PR People Aren’t Magicians: 5 Common Misconceptions About PR And Marketing

I may be biased but I fully believe that PR and marketing are absolutely vital for any product or game launch. A good marketing person will help you figure out how to best talk about your product in a way that will resonate and help it stand out as the beautiful and unique snowflake that it is. A good marketing plan will help you figure out what to showcase when, to whom, and all of the essential strategic elements that can really help make an impact.

But let’s get real for a minute or however long it takes you to read this post. Marketing people aren’t magicians (shocking, I know). I’ve heard a lot of strange misconceptions about what marketing and PR is or isn’t, and what it can or should be able to do for clients. The problem is that there are also some shady marketing folks out there perpetuating and furthering these weird misconceptions.

I thought it would be helpful to clear up some of the most common ones I’ve heard and talk about what a PR and marketing person simply can’t do. This post is most relevant to games, but is also applicable to other products and launches as well. So let’s get super honest here and clear some of these up.

A PR and marketing person cannot guarantee you press coverage.

Figured we’d jump in with the doozey, as this is the one I hear the most often and makes my face turn the brightest shade of red. Not to harp on my own profession but there are plenty of PR and marketing folks that will tell people exactly what they want to hear in this regard (e.g. “I can totally promise you a story in the NY Times or a video of your game on IGN”). I’ll let you in on a little secret… PR and marketing people simply can’t control this! The only way this is a sure thing and a guarantee is to pay for it (but that’s called advertising, not PR).

PR crafts the message and makes sure the message goes out to the right people at the right time in the right way. Yes, PR people have contacts and connections, but we can’t will those people into doing something they don’t want to do. The contacts we have often make it more likely that they’ll open an email or look at something we send, but it simply won’t force people into doing something they don’t want to do, or being interested in something they would otherwise find boring or unpolished just because they like us as people.

I’ve had plenty of new business calls where people ask for a guaranteed number of placements. What they’re looking for is a promise, and one that I (and most other qualified and good PR people) can’t and won’t make. It’s the equivalent of promising someone that their investments will increase by a certain number of dollars each year because you have some kind of guarantee on the stock market. You simply can’t predict that (unless you’re probably doing something illegal). You can set the odds in the favor for the best outcome, but that’s where the line is drawn. PR gives you a better chance of success but PR can’t ever promise you a placement or a certain number of them.

PR, even good PR, can’t make someone like your game.

PR can’t control if people like your game or product. My job is to do everything possible to get folks interested, and reach them in the right way with a compelling message. Once they download the game or try the product, there’s literally zero that a PR person can do to make them have a positive reaction to it. We can communicate the background information or the rationale behind decisions, but if the game simply isn’t good or has serious flaws, PR can’t fix that.

When I work with people, I try to point out things that folks might be likely to have a negative reaction to. These may include the price or the art style but ultimately, it’s the dev’s choice if they want to move forward with those decisions anyway.

Sometimes, people just don’t like things. It doesn’t feel great if you pour your heart into something and folks just don’t respond to it the way you’re hoping. I completely understand that. Ultimately though, it’s up to each individual to make their own choice on where they stand regarding the product or game they’ve received and PR has a limited control on that outcome.

PR people are people with feelings. Not just rolodexes of contacts.

I firmly believe that a relationship is much more beneficial and likely to be successful if we’re starting from a deeper place of understanding. This means that I get you, your game, and the deeper motivations behind it. That means you see me as a person, with feelings and not just a rolodex of contacts. I don’t believe that being utilized as only a media relations person or just conducting outreach on your behalf is the best use of your money, or my time.

This is something a lot of PR people will do, but I strongly believe that PR is SO much more than just contacts. If I work on something, believe in the premise, and fully understand it, I can do a much better job of communicating that to others. I also am much more likely to have success with the contacts I have and the outreach I conduct, if I really get you, and your game and we work together to set a strong plan.

Using PR for only the outreach component is one way to use PR, but in my opinion, a very weak one. By doing this and using PR for contacting media in isolation, you’re not using a PR person for the maximum potential or getting the most value out of the experience.

A PR person can’t replicate the success of another game launch.

I can’t even put into words how many times I’ve heard people say they believe they are the next Gone Home or Firewatch (to the point where I may even do another blog post on this at some point). Of course it makes sense that folks want to replicate the success these games. They are great, respected, well known, and award winning. But the truth is that you are your own beautiful and unique snowflake!

This is not to say that getting advice from other developers who have had success is a bad idea. In fact it can typically be very helpful and is often something I recommend to people. However, it’s important to remember that this is advice that worked for these developers, on their specific game, in the specific time they launched it. Which means their advice should be taken with a grain of salt and while they may have great insights, their advice may not be directly applicable to you. Following it blindly is often a terrible decision!

The same can be said about these games from a PR and marketing perspective. They had a lot going for them from the start like the talent and reputation of the teams who made them, and the innovation they presented for the time in which they launched. None of those things are repeatable ever again or by anyone else, even if we follow a similar strategy to them. Studying their success for lessons is good and important, but it’s even more important to note that it can’t be exactly replicated by anyone else.

When marketing your game, you should certainly look to other past successes as a guide, but make sure you’re thinking about your game as an individual product. What’s special about your game? (no it’s not special that the art reminds people of Firewatch, or that you’ve got a similar narrative to Gone Home). What’s actually unique about the thing you’re making? How is this element marketable? What can you do to capitalize on the specialness of this beautiful product you’ve created? Replicating something else simply isn’t the answer. No PR person can promise you the success of a past game on your current game because people are looking for something new, not a replica of a previously successful game!

PR can’t undo the mistakes you’ve already made.

By the time someone comes to me, they’ve often made a lot of decisions before marketing has even entered the picture. One of the reasons I stress the importance of involving a PR or marketing person early, is so we can cultivate a strategy and timeline together. I often get approached by folks who are determined to launch their game in a month from now, but haven’t told a single soul about it, have zero social media presence, and have never been to a convention. Or on the flip side, I get approached by folks who are launching far into the future but have already announced a launch date, which they’ve decided they need to move, and have showcased their launch trailer. PR, even good PR, can’t remove, fix, or somehow reverse these decisions you and your team have already made on your own.

Yes, PR can be good at helping you figure out the best way to handle these decisions, choices, and sometimes unpleasant changes you’ve previously made, but PR is great at helping you plan so you can avoid these types of problems in the first place.

So… After reading this list it might sound like what can PR actually do anyway? If you can’t get guaranteed placements or get people to for sure love your game, what is it that you’re paying for? This may be in the defense of my profession but in my opinion, you’re paying for so much for than that! I’ll do a longer post on the flip side of this post (aka what you can expect from a PR/marketing person), but you’re getting a myriad of things that are nearly impossible to have perspective on when you’ve been heads down working on a game for so long. Things like strategic advice, figuring out how to talk about your game in a way that will resonate, overall timing advice in terms of what to talk about when, how and to whom, contacting press on your behalf using the messaging and strategy that you created together, figuring out how to keep momentum going long term, being one step ahead of you in terms of planning, and someone to provide an honest outside perspective on what they think will work best for you.

I believe that PR and marketing works much better in collaboration and as a partnership when everyone has clear expectations of what marketing can and can’t do. Hope this helps clear up some of what I believe are the biggest misconceptions about PR and marketing (and no, your game still isn’t the next Firewatch!)

