Flight Plan for Indies
Ξ May 23rd, 2006 | → | ∇ Indie Games |
Marketing is a strange beast, in my view. Like economics, it’s based on theories, assumptions and vaguely empirical evidence that often cannot be reproduced. Still, I would like to learn more about it, so I’m reading up on the things I can. After all, if sociologists pretend that they can form behavioural patterns for social groups, why shouldn’t economics and marketing people be able to form patterns with just as much credibility?
In case someone didn’t notice: I’m rather sceptical toward sciences that I find a bit…unscientific, even if I find them extremely interesting. I won’t go into the reasons why I find them interesting, but let’s just say that I probably feel a bit of the fascination that old explorers must have felt when they were mapping uncharted here-there-be-dragons-and-flesh-eating-mushrooms territory. Except of course that I am not mapping anything. I’m the one sitting in my home looking at maps and thinking how lovely it would be to go gallivanting. Aaanyway, back on topic.
In this blog entry I found a pair of nice links about marketing, aimed at independent developers. Excellent advice, but I can’t help but feeling sceptical about it all. I have no head for marketing, so it seems too much like a gamble - especially in a fluid environment like independent software development. Trends change at the blink of an eye. I still remember when Quake 2 was big news, and it doesn’t seem like all that many years have passed since those days; but they have, and the software business has changed along with them. On a smaller scale: look at the casual game market before Zuma was released. That wasn’t all that long ago.
I would love to develop games (or software) full-time, in an independent fashion. But in a haphazard and chaotic environment like that, how can anyone take the plunge without deep fears and hesitations? And that’s probably the answer to it all: one has to dive in without any fear or hesitation; no matter how carefully planned business strategies you have, independent development probably requires an extra set of giant-sized testicles.
Speaking of fears and hesitation: I find the Gamasutra article’s choice of words very amusing. Flightplan is what he calls the overall strategy, comparing it to a voyage by air. I find myself wanting to read that as flight plan instead - a backup plan for when one needs to run away; it fits in rather well with my hesitant view on independent software development.
on May 23rd, 2006 at 5:00 pm
***But in a haphazard and chaotic environment like that, how can anyone take the plunge without deep fears and hesitations? And that’s probably the answer to it all: one has to dive in without any fear or hesitation; no matter how carefully planned business strategies you have, independent development probably requires an extra set of giant-sized testicles.***
Actually, I would argue that it isn’t the lack of fear so much as the idea that you’ll do it despite the fear. I’m sure that there is a Mark Twain quote along those lines, but anyway, the idea is that starting a business is scary no matter what you’re doing. Indie game development is just a bit more scary due to the lack of information people have.
As for marketing, it is true that you can’t repeat formulas and get wins. Customers are people, and they are too complex to figure out how to build a marketing plan that guarantees success. Marketing isa mixture of statistics, psychology, and sociology, and probably a few more ologies, too. Bottom line, marketing just means that you’re getting the word out about your products or services. If no one knows about you, no one can buy from you. Marketing is a means towards sales.
And sales is another topic entirely. B-)
on May 23rd, 2006 at 11:31 pm
I guess I was thinking along the lines that if one goes into the business filled with doubts and second thoughts, it would affect one’s decisions and eventually lead to disaster. (I.e., “What the hell am I doing?! I don’t know if people will want this product. I can’t spend the time developing it before I have more research to back up the decision.” …Leading to missed opportunities, delayed products, and so on.)
On the other hand, if I think about it realistically, everyone must of course have doubts. The difference must be whether or not they’ve read Mark Twain and follow that piece of advice, then!
…And thanks a lot for making marketing/sales/customers/indie development seem even more complicated and risky! *Sigh*
on May 24th, 2006 at 4:18 pm
LOL, I apologize if I made it seem more difficult. To be sure, marketing and sales is like anything else you know nothing about. Zig Ziggler and Jay Abraham (two great authors to look up, by the way) had to learn how to sell before they became authorities on selling. For more on how to get better, check out my other blog post: Action vs Waiting, Practice vs Talent, which has some good links to other blogs on the topic. Basically, just know that the idea that some people have natural talent while others are doomed to be failures at certain skills is false.
You are definitely right, though. Your mindset will have a significant impact on what you decide to do. If you go into every decision with the mindset that you’re afraid of failing, you’ll either make conservative decisions that will doom you to mediocrity or you’ll be so paralyzed with fear that you don’t make a decision at all and end up worse off.
If you want to run a business as an indie game developer, you’ll have to know something about marketing and sales. Luckily those are topics that have been written and analyzed to death for other industries, and people are starting to write specifically for indie game development, too. Check out Seth Godin’s Blog for some insight into general modern marketing. I haven’t read his books, but I think I might have to. B-) Check out VGSmart.com and the blog there for marketing geared towards indie developers. The main guy who runs that site just published a book which I am reading right now.
I guess everyone has fears. I’ve noticed that fear is usually the result of a lack of information. People are afraid of monsters under their beds or in their closets until they begin to understand that monsters can’t simply materialize just because the lights go out. Similarly, if you’re afraid of starting your own business because you think that marketing is too difficult, I’d suggest listing out why you think that is the case. I’ve found that doing so helps me get my fears in focus, which usually shows that the huge shadows they were throwing on the walls at night were just illusions. Once you get a chance to analyze them, you’ll find that the fears are usually not that big of a deal.
Another thing that might cause fear is the fear of the unknown or unfamiliar. Starting a business, especially if it is your first time, is scary. It is amazingly easy to “start” the business, but I had put it off for months because I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed. In hindsight, I wish I could have started it when I originally started to think about doing so, but the good news is that I started it.
Starting a business is scary because riding a bicycle is scary. If you haven’t done it before, you don’t know what to do or what you can do to improve your chances. I’d say that you shouldn’t let that stop you. Dip your toes in the water, or jump in. Either way, you are making an effort to get in the water. One way is faster but scarier while the other way is more cautious but slow. Either way is better than sitting at home wondering what it would have been like if you would have had the courage to go in the water.