Tag Archives: marketing

Bebo (Brittanie Boe): Working from Home Marketing Board Games – Episode 85

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Board game marketer Brittanie Boe, known to pretty much everyone as Bebo, is an example of paid to play success for those of us who feel like life has locked us into the nine-to-five. She is a single mother and lover of board games who had a day job working in the marketing department of an insurance company.

Now, Bebo is the marketer for a board game distributor, managing multiple social media channels with a team of fellow enthusiasts, attending industry and fan conventions and generally helping enthusiasts find the right games for their tastes. On top of all that, she works from her home!

And if that’s not enough, Bebo joins forces with my guest for episode 77, Teri Litorco; together, they are the blogging, YouTubing and podcasting duo of tabletop gaming, The Board Dames!

It was great chatting with Bebo about how she transitioned from day-job dullness to work-from-home wonderment, how Bebo’s friends and family help stop her from losing herself in work and what her next steps will be – as well as her not-so-secret desire to form a country music band!

Paid to Play: A New Direction?

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A couple of days ago, I had a “Stop The World, I Want To Get Off” moment. The folks who follow the Podcast over on Facebook would have seen my notice announcing that I’d cancelled all scheduled chats while I work out what direction I want to take the show in.

The result? See below…

 

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Putting Yourself Out There: Voice Work

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Over on my personal web log, I revisited some of the issues that stop me – and a lot of us – from getting stuck into the things that, if I gave myself a chance, could lead to my earning a living wage out of the things I’m honestly interested in and enjoy doing.

But from that post alone, you’d think I’ve not been making any progress. I’d like to apologise for that impression.

Because in the last couple of weeks, I managed to score myself a freelance gig.

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Marketing Classic Games: Trevor Longino, Episode 28 / Brazen Episode 1

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You’ve probably noticed the headline that announces this episode as the first Brazen one. That’s because the Paid to Play Podcast has joined forces with Brazen Careerist!

Logo for the Paid to Play Podcast on the Brazen Careerist site

They even made me up this neat logo, too! Now I just have to figure out how get it into iTunes…

The folks at Brazen and I have a lot in common. We both want to help folks get the most satisfaction out of their working lives as possible. Brazen’s team of bloggers – including my guest for episode 15, Kelly Gurnett – give out tips on how to thrive in the modern workplace without compromising what’s important to you.

Which, I reckon, is a pretty good definition of my guests on Paid to Play.

Once a month, I’ll contribute an interview to Brazen; I hope that my interviews can add to Brazen’s already massive library of work-life wisdom.

The first of these is already up; my chat with Trevor Longino, head of marketing and public relations at game distributor GOG.com. Formerly known as Good Old Games, GOG.com has expanded its mission from bringing classic computer games from the nineties back to life on modern operating systems into offering newer titles from indies like FTL to mainstream games like The Witcher DRM free.

Trevor and I discuss the classic video games of the nineties, just what marketing and PR involves in this social media age and how Trevor has handled relocating from the US to Poland in order to work for GOG!

Turning a Passion for Classic Video Games Into a Career (Podcast) – The Brazen Careerist

Can you leave any comments and feedback on the episode’s blog entry on Brazen, please? 

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Podcast Marketing: Tim Reid, Episode 25

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It’s one thing to talk about getting paid to play, and another to turn your play into something that others will want to buy. But getting the word about how great your thing is and how it will help / entertain people? That’s a whole different kind of challenge, especially when you’re just starting out and your marketing budget doesn’t even have a brass razoo.

That’s where Tim Reid, host of the Small Business Big Marketing podcast, comes in. Tim is a longtime marketing guru who quit working for some huge agencies seven years ago to go into business for himself. Not only is each weekly episode a fun chat with a businessperson taking an innovative approach to connecting with his or her customers, it’s also a great advertisement for Tim’s marketing consultant and speaking services!

I have to thank my old mate Marcus Herstik for hipping me to Tim, who is the kind of guy I want to be when I grow up: Confident, relaxed, gracious and great to share one of his famous fireside chats with!