12 Real, Raw, And Heartfelt Things I’ve Learned In 2 Years Of Being A Grown-Ass Woman Running A Business

It’s been more than a year since I’ve written a blog, which means another year of running Spoke & Wheel Strategy full-time has passed. The good news is that it’s been a super productive, fulfilling, and busy year. The bad news is, it was so busy that blogs fell to the bottom of my priority list.

Writing blogs is something I truly enjoy, and something that folks have told me they really like reading. I plan on committing to doing them more consistently again. A year ago, I published a post about what I learned in my first year of running Spoke & Wheel Strategy. That got me to thinking that before I get back to sharing marketing and PR tips and tricks, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on the past year again.

So let’s talk about feelings, and more specifically my candid and sometimes long-winded thoughts and self-discoveries of what I’ve learned over the past year (or so) of running my business. I believe most of these are likely relatable and applicable to other business owners, folks thinking about starting their own business, or even just those with an entrepreneurial spirit:

Be open and honest even if it costs you business.

There’s lots of PR and marketing people who will tell you exactly what you want to hear. In fact, I’ve worked for some of them and I hated it because it felt incredibly inauthentic. When I started my business, I took a pledge to myself to always be upfront, candid, and honest with my clients or anyone considering working with me. This may just sound like “the right thing to do” but let me tell you, it’s not always easy. I’m lucky because the vast majority of people who work with me value that I have a very no-bullshit approach, and won’t just tell them what they want to hear.

However, I can guarantee that this has cost me business and left money on the table. The fact that I’ve told potential clients that I can’t promise them coverage, or I don’t know how many units they’ll sell, doesn’t always sit well. Some people seem to want a marketing person who simply builds up their egos, and quite frankly, that’s not what my business is about. I run my business with a mission to always be authentic while doing the best work I can. As a result, I find that this cultivates realistic expectations and creates stronger, truthful connections rooted in reality.

You’ll always think you’re about to fail.

My friends actually make fun of me because I’m so quick to pick an exact month and time of year that is going to be the “real” time I’ll fail. Failure for me is a huge fear, but it’s also an incredible motivator. I’ve come to realize that no matter how successful I am or how well things are going, I may just always think I’m on the brink of failure. Is this healthy? Probably not. But it certainly gives me hustle and drive in a way I’m not sure I’ve ever had as strongly before.

Breaks and weekends are important. Use vacations as real vacations.

I’m going to be honest. I suck at this. I spent most of 2016 working. This summer at a beach house? Working. On a trip with my family? Working. On planes? Working. Sundays? Forget it. Almost always working. I’m not great at setting boundaries and it’s something I’m still learning how to do.

I’ve seen what this kind of unrelenting, non-stop, zero break work schedule does. It doesn’t make you a superhero or a martyr. It makes you a potential shoe-in for burnout. I haven’t quite reached burnout, but I will just say that there were times I definitely went with minimal self care, certainly didn’t spend enough time with friends and family, and I also developed a back issue which may or may not be the result of overworking. I’m the type of person who wants to be constantly going, moving, doing, accomplishing. I’m happier when I’m busy, but I’m still learning the difference between healthy busy and #OMGWhatDidIDoToMyself busy.

Trust between client and marketing person is essential.

I don’t typically sign a non-disclosure agreement like a lawyer would or adhere to privacy laws like medical professionals. What I’ve come to realize though is that at times I feel like I’m 70 percent marketing person and 30 percent therapist. I’ve had people seek out advice about breakups, money issues, family problems, team problems, and so much more. In cultivating strong relationships with those I work with, I think it’s so important to have a mutual trust and respect. While therapist is certainly nowhere in my job title (nor would I advise anyone to give up their regular therapist), I think it shows the importance of cultivating a strong and trusting relationship with those I work with.

People actually don’t hate marketing as much as they used to.

This learning is particularly applicable to indie games. When I first started working with games five or six years ago, people on the whole had an incredibly sour taste in their mouth about marketing and PR. I encountered lots of “if a game is good it will sell itself” or “marketing is just a corporate thing to do” types of attitudes. In the past year or so, I’ve seen the overall attitude towards marketing and PR begin to shift. While there are still certainly many people who believe only in organic buzz (but really, what is that?), I’ve begun to sense that there’s a higher desire for marketing than there used to be. It could be due to the increased number of marketing people in games (competition is healthy, right?), or the fact that the games marketplace seems to just be getting more challenging. But overall, it seems that more people are embracing that PR and marketing is highly valuable.

This year at GDC, for the first time, when I told people what I did I had multiple people say “marketing is really important” and a couple even respond with, “your job is very hard”. I’m not kidding when I say I actually teared up. It blew my mind that multiple game devs responded like that, and it was an incredibly different response than I’ve gotten in the past. I think the wind is blowing in a new direction for PR and marketing, and I’m super glad to see that folks are seeing (or at least beginning to see) the value in it.

Valuing your own worth and ideas is crucial.

When I first started my business I would actually cry when I would send people invoices (a thing I can only admit now after a long time of no longer doing this). I felt so guilty charging people for my time and my work. When people would ask me my rate, I used to actually start sweating profusely. I took on projects for much lower than I should have because I thought that’s all I was worth. Now, almost two years later, I realize I have good ideas, and that I actually know what I’m doing as much as anyone can (does anyone really know what they’re doing?) I’m not perfect by any means at seeing my value, but I know I’ve added a lot to the people and teams I’ve worked with.

One of the major challenges with marketing and PR is that there are so many more intangibles than in many other roles. It can be hard to put a value on intangibles. I believe though that intangibles in life are actually some of the most powerful, and that’s a lot of what I can offer. I can’t code, and I certainly can’t draw, but I can help people feel things and communicate, something I now know shouldn’t be underestimated.

Take a step back from what you can’t control.

Because of all the intangibles in marketing and PR, there are many things that you can’t control. I can help my clients cultivate strategies, execute on the right tactics, understand their audience, and reach the right people, but beyond those things, there is a lot that I can’t control.

I can’t control whether a product does or doesn’t get written about, or if it is positively received. If I had that power, I’d be rich or a magician. I used to take on an immense amount of personal responsibility for things like this. I’d often cry if a client received a negative review on something (are you sensing a theme here with lots of tears?), but I now know to do the absolute best job with the things I can control, and let the rest go.

Don’t just follow the status quo.

Going against the grain doesn’t feel easy or natural. It would be so much simpler to do things the way everybody else is doing it, or the way it’s always been done. However, that doesn’t foster growth, individuality, and quite frankly, sometimes the way everyone’s always done it, just isn’t great.

For example, one thing I’ve taken a relatively public stand on is not comparing a game to other games. This can be a polarizing statement. Regardless of how you feel about it, you’ve probably seen countless people do it. Comparing your game to others is something I strongly disagree with as evidenced here.

This opinion isn’t necessarily a popular one. I could have chosen to adopt the status quo here and pitched most of the games I’ve worked with as an X meets Y but better because of Z. I just don’t believe this is good practice, and I don’t believe it works. If you feel strongly about something, defying the status quo and taking a stand is good. Standing for something is important. I’d way rather stand for what I believe in than what everybody else believes.

Competition is scary but can be good.

When I first started working in games in some capacity, there were a very small number of people doing marketing or PR for games. Being new to it myself at the time, I didn’t realize just how rare it was or that what I was doing was actually unique. Over the last few years I’ve seen lots of other marketing and PR shops pop up. Other marketing companies, freelancers, or people who just decide to start working on games in a marketing and PR capacity are now much more numerous. I would say I’ve seen this number start to rapidly take off over the last year or so. Some of these people are my friends and immensely talented, but there’s nothing that will make you question your own future viability like competition. Although competition can be scary, it also increases awareness among folks of the need for PR and marketing. There’s now more people advocating for it than ever before, and this is a huge positive that definitely outweighs the negative.

