作者：Andrew J. Smith

在现代游戏开发中，我们看到独立游戏正不断崛起。正是现代化传播平台（游戏邦注：主要是数字化平台）减少了让游戏接触到付费用户的障碍，让独立开发者得以利用这个机遇来实现自己的想法。

行业有传言称，靠制作独立游戏来维持生计极为艰难，因为开发者还需要掌握业务运营的相关技能。营销、PR、业务拓展、会计以及法律文件的编写，这些都是我们在为其他公司工作时无法学到的技能。我希望在这篇文章中阐述对独立游戏开发者来说既有趣又费心的两个方面：营销和PR。

我的游戏开发工作室只有我一个人，而且我不会编程。我已经发布过多款成功的iPhone游戏，免费的数学解谜游戏《Crunch: The Game》是我发布的首作（编程由Rory Kelly完成），第二款游戏受到用户的广泛称赞，是以iPhone和iPad为平台的《Hard Lines》（与才能卓著的Nicoll Hunt合作开发而成）。我计划在iPhone和手机领域进行更深入的探索，还计划尝试PC游戏开发。

除了时间之外，我没有其他的营销资本，而且我的公司目前还没有其他成员。

PR和营销的目标

广义上说，你的目标应当是培养一群忠诚于你的用户。你的产品和品牌必须能够对他们产生吸引力，你必须培养与他们交流的共同话题。

你必须创造自己信赖的游戏，寻找同样信赖游戏的用户，然后鼓励他们组成群体替你开展营销，对你的游戏开发提出相关的反馈和意见。

从本质上来说，无论使用何种硬件设备，你的目标是成为自己所创造游戏的平台持有者，这个平台有用户群体和以其为中心而形成的市场。我们面临的问题是，其他的平台持有者会妨碍我们的进程，而且障碍会越来越多。

吸引力

作为独立开发者，你的主要优势在于自己的个性和特色，这是大型游戏公司难以有效利用的方面。总的来说，你必须用非常强大和一致的风格来与用户交流信息。

如果人们了解并相信你的说法，而且他们会逐渐熟悉你始终不变的风格，他们便很有可能会觉得自己与你和你的游戏之间存在某种联系。这种联系便是你着手开展营销的基础，而且你有办法让其显得更为个性化和感人化，正是因为你与用户之间有着密切的关系。

作为独立开发者，接受采访时没有PR代表在旁边提醒（游戏邦注：即独立开发者需要自行把控节奏和内容），没有老板会告诉你不要将某个视频上传到网络上，这样做可能会影响公司的公众形象。

我的公司和我在本质并无区别，我相信正是这种情况让我更容易保持信息的一致。这种做法确实有效。你也可以像我这样做，抑或你并不喜欢我这种方法。总之，你需要寻找出最适合自己的营销方式。

顺便说下，对于“交流信息”这个词语的使用我斟酌了很久。许多独立开发者避免、讨厌甚至完全拒绝使用这种“讨厌的”商务化说法。如果你是其中之一的话，请改变你的观点。信息很重要。你的信息应当显得清晰、独特和有趣。忽略其优势会让你陷入极大的困难中，这是将你与其他人区分开来的方法，而且本质上来说是免费的。

开展对话和交流

那么，你要如何开始与粉丝间的对话和交流呢？在网站和游戏中添加通讯表格确实能起到作用，但是这与直接对话相比略显逊色。Twitter是个较好的选择。

关于如何在Twitter上开展有效营销和PR的文章很多，但我发现仍然有许多公司和独立开发者并未有效地使用这个工具。我认为最简单最好的建议是，你要相信总是有某些人对你每天的开发进程感兴趣。你要做的就是找到这些人。请想想，如果你不认为有人对游戏感兴趣的话，那么为什么还要制作这款游戏呢？

