1. Indie PR Refresher Tips, Tools, and Reminders Joseph Lieberman - VGSmart

2. 2 The Nuts & Bolts Sales Material –Website –Distribution Strategy –Event Submissions Press Material –Press Releases –(P)review Builds –Reasons to Interact –Media Kit

3. Sales Material Website Tips –Clean Design –Goal Oriented Sell Product? Collect Email? Get Downloads? Forums/Social Media? –Oh So Pretty –Design with Press in Mind! Easy access to screenshots/videos/information www.wordpress.com 3

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5. Distribution Strategy Kickstarter -> Greenlight / Press -> Pre-Order / Early Access -> Release! This means having your game nearly done at the time of the Kickstarter event! Lay down a roadmap that keeps new content, offers, and information flowing every 2-4 weeks up to launch. Expect a LOT of time to go into promoting your product rather than development in the final 2-3 months. 5

6. Event Calendar www.promoterapp.com Sign up for every competition you can! Get involved with events and awards. Free press, excellent for networking, and great for credibility. 6

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8. Press Releases Used to announce anything newsworthy. Focus on a smart and catchy headline/subject line of your email that also tells the story. Feel free to include informal messages before the press release. Send it as text as opposed to as an attachment (or both). www.vgsmart.com/PressReleaseTemplate.docx Email – I use www.ymlp.com, other clients use Mail Chimp – both are great.www.ymlp.com 8

9. Press Contacts Where do you get Press Contacts? –Hire someone Sales@VGsmart.com ;)Sales@VGsmart.com –Go get them yourself! www.promoterapp.com PR Ninja (iOS Only) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prninja/id644100022 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prninja/id644100022 –Use a service www.gamespress.com Can’t Find an E-mail? GUESS! –Firstname@site.comFirstname@site.com –Firstname.Lastname@site.comFirstname.Lastname@site.com –FirstInitialLastname@site.comFirstInitialLastname@site.com –Firstinitial.Lastname@site.comFirstinitial.Lastname@site.com 9

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11. Review Material Have a preview build as soon as its “ready to show.” –Don’t be a prude and wait until its super-perfect, sooner is usually better for previews. Send out review copies as soon as its perfect –You can send out review copies BEFORE launch with an embargo date, however, some writers are almost certainly going to break your embargo rule. Youtube and Twitch reviews are VERY VALUABLE. A single good video is worth more than every print review combined. 11

12. Reasons to Interact Have some reason to establish a dialogue with your reviewers. –Easier for some game types than others (IE: Online games, co-op games, etc.) Create guides, send advice, or whatever it takes to get a dialogue going with reviewers 12

13. Media Kit Often times people are going to want your media kit without a lot of talking. Have it readily available. Media Kits contain –Description of the game (Often in the form of a Sell Sheet) –Recent Press Releases –Screenshots / Videos / Artwork(This is the most important item) –Banners and Ads You can use http://dopresskit.com/ to create a simple media-kit site.http://dopresskit.com/ 13

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16. Recap and Resources One-page sites can often be done via Wordpress (www.wordpress.com)www.wordpress.com Event Calendar can be found on www.promoterapp.com www.promoterapp.com www.vgsmart.com/PressReleaseTemplate.docx for template for Press Releases.www.vgsmart.com/PressReleaseTemplate.docx Submit your press releases to www.gamespress.com (and directly!) www.gamespress.com www.dopresskit.com if you don’t want to create a custom downloadable press kit.www.dopresskit.com https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prninja/id644100 022 for PR Ninjahttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prninja/id644100 022 16