Small wins are big wins.

As a small company, there aren’t really days where I think, “okay I’m good. I accomplished all the things now.” The longer I’ve run my business though, the more I’ve noticed growth in my own skills and abilities, and the ability to recognize them, which I think is just as a valuable, if not more. I’m very guilty of accomplishing something and not even taking a second to notice before moving on to something else. Not only does it diminish your accomplishment, but it also makes it very hard to ever be in the moment.

Recently I gave a talk and felt much more comfortable and confident standing in front of a room of people. In the past, I would have glossed over that or passed it off as nothing, but I actually took a moment to acknowledge that a feeling of confidence and improvement in my public speaking abilities was an accomplishment. I think acknowledgement of your own success is an accomplishment in and of itself.

Get comfortable with discomfort.

Hi! I’m type-A. Very type-A. I’m a to-do list queen, I make obsessive finance sheets, and am the type of person who makes restaurant reservations months in advance. Running a business is filled with uncertainty and isn’t always an instinctual natural fit for my personality. I like plans, promises, and guarantees, none of which running a business has. I’m not comfortable with discomfort or super okay with the uncertainty that running a business brings.

But the truth is, it’s pushing me beyond what I thought I was capable of. I love the growth in myself and I love what I get to do for a living. I’ve always wanted to lead a life that was full of passion. This business and what I do, is something I’m incredibly passionate about. I’m so happy I’m living a life full of challenge and the meaning I make for myself, not one that a corporate office tells me I should have. It’s scary, daunting, and intimidating, but also incredibly rewarding and fulfilling.

Overall, it’s been a year of ups, downs, lots of life lessons, and incredible opportunities. I’m so thankful for the people I work with, what I get to do every day, and the fact that I get to do it almost exclusively in spandex. I’m excited to see what another year of Spoke & Wheel Strategy has in store!

Lessons From A Year Of Spoke & Wheel Strategy

Next month marks a year of Spoke & Wheel Strategy. I can’t believe that this idea, this figment of my imagination, has been a reality for almost a year now. It’s been an incredibly growth-inducing, challenging, difficult, and rewarding experience full of plenty of ups and downs.

As my first blog after a long hiatus, I thought I’d share some key things I’ve learned and gathered over the past (almost) year. While these are specific to me, they should be applicable to most people with entrepreneurial spirits, or who run their own business of any kind:

• Hire a lawyer to write your contracts and make everyone sign one: Unfortunately, this was one of those expenses that I tried to skimp on while starting a business. I figured I could emulate a contract just fine and that most people were trustworthy. The thing is, most people are trustworthy but once in a while you’ll find one that’s not. And if you don’t have an iron clad contract in place, it’s a lot harder to get paid. This lesson only needed to happen once for me to buck up and find a lawyer to write me a thorough, detailed contract that fits my needs and can be customized for various circumstances. This is certainly one of those not-fun business expenses, but I’ve found that it’s an absolute essential.

• The power of loose connections: In grad school, I went to a lecture called “The Power of Lose Ties” all about how people you meet but aren’t necessarily close with will often serve as your biggest advocates and most valuable sources of business. I sort of brushed it off at the time, but turns out that it couldn’t be closer to the truth. When you start a business, you expect (or at least I did) your closest friends in similar businesses or with influential connections to be ready to jump in and give you referrals and point people in your direction. Turned out this isn’t how it happened for me at all. Not to say my friends weren’t there to listen to me rant or to cheer me on with moral support, but the vast majority of my referrals over this past year came from people I’ve met briefly at a convention, talked to on Twitter, or worked with once or twice. These loose connections have turned out to be incredibly valuable from a business perspective, more than I ever could have imagined. It shows the importance of putting yourself out there and meeting new people and not placing your trust in the wrong places. You never know where your next opportunity will come from.

• It’s okay to say no: When I first started the business, I felt like I needed to say yes to absolutely everything. I felt like opportunities might not come my way in the future and I needed to take on absolutely everything I could. In some ways this is great. It forced me to dive in headfirst and really challenge myself. However, it wasn’t long before I felt like I was carrying the world on my shoulders. I was working 75-80 hours a week and feeling totally overwhelmed. I’m someone who thrives on being busy, but this was too much, even for me. I also felt like I needed to say yes to projects that were totally unreasonable (aka get this launch out the door for me by tomorrow). I’ve learned that if something seems like it will compromise you, your integrity, or your morale, it’s okay and good to say no.

• Don’t compromise your integrity: I pride myself on being a person with a strong moral compass but being in business, the question of integrity is something that will be tested over and over again. Working in the field of marketing (and having worked for other marketing companies), it would be incredibly easy to tell people what they often want to hear, which is often something along the lines of “You’ve made the best product/game/idea ever and it’s going to go totally viral and blow up. You’re definitely going to sell millions of these in the first month alone/” I know you’re probably thinking “Do people actually want to hear that?” The answer often is “Y-E-S!” I’ve actually heard former companies that I’ve worked for say things almost identical to this to potential clients when there was no way they were going to be able to deliver on their promises. I swore to myself that this was something I would never do if I worked for myself. It’s hard not to tell people just what they want to hear and I’m sure it’s cost me business, but in order to sleep at night, I need to make sure both future and current clients’ expectations are reasonable. I simply won’t just tell people what they want to hear in order to make a buck. Sticking to this is hard, harder than you might think because people often don’t like hearing the truth if it’s anything less than glowing. But I strongly believe keeping your integrity intact is much more important than keeping your bank account happy (although that’s nice, too).

• Your ideas are worth money: I’m in the marketing and strategy business, which means I’m also in the ideas business. Ideas aren’t things you can hold and they’re certainly not a tangible thing you can see, but that doesn’t make them any less valuable. The most valuable companies like Google, Apple, and Netflix all started as ideas that were brought to life. Ideas, strategies, and marketing tactics are a huge part of the business ecosystem and needed to be treated as such. One thing I’ve faced (and I’m assuming anyone in this kind of work faces) is others not seeing the value of ideas and wanting them for free or at an incredibly low cost. Not only is it insulting, but it’s diminishing the power of what ideas can do. Ideas provide business plans, strategies for growth, ways to grow awareness and reach new people, ways to increase cash flow, how to support causes you care about and so much more. It’s not just an idea, ideas are the basis of everything and it’s something that deserves compensation.

• Your worth is not your work: This is something I know to be true, but still haven’t fully learned how to take in yet. I love what I do and I care about it very, very much. The vast majority of time is spent at work so it’s hard not to translate how you feel about your work into all other aspects of your life. I’m trying to accept that if something doesn’t go well at work, that doesn’t mean I’m a horrible person and if something goes great, that also doesn’t mean I’m an amazing person. I’m striving to remember that despite feeling entrenched in my work and passionate about it, I’m also a human outside of that. My worth is more than how much money I make or how many clients I currently have.

• The importance of self-care: Self-care is a relatively new term for me. Because I love being busy and thrive on the energy of constantly working, self-care is something I’ve really never considered before. But this summer when I was working 75+ hours every week, I realized I was forgetting to eat, I would go days without going to the gym, sometimes I would forget to shower (TMI?). I wasn’t taking time to talk to my friends, in fact, I wasn’t really seeing anyone outside of doing my job because I was so incredibly busy. There’s a weird sense of pride associated with being so busy you don’t have time for anything else. It gives you a false sense of importance. But after months of taking on this routine, I realized this was not good. I needed to prioritize taking some time out for myself or I would eventually combust. Constantly working at this speed without taking even ten minutes a day to take a walk was just not going to cut it. Working some forms of self-care into my routine is something I’m still working on, but I’m definitely aware of how important this is for my own wellbeing.

