Indie Marketing Advice Part II

There was a huge response to the News Item "Indie Marketing Advice" and the associated thread that started it all. Some responses were positive and supportive, others were negative and downright depressing. But I learned something from every email, and gained a wider perspective of whats going on in the industry. I'd like to thank everyone that wrote to express their opinions, their outlook and experiences, and their very difficult questions.

I personally don't have the answer to everything- and I know I am not 100% correct in everything that I say. But until I learn something new, or something that works better, this is where we are.

Which is my keypoint: We NEED to constantly change our ideals, our outlook, and approach things with an open mind. Otherwise we are stuck in a rut. This is often easier said than done- none of us like to admit that we are wrong. We like to believe that we are pioneers, approaching a real breakthrough. Those that have released at least one game suddenly get slapped in the face with reality. Even if the title is successful, the sting of that rude slap isn't any less painful.

One thing that I have found is that Indies tend to be secretive. There is no shame in low sales- it doesn't mean you suck or the product sucks. It just means an element is out of place. Some of these are blaringly obvious to me, others are slightly more obscure. And believe me, poor sales have run through the Indies like a plague. So you are definately not alone.

I am going to use exaggerated examples- nobody actually contacted me with this questions, and these companies are completely made up:

PunkHead Studios contacts me to ask why their sales are so low. The first thing I do is look at their website, screenshots and search for reviews. Then I check out their DEMO. Oh wait. There is no demo available.

RatchetFace Technologies contacts me to ask why their sales are so low in a marketspace with a HUGE following (1 million users). I follow the same procedure, and while downloading the demo, I discover the price is $40. Let me say this ONCE... price affects DEMAND. Lower your price, you drive demand UP. If you can't keep up with current DEMAND, then increase your price to drive demand DOWN. "Why would you want to drive demand down" you say? Well, if you are selling hardcopies and can't keep up with demand. Or your niche is incredibly small, you risk saturating the market and not making much return in the process.

ToadLips LLC contacts me to ask why their sales are dismal. Again, I follow the same procedure. Screenshots are lackluster, descriptions are ho-hum. No reviews can be found. I turn to the demo to discover its 120 megs. I have broadband, so thats not a HUGE deal. But you have to reassure those visitors that the DL will be worth it.

FireCrotch wants to start out modest and gradually grow over time. So they ask how they can achieve 60 sales a month without much work or without lowering their prices. The first thing I ask is their demo-to-buyer ratio. They tell me 60/6... so 10% of all people that download the demo end up buying it. Thats not bad at all. But they only have a total of 60 DEMO DOWNLOADS in 3 months. They can't possibly sell MORE copies than DEMOs. So the keyfactor isn't necessarily that they need to change a whole lot, they just need more exposure and drive more traffic to their site as their demo-to-buyer will always be the same at 10% (600 demo downloads should result in 60 sales- THATS how many demos you have to get out per month)

Once again, I don't have ALL the answers. Some developer questions were downright mysterious and require research. But I think if everyone works together, alot can be accomplished. You'd be surprised at how many emails I recieved that all had the EXACT same concerns and conclusions.