/publishers reach out to used game consumers and
pitch to them as to why they need to play their game now and why it is
the best product out there. There are lots of opportunities to do this
and grow the IP's brand.
TB: In the automobile market, preowned automobiles are generally sold
alongside brand new automobiles of the same make. Do you think
production/development studios like EA should offer to buy back their
games, in exchange for online store credit, and offer preowned copies of
their games at a discounted price?
MN: I don't think the production/development studios should do
anything that they don't want to do or doesn't give a good return on
their investors. If it makes good business sense, then sure it sounds
like an interesting idea. I think an important part missing in this
debate is if the consumer's needs are being met. Will I, a gamer with a
tight wallet, be satisfied with this solution? It depends on what that
store credit gets me, what type of conversion friction exists and so
on.
It is in the publisher's best interest to find ways to be proactive and
supportive of the used game business. There is a lot of untapped
potential there to grow the industry out in different directions.
TB: In order for a preowned copy of a game to exist, it once had to
be a brand new copy that somebody likely paid the suggested retail price
for. Aren't video game companies already making a profit by charging
$60 for a brand new copy? Why do they need to charge extra to those who
choose to go with preowned over brand new games?
MN: I agree to the first point. Profit, however, depends on
sales volume. If I were to make a prediction on how the bonus DLC
content for new sales will shape up I think it will have little impact
on the growth of new sales and diminish their IP brands overall. By
that I mean most gamers will probably be satisfied with the basic
gameplay. And because they can't access certain things without spending
more, the consumer will have an overall negative experience with a
brand. Part of the future of gaming is supporting your core online
gaming community. Does that community only belong to retail paying
customers, or to all gamers? To me it almost sounds like they are
trying to shrink the market size.
TB: Thank you for giving us your industry insight! For those who may
not be familiar with Goozex.com, could you give us some background
information about the company and web site? How did it get started?
MN: Jon Dugan originally came up with the idea of Goozex as a
way to stop getting ripped off at the used game store with his
trade-ins. Jon was a cash-starved college student that couldn't afford
purchasing every game he wanted to play new. The idea is simple -- get
the fair value for the games you purchased so that you can play other
similar value games at a great savings.
Jon worked on the idea and brought the business plan to our current CEO,
Valerio Zanini, who then formed the founding team with me and our web
developer. Goozex is literally a site for gamers, made by gamers. I'm
happy to say that four years later we are the best at what we do and we
have built the most awesome online community of gamers anywhere. As an
example of this, you need not look further than Goozernation!
TB: Congratulations! Are there any new enhancements or improvements coming to Goozex.com?
MN: We have a lot of new exciting features in the pipeline. One
of the new initiatives in the near future will be to reach out to the
independent game developer and offer them free advertising to our
members. So while the big publishers focus on restricting their
customers, we'll be looking to empower those that have a great product
and need help spreading the word.
TB: Thanks for taking time to give Goozex's point of view on what is
becoming a controversial subject amongst gamers, and filling our readers
in on what Goozex is all about and what's to come!
View original story : make+money+online
Feed : General Games Discussion
Wow! $30M Series A for a People Search Company
It’s easy to laugh off a $30 million Series A round for two largely unproven young entrepreneurs, in a space where there are a great many small players as well as large ones. But then, you might make the same mistake that industry observers first made about Google and Facebook.
And Brian and Matthew Monahan, the 23- and 26-year-old brothers behind 4-year-old Inflection, don’t want you to feel silly years from now if their company accomplishes what it’s setting out to do: transform the public records industry and become the go-to place for people search.
While you can find out plenty about people via search giants like Google and Yahoo -- and despite a succession of other sites like PeopleFinders.com and PublicRecordFinder.com that make it easier to find public records online -- the Monahan brothers say they’ve already compiled so many public records that any firm that tries to catch up now will be eating their dirt. It's a claim that Matrix Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures plainly agree with.
Matrix led the company’s Series A, giving it $15.25 million, while Sutter Hill Ventures chipped in another $14.75 million. (The company isn’t disclosing its pre-money valuation, though the brothers say they are “happy with it” and that they raised as much capital as they did because they didn’t want to seek out a second round any time soon.)
View original story : make+money+online
Feed : PE Hub Blog
Stop Buying EBooks – You can Learn About Online Business and Make Money Online for FREE
Free business resourceIf you are interested to enter the online business and make money online arena, many suggests that you should buy eBooks that can teach you how to do them. If you are ready to go frugal, I can show you how to learn about those for free. Here’s how.
I used to buy eBooks from Clickbank and… Click here to continue »
View original story : make+money+online
Feed : Noobpreneur Business Blog