你需要出售自己的作品，才能使得自己的独立开发工作持续下去。在项目开始时便抱着人们不会觉得游戏有趣的想法，这无异于质疑整个项目。

如果你确实认为将在这社交网络上公布的内容不会获得积极的响应，那么你就需要再审查下所计划游戏的吸引力。

在起步之后，你需要关注用户的说法和意见。我并不是指你应当努力去满足他们对游戏提出的所有要求，我曾经也收到过许多很差劲的意见，但是你至少应当对他们的意见有所反应。

显然，交流战术取决于所选择的对话渠道，但是所有战术的要点都是相同的。如果你的用户觉得你们之间的交谈只是单向的，那么他们就不愿意再关注你，转而去寻找那些愿意与他们互动的人。用户的选择面很广。

吸引用户之后，在游戏准备发布时，你应当怎么做来确保游戏取得心目中的覆盖面呢？你的忠诚和热心粉丝无疑会将游戏的发布告诉好友及其他人，这种口碑宣传的效果很可能会让你感到惊奇，让你取得此前未料到的覆盖面。这种情况在《Hard Lines》上已发生多次，但从这个方面上来说，你花费在Twitter的所有时间似乎都是值得的。

你还可以采取其他措施。获得主流网站的评论报道显然是让推广游戏的关键方法。

媒体报道的必要性及方法

简单来说，如果你希望Touch Arcade的满星评论能够对自己的iPhone游戏销量产生极大推动作用的话，那你恐怕要失望了。就我个人经验来看，《Hard Lines》的星级评论与销量之间并没有直接的联系。我们确实看到报道让销量有些许提升，但这与周末的销量提升相比显得相形见绌，而且前者的持续时间只有1天左右。

很显然，iPhone用户群体中的玩家与传统游戏行业的玩家不同，评论确实能够为游戏造势和宣传，但并不能将游戏推到排行榜首之列。除了苹果推荐或数天时间位于排行榜前列之外，几乎没有其他途径更有助于推动游戏销量。

当然，对于高质量游戏未获得高分评论的销量情况，我手头没有可供比较的数据。但是直觉告诉我，放弃追求Touch Arcade和Pocket Gamer等“核心用户”网站的积极报道，你需要将注意力放在其他地方以获得成功。与评论分数相比，广告、与发行商合作、与其他产品间的交叉推广、精巧的应用图标和特别针对目标用户诉求来构建游戏，这些会对游戏销量产生明显的推动作用。

然而，除了制作优秀游戏外，我认为获得评论报道的最有效方法是与评论员和谐相处，至少在与他们的交谈中要显得友好礼貌。许多站点都会提供他们的邮箱和twitter账户。

但不要过于相信此类评论员。不过你至少要弄清楚他们的报道针对何种游戏和平台以及他们为何人工作（游戏邦注：多数游戏记者会为多个网站和出版物工作），然后再与他们联系。再次提醒，你应当相信自己所制作的游戏是有趣的。不要抱着自己的作品是历史上最好游戏的念头，但要相信会有人愿意了解你制作的东西。

这种做法的见效需要一定时间，不要抱着他们会马上回复你或预约何时回复你的希望，但也不要因此就认为他们对你的游戏不感兴趣，因为他们可能近期较为繁忙。

不断地向他们发送相关信息，总有一天你会获得回应。不要放弃，但是也不要过于频繁地去打扰他们。可以选择向那些你认为有用的人独家提供信息。发送过时、少量或重复的信息是毫无用处的。你应当发送的是游戏相关新闻和有趣信息。他们的工作是选择最棒的作品并将其展示给用户。简化他们的工作，他们也会赏识你。

如果你的计划是在硬核系统上发布硬核游戏（游戏邦注：比如发布PC平台射击游戏），那么我有理由相信，其评论分数产生的影响要比iPhone和其他休闲平台更大（但我目前还没有具体的数据支持这个观点）。

我需要强调的是，认识到市场中的目标受众是很重要的。因而，你能够掌握下个版块的知识并付之于实践就显得更为重要了。

受众群定位

你的用户并非你的受众。

或者我们可以将“谁是你的受众？”这个问题换成“谁控制游戏的潜在受众曝光和访问机会？”

平台持有者才是你的目标受众。

营销应当针对玩家，这个说法已经普及。但这并非正确的，因为玩家只是玩游戏的群体而已。事实在于，如果没有平台持有者的许可，你根本无法对潜在顾客进行有效的营销。掌控成功之门钥匙的是平台持有者（游戏邦注：微软、任天堂、苹果、索尼、Amazon、Google和Steam等）。