• Work with people who intrinsically respect and understand what you do: Last week I was on a phone call and the person on the other side of the phone said “I understand PR takes time and hard work, so I completely understand that we’re looking at least six months of work here.” I actually paused and thought to myself “I think that’s one of the rare times that someone actually acknowledged the amount of time and work that good PR takes. Whoa.” It was refreshing and at the same time scary to realize that this is often the exception and not the norm. It’s made me reflect back on this past year and look at the times I’ve taken on projects where the client has worked to understand and respect what I do versus times where I’ve had experiences where people want what they want when they want it without any understanding or respect for my time. It’s a huge difference in terms of the way a working relationship can go. I feel more at ease and more able to deliver my absolute best work product when people respect the hard work that I do, which in turn makes for a great working relationship. My goal is to try and flip the ratio so that I spend more time with people who truly value what PR and marketing can bring to the table.

• Business ebbs and flows: Having only been in business on my own for (almost) a year, I’m still learning the patterns of busy times of year vs. not busy times. It seems like it’s almost impossible to have a steady stream of 9-5 work, like in a “normal” job. I’ve found that things are either totally crazy, or very quiet. I’m learning that the time of year greatly affects people’s needs and where they often are in the process of wanting to work with someone. I’ve definitely guessed my months wrong (aka December will be slow so you can totally take a vacation = bad idea) but I’m still learning what times of year will be busy versus slow and to plan for a totally inconsistent schedule overall.

• People avoid conflict and saying no: This has been by far one of the most, if not the most frustrating thing about being in business over the past year. I’ve spent a lot of time working on new business throughout the year, which can be a super fun and rewarding process. It’s enjoyable to get to know new people, form new relationships, and begin to think about possibilities of how I can add value to their team or bring new ideas to the table. However, new business takes a tremendous amount of time. It’s a lot of work and it’s work that I’m happy to do. When I talk with people about potentially working with me, they are of course in no way, shape, or form required to move forward with hiring me or using a PR or marketing person at all. However, I can’t tell you the amount of times that I’ve spent a great deal of time with someone on the front end or working on a proposal (anywhere from 5-40 hours typically) when they seemingly fall off the face earth, never to be heard from again. I’m assuming at this point they’ve decided to not use a PR or marketing person, save the money, or to go in another direction. All totally acceptable answers. I can’t say I wouldn’t be disappointed if someone told me no, but I always respect it. One of the hardest things to learn and accept is that this type of thing happens a lot and will continue to happen a lot. In the meantime, I’m working on refining my new business process to hopefully mitigate this a bit and trying to not take this so personally.

• You get less (real) time off working for yourself: At my last full-time job I had ten vacation days. I felt very limited in my ability to actually take time off to travel and to do things I wanted to do. But, while I was gone, there was someone covering my emails and answering my calls. In working in client services and owning your own business, there’s no one else there to do this for you. If you take a vacation, that often means you’re missing emails or not getting paid. If an emergency happens, you have to answer the phone. If someone’s launching their game during your vacation, you’ve got to launch it. It’s been an interesting shift in perception but I’m still determined to go to Italy this year!

• I’m substantially happier when I’m very busy: Being busy is a funny thing. Almost everyone I know (myself included) often complains “I’m so busy” as if it’s a bad thing, but a thing that they still want everyone to know about. It’s almost turned into a form of a #humblebrag as if to say, if you’re not busy, then you’re not doing anything worthwhile. I read an article years ago called “The Busy Trap” In the NY Times all about how being busy is actually a metric we use to gage success. For me, I’ve noticed an intrinsic correlation between how busy I am and how happy I am, and I think it is a measure of success for me. I’m a much happier person when I’m super engaged in my work, taking in projects I’m passionate about, and working with clients who value me and what I bring to the table. While I’ve always noticed how much I love being busy, I’ve never seen it have such a profound effect on my happiness as a whole. What I’m trying to learn is how to find the line between being a good level of busy and being able to maintain a life outside of work.

• The only thing that’s certain is uncertainty: I’m a type-A person to a tee. I don’t typically like surprises and make a to-do list of what I need to get done every single day. Friends make fun of me for making dinner plans a month or more in advance. For me, adapting to a totally unpredictable lifestyle has been a huge learning experience and a big challenge. My day-to-day activities change constantly, and I can’t always predict what I’m going to be doing next month, next week, or even tomorrow. It’s been an incredibly refreshing and immensely challenging way for me to look at life due this conflict with my innate personality traits. But I’m learning that the only way to stay sane is to realize that the only thing constant is uncertainty.

So far, as a whole, I’m feeling like this year’s been incredibly rewarding. It’s been tough, challenging, and there may have been some days I wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out again. But what a learning experience and what a ride. I’ve gotten to meet so many smart, talented people and have learned more in this one year than I have in several past years combined. It hasn’t been easy but it’s been incredibly fulfilling and rewarding.

Onwards and upwards!

How Not To Talk About Your Game

One of the things I hear developers struggle with most is simply figuring out a way to talk about their game. And more than that, the struggle isn’t just talking about the game, but figuring out how to talk about it in a way that’s clear, concise, interesting and makes it stand out.

When you’re knee deep in a project for months or even years, it so hard to see the big picture. However, over and over again I see people fall into the same trap: instead of figuring out their game’s “elevator pitch” or a compelling way to talk about it, they simply compare it to other games. “Have you played X or Y? My game is similar to that but has a bit more action and pixel art.” I’ve heard this kind of thing more times than I can count, but talking about your game by leading with another is almost always a bad idea.

Think about it. Have you ever heard a speaker at an award ceremony introduce someone by comparing them to someone else? “Introducing Amy Schumer, who is kind of like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler but newer,” or a designer introduce their fashion collection by comparing it to another designer. “Yeah, I take all of Marc Jacob’s designs and then make it darker and cleaner for my own aesthetic.” Nope, just doesn’t happen.

However, I definitely do understand the motivations behind doing this kind of comparison in the game industry. For one thing, it often instantly gets people to understand a portion of what your game is or what you are going for. It also provides a way for you to talk about your game without actually having to figure out how to talk about it. Also, if you choose a game that is really awesome to compare yourself to, maybe you will align yourself with that and have some rub-off effect. But in reality, leading with a comparison simply doesn’t allow your game to stand on its own merits.

Chances are you’ve poured your heart and soul into your game. You want people to think it’s something unique and special, and see all of the nuanced details that you’ve spent months or years working tirelessly on. But by leading with a comparison, all people will see is that: the comparison. It doesn’t allow your game to stand out for what you’ve worked so hard on: an idea that is all your own.

Now, I’m not saying that comparing is always and forever a bad idea. I’m simply saying don’t lead with it. Introduce your game with its own unique elevator pitch. Talk about what you are most proud of and excited about and highlight the elements of gameplay that can’t necessarily be found in other games.

If your game has an organic comparison (e.g. it invokes the emotional or mechanical feel of a previously successful game) that’s great. Let people come to this conclusion on their own. They will feel smart for making that leap and you will still get the comparison you are going for.

So how do you not fall into this trap? First, you should always be doing research during your development process so you are aware of what else is on the market. That’s a given. Before you start publicly talking about your game, you should develop an elevator pitch. To do this, start by thinking about some simple but key questions:

• What’s most unique about my game?

