Jun

10 Social Media Tips for the Win

The difference between publishing, public relations, marketing, media, design and user acquisition is more blurry than ever. The number one takeaway: if you don’t like bringing a little of yourself into your work life, you’re going to struggle. If you like to pour your heart into your work, this is your time to take the reigns and run with them.

I’ve been on Facebook since it opened to the University of Mississippi my junior year of college. You might – if you work in the online games industry – even call me a social media “whale”. I actually enjoy tweeting, which should probably be a requirement for social media managers, but is less common than you’d think.

Nowadays, I share my life’s adventures across the multimedia gamut – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest… Someone could follow me on one network and understand my posts, but I try to spread the wealth. I like posting bits and pieces across the various networks, letting my friends, fans and followers put the puzzle together for themselves. I’d like to think they see it that way too.

None of this had anything to do with my career, until fairly recently, when PR and social media collided forever and always. Now I realize my approach to personal social networking is a valuable asset for companies.

So in no particular order, a few suggestions:

1. Have company accounts but don’t neglect personal ones.

2. Don’t tweet everything that pops in your head.

3. Turn off those obnoxious auto-tweets from 3rd party services like XBLA and Pinterest. Instead…

4. Spread the wealth. Why would someone follow/be-fan you on multiple networks if you pull them all together into one auto-fed pile? Yuck.

5. Don’t call people out – especially not publicly – for un-following you. This should go without saying but apparently does not. There is obviously a reason and it probably has something to do with you. Look at your feed. See number 3.

6. Promote your social networks on your website. Not just the company ones. Your talent (that means staff, if you hired wisely ;) is just as important as your mission or corporate posts. Ahem: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

7. Don’t try and appear perfect. You aren’t. If you are, people won’t like you anyway, so just pretend to be less so. I don’t mean grammar; I mean your trials and tribulations. Those make you human, and interesting.

8. Share your experiences – good, bad, ugly, whatever! See number 2, but also number 7, and know that the dumb things you try are more interesting to your friends and fans than most of the smart ones. Success speaks for itself. Failure needs help. This tip comes particularly from the heart. Some of my most “influential” followers have attributed it to my wild and crazy tales. They follow me because I say things other people would be afraid to, on occasion.

9. Share information that is valuable to your audience. That is usually why they followed you in the first place.

10. Do it. You can’t go back in time and make up for not tweeting or using Facebook. If you aren’t “doing” social media you should stop reading and go sign up for accounts. It may not be your only key to success, but bet your ass it’s one of them.

341 days ago Short URL Comments

PR / Marketing/Publishing/Technology

facebook/how to do social media for business/instagram/social media tips/tips/twitter

Jun

From E3 to BEA: Interactive Entertainment Growth

Optimism and determination are contagious. Don’t discount them.

The amount of support from gaming industry friends at E3 this week has been exhilarating. The amount of passion some of them have for the projects they are working on — exhilarating all the more so.

Perhaps that’s what I’ve been seeking all along. A creative arena where I, too, get to be creative. One where my ideas are as valuable as anyone else’s to be implemented. Creative people – the best, smartest ones – can be the community you always wanted. Or, you can keep your mouth shut and stay in a community that’s more prone to shoot down ideas than implement them. I prefer the creative community option.

Wait, what?

David Pollay wrote a book called “The Law of the Garbage Truck” that explains my point better than I can. You should read it. I’m going to pull 2 random pieces from the whole to make a point. Not Pollay’s point; mine.

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Each chapter has an action guide (a personal self-help pet peeve, but I digress). In this case, I wrote something while reading this a couple years back that resonates more loudly than ever. The question? “What do you value enough that you won’t let Garbage Trucks get in the way of achieving your dreams?” My answer?

“I value creativity, imagination, technology and entertainment – in my professional and personal life. At work, I won’t let negative people stop me from doing a good job. Personally, I won’t let Garbage Trucks deter me from pursuing a career in arenas that are interesting and important to me.”

It’s due time to put my plan in action. Does anyone else hear a little LEGO language in my answer? Hey if imagination is the key to success, I’m on board with that.

The point, in relation to gaming versus books, or E3 versus BEA, is this: E3 hasn’t changed since I started going 5 years ago. I have. Furthermore…

If the book industry is half as collaborative and positive as some of the creative communities in the gaming industry, we’re going to get along just fine. Next year I’m ditching E3 and hitting BEA. By that time, I expect fully to be semi-pro. Is that a thing?

Jun

Ditching Distractions: How to be Marketable

Pro PR tips are always common sense once you’ve heard them.

Try this on for size: If your pitch is newsworthy, it will write itself. If you are just sending an announcement to reporters to try and drum up news or sales during product development downtime, you’ll find yourself stretching for a “hook”, and you won’t fool anyone.

It’s not cynical, jaded or bitter – it’s true. The biggest news, best promotions, important business moves, and most unique pitches/campaigns are the easiest and most fulfilling to pull off, and they gnerate the best, most impactful results. In other words, BE news to make news.

Duh.

Sure it’s easy during major launches or big conferences (ahem, E3), but you have to keep it up in the “off-season” too. Don’t try to fool people, try and do stuff that’s awesome enough to be word-of-mouth-worthy. Then make sure you spread the word-of-mouth.

Be on Twitter yesterday. Start a blog. You may already be doing super newsworthy or buzzworthy things, but if you don’t tell anyone about them, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

351 days ago Short URL Comments

PR / Marketing

be newsworthy/how to/marketing/pr/start-up advice/startup

Jun

Gaming vs. eBooks, Round 1

Why do digital products make online content king?

Social media and user reviews (i.e. on the App Store) are increasingly important. That changes PR for games. That should also change game design. I’m not a game designer, but I get the idea.