这并不代表你针对自有粉丝的工作是毫无意义的，你必须跟他们交流。我在本文开头便说道：“从本质上来说，你的目标是成为自己所创造游戏的平台持有者。”

Mind Candy的《Moshi Monsters》在这方面做得较为成功，但成功的例子的确屈指可数。自行成为平台持有者能够给你带来意想不到的好处，但是对于多数人来说，我们都要遵从所使用系统的规则。问题在于，多数人甚至连需要遵从何种规则都不清楚。

如果微软大刀阔斧地推广Kinect，那么就可以计划在下款游戏中利用这个功能。如果苹果发布下款操作系统的功能更新，精明的开发商就会开始思考将这些新功能运用到现有游戏中的方法，对现有游戏进行更新，以有趣和恰当的方法利用这些新功能。

索尼Vita有许多有趣的功能（游戏邦注：比如背触平板），鼓励开发者进行试验创新。大胆去做！制作核心互动用拇指和食指来实现的游戏，期望其能够引起索尼管理层的注意。这是种其他硬件设备上体验不到的输入方法，如果游戏本身很不错，那么公司肯定会支持你的行为。

当然，并非必须对游戏做根本性的改变。保持游戏风格与平台持有者一致。努力成为首批或次批创新的游戏，你会发现自己为平台持有者信息的传播作出了贡献。你的做法与他们心目中的风格、看法和内容相吻合，他们就会为你提供大力支持。

即便取得第二方发行交易不是你的目标（游戏邦注：许多独立开发者并不愿意这么做），那么如果此举能够让系统将产品放置在首页上，也能大大提升游戏的销量。

在对所有即将发布的游戏进行分类时，都会遵循一个正式的过程。但是最开始所有游戏会被分为两个类别：能够传播信息和不能够传播信息。如果你不考虑到现实情况，游戏很可能就会像多数游戏那样被分到后者中。你被“发现”和推广的可能性就会迅速消失。

当然，你可以认为自己的产品能够比其他人更好，但是多数人无法做到这点，至少在公司成长初期做不到。Epic、Valve、Bungie、Infinity Ward、Blizzard和Naughty Dog等公司采用的都是上述方法。你能否在他们统治的领域内与其竞争呢？

那么，你要如何定位自己才能受到这些巨头的关注呢？你的游戏或许有着最棒的功能，能够充分展示出硬件的优势从而帮助产商售出更多硬件，但是你需要让他们明白。

交流的技巧

其他地方的文章也讨论过这个话题，但是我还是要强调下这个元素对独立开发者的重要性。这不仅对业务发展和关系构建很重要，也能够提升你与粉丝间的关系。

准则1：诚实友好

如果你不友好、开朗和诚实，对方会发觉并感受到。负面效应可能在1周或1年内不会出现，但总有一天会对你产生影响。诚实待人显然比欺瞒要简单，工作中也是如此。为什么要撒谎或者伪装呢？这让事情变得更为复杂。

你之前跟客户A怎么说？是否与上周在采访中的看法相抵触？诚实的好处在于，你永远也无需为上述情况担忧。即便你的前后观点确实有所矛盾，如果你愿意诚实地接受并承认这个事实，别人就不会在意。

前后观点一致也会让其他人更愿意接近你。他们会询问你的意见，向你介绍自己和信任的好友，所有这些都这事因为你是个友好诚实的人，仅此而已。取得这些成效无需任何证书或专业技能。

准则2：给予肯定回答

如果有人询问你是否有兴趣与他合作，你就给他个肯定的答复。如果有人提出给你发送潜在合作项目内容的相关邮件，即便你觉得自己可能腾不出与他合作的时间，也要给个肯定的答复。不要过于贪婪，也不要浪费别人的时间，因为这是不友好的行为，尽可能抓住发展的机遇。

与准则1相同，你可能需要几个月的时间才能发现这种做法的成效，但是它终归会出现。正因为坚持这个原则，我很幸运地获得了某些合同。因为对方的人也非常友好，所以我们最终能够在业务上达成合作关系。

