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.

354 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.

355 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.

357 days ago Short URL Comments

Life / Liberty/PR / Marketing/Psychology / Sociology

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

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.

May

Will Write for Food

After 6 non-stop years of gaming PR prowess, my last day at TriplePoint was May 18th.

Good run. Time to move on.

It took me a couple weeks to be sure I haven’t made a terrible mistake, but here we are. I still reserve the right to change my mind, but it won’t change anything. It wasn’t TriplePoint, it’s me, and public relations, and 6 years of the same when my own dreams kept getting deprioritized.

Pre-Stealth Mode

Now what? I’m working on some projects of my own – writing, mostly. I’m on the verge of some impactful e-book concepts, and after working for someone else for so long, this is especially exciting.

Want in? I’ll need help soon.

Meantime, girl’s gotta eat! My SEO background (and grasp of the English language, for that matter ;) are an editor’s dream. So then, the fact that I’m looking for freelance work is inherently… a dream come true.

Seriously – my father has been a journalist for 40 years and my mom a PR pro for nearly that many. I get grammar, yo. I have 6 years experience doing PR in one of the world’s fastest moving industries, and I’m ready to hang up that hat a while. I’d also be up for contract social media work, blogging and copy writing, if asked nicely.

As for PR – my pitching arm is officially out of commission for a while.

There you have it.

So for better or worse, moving right along… THE FUTURE LOOKS FABULOUS.

Follow @katelollar and @lollarville on Twitter; won’t you?

Lollarville

Tagged with pr …

Ditching Distractions: How to be Marketable

Gaming vs. eBooks, Round 1

Gaming PR Detox

So Much for Stealth Mode

Will Write for Food