The Manaverse Podcast: Magic: the Gathering Business / Game Store Entrepreneurship / LGS Professionals (Tom Traplin)

Jake Tanner is the owner Unplugged Gaming in Manlius New York. Jake came into the tabletop gaming business from a different angle than most of the game store owners that have been featured on the podcast.

Before launching Unplugged Gaming, Jake, along with his business partner, owned and operated a highly lauded digital marketing firm called Digital Hyve that they grew to over 50 employees over a handful of years. Digital Hyve was acquired by the advertising firm Butler/Till last year, which allowed Jake to explore his other passions.

Unplugged Gaming launched this past November and on day one they did over $14,000 in sales, since then they have done over $270,000 in in store sales and are on track for a spectacular year one. We're going to dig into the Unplugged Gaming launch strategy and talk about how Jake and company got their business off to a great start.

We talked about:

• The Unplugged Gaming origin story.
• How Jake built a group of raving fans on Facebook before launching his online store, and how that helped them start the business with a huge amount of momentum and sales.
• How focusing on SEO early on helped attract a major online influencer and how their deal doubled Unplugged Gaming's traffic.
• The most important thing a new store owner can do before opening their game store.
• The one piece of technology that Jake couldn't do without for running his business.
• How digital marketing can be used to grow and launch a game store in 2022.

You can get a digital marketing strategy created for your game store in the next 24 hours that gives you the blueprint for generating new sales and customers on autopilot. All you have to do is go to manaversesaga.com/growmylgs and put your information in and we'll put together a 90 day marketing plan that covers how to optimize your website for organic traffic, how to capture people on an email list that let's you sell to them again and again, what to post on social media so your game store stays top of mind for your customers, and how to run Facebook and Google ads that sell like crazy. If you want to be able to make sales 24 hours a day and reach new customers outside of your existing community, you need to make digital marketing a priority for your business. Kick off your digital marketing by going to manaversesaga.com/growmylgs

We're going across the pond to talk to Patrick ten Hoorn, the owner of Spellenhuis in the Netherlands! Patrick talks about his journey of taking his dream to open a stylish game cafe and turning it into a reality, navigating the choppy waters of the hobby industry, and how he grew the business into multiple locations.

Links

https://www.spellenhuis.nl/

https://www.facebook.com/Spellenhuis

https://twitter.com/spellenhuis

https://www.youtube.com/user/Spellenhuis1/videos

https://www.instagram.com/spellenhuis/

p.tenhoorn@spellenhuis.nl

AccessiBe Black Friday Sale

If your shop is based in the US, your game store's website may be a huge liability for you. Recently passed legislation has made the internet a public accommodation and that means that if your website isn't accessible, you're at risk of serious fines from the government and especially lawsuits. Game stores in particular are being targeted by a law firm in New York and if you don't want to be served with a five digit lawsuit, you need a solution. The best option on the market is AccessiBe. AccessiBe is an affordable AI based app that automatically makes your website accessible for all sorts of people and protects you with an accessibility statement and litigation support. It's an all in one win-win solution for game stores that only takes 48 hours to protect your business and make it more accessible to the people that need it, and AccessiBe is running a Thanksgiving sale from Nov 23 to the 29th, so you can save 30% on your license. Right now is a great time to make your website more accessible, protect your business, and save money, all at the same time.

You can grab this deal by signing up for a free 7 day trial by going to manaversesaga.com/ada. That's manaversesaga.com/ada.

Hey, welcome back to the Manaverse Podcast! I'm your host Tom Traplin and this is the podcast where we explore what it takes to build a successful friendly local game store.

Before we jump into things, Q4 is coming and I'm looking for more game store owners to feature on the podcast, so if you get an email or phone call from me in the near future don't be too surprised. If you want a chance to tell the story of your game store and get featured on the podcast, I would love to talk to you! Send me an email at tom@manaversesaga.com and you could be my next featured guest on the podcast.