Once I understood what kinds of content people are looking for (on the internet), versus what content already exists, I realized that building a media network is one of the best investments anyone can make right now.

The gaming industry is clearly ahead of the pack.

So, if I’m going to start a new business venture, I want to move to a space where my gaming background and media landscape knowledge can propel something not quite as far along its path yet… Something close to open source, similar to the game lifecycle (development, publishing, marketing-wise), high-tech (always), and something that, like video games, strikes a personal chord. If it were an ideal world, this industry would have tons to say and tons of creative opportunities for putting my PR skills to good use.

I found these things immediately in the eBook world.

Moreover, this field allows content to be published in various lengths and formats, in multiple channels, on multiple devices and mediums. So here’s the deal — maybe I won’t have my own company or write my own books. (Okay I will almost certainly do the latter, but just for argument’s sake…) I will do something in this industry that helps indie authors get good content to their target audience.

End of story.

352 days ago Short URL Comments

Book Industry/PR / Marketing/Publishing/Technology

ebooks/gaming/media/pr/publishing/video games

Jun

Gaming PR Detox

Even if I wanted to churn the rumor mills and spill the deepest, darkest PR trade secrets… I couldn’t. But I have insights to takeaway that are mine and mine alone. Time to share.

Why does the changing media landscape make PR vs. journalism an even harder choice for media professionals?

How much content can one create for any given company before wanting to make her own?

How have digital formats changed the face of the games industry?

Boxed copy launch campaigns –> iOS and online
Indie development
Media and entertainment companies want in
Online content is more important than ever (links)

Beyond digitalization, there are other takeaways that warrant sharing, before I dive into fiction for god knows how many months. Some of what I hope to cover:

Games PR Detox: Why I Quit
Leaving the Firm
Why I Went Rogue
PR Myths, Truths, Facts and Fairytales
Why Current PR is a 3-Ring Circus (Social Media)
Getting into PR, Marketing or Media for Games
Welcome to the Greek Life of the Gaming Industry (PR)
Why You Need PR (It’s Not Just about Marketing) – business development, contacts / friends in all the right high places, etc.
Start-up Advice from a PR Person
So You Want to Make Your Start-up Marketable?

It’s not that I’m the first person to spend so many years in the games industry (or even as the same job, for that matter), but these past 6 years specifically have seen a complete industry transformation. I’m uniquely suited to tell the tale – many tales, in fact.

For me, 2012 IS the end of the world. Of one world. I’ve had my fill of PR for a while, and maybe gaming altogether. It would be nice to leave behind some 20/20 hindsight.

354 days ago Short URL Comments

Life / Liberty/PR / Marketing/Psychology / Sociology

gaming pr/marketing/media/pr/tech/video games

Jun

Start-Up Advice from a N00b

A well-researched n00b, that is… Because everyone needs a fresh perspective, and I’m a pretty smart cookie for a beginner. Or something like that.

Clarification: I am a n00b only at starting up my own company, not at promoting, marketing, PR for other startups, or business development, product testing and the like. In this regard, tech agency PR experience is something to value, trust me. On with it!

Not beginners

STEP ONE: Think up any and every idea in your brain. Write them all down, even. But if you want to excel – if you want to “make it big” – consolidate and focus.

Everyone is starting up, going rogue, trying their luck on their own these days. All it takes is 1 thing that people want and don’t have yet. Timehop is a perfect example. “What did you do 1 year ago today?” Who knew you cared so much.

The technical implementation may be a bit more involved, but the concept is simplistically perfect. Emulate that. Answer 1 question that is relevant for consumers of all demographics.

1 question + limitless answers = genius.

Stay tuned for more… Lots more, but I can’t just blog about starting up all day, you know.

354 days ago Short URL Comments

PR / Marketing/Technology

gaming/new business/start-up/startup advice/tech

May

So Much for Stealth Mode

Welcome to Lollarville.

First, to disclaim: I considered making a separate, personal blog, but am really aiming to consolidate and focus as much as possible right now. Besides, part of why I left PR was because all I did was work, which means, a personal blog really isn’t all that personal for me anyway. May I proceed? With caution?

Since I’m already tweeting, and the website is technically live, figure I might as well open up shop for anybody wants to poke around… Welcome and whatnot! It’s not finished or even fully plotted yet, but the thing is, I have stuff to say now and things to share along the way. So, letting everyone in on my plan is ultimately inevitable. (Especially the smart ones who want to help.)

Furthermore, for a PR person, keeping quiet during “stealth mode” is painstakingly difficult at best. There are many, MANY facets of public relations / marketing that I’m glad and willing to let go of, but I will never lose the desire to share interesting information with people who are looking for it.

One of the biggest assets I’ve brought to PR clients is industry expertise, for video games, tech and interactive entertainment, especially kids and family brands (like LEGO, Disney and Target, ahem). The point being –- it’s not lost on me that learning the industry behind my business* is priority number 1. That industry, my next venture is (drumroll please) interactive eBooks and digital book publishing.

And it’s not just reflecting on olden days that I’ve got to do over here — it’s researching and networking and becoming an expert in a whole new arena, with new rules and players. My brain is working overtime, making a million different connections between eBooks and games/apps — alarming similarities that no one seems to be leveraging yet. I’m putting what I know together with what I’m learning and, well, the “stuff” I’ve got to say is worthwhile.

Let my research and development be a resource if you need it, or don’t. (You probably do. I know I do.) Anyway…

Here’s to putting it out there and not taking it back. I’ve got a list a mile long and a whole boatload of caffeine. Let’s do this. Anything specific you want covered? Leaving a comment would SO make my day. As would sharing.

* What I’m doing is building a digital publishing house, for myself and other writers, out of nothing. Please don’t call it a start-up.

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