• What can my game offer that people can’t get from other places?

• What do I want people to take away from this gameplay experience?

Use this framework to begin thinking about what actually sets your game apart. Then work to craft it into something simple and clear that you can share with people at conventions or when you begin to do your press outreach for launch. If your game really elicits a comparison (which I would always refer to as inspiration as opposed to a ‘similar to’ verbiage,) follow up with that after people have been introduced first to why your game is different from anything else out there.

If you are comparing across industries or mediums, this changes things a bit. Comparing a game to another game is a bit like comparing children. No one would ever say “My second child is exactly like my first but a bit funnier and taller.” But as an example of someone who did this correctly (not in the games medium,) take Oyster, a digital book rental service who called themselves “the Netflix of books.” Now, I’m not sure how they legally got away with calling out Netflix (that’s neither here nor there,) but this comparison is simple, compelling and takes something—in this case unlimited video streaming—and applies it to a new medium: reading. This is interesting and gets you to shift your frame of reference. This quirky and simple reframing resulted in huge word of mouth value for Oyster’s launch.

Don’t be afraid to pull inspiration from unlikely places. Taking something from elsewhere and reframing the way people think about it can be interesting if done strategically.

Bottom Line: Your game should stand on its own merits. Always plan out how to best talk about your game before making the leap publicly. And don’t ever lead by comparing your game to another game.

Putting An End To The Short-Term Cycle

It sounds obvious that short-term goals help us with things right now, and long-term goals set us up for the future. But the fact of the matter is that as a society, we are incredibly impatient. We hate lines, we hate waiting, and we want everything right now at this very moment.

Why invest money in the future when you won’t even see the return on investment for years to come? Why focus on future initiatives when you have current looming deadlines? Because I see time and time again that planning for the future is a key driver in success. Yes, you should live each moment as if it were your last, but live each day in your work life by thinking ahead.

For example, when you’re launching a game, as much as it’s hard to see, it’s not just about that game. Do you want this to be the last game you ever make? Chances are, probably not, and that you likely want to use this game to help propel you forward so that you can continue to do what you love well into the future. That means each and every game launch is about so much more than just that game. It’s about future planning, how you will use this launch to shape who you are in the future, and how you will continue to form relationships and talk about what you do.

For a new business or product, just because you can grow your business incredibly fast doesn’t mean you should. Spend some time thinking about who you want to be as your company grows without just rushing to make choices because you are under time constraints.

Having worked with a large variety of clients ranging from game developers to start-ups to well-established companies, I see this mistake being made time and time again: people are incredibly short-term focused. One of my biggest PR and marketing advice tidbits I would offer to anyone is to put an end to that cycle and begin to really consider the future. Even just doing this alone will put you far ahead of the competition and help you differentiate.

It’s easy to look at a success story and see how it came out of the woodwork, as if it happened overnight. And occasionally, this really is true. But most of the time, successful people have been working behind-the-scenes for an extended period of time to make things happen and just made it look easy in retrospect.

We’re all inundated with work and deadlines and don’t have any time to think about what we even plan on eating for lunch that day (I’m guilty of this myself.) You know that pesky question you get asked on job interviews about “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Take some time and think about it and set some real long-term goals with action items for how to get there.

Thinking about long-term goals is particularly frustrating without knowing when the product will be done or in working with a small budget, as the vast majority new businesses and indie developers are. When you only have limited funds, it’s so easy and natural to focus on spending all your dollars on what will get you the most bang for your buck right now. Because of limited resources, short versus long-term goals often get pitted against each other because you believe they’re mutually exclusive. But they don’t have to be!

So how do you deal with this?

The ideal scenario, in my opinion, is to maximize your success now and your future success by divvying up your funds and your initiatives between both short-term and long-term goals. Don’t compromise either at the expense of the other. But in order to do this, it’s important to start with one very essential step many often miss among the hustle and bustle of launching their next product: spend some serious time thinking about your long-term goals and specific action items to get there. I mean think about this beyond just I want to launch this game. What do you want to be known for and really, where do you want to be next year?

Outline where you are now and be honest with yourself. What are your strengths and weaknesses and where do you see future opportunities for you to grow? Despite what game or product you are putting out in the near future, create a yearly plan and set aside a definitive amount of dollars to help you accomplish your goals and action items that help you build your future, beyond just your next launch.

Start with baby steps. I think starting with even planning just six months out will surprise you in how much it cuts time in the future by knowing where you want to be and helping you make quick decisions for now and for later.

Being deliberate in your long-term plans and your roadmap for how to get there will help you be smarter about your short-term decisions, too. This way, you can look at the bigger picture and maximize your time, energy and resources efficiently by knowing what’s on the horizon.

WHY PR CAN’T FIX YOUR BAD PRODUCT

In previous blog posts, I’ve elaborated on what I believe PR is and why it can be incredibly powerful. I think PR can be highly beneficial for the majority of folks that use it effectively, and that good PR can go a really long way in improving your image, visibility, and most importantly, your long-term sales.

But let’s get one very important thing straight. PR people aren’t magicians. We can’t pull things from the sky and we can’t fake things that don’t exist. If your product isn’t good, innovative, or interesting, even really good PR can’t fix it.

At the end of the day it’s up to you, the creator, to produce something awesome and amazing. With the tech industry in particular evolving at a lightning pace like we’ve never seen before, thousands of new products, apps, and games are released every week. Competition is fierce, and there are many products that are super innovative, and likely just as innovative as yours.

Do your research. Look at what else is out there early on in the process. Do your due diligence. Then don’t stop. Continue to research and evolve accordingly. However, this isn’t just about competitive research. Take a step back and evaluate. Ask yourself if what you are making is something you are proud of and be honest. Make sure the product you are putting out, whatever it is, is truly something that you stand behind one hundred percent.

Chances are that you probably think the thing you’re making is good because well, you’re making it. The further along you are in the process, the more biased you likely are. The more you work on something, the more emotional investment you have and the harder it is to look at your work objectively. Ask for feedback from people you trust to be totally transparent with you along the way. This can often be invaluable in creating something awesome.

I mentioned before that good PR should be authentic, which is something that I wholeheartedly believe. That’s why at the heart of every good PR campaign is a great product. Asking a PR person to represent a shoddy, boring, unpolished or just a plain bad product is begging for inauthenticity.

When you engage in utilizing a PR person, welcome honesty and feedback. From my own personal perspective, I try to be very honest in giving clients my feedback and recommendations, even if it’s not what they want to hear. I’m often very transparent if I believe a product doesn’t look polished or could use some work because more than anything, I want the people I work with to succeed. Competition is incredibly tough for visibility, word-of-mouth, and press coverage. By having a truly amazing product, you’ve already accomplished half the battle.

In reality, PR people can only do the best with the hand that they were dealt. I try my best to only take on products and projects that I believe in. Sometimes I end up working with someone very late in the process and am asked to do shotgun PR for products that are near launch (I definitely don’t recommend this process.) In this case, there are hundreds or even thousands of decisions that have been made before I’ve even entered the scene. Some I may agree with, and some I may not, but regardless, this is the hand I was dealt. I hear from other PR pros that they often find themselves in very similar situations. This is not maximizing your PR person or capitalizing on their potential and the value they could bring to the table.

If you already released your trailer video or announced your launch date months before your launch, your PR person can’t undo this. They can help you navigate this and mitigate any problems that arise, but again, PR people aren’t magicians and can’t make things disappear (although I would personally love a top hat or a cape.) This is why it’s always best to engage in working with a PR person early.

