Manufacturers and sales reps have been reading it and occasionally call up to help me, or yell at me, depending on what I've said (usually the former). If communication that leads to good things is special treatment, I've gotten some of that. I've also been treated less well on occasion. Game store owners are "siloed" for the most part, isolated from the rest of the industry. The blog has opened doors, offered educational opportunities (mostly me getting schooled) and in some cases, cleared the air. I'm finding that most companies are looking for opportunities to help retailers. They're wracking their brains to find ways to connect with us, and ultimately make us both more successful.
Other retailers (and former retailers) have been very helpful in sharing information. Most have given me good ideas, compared notes (usually offline), or chastised me for my alleged indiscretions. I am of the industry, but I do not represent the industry. That's my disclaimer that some would like me to stress more often. I'm not a particularly social person, but the blog has opened me up to a lot of interesting retailers who I wouldn't have met otherwise. The cool thing about small business is you can do everything your way, and the variety is endless. It's fun to watch.
Customers have been surprisingly interested in the blog, and I thank them for both reading and remaining my customers. Some people have become customers because of the blog, reading the blog first and then seeking out the store. I hope they weren't disappointed; it's just a store at the end of the day. Many mention they read the blog, with an even split between those who enjoy learning about the day-to-day business of running a game store and those who read it for the stuff about my projects or info on various games. I purposely try to cater to both crowds, in case you were wondering why (at least) half my entries are utter crap. Most importantly, what I've discovered, at great peril, is that customers appreciate the honesty. I do listen, and I regularly change direction if I'm convinced I'm going down the wrong path.
My Wife. Who reads it occasionally and logs in to fix my spelling or grammar errors. I usually try to write entries while she and Rocco are sleeping, but there have been plenty of times when she's patiently allowed me to let meals get cold or shirk my parental responsibilities.
Thanks!
--gary
And now for you other 50%:
The GW spray gun did it's job with a nice base coat of Adeptus Battlegray. The next step is camo masking with HandiTak. I like it better than BlueTac because it's less elastic. You can buy it at Michael's, in case you thought I was pimping the tack. After the masking, I'll need to figure out the right formula for using a standard Citadel paint in the spray gun. I've done this before with the Baneblade, but I didn't take notes because I thought my army was done. Foolish Gary, you are never done. I know GW wants to pimp the foundation paints with the spray gun, but an article on using standard paints wouldn't hurt either.
There's never any such thing as done in gaming. Particularly when dealing with GW; I remember Necromunda. That was interesting, but it was marketed as the low-cost alternative; not so much. First off, they really pimped the campaign rules - and looking back, I can hardly believe I didn't see how blatantly those were designed to drive sales. Your more experienced troops were most likely to die, because they were the ones able to be most useful - and you had to replace them with a different type of model, which of course was sold inconveniently...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I seem to be the tiny, tiny intersection - I enjoy reading about business and projects!
Agreed Silas, I read about business and projects. The only thing I don't read is actual army lists - my eyes glaze over. I need to see it in play to get an idea of how it all fits together. Not playing the game also factors into that I bet.
ReplyDeleteYeah, army lists are not terribly interesting, which is why I put them in smaller text and a different color. It signals to skip over this.
ReplyDeleteI put them in because I usually get good private feedback from players.