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Making Video Games as an Employee and Solo: Henry Smith, Episode 23

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Okay, you gamers out there. What’s your favourite game design studio? You know you’ve got one, just like you’ve got a favourite game platform. Wouldn’t you just love to work there, making video games like the awesome games you love to play?

Have you ever thought that even if you score that dream job, you might discover that there are things that you want to do with your passion for gaming, programming, design that you don’t have the spare time or energy to do?

Henry Smith had a pretty awesome job at BioWare, the makers of awesome games like Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights and, more recently, Dragon Age and the incredible science fiction trilogy, Mass Effect. Yet six months ago he decided to take a year off so that he could work on the personal projects that brought him joy.

I caught up with him a month or so after he released his first game, a science fiction themed iDevice app called Spaceteam, where you and one to three friends try and save your starship from utter destruction by pulling levers, twisting dials and yelling technobabble at each other. Though the game itself is free, Henry is earning enough money from the pay-to-download add-on packs to look at extending his time working solo.

I thoroughly enjoyed my chat with Henry about getting paid to play – by quitting getting paid to play!

UPDATE: After listening to this episode, please have a listen to my second chat with Henry during his (successful) Kickstarter campaign to fund a year’s worth of game development!

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Paid to Play: The Christmas 2012 Special Episode

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Ho ho ho! It’s Santa Rob here, with a special gift for all the good boys and girls who listen to the Paid to Play Podcast!

Okay, okay, fine. I know, I ran out of interviews. But I’ve had the idea of doing a year-in-review blog post / podcast for a while, and now seemed the opportune time!

So join me as I talk about how 2012 has been a year of change, the advent of the Paid to Play Podcast and what to look forward to in 2013!

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Episode 17: Carol Tice, Freelance Writer and Career Coach

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After having authors and bloggers on the podcast, it’s fun to have someone who’s not only a full-time freelance writer on the show, but also someone who’s dedicated to helping others achieve similar goals – so much so that she not only blogs about making it as a freelance writer, she also runs a paid-membership web site that offers courses and tips on every aspect of the business of freelance writing.

Carol worked at a newspaper and as a movie script transcriber before going freelance and managed to blow away her own expectations of success when she started the Freelance Writers Den. On top of all that, she’s a wife and mother of three! Talk about doing it all…

Please listen to this interview, wherein I completely miss the opportunity to quiz Carol about her early work as a song writer (Brill Building Fail!) but find out plenty about what it takes to make it in freelancing.

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How Frequent Should the Paid to Play Podcast Be?

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There’s something I didn’t mention in my last post about marketing the Paid to Play Podcast, because I hadn’t really thought about it at the time. If I want to offer the Podcast as a vehicle for advertising, whether on the site or within episodes, I need to demonstrate to any advertiser that I have an audience that keeps coming back.

Which, therefore, means I have to give that audience reason to keep coming back on a regular basis. Logically, that reason would be new interviews.

But how often should I be providing those new interviews?

How frequent should the Paid to Play Podcast be?

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GTRF! Episode 4: The Marcus Herstik Interview

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In early 2012 I was playing with the idea of podcasting after a friend introduced me to LibriVox and recording public domain texts for the hard of hearing. I decided to start my own podcast, Get Talking, Rob Farquhar! (this was when robf.com.au was called, Get Writing, Rob Farquhar!) by reading my own work and the things I wanted to read – but then came Episode 4, and everything changed…

This time around I decided to try something different from reading a story: Conducting an interview. And who better to start with than the guy I pay the monthly ‘Net bill to?

Image by Marcus Herstik

In all seriousness, Marcus Herstik is not only the man behind the company that hosts this very site, he’s a self-employed digital entrepreneur who’s been taking these touch economic times in stride. Not only that, he’s one of the most solid cats I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. In this interview, I ask him about how he got to where he is today and what advice he’d give to people who are still trying to figure out their personal definitions of success (like me).

Marcus, thank you once again for your time, your willingness to be the subject of my first recorded interview and – well, for being so damn cool in general!

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