Good PR people understand the industry, know what’s newsworthy and what isn’t, and what strategies and timing makes sense for you to get the best results. It’s true that there are never one hundred percent guarantees in PR but why not stack the deck in your favor? Start early. Encourage honesty. Work as partners and collaborate with your PR or marketing person. But most importantly, do everything you can to make the most amazing product you can possibly dream up.

When Is A Good Time To Start Talking About Your Game?

A few weeks ago I asked on Twitter what questions people had about PR or marketing. One that I was asked a couple of times was when the best time is to start talking about your game publicly and how to do it. This blog post is obviously specifically related to games, but the guidelines in this post could be applicable to almost any start-up, small business, or product launch.

The thing about this question is that there simply is no right answer or generic thing to do. Every game should have a different timeline and strategy. However, there are some general questions you should ask yourself and guidelines to follow:

Be realistic about your timeline

Is your game going to take five years to make? Is it a small mobile game? How soon you should talk about it often depends on the size of your undertaking and the anticipated timeline. It’s almost a running joke in the games industry that things are consistently delayed. Be realistic with yourself about your timeline and goals (and then likely double it.) If your game is going to be in development for a long time, it is important to let people know about it relatively early on. The general rule of thumb is that the longer your game will be in development, the sooner you should talk about it and the more you should say.

I say this with the caveat that if you are working on a game for five years, it’s okay to wait a while before saying anything. Make sure it’s something you want to align yourself with and that you are excited to share with others. Be smart and thoughtful in how you do it. Plan it out. You don’t have to tell the world the day you start on a new project. It’s okay and good to have some suspense and mystery for a while.

Be strategic with your timeline in mind

Gamers love to feel like they are a part of the development process, and like seeing your game being made behind-the-scenes. There’s also no secret that going to conferences and showcasing your game can be a huge help in terms of marketing and visibility. However, I also strongly advise against telling people too much too early until you have realistically thought through the development process and have very real concrete goals in place.

Once you put something out there on the internet (a video, a screenshot, a tweet), it’s out and you can’t take it back. Based on your realistic timeline, start thinking about what aspects of your game to reveal when, how to reveal them, and what to say along the way. Although it may seem like successful game developers just tweet or post whatever is on the mind, many of them have followed a long-term and thought out strategy for what to talk about when. Some developers have had great success doing a daily devblog, being totally transparent throughout their development process. This is a strategy as well that if executed intelligently, can help build a strong loyal following of your game early on.

Generally though, don’t put all your cards out on the table too early. If you release a final launch trailer four months before launch, you better have a really well thought out plan for what you are going to talk about and still have plenty to say leading up to launch coupled with a really innovative way to do it. Remember though that just because you are waiting to show or say certain things doesn’t mean you should be waiting to think about your marketing and PR strategies and tactics.

On the flip side of showcasing too early, don’t finish your game, set a final launch date, and then think that just talking about your game in the two weeks leading up to launch will cut it as a successful strategy.

Not all games are created equal

Some games lend themselves perfectly to being shown at conferences. If you’re working on a large local multiplayer game, getting out there and showcasing at every opportunity you can is probably a good idea. If you’re working on a small mobile puzzle game, the strategy for talking and showcasing your game should be very different and it is often better to hold off until closer to launch. Don’t assume that the strategy that worked for someone else will work for you. Tailor what you do to your game, your goals, and what makes the most sense for you.

Twitter is an amazing tool, but please don’t spam people

I’m not going to delve too deeply into how to talk about your game publicly, because I’ll save that for another post. However, it is worth pointing out that Twitter is an extremely powerful resource. It’s a great way to get quick real-time feedback and to connect with other developers in the indie community. You should use this tool regularly and often. However, there’s no better way to lose friends faster than to only start talking to people shortly before your game comes out and to only talk about your game. Show that you are a human. Build and cultivate real connections with people. If you do that, Twitter is an awesome way to showcase your game as you are working on it and to get real and honest feedback that can be invaluable to the development process.

Don’t announce a release date until your game is finished and approved

Seriously. Don’t do it. Just don’t. There are so many times when something unexpected can come up, delaying the launch date. This is particularly true for mobile, where Apple can often be unpredictable. If you’re launching a PC game, I also strongly recommend finishing your game first before announcing a launch date. Here’s why:

Again, once you say something, it’s out there. I totally understand that games are delayed all the time. But from a marketing perspective, it really dilutes your game, your message, and your brand to say something and have to go back out to everyone with a “we’re delayed” message. It takes the focus away from what you want–the awesomeness of your game–and puts it on “why can’t these people follow through?” Do everything you can in your power to hold off on saying a date until you are as sure as you possibly can be.

When talking to people about launch, it’s okay to be vague, or to say you don’t know yet, or to give a rough estimate (sometime in 2015) about your launch until you know more. It’s better to do this than to say a launch date and then change it three times. If you do say a launch date, work to make it happen.

Finish first. Then wait.

You should be thinking about marketing and PR as well as your strategy the whole time you are in development of your game. This is definitely not something to save until the final stretch. However, a habit I see over and over again is game developers trying to finish their game in conjunction with launch and enacting marketing at the same time. In my opinion, it is much better, less hectic, and often way more strategic to finish your game, submit, and then pause for a moment. Remember that no one else publicly has to know your timeline until you say it out loud. I totally understand that when you’re finished with the game, you are proud of it and can’t wait to get it out there. But often, it’s better to have a finished game so that you aren’t so overwhelmed with working on the game and thinking about everything else at the same time.

In hitting the pause button for a moment, you’re able to think through your next steps, announce a launch date, and then use the time to showcase the game to get people amped up before launch.

Remember that a “buy now” link is very powerful

Building hype before your launch is good and often very important. However, it’s crucial to remember that games press and the games market in general are very inundated and saturated. If an awesome article comes out about your game five months before launch, people simply aren’t checking the App Store everyday in the interim to see if it is now available. You have to make sure to remind them when it’s coming and when it’s officially available. This is another reason I tell people not to show all their cards too early.

Even if you get some amazing hype and excitement leading up to your launch, you have to make it very easy for people to buy the game once it is actually available. Because of this, having a lot of attention surrounding your launch is very, very important. There’s nothing like a link through to your Steam page from a streamer or a huge feature article with a link-through to purchase to motivate people to buy.

I wish I had a magic generic formula for how and when to start talking about your games (actually, I don’t because then I’d be out of a job), but I do think keeping all of these things top-of-mind when planning a game launch is essential. It’s important to remember that although the last five percent of your PR and marketing should likely garner the most results and visibility, it should be something you think about all along the way.

Why You (Yes, Even You) Are A Brand

There’s a lot of hate towards the word “brand.” It’s one of those corporate stuffy words that people either love to hate or desperately want to be (i.e. “we want to be a power brand”) and often end up trying to do in a contrived way. The reality is, at the end of the day whether you want to be or not, or whether you’re an individual with a small business or a CEO of a Fortune 500, you are a brand. It’s time to accept and own this and not interpret it as becoming a corporate sellout.

From a corporate standpoint, let’s be real for a minute. Do most people pay $100.00 for spandex at Lululemon because they are actually better? Maybe a little bit, but people are buying into the brand and the lifestyle. Who wouldn’t want to envision their life in a lush green field lifting their spandex-clad and extremely flexible leg to the sky?

What about Whole Foods? It’s no secret when you shop there that you’re getting some needless markups. But Whole Foods has convinced us all (myself included) that we’re getting a much more natural, healthy product. Do they have more healthy options? Sure. But much of the food sold at Whole Foods has just as many nasty ingredients as what you might find at your local grocery store chain. We’ve fallen in love with the brand and what it means for us as a result of shopping there.