准则3：使用Twitter

就个人经验而言，我比较倾向于使用Twitter作为实现上述目标的工具。Twitter让腼腆的人可以同有着相似兴趣的人联系交流。

Twitter可以构建起交际网络，当交际双方在现实生活中偶遇时，他们之间的关系会得到加强。这确实是个很棒的工具，每当我花时间来转推有趣信息的时候，我都会回想起那些直接来源于Twitter的机遇。

Twitter是与粉丝交流并扩展游戏触及群体的最佳方法之一。关注着几乎每天都会增加，即便你只是将其用作聊天工具而已。因而，当你开始变得开放和诚实，分享所有你在做的有趣事情，你的关注者数量很快便会达到数千人。

结论

希望这篇文章能够对你有用。我的想法是结合自己的经验和信息，提供可供独立开发者参考的PR和营销建议。这里还是想要再强调下某些关键的想法：诚实友好；面向平台持有者和粉丝营销；使用Twitter；自信；开启交流对话；相信会有某些地方的某些人对你正在做的事情感兴趣。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Be Honest, Be Nice: Marketing And PR For Indie Developers

Andrew J. Smith

In the modern era of games development we’re seeing a huge return to the values of old — the indie uprising, if you will. So many talented and skilled individuals are going it alone, or as part of a small team, to make the games they want to. Never before have so many independent developers been making so many interesting, fun, and commercially viable games.

It’s actually the modern distribution platforms — primarily the digital ones that lower so many barriers to shipping a game to a paying audience — that have enabled so many people to take advantage of new opportunities.

That said, it’s extraordinarily hard to make a living as an indie, and that’s traceable to the skills associated with running a business. Marketing, PR, business development, accountancy, being fluent in “legalese” — these are the sorts of skills many of us don’t develop while we work for other companies.

One of the many reasons I left the security of working for a games company behind was because I wanted to stretch myself. Creatively, sure, but also in terms of expanding what I’m able to do.

A year and a half on, and I’ve learned so much and done so many new things that I find it hard to remember them all — but with this piece I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to give an insight into one of the most interesting, contentious and demanding areas of life as an independent game developer: marketing and PR.

Bear in mind that I’m a one-man studio (with no coding ability). I’ve launched a couple of successful iPhone titles (Crunch: The Game was my first – working with Rory Kelly on code – a free maths-puzzler for iPhone; and Hard Lines, our critically acclaimed second game for iPhone and iPad, which was co-created & co-developed with the very talented Nicoll Hunt), and plan on expanding my reach on iPhone and mobile, while also tentatively dipping a toe into the world of PC development.

Put what I’m about to write into some context — I have no marketing budget beyond my time, and my company is currently me. We are inextricably linked at this stage. Think of it like this — I hopped into Dr. Brundle’s teleporter, and my company crept in with me. The result is… unique.

What Are the Aims of PR and Marketing

Your aim, broadly speaking, should be to create a group of customers who are devoted to you. Your products and brand must appeal to them, and you must make it possible for them to open up a dialogue with you.

You must create the games you believe in, find the customers who also believe in them, and then encourage them to join together in a group that starts to do some of your marketing for you, and supports your endeavours with relevant feedback and opinion.

You essentially want to become a platform holder of your own creation, with its own audience and a market that follows it around, regardless of hardware. The problem with that is all of the other platform holders getting in the way — but more on that later.

Appeal

As an indie, one of the major factors you’ve got going for you — one that bigger companies struggle to harness effectively — is that you have a personality. It doesn’t have to be yours, although with Spilt Milk I make certain it is mine. What this boils down to is that you must have a very strong, consistent voice with which to communicate your message.

If people know and trust what you say, and if they are familiar with the tone because it is consistent, they will most likely feel some kind of connection with you (and your games) as a result. It’s a relationship that you’re embarking on, and you have the power to make it so much more personal and affecting (as well as effective) because of how close you are to your audience.

What does this mean? No PR reps leaning over your shoulder tut-ing during your interview (though you need one in your head making sure you don’t go too far) and no bosses telling you not to post that stupid video online because it might negatively affect public perception of your company.

I confess that making my company and me essentially the same thing means it is very easy for me to stay true to my message, and to present a consistent face for the public to latch onto. It just works. You can do the same too, but it might not be your style — you certainly need to be comfortable with the way you present your company.

And by the way, I still cringe when I use phrases like “communicate your message”. It’s a shame that it is part of the much-maligned business-speak that a lot of indies avoid, dislike or downright refuse to use. If you’re one of those, please, for the love of all that is good in this world, change your stance. Message is important. Your message is distinct, unique and interesting. Ignore taking advantage of that at your peril — it is one thing you’ve got that differentiates you from everyone else, and it is essentially free.

Opening up a Dialogue

So how do you open up a dialogue with this rabid fan base you want to create? Having a newsletter signup form on your website (and a similar button in your games) helps to an extent, though that’s less about opening a dialogue and more about getting a set of receptive ears to listen to your preaching. Twitter is a much better place to start.

So many words have been written about effective marketing and PR on Twitter, yet I still see so many companies and individual developers not using it effectively. The simplest and best advice I can give is that you need to assume that everything you do in your day-to-day development process is of interest to someone, somewhere. You just need to find them.

I realize a lot of people reading this will think that I’m talking self-aggrandizing bullcrap. That it’s an incredibly self-centered and vain way of doing things. You may be right, and you may not want to follow my advice. But hear this — if you don’t think what you’re doing is interesting to people, then why are you doing it?

You’re going to need to sell some copies of whatever it is you’re working on at some point, simply so you can afford to keep doing it. To start out on a project with the attitude that people won’t find it interesting is to call into question the project as a whole.

If you feel deep down that a piece of concept art sent out for free on a social network won’t get some kind of positive response, then you really do need to take a look at the appeal of what you’re planning.

Now that’s out of the way, you need to pay some attention to what your audience is saying. I don’t mean you should try and incorporate their every whim into your game — I’ve had some terrible things suggested with worrying frequency — but you certainly at least need to address their input. A cheeky wink and a “you’re mad” might suffice on Twitter.

Obviously, the tactics vary depending on what channel you’ve chosen to use for this dialogue, but the point remains the same. If your audience feels like it’s a one-way conversation, they’re going to stop listening and find someone who offers them some back and forth. It’s not like there’s a lack of choices out there for them.

So once you’ve engaged your audience, and your game is ready to launch, what should you do to ensure it gets all the coverage you know it deserves? Well, your loyal, invested and eager fan base will no doubt help out by telling their friends and spreading the word in general about anything you announce — heck, they’re likely to surprise you and spot coverage you’d never notice without them. This has happened multiple times with Hard Lines, and even this small element makes all the time spent on Twitter seem worth it.

There’s more you can do. Obviously, securing reviews on prominent websites is a key to getting your game known about. I’ll deliver this next part with a caveat; the relevance and reach of reviews entirely depends on your chosen platform.

How to Get Review Coverage (and Whether You Should Bother)

In short, if you’re expecting your iPhone game’s sales to be affected in any meaningful way by Touch Arcade’s 5 out of 5 review, then prepare to be disappointed. My firsthand experience with the stellar reviews we saw with Hard Lines on all the big outlets suggests there is no real correlation. We saw slight increases, but those were often overshadowed by the natural upticks over weekends, and certainly nothing that lasted more than a day.

It’s clear the iPhone audience is not made up of gamers in the way the traditional industry is — reviews hold some water and obviously help build a buzz, but not in the segment of the audience that drives games into the prominent chart positions. And nothing helps sales on anything like the same level like Apple featuring you, or a few days at a high chart placement.

Of course I’ve no data to compare regarding a quality game that didn’t see prominent high-scoring reviews (maybe my next game will flop — who knows?) but my gut tells me regardless of “core user” outlets like Touch Arcade and Pocket Gamer giving positive coverage, you’ll need to place your bets elsewhere to drive success. Advertising, partnering with a publisher, cross-promotion with other products, killer app icons, and games that are built specifically to appeal to your chosen audience are all fairly obvious things that help you drive sales rather than review scores.