I'm also looking for a few more stores that want to make the end of 2022 their best quarter yet! I'm opening up a few more slots for clients of the Manaverse Marketing Agency this month so if you're either in the start up phase of opening up your game store and want to kick things off with a powerful digital marketing strategy that's been proven to attract customers and drive sales from day 1, or you're an established game store that wants to expand operations and use digital strategies like email marketing and paid advertising to grow rapidly, let's chat! Go to manaversesaga.com/mma and we'll put together a custom Q4 marketing plan for your business and talk about how we can make it happen for you!

So today we're talking about an article recently published by Polygon titled Long live the friendly local tabletop game store. I'm not going to read the whole thing in it's entirety but I definitely recommend you check it out right here.

GAMA EXPO 2021 has come and gone so let's talk about what went well and what could be improved on. Today, I'm breaking down my experience with the Expo and some of the difficulties I ran into while registering for the event, as well as talking about some of the advantages of the Spatial Chat system and how it can be made even better for next years Expo.

If you want to be part of a community on your business journey to share ideas with and continue learning, you can become a member of the Manaverse Network by going to manaversesaga.com/join. That's where you can get access to all the seminars from the recent LGS Success Summit as well as additional exclusive content.

Links

gama.org

spatial.chat

tom@manaversesaga.com

For most game store owners, SEO is techno jargon. Something that only the biggest ecommerce businesses need to think about. I've also heard variations of the sentiment that it’s impossible to compete with the big players like BGG and Amazon in the search engines.

That’s only half true. SEO definitely sounds like the kind of techno jargon you'd hear from a Priest of the Mechanicum, but your website can absolutely compete with places like Amazon when it comes to the search engines. You just need to pick your battlefields.

Your game stores' website isn't going to outrank Amazon for a particular keyword in the global sense, but search isn’t just worldwide. Google takes geography into account and someone searching for something in New York isn’t going to get the same results as someone in California or the UK.

Your website can definitely rank and get organic search traffic for keywords that matter to your business, it just takes some effort and little strategic thinking, which is luckily something game store owners are good at.

Get a quick crash course in the basics of search engine optimization and how to create pages on your game store's website that turn random visitors into paying customers.

You can get a digital marketing strategy created for your game store in the next 24 hours that gives you the blueprint for generating new sales and customers on autopilot. All you have to do is go to manaversesaga.com/growmylgs and put your information in and we'll put together a 90 day marketing plan that covers how to optimize your website for organic traffic, how to capture people on an email list that let's you sell to them again and again, what to post on social media so your game store stays top of mind for your customers, and how to run Facebook and Google ads that sell like crazy. Having a digital marketing strategy for your game store is one of the most important moves you can make in 2022. Customers are spending more time online and are expecting to be able to interact and shop at your store in the same way. If you want to be able to make sales 24 hours a day and reach new customers outside of your existing community, you need to make digital marketing a priority for your business. Kick off your digital marketing by going to manaversesaga.com/growmylgs

Hypothesis: Customer Lifetime Value highly correlates to a high number of positive interactions within the first 100 days, and the likelihood of those interactions is highly correlated to to the quality of the experience in the first 100 seconds.

Your game store may not be selling gym memberships, but games and hobbies are still part of your customer's lifestyles so that puts your store in a similar space. Find out what you can learn from a successful Crossfit gym and how the first 100 days of a customer's experience with your store determines the next 3 to 5 years.

Get a customized digital marketing strategy for your game store by booking a free 45 minute strategy session with us. We will do a deep dive on the six main areas of digital marketing for your game store and identify what's working and what can be improved on, create a customized strategy based on your brand, and show how we can implement everything for you. Book your strategy session at manaversesaga.com/mma

In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, I interview Marcus Kearsey, a game designer for the Altered TCG team. We discuss the unique aspects of Altered TCG, including its non-combat focus, digital integration, and innovative deck-building mechanics. Kearsey shares his journey into game design, the challenges and rewards of developing a new TCG, and how player feedback shapes the game. They delve into the game's lore, art, and future plans, including organized play and competitive aspects. The episode offers a deep dive into the creative process behind Altered TCG.

Questions:

What initially inspired the concