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November 18, 2019

How to sell your board game and make money

Creating a cool game is one thing, making a game that sells is another. This post covers how to sell your board game and make money in easy to follow stages. As an acknowledgment of my skills and experience, I have co-created successful party games in the past.

The Commercial Director’s informed games commercial success in figures. This was also fairly recent as from 2017 onwards.

The games that I was involved in creating earned £200k in revenue – nothing to sniff at and this post will share that information.

Intro – Monetising your game after creating it

Your number 1 priority should be making a great game that people can play and enjoy – don’t deviate from this principle. Making a halfhearted job and ‘just shipping’ it will backfire in the board gaming community.

If you want to sell your game in the future, make a good game!– don’t cheat your audience into buying a terrible product.

Creating the game – approach

My approach to creating a game was a bit different from many I feel. it didn’t come from an insatiable need to express my artistic desire or tell a narrative that will revolutionise the world.

The game as created based on a ‘ready’ market that didn’t need educating on what the game was.

We based our concept on a pre-existing model and try to improve upon it – it wasn’t left to chance and gut feeling when developing the game and all of its expansions. The actions were deliberate and researched before the game was created.

You have a look at one of the early editions here. Which takes you to Amazon, or you can get the general idea from this image.

Quality of game — We wanted to create a game people would enjoy!

We created a UK version of the game that filled a gap – it started as an idea and evolved it something that was bigger and more potent over time and became its an entity that could stand on its own 2 feet.

3 main approaches to selling your game

Moving on, here is a quick overview of how to make money from your game.

1) Sell it retailers or individual shops
2) Pitch it to games publisher or distributer
3) Use a crowdfunding platform such as Kickstarter or IndieGoGo

How to sell your game and make money through publisher/distributor and earn over | 200k

I was involved in creating a party game that earned over 200k in turn over in one year and over 100 k (give or take) in subsequent years.

Selling your game directly to a publisher or game distributor can bare large financial fruit. An advantage of getting your game in front of a large game distribution company is that they can sell your game in large quantities too. They have the channels, marketing, catalogues, and contacts. – You may, or may not!

So how do you get your game in their inventory?

You pitch to them

How to pitch your game to a seller and make money – wholesale

In order to look the professional, your game will need to look the part – eg be ready to ship, be affordable to buy and come with any marketing so you can to prove the game exists.

Don’t leave to much to the imagination, look as ready as you can be.

In order to pitch your game to the correct people, it will come down to knowing the right people. A previous colleague of mine used various methods to find the correct contacts, here are 2 I can recall worked well:

1) Finding them on LinkedIn

2) By going to shows and arranging meetings.

Pitching a game to a large distributor isn’t easy, but things with the best rewards rarely are!

My role in the process of winning such business (in addition to product creation) was to create pitch boards with renders and mock-ups of the games. These were often followed up with marketing PDF’s for buyers at the companies skim through.

I will let you in on a little something else also, should you get in with a successful game

Upsell your game to move toward a 200k gaol

So, you have a proven track record with a distributor, you have sold the game and now what do you do?

We gave them more – although there was a challenge here, we didn’t have more to give – initially anyway.

At this stage, we conceptualised prototypes of expansion packs and extra games and then pitched the “Final game” to the distributor via ‘mock-ups’ on a pitch board which may have still be in the concept stages.

*The games weren’t manufactured until an order was placed.

I won’t lie to you, this can be a risky way of creating a product. You should try your utmost to get a batch or set of prototypes ready to get around this risky approach.

These pitches and subsequent pitches which were driven by the commercial success were won with what was said and what was shown on the boards. At the best of times, a prototype of the game was made.

Pitch artwork for game — How to sell your game – use pitch artwork, This is an illustration down to the box and shadow.

So, that is the power of the pitch – don’t underestimate it and considering the potency of your game and whether it can be scaled.

Did that party game really earn 200k?

I think for the first run of the Family Edition of the game, from one single order – it was approximately 200k turn over in orders, and $150K in profits according to the Commercial Director. And more additions of the game were created.

So, yes – 200K then even more over the years. As it was it was being sold in other countries and snowballed.

How to sell your board game and make money | shop & retailer

As part of your strategy to either grow your wealth or hit a 200k target (or any number), you should consider selling your game direct to a large retailer. As above, the process of winning the business and selling your game to high street stores such as WH Smiths in the UK you should explore the tactics of pitching and trying to win business.

For the sake of clarity, I will discuss the steps in order to sell your game to a high-street store and what was involved in the process.

Make sure you have your game ready. The more you have it together, the better this will be for you when you try to pitch your game
Dot your I’s and Cross your T’s – in other words make sure you have all conformity, barcodes and product information ready.
Is the product ready to be shipped? – fulfilment. Retailers like it to be straight forward and not have to worry about getting and unprofessional product etc. Have a warehouse or fulfilment centre ready to meet demand if the retailer places an order?
Build Trust – Retailers don’t want to take foolish risks. If there is an indication of an existing market or you have sold games before, consider putting this in your proposal.
Packaging – in retail, the packaging is more important than you may realise. The box art and how it looks on a retail shelf is incredibly important to a retailer and to the person buying the product. You need to make your product stand and look appealing. Its the box that may sell the game in the end.

It could also be worth noting that if you are yet to make or manufacture your box but have the artwork to utilise the visuals to create a planogram. This will help sell the dream and make your game look a little more real to the retailers.

These are some of the keys points I have been involved in when both collaborating and creating a proposal to a retailer.

This point was, in addition to the method of selling your game to the distributer a large contribution to it’s a financial success.

How to Kickstart your game and earn over 200k – if only knew.

Kickstarter Template Graphic — Kickstarter template graphics

Although, I have yet to be involved in creating a successful Kickstarter that sells 1000’s of unit most of my experience comes with working with retailers.

Companies have earned millions on Kickstarter

A website such as Stonemaier games covers lots of hints and tips on how to create a Kickstarter and make a success of it. If you have a moment you should take the time to read some of the articles.

I would also like to mention the games companies that made Bears VS Babies and Throw Throw Burrito, both of these board games were hugely successful on Kickstarter before going onto nailing it in retail. I have seen these games in Waterstones, John Lewis, WH Smiths & others in passing.

Both of the games had a huge fan base and used Kickstarter to its maximum potential. They used Kickstarter for what it does best – to validate a product and get ready for the next big step.

That next big step… conquer retail.

If you are intending on launching a Kickstarter anytime soon …. don’t launch unless you have a crowd waiting to place an order and buy your game!

Your crowd is crucial to a game’s success on the likes of Kickstarter. No crowd? Probably no crowdfunding either.

If you want to hit the bigger numbers get all of you marketing up to scratch first and then roll it out. If you are struggling there is no shame in canceling your campaign and moving it to another day.

Kickstarter is a great way of getting your product validated and tested before going to retail. I have written a post here on how to design a Kickstarter page.

How to sell your board game and make money – summary

I hope this post was useful and offers some insight into selling your game to the big retailers and distributors. As mentioned above, the large sum of money was earned through selling to a retailer and distributors.

If you would like to know a bit more about the making of the party game, you can view the post here and read at your leisure. This post discussed more of the design stages as opposed to the money aspect of the game creation.

Selling your game – my credentials.

I am a designer with 10 years’ experience and I have been involved in creating party and card games! Whoop whoop, if you would like to know a bit more about my services you can read more about my freelance card game design and get in touch.

Thank you for reading how to sell your board game and make money, if it was useful feel free to share.

“how to sell your board game and make money”

How do I design an email marketing campaign for old leads?

So “How do I design an email marketing campaign for old leads?”… overview.

This post offers some potent tried and tested methods you can implement into your email marketing campaign to get those old leads to sit up and pay attention! They may be asleep now, but hopefully, by the end of this list, they will feel as refreshed as your with your marketing ideas.

Reading on – nuggets of juicy information on how to design an email marketing campaign for your old leads. Rock on!

Get responses from old email marketing leads - picture of old people — Get a response from old email marketing leads!

Who are your ‘old leads’?

A good starting point, who are your old leads? Why do you regard them as old? What have they done to warrant being targeted and regarded as ‘old’. Another way to look at your old contacts and subscribers is to view them are as loyal customers and clients. The list below covers tried and tested ideas, but perhaps a good place to start is how you perceive them, and how in turn they may come to perceive you.

1 ) Most important, offer something ‘they’ want

I wanted to start with this point as I felt it was actually the most obvious but possibly most overlooked. If you are failing to get the enquiries or interest are you failing to engage the reader? Are you selling a product that they no longer want or need? Are you talking about a topic they no longer care about? If so, how can you change it?

How to do it

Make your marketing about ‘them’ and their business – not yours. Tell and show them how you can help them to grow.

Fulfil their needs first!

2 ) Offer a loyalty scheme

So they have been on board for a long time but there has been no activity from them? You could potentially offer a discount to try and coax them back to life and become an active subscriber. Give a bumper service to the loyal ones and offer a reward.

3 ) Treat your ‘old email marketing leads’ as special customers.

In the body of your email consider using wording that makes your trusty old subscribers feel special and acknowledges that they have been loyal for a long time. Perhaps, writing a message along the lines of :

“Dear (name), as a loyal customer we have decided to offer you (x service) for a limited time. The company wouldn’t be where it is today without its loyal customers such as yourself and that is why we have decided to offer you this excellent reward!”

4 ) Talk about something new

It’s a very strong possibility that your old leads are bored with what you have to say, your brand your message anything and everything – people get bored very easily, and especially the internet user. In the past, I have noticed a strong correlation in campaigns with the wording “New” generally pushing more interest. So, create something new, or talk about something new.

5 ) If you have a tidy list, address them directly

If you have a contact list with all the personal *contact names as and where they should be you could write an email campaign addressed directly to them. But this only works as well as the cleanliness of the list. For example :-

Clean List

Dear Dave Higgins

Vs Untidy List

Dear 123 at qwqwq

Why is the second example like that? Because the name field was left with a trash name or a number in the field because somebody forgot to change it or the subscriber didn’t give you their actual name.

In other words, the form – personal name – form field will pull in whatever data is in the “name” column. be it good or bad.

6 ) Change up your email design to catch the attention

Visuals do work. Have some catchy images, logos and importantly a Call to action! Click me!

How do I design an email marketing campaign for old leads - example — Example of a responsive mailshot

My Old leads – They are still playing backgammon?

Made it this far down the list eh and your old email marketing leads still haven’t turned their heads away from their game of backgammon? Don’t worry just yet, we still have some thoughts and ideas yet that will hopefully help you in getting responses! Continue reading – How do I design an email marketing campaign for old leads!

7 ) Use stats and numbers

Analytics’ data or sales figures can be a good way or proving how good your service is – with numbers! It makes you look authentic. I also believe (my opinion) people love data and numbers as it makes information easy to digest.

Hey! don’t lie about your numbers or stats. There will come a day when people won’t believe what they read – if that day hasn’t arrived already.

8 ) Use a timed offer to encourage an urgent response from your old leads

I have mentioned this in a previous post (link) but placing a timed response or a limited offer can encourage urgent action. This approach can be a little pushy in my opinion but I can’t deny that I have seen it used effectively including by myself.

9 ) Consider who your old leads are – your message, your tone.

This is important, who are you talking to? Your messaging needs to resonate with them. It needs to talk to them and it needs to be useful to them – create good content for your quality readership. Connect.

10 ) Solve their problems, help with their pains

Companies/businesses/people have pains – not ones for a real doctor, business ones I mean. These pains can vary from: How to get more leads, how do I get people to stay on my website, how do I get people to sign up, how do I make this easier, I have no time, I’m tired, etc, etc.

So once you have identified their pains, and if you are familiar with your industry, you will be better equipped at answering their questions and helping to solve their problems. Using you, or your service will help solve their problems – or better still. Avoid them altogether!

11 ) Try to be helpful

As mentioned a couple of times in this post make contacting your email leads about them and how you can help with your experience. Answer questions create posts, try to see what types of questions your demographic ask by trawling forums and post online to give you indications or if you have a survey software use that to learn about them.

12 ) Speak their language

Try to speak their lingo. If they use industry-specific jargon use this in your email to make it sound like you know what you are talking about (oh, and check that you know what you are talking about). If your email marketing is more B2C then try to understand the demographics of your readership, how old are they, are they male, female, what are their hobbies and so on.

learn who they are.

13 ) Check you are emailing the right people

If you have a very specific few golden leads out there and they have stopped answering your emails or opening them, check to see if they are still working at the company or have moved to another department.

You can use LinkedIn to see who is correct contact and start building a new working relationship.

Summary | How do I design an email marketing campaign for old leads

I hope this post is useful. I have given you some tried and tested ideas which I have seen work first hand in the past with my email marketing experience. Many of these approaches should be useful for tomorrow and for the future as many of the tips approach geared toward what messaging is as well as how.

It is worth your while employing not just one of the tactics above for best results but many with a mix and match to see which are most useful for ‘your’ email marketing. There isn’t a golden bullet for things like this as some would like to sell to you, it requires learning and effort. I have sent out many, many campaigns over the years and have seen which works for gifting, retail, subscriptions, and general newsletters.

Setting aside the technical information, the tricks etc, it often tends to boil down to something you probably already know, and I knew but didn’t want to admit either – they weren’t interested...

So make them interested

Sell something your customer or client ‘wants’ or needs. Don’t push something onto them that they don’t want or need. It is a tired and boring struggle for both parties.

As time goes along, trial and error will show which tactics bare the most fruit – all the best in “designing email marketing for your old leads.”

About Me – A Designer

I have worked on numerous email campaigns over the years sending campaigns to 1000’s of contacts. Much of the data I have written here has been based on my first-hand experience of blood sweat and tears and also with keeping myself up to date with new email marketing ideas. You are more than welcome to read a bit more about me below.

You may find the article on the 32 tips useful for more visual design tips.

How to draw on the computer with a stylus & tablet for beginners

The best way to draw on a computer is by using a Stylus and Graphics Tablet with an art creation program. As a beginner, you may draw with a mouse but this can a bit tricky to use. For more information on how to create digital artwork on the computer, read on! – “creating digital artwork on a computer”

How to draw on the computer with a stylus & tablet for beginners

This tutorial will outline some of the basic and professional ways in which you can draw on your computer or smartphone. If you don’t have a drawing tablet or stylus, or a large budget there are other low-cost ways to start creating digital art – even as novice or ‘newb’.

Create Digital Artwork — Tablet & Stylus

Beginner – drawing on your computer and creating digital art

Drawing on a computer can be more straight forward than you think. I started out using a regular old rubber ball mouse and Microsoft Paint when I was a child – long before a Stylus and tablet came into my life.

So, the absolute bare essentials for drawing and creating digital art for your computer are as follows :

– A regular old mouse
– A keyboard
– A computer
– A graphics program (digital art software)

Should be noted… it doesn’t have to be an Apple mouse. Maybe something from the 80’s?

Is creating digital art easy?

Yes and no, getting started with creating digital art can be very easy and low cost. Getting to a stage where you could call yourself a professional artist takes time and years of practice. The best way of getting started with creating digital art is by downloading graphics software and get practicing to improve your digital drawing techniques.

I wish I could find my very first digital drawing, it was created on a Windows 3.2 in the era of the awesome floppy disk – you can read a bit about me here.

What digital art software should I use?

There are so many to pick from, but for the sake of just creating something you can call ‘digital art’, begin with something you may already have, MS Paint In Windows. by delving into Paint, select a colour and away you go!

Gimp Logo

There are other art programs out there that are also free such as Gimp and Krita. I have personally never used Krita but the results on the website show what it is capable of and it has also been given a recommendation from a reputable digital art magazine IFX (Link(. This magazine is dedicated to creating fantasy, digital and traditional artwork.

Advanced digital artwork software

As both a designer and digital artist, I use 2 main programs to create my art and design work, these programs being: Abobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.

Adobe Illustrator often gives a very clean cut appearance that you may see in books, posters, lifestyle magazines etc – this is called ‘vector art’.

Adobe Photoshop is a versatile piece of software that behaves like a drawing and painting tool and offers an intuitive workflow. The example below shows the two different program styles and what they can create. This is just an example created by me – Jimmsdesign.

Vector Art and raster art example - how to draw digitally. Painted, flat, vector. — style examples, Photoshop Vs Illustrator

It should be noted that these programs can both be tricky to master and you may be more drawn to one that the other. You can get a free trial or purchase a subscription to use the software by going to Adobe Creative Cloud (link) and downloading it. If you are just starting out on your journey to becoming a digital artist or illustrator, I would test a free program first.

What type of graphic artist or designer do you want to be?

As budding digital artist, designer, illustrator or painter what sort of outcomes are you looking to achieve? If you are unsure and just trying your hand at creating digital art on a computer that is fine a starter step.

Here is what may suit you more if…

Adobe Illustrator may suit you more if you want to become a designer or a clean cut vector artist. The way a vector drawing behaves inside a program is a quite a different to raster art program such as Photoshop. Adobe Photoshop is great If you are wanting to work as a traditional illustrator, digital painter, game artist etc.

There are thousands of examples of digital artists on social media with websites and professional blogs. Some to mention : Behance, imagine FX, Artstation. Design Week are filled with a colossal range of talented designers and artists.

Imagine FX Magazine — Artwork Copyright Future Publishing – Imagine FX – Source – wikipedia

This person here is a terrific vector artist and designer – Vicky Doodles

What equipment to use for drawing on a computer?

Very old computer mouse for drawing on a computer! — If you are actually drawing on a computer with these legendary relics… Kudos to you. Image Source – Wikpedia

Using a mouse to create digital artwork (beginner)

The humble computer mouse has been around for decades and is often the first got and very basic tool for drawing on a computer. You can still use a mouse be it a optic or USB (these still around?) to create digital art in MS Paint, Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop or any other 2D graphics software.

Using a computer mouse when trying to draw onto a computer is fairly simple. It is often a case of selecting a colour, a brush shape and size and drawing around the white space. As I already mentioned, I can recall using paint has far back as Win 3.2 back in the early 90’s. the left mouse button and start applying pixels or digital paint.

A computer mouse in action | digital drawing

This example shows the end result of some digital artwork created using a mouse in Photoshop. It’s a bit trickier to use although it’s not bad for straight lines!

Drawing with a mouse! Visual example — Drawing with a mouse! (An Apple Smart Mouse)

I would advise moving on from a computer mouse at some stage if you are thinking of getting serious with drawing on a computer, be it for graphic design, illustration or your own sanity.

If you are thinking of spending many hours drawing and creating digital artwork, using a different input will save on potential wrist ache also.

Using a stylus and graphics tablet to create artwork (beginner + intermediate)

The day I plugged in a Wacom graphics tablet was the day I changed the way I created digital artwork on a computer. Using a drawing or graphics tablet can make the experience of creating artwork on a computer much more organic.

Below is an example of me sketching something in Photoshop using a Stylus, Tablet. It’s quicker, smoother and much more human way for creating a drawing, or in this example a black line sketch.

Drawing with Stylus and Tablet example — Drawing with Stylus and Tablet. Handles, curves and waves and is much easy to flow with

Reasons why a stylus and tablet are great options for drawing on a computer

– It will offer a greater level of control when trying to draw on a computer – when you get used to it.
– It will offer a better work flow.
– It may reduce wrist strain when drawing
– The stylus and pen often come with pressure sensitivity, allowing for a greater level for control and hopefully moving you closer to the digital artwork you want to create.
– Short cut commands can be added to the drawing tablet to speed up the work flow.

Once I started using a tablet after a couple of days it became second nature to me.

Drawing Tablet Equipment — Tablet as shown in top of post

How long does it take to learn how to draw with Wacom drawing tablet?

When drawing with a Stylus and Wacom tablet it can take as little as 1 hour to start creating digital artwork.

I tried an experiment on a friend to see if he could use the drawing tablet… he found it strange at first but quickly got used drawing on a Wacom Tablet (Intuos Pro).
It should also be added that he is neither an illustrator or an designer, or a somebody who can use Photoshop! Within 1 hour, he was drawing! That is how quick you could pick it up, although what who drew on the day wouldn’t look amiss from something a 7 year old would bring home – that is beside the point.

He could use the tech.

Have the drawing technology won’t make you a digital artist overnight. It takes time.

A Cintiq allows you to draw straight onto a computer screen

Cintiq display, used to create digital drawings and artwork — Cintiq Display – draw straight onto it

Using a Cintiq removes the disorientation of drawing from a Tablet to screen, you can work straight onto the display using your drawing stylus. You will create the graphic art you want sooner but it is a higher price point as this technology is generally more expensive.

A Cintiq is one the best tools to create professional digital art on a computer. It acts just like pen paper offering great results without technological limitations.

My professional use of Cintiqs is very limited due to it’s price and being satisfied with Bamboo (now Wacom Intuos Pro) tablet. Cintiqs are great quality and are top of the range pieces of equipment. If you are a beginner I would recommend starting with one of the cheaper tablets first.

This video, shows a Cintiq in action. This is not me by the way.

How to draw on Smart tablets and Smartphones

In recent years technology has come a very long way for digital artist’s, designers and illustrators. We are no longer confined to just drawing onto a computer, we can now create artwork on the go with smartphone and stylus.

Tablet artwork — *This artwork was not created by myself.*

David Hockney has created artwork on his tablet (iPad) and exhibited it without limitations or reduction to the quality of his style. The only observation I have made is that the edges if the pixel perfect brush strokes is that they have a slight spongy and blurry feel, but that could be due to the scaling up of the artwork from a tablet or phone – a smaller screen blow up big can reduce image quality.

You can read a bit more about his David Hockney artwork here :

You can now create digital artwork from your Samsung, Iphone, Ipad, or most ‘Smarttech’ which is available online.

Drawing on a tablet or a Smartphone using stylus can be and low cost way of trying your hand at digital drawing or painting. This the equipment you will need to draw on a Smartphone or Digital tablet :

– A Smartphone or Tablet
– Drawing or graphics software download onto your phone or tablet. You can look on the app store or Google play to find an application that suits your phone or spec.
– A tablet or smartphone stylus.

It should be noted that I have used a Wacom Bamboo Stylus Mini to create artwork on my phone just for doodling. It’s light, small and convenient. But gave me personally ‘meh’ results.

Bamboo Mini Stylus - draw on Smartphone or tablet

Summary | how to draw on a computer using a Stylus and Tablet.

If you skipped the the basics on how to create digital artwork on your computer this how to do it simple steps.

1) Buy a stylus and drawing tablet of your choice.
2) Install the hardware on your computer.
3) Check the drivers are up to date – calibrate the software to your computer
4 )Download a graphics program such as Photoshop or one of free applications mentioned previously.
5) Open the software.
6) Start creating digital art!

Summary | how to draw on a computer using a Mouse (PC) in quick steps

1) Check your mouse is installed
2) Open the relevant art program such as (MS paint) or if you have something better – great!
3 )Voila! Start creating your masterpiece.

Credits – All the best with your digital art journey and creating digital awesomeness on your computer.

Thank you for reading, hopefully this post has given you some insight into how to create digital artwork and an idea of tools you can use to draw onto a computer.

If you would like any professional assistance please feel free to contact me on my website.

You may be also interested in reading this :
Handling black in print
Creating artwork for game
Reducing Banding in Photoshop
https://blog.jimmsdesign.co.uk/how-to-create-a-stem-game-or-e-learning-application/

July 23, 2019

An easy way to make a Photoshop brush – short tutorial

How to make a simple, pain free Photoshop brush! Quickly

Want to know to make a simple Photoshop brush? It’s fairly straight forward, this short tutorial will have you making your custom brushes in no time!

Start with creating your brush, defining it and adding it to your palette! Lets draw a shape on black on a white background…

New Document

1 ) Open PS and make a new document – 300 x 300 px and 72 DPI for good measure, make sure the background is set to white.

Create Your Brush

2 ) Working in black and white (Shortcut ‘D’ for black and white) draw your brush shape (in black) onto your new document. For the sake of this tutorial I have made mine a solid brush.

Photoshop brush splat — **Create A Photoshop Brush**

Select The Brush

3 ) Either by using the marquee tool or Apple + ‘a’ to select all (CTRL + A for windows). If you have selected the brush you want to define, you can go to the next step! Make sure you have selected you brush artwork, this will basic act as stamp.

Define Brush

4 ) Go Edit > scroll down to ‘Define Brush Preset’ and click on it! label your brush, I called this one ‘blob’ and then click ‘OK’

You have created a brush in Photoshop!

Well done, you should now have designed your very own custom brush and saved it to your library. If you press F5 to look at your brush palette, you will see the brush you have just made listed at the bottom of your library.

Why not open a new document and test out your newly created Photoshop Brush, I hope you enjoy making more awesome brushes.

If you felt this was useful feel free to share on social media! If you need a Professional Designer experience in Photoshop with come and say hello!