Still, the most effective way I know of getting review coverage (beyond making a good game) is by becoming friendly, or at least talking on friendly terms, with reviewers themselves. A lot of sites allow you to find their email addresses, twitter handles and the like.

Don’t be weird, don’t stalk, and don’t keep spamming them with correspondence. But certainly find out who likes what kinds of games, what platforms they cover, who they work for (most games journalists work for multiple sites and publications) and then get in touch. Again, assuming that what you are working on is interesting is a good place to work from. Don’t assume it’s the best game ever, but do assume they want to know what you’re talking about.

This all the takes time too — don’t expect them to get back to you straight away (or sometimes ever) but then don’t go away assuming this is because they don’t care, or that they’re being mean. They’re simply the busiest subset of Homo Sapiens discovered so far.

Keep sending information that is relevant to them and one day you’ll get a response. Don’t give up, but don’t be pushy to the point of annoyance. Do offer exclusives to those special few that you’ve identified as being the most useful, and be useful yourself. Sending out-of-date, minor or repeated info is not being useful. Sending relevant news and interesting content is. Their job is to pick the best stuff and show it to people. Make their job easier for them, and they will thank you for it.

If you are going to release a core game on a core system (say a shooter on PC) then I’d be willing to bet that review scores have a bigger influence on sales than with the iPhone and more casual platforms (I’d love some firsthand experiences in the comments by the way!) but I’ve not got the data to back that up.

What I can underline is the importance of realizing who your market is. It’s ever so important that you take this next nugget of knowledge away and act upon it. Seriously, I feel like I’m uncovering some kind of conspiracy here, simply because I’ve seen it spoken about so little. I hope people take it seriously.

Who is Your Audience? The Secret Nobody Will Tell You

Time to get blunt.

Your customers are not your audience.

Or, to be less confusing, stop asking who your audience is. You need to ask a different question:

“Who controls your potential audience’s exposure — and access — to your game?”

I’m assuming you don’t have the funds to buy a TV spot for your game all by yourself. If you’ve got a publisher doing everything for you, then that’s great too. But they’ll have the success that eludes you, because they know who your audience needs to be. And again, it is not the person paying for the privilege to play your masterpiece.

Your target audience is the platform holder.

The lie that has been propagated is that you need to market to your players. This is not true, as they are already playing. And the fact is, without the permission of the platform holder, you simply cannot effectively market to potential customers. The platform holder (Microsoft, Nintendo, Apple, Sony, Amazon, Google, Steam, whoever) guards the keys to your success.

This does not negate the work you (must!) do with regards to your own fans. I hinted at that right at the start of this article; “You essentially want to become a platform holder all of your own creation.”

Mind Candy has managed it with Moshi Monsters, but you can count the other developer-led success stories on one hand. Become a platform holder all by yourself and you can call shots in a way you never even dreamed of… but for the rest of us we have to play within the rules of the system. The problem is most people don’t even know which rules to follow.

If Microsoft is moving towards pushing Kinect in a big way, then provide some content with which to sell it in your next game. If Apple announces features of its next OS update with months to go, smart developers will adapt and think of ways to use them in their existing games, pushing an update out to take advantage of them in interesting and appropriate ways.

Sony’s Vita has a bunch of interesting features (the rear touch-pad for example) that encourages developers to experiment. Go and do so! Make a game in which the core interaction is pinching the device between thumb and forefinger. Do this, and expect Sony’s management take notice. That input method cannot be experienced on any other hardware, and assuming the game itself is decent then they’ll be very keen to support you.

The changes don’t even have to be this fundamental to the game. Align your game’s style to that of the platform holder. Aspire to be a second- or first-party piece of software in any way that you can and all of a sudden you’ll find yourself contributing to the platform holder’s message — you match their tone, stance and content and it becomes sensible for them to bring you into the fold.

Even putting aside the idea of actually achieving a second party publishing deal (which a lot of indies do not want), a simple thing like a promotional spot on the front page of their system’s shopping front end will do more for your sales than anything you could manage by yourself.

On the flip side, think about your brilliant and polished game without that sort of leverage or common ground. There’s only so many hours in the day and only so many staff paid to find and promote interesting games on a platform outside of those created in-house.

There’ll be a formal process that is followed when categorizing all of the upcoming releases. But it’ll start with putting all of the games into one of two categories — ones that contribute to their message, and those that don’t. Yours, a game that does not take into account this reality, will fall into the latter — the category into which the vast majority of games are thrown. Your chances of being “discovered” and then promoted fall rapidly.

All of the above, of course, can feel like going against the grain — pushing your game in directions it never would have been if you didn’t need to. But there’s the rub. You do need to. You can always bet the farm on being better than everyone else but most of us simply cannot achieve this, not in the early stages of a company’s growth at least. Epic, Valve, Bungie, Infinity Ward, Blizzard, Naughty Dog, et al certainly take this approach. Can you compete in the space they occupy?

So how do you position yourself to get the attention of these giants? Your game may have a killer feature set that makes it the single best way to showing off their latest advances (and therefore help them sell more hardware) but they need to be told about it.

Networking: It’s Not Just Drinks and Small Talk

This is another topic that has been covered in excruciating detail elsewhere, but I want to underline the importance of this element of your work. Not only is it important in terms of business development and building relationships, but it can be a pretty natural extension of the conversation you have with your fan base.

Rule number one: be nice.

If you are not friendly, open, and honest, then people will find out. It may not happen this week, or this year, but one day it will bite you in the ass. It’s obviously easier to just be an honest person and extend that into your work. Why try to lie, or pretend to be something you’re not? It complicates things.

What did you say to client A? Does it contradict the stance you took in that interview last week? Being honest means you’ll never have to worry about that sort of thing — even if you do end up contradicting yourself if you’re honest about the fact then nobody will care.

Combined with the fact that you’re consistent with your attitude, this means people will be comfortable approaching you. Asking your opinion, introducing themselves and trusted friends — and all because you’re a nice person, nothing more complicated than that. It doesn’t take any qualification, or any expertise. It’s a level playing field in that sense. You’ve got no excuse!

Rule number two: always say yes.

If someone asks you if you’d be interested in a potential collaboration, say yes. If someone enquires about sending you an email regarding some possible work — even if you think you might not have the time — say yes. Don’t be greedy and waste people’s time because that’s not nice (see rule one) but with that in mind, always give the world the opportunity to give you an opportunity.

I’ve lost count of the times when I’ve thought, “What is the point of me finding out more about this? I doubt I’m going to be in a position to do anything useful with it,” only for me to be grateful I did down the line.

Again, it might be months before you do see any benefit to it, but it will happen. You make your own luck. Give karma every chance to pay you back. I got a contact at Apple straight off the back of a business contact that I completely lucked out on, and that has since proven to be very beneficial. The intro only happened because the person at the other end was being very nice, and we ended up doing some business together, too! So you see, it’s all interconnected.

Rule number three: get on Twitter, dammit!

Personal experience has me leaning towards using Twitter as a tool for all of the above. It allows the shy (not a problem I have) to make contact with useful and interesting people who share similar interests (if not opinions) and converse with them in small bites.

It allows a network to be built that will only be reinforced when the inevitable real-life encounters happen. It’s truly a wonderful tool, and for every minute I spend on it retweeting funny cat videos, I just remember all the tangible (money making!) opportunities that have resulted directly from Twitter.

That aside, Twitter is one of the best ways to communicate with your fans, and extend your reach. It’s hard not to get a new follower every day, even if you’re just using it for random conversation, so when you start being open and honest, and sharing all those interesting things you’re doing then you’ll reach the thousands very quickly indeed.

Conclusion

Hopefully this has been a useful read. My aim was to sprinkle my own experiences over a base of genuinely pertinent information, forming a Chocolate Sundae of PR and marketing advice for the aspiring independent developer. I could keep on and on about the things I’ve learned, but as I’ve said there are a few key thoughts that I absolutely must repeat here. Because I don’t trust that they’ve sunk in.

Be nice.

Market to the platform holder, as well as your fans.

Use Twitter.

Be confident in your voice.

Open up a conversation.

Believe that everything you’re doing is interesting to someone, somewhere. (Source: Gamasutra)