Now what about you as an individual? Do you create indie games or apps? Have you launched a Kickstarter? Are you seeking venture capital funding? Looking to change jobs? Are you someone who breathes? Great! You’re a brand.

When you leave the corporate world to start your own business venture, chances are the last thing you want to do is have to fit into some brand identity box. But you don’t have to.

Literally, your brand can be whatever you want it to be as long as you’re consistent, true to yourself, and authentic.

Do people buy what you’re selling because they think it’s cool or of value to them? Hopefully, yes. Are you much more likely to have a bigger following and garner more substantial long-term results if people care about you as a person and what you represent? A million times yes.

It’s important to remember that there are thousands of barriers to purchase anything these days due to a few key reasons:

• People don’t know about it

• Every market is oversaturated and inundated

• They don’t know why they should care or why they should spend money on you (even $0.99 is a perceived risk).

You can stand out and overcome most of these barriers just by being you, being true to yourself, and sharing what makes you human with others. It’s important to remember that the biggest motivator for people buying things, doing things, saying things etc. is the meaning it gives to them by being a part of it. People love being a part of something that resonates with them and their values.

It’s a fact that people love to label everything. The second you start a new venture, people are already placing it into a category. As humans, this is how we make sense of the world. Whether you like it or not, people are going to define you as something. You can and should take control of the conversation and define your brand for yourself, instead of letting others do this for you. Be who you are instead of letting others define you and tell you who you should be.

Do you hate the word brand? Do you never want to talk about anything that you do seriously and only use the internet to make jokes? Fine. That is your brand. Own it.

Do you care deeply about social issues and spend your time being active in your community to fight for what you believe in? Great. That’s awesome and a super cool thing to tell people about as part of who you are!

These are things that you’re already doing, are authentic to you, and will help people care about the other things you do (you know, the things you need to do to make money.) People care about other people and companies who have interesting stories and who have similar values and beliefs.

So yes, you can erase that corporate stuffy version of what a “brand” actually is. On a smaller, more personal scale a brand should be:

• Deciding what you believe in and what you stand for.

• Figuring out a way to talk about yourself and what you do in a way that feels true to you.

• Working to communicate this regularly and in an authentic way that benefits you and the people you care about.

• Being consistent in who you are and what you stand for. Following through on what you say you will do.

Be who you are. Own it. Be proud of it and share it. That’s your brand. Reinterpret what a brand can, should, and has to be. Just because the word brand contains the letters b-a-d, doesn’t mean it has to be a bad thing.

So What Is PR, Anyway?

Sex in the City ruined it for us all. It introduced Samantha, a glamorous PR executive that convinced hoards of teenagers that being in PR meant fancy parties, celebrity events, and red carpets. In reality, this is very far from the truth (for most of us, anyway) and as a result, created even more confusion surrounding what PR is. I have to admit, straight out of college even I thought PR would be much fancier than it actually is. This immediately ended when I found myself working for a PR agency in NYC chasing a celebrity who disappeared from an event and carrying pounds of bags of ice down the New York City streets in the rain.

Last week on this blog I tried to dispel some common myths of PR but then it dawned on me that I never actually explained what I believe PR is and how it can help. After working in this industry for multiple years and going to grad school for marketing, I often wrongfully assume that a majority know what it means. On the flip side, I often hear people claim things to be PR that aren’t, or completely miss the mark about what it is. The important thing to remember here is that good PR is very different from just doing PR at all. It’s also important to note that if good PR is happening, often times, you as a consumer won’t even realize it. For example, did you know that Kale (yes, the cult superfood) hired a PR agency?

PR stands for public relations after all, so at a very, very basic level and in a highly simplified way, it’s how a brand interacts and engages with “its public.” This sounds super contrived, but really, “public” can mean anything from consumers in real life (events, conferences etc.) or in the digital space. It’s also working to get messages out to the right people, at the right time, in the right way (yes, there are a lot of things that have to go right.) Above all though, it’s helping people reach their long-term goals and creating a strong authentic brand strategy to do just that.

Just like the rest of the world, PR has evolved very quickly and has changed rapidly, especially in the past few years. There’s no way to explain an entire complicated ecosystem of an industry in one blog post, but I will do my best to summarize my thoughts on it.

In further explaining what I believe PR is, it might be helpful to first start with what it is not.

Good PR is not:

• Casting a wide net and targeting anyone and everyone with a working email address

• Just sending emails, period

• Focusing on and talking about product features and benefits

• Short-term oriented

• Done in isolation

• Lying or deceptive

• The answer to a shoddy product

• Just taking things as they are without exploring at a deeper level

• One-size-fits all

Good PR is:

• Strategic: PR starts way before media receives an email (or at least it should.) A good PR person will begin by talking to you about both your PR and business goals. They will begin from the top and funnel inward and won’t just take your word for it. They will do some digging and ask you some deeper level questions that will make you think about things differently. They will then take this information to understand who you are, what your values are, and how they can best help you reach your goals.

• Storytelling: This word is overused, but there’s truly no better way to say it. The media and the world, really) is inundated with new ideas and products daily, sometimes multiple times a day. People care about things they can connect with on a deeper level beyond the surface. Often your most valuable asset is you. Yes, you created a cool product, idea, app, or game, but what motivated you, who are you, and why is the world better because you created it?

• Objective: When you have been spending months or even years working on something, it’s hard for you to remain objective or even tell what the most important or newsworthy part of what you are doing is. A good PR person will be honest with you and tell you what is important, what isn’t, and what will resonate best.

• Authentic: This goes back to one of the most common misconceptions people have of PR. Can it be deceptive? Sure. But good PR is honest and tells who you really are.

• Powerful: Recently I have had several people ask me for a guaranteed number of media placements. Yes, I am results-oriented, very much so. But I’m going to be honest here, if you want a guaranteed number, you should be utilizing advertising, not PR. There’s no surefire way to know exactly how many media folks are going to grasp on to a particular story or know if a big company will make a huge unexpected announcement that day that steals your thunder. However, unlike advertising, I believe PR is much more powerful. It’s someone else saying why they think what you are doing is cool which is always better than you saying it yourself. Also, how often do you remember an ad you saw or even watch them or notice them at all anymore? PR is much more memorable and also does a much better job of authentically communicating who you are and what sets you apart.

• Long-Term Goal Oriented: Most people who are passionate about what they are doing want to have the time, ability, and finances to do more of it. By utilizing PR to garner momentum and excitement about what you are doing, you will be able to build loyalty and engagement over time. Just thinking about your strategy in terms of this one thing you are working on at this particular moment won’t help you reach your long term goals because next time you have a “thing” you’ll likely have to start from scratch. Planning your long-term goals and using a PR roadmap to get there will likely prove much more effective.

• Good Relationship Building: It’s a PR person’s job to cultivate and foster good relationships. This often happens over a period of years building relationships and a rapport with media, other industry folks and online communities. These relationships are very precious to us and are something that always needs to be handled with care. This is one of the reasons a good PR person will only take on projects they believe in. A good PR person won’t send their contacts something they don’t think is worthy.

• Customizable: Good PR isn’t using the same tactics and strategies and recycling them over and over. It’s finding out the goals of a particular person or company, and then creating a customizable plan for how to best reach them. Are press releases always the best option? No. Are they a good strategy sometimes? Yes. Your goals, your budget, and who you are should determine the strategies and tactics utilized, not some “industry standard.”

I stand by what I said last week, that PR desperately needs a little PR and a lot more understanding. The most important takeaway, is that not all PR is the same, just like not all people, products, or ideas are the same. But I do strongly believe that it can be a highly effective tool to help you accomplish your long-term goals.

I hope this post begins to clarify a bit of what I believe PR is and isn’t. I’ll definitely be delving more specifically into some of these things and other common issues and questions, too. Thanks for hanging out and reading!

Why PR Doesn’t Have To Be A Dirty Word

Every day when I’m checking my Twitter feed I see a minimum of at least 1-2 negative comments about PR. And I get it. There’s a lot of bad PR people, and a lot of poorly executed, poorly thought through PR. I’d love to say I’m totally desensitized at this point, but that’s not entirely accurate. People love putting PR people into a box, but to me, that’s the same as saying all game developers or entrepreneurs are the same. You can’t characterize an entire group of people. It’s true that there are a lot of PR people who just “don’t get it”, but there’s a lot who do and who are really passionate about helping people succeed.

There’s also a lot of misunderstanding and misrepresentation of what PR actually is, making many scared that a PR person will take their reputation and twist it into something completely inauthentic to them until they don’t recognize it anymore, or that it’s something with a very limited purpose that they don’t really need. People love to give PR a very narrowly defined purpose, but if utilized correctly, it’s anything but.

However, the thing is, whether it seems obvious or not, everyone likely wants good PR. Almost no one creates something they are passionate about, whether it’s a company, an idea, a game, or an app to have it sit in a vacuum and never see the light of day or quickly sink to the bottom of the app store. Most people want to make things that people know about so that it leads to recognition, sales, and longevity. Beyond just financials and business goals, there’s other important factors too, like increasing credibility and extending the long-tail of what you’re doing so you have the ability and freedom to do more of it. And also, it just feels plain awesome to have people acknowledge and validate something that you have worked so hard on.

I’m not here to make you love PR (well, maybe I am,) but I am going to address what I believe are some of the most commonly heard misconceptions:

• PR is so inauthentic: A good PR person will utilize their skills to try and get you to think about yourself and what you’re doing on a deeper all-encompassing level. They will help you build upon your story that already exists, accentuating what you care about and what makes you authentic and human in the first place. A good PR person will not make things up or spin things to be something completely different than what it actually is in reality. They will work with you in a collaborative partnership to bring out the best in you that already exists and share it with the people you care about (it sounds cheesy, but it’s true.)

• PR is totally different than marketing: PR fits under the marketing umbrella, and when was the last time you heard someone say that marketing a product is stupid? PR is an important component of marketing and if a PR person is good, they will try to get you to look at the integrated picture beyond just the PR. All facets of marketing, including PR, conventions, social media, and launch strategy, don’t work best in silos; they work well in a thoughtful, cohesive way. A good PR person will be familiar with marketing overall and work to utilize PR as one branch of the marketing tree.

• A PR person’s only job is to run and tell the press about what I’m doing: True, launching things and talking to press is often a PR person’s job. But simply blasting emails out to press makes us (and you) look bad. These email blasts and silly tactics are what makes press gripe about PR folks all the time. The majority of PR work should take place before an email ever leaves the outbox. The upfront strategy and thought process will help make your chances of success much, much greater than just blasting emails to press the week of your launch.

• PR should be able to make me go viral: This one actually makes me want to rip my head off. If your product, game, or idea isn’t polished, isn’t innovative, or just sucks, PR can help you, but it can’t fix you. Second of all, reputation and credibility take time to build. Unless you have actually invented the best thing since sliced bread, chances are you aren’t going to go viral on your first try. People often read about success stories and work to emulate that. We should all aspire to greatness, but please don’t assume good PR can automatically grant you crazy overnight success. A good PR person will be results- and goal-oriented, but won’t sell you on lofty or unrealistic expectations. They should be able to honestly tell you the viability of what you are doing and tell you what to reasonably expect. I highly advise against trusting any PR person who promises you media placements to the moon or instant virality (yes, they exist.)

• I don’t need PR until I’m ready to launch: Please don’t do this. Can PR people operate under short time frames? Sure. Are we good at working under pressure? Yes. It is as effective as it can be in this case? No. The best kind of PR and marketing efforts are done in tandem with your strategy and development along the way. Handing a PR person a finished product or something you have spent years working on and talking about without an ounce of marketing thought is the same as someone trying to get elected for president without campaigning along the way. It might be able to be done, but it’s way less effective and likely to succeed than when working together along the way. You don’t need to engage a PR person the second you think of an idea, but giving them at least a couple months before launch is ideal.

• I don’t need a PR person, I can do it myself: PR and marketing is one of those things everyone assumes they can do. In some cases, this might be true. Some people are really good at PR and marketing and love doing it for their own products. However, hiring a PR person is really no different than hiring a graphic designer or an accountant; another person hired for their expertise. I also find that the majority of people I encounter love working on what they’re doing, but hate the marketing part of it. Having someone running your PR and marketing helps you spend time continuing to do what you love so you don’t have to worry about the selling. Beyond that, it helps you take a step back and look at things from a more top-line and often truly objective viewpoint.

I will definitely be exploring some of these misconceptions and points in more depth in later blog posts, but I think it’s important to realize that not all PR people are the same, not all PR operates the same way, but all good PR people do bring valuable skills to the table that have your best interests in mind. It’s time to start giving PR a little PR.

Introducing Spoke & Wheel Strategy

So here it is, the announcement that I have officially started a company: Spoke & Wheel Strategy. It’s a brand integration, ideation, and declaration company offering services that run the gamut across PR, digital, and marketing.

To say I am both terrified and excited is an understatement. This is a new journey, one that I strongly believe in and have wanted to do for a very, very long time. I certainly don’t know everything, but here’s a little bit about what I do know:

I want to do something that matters to myself and to others. I want to live a life full of passion, and one that I can be proud of. I am sick of settling, and I refuse to do it anymore. I want to work with people who are equally as passionate about what they are doing and are excited about the future.

I want to work with clients to build mutual respect and collaborative partnerships. I want to help people get their message out to the world, hone in on their goals, reach the right people, and get tangible measurable results. I want to use my passion and my drive to succeed, to affect the people who care as much about who they are and what they are working on as I do.

Mistakes are inevitable. I’d be foolish to think otherwise. But the important part is not to let the fear of making them put limits on reaching my goals. I have every intention of kicking ass, and refuse to let my fear of failure stop me from doing amazing work for people and clients who deserve nothing less.

I have worked at several PR agencies, both in Chicago and NYC. Some experiences were good; some not so much. But, all were learning experiences. I went back to grad school in Integrated Marketing Communications because I felt like many PR agencies were missing the mark: not focusing on the holistic brand picture or peering through a very siloed lens. Throughout the years, I have learned a lot of what to do and even more of what not to do. So here’s what Spoke & Wheel plans to do in this new venture:

We will help our clients hone in on their vision of who they want to be and how to best position themselves to reach their business and marketing goals. We will work with them to define their brand vision and manifest it authentically through the channels of public relations, social media, content marketing, and innovative campaigns if and when it makes strategic sense for them. We will help connect brands with media and influencers that can impact their business and help companies, ranging from new indie developers to companies with deep-rooted history, build their long-term brand equity and garner momentum. We will always be honest and authentic and we will consistently look for ways to innovate and evolve, striving to be better.

So here it is: my leap of faith. It’s new, exhilarating, and a truly vulnerable place. It would mean the world to me if you would support me as I embark on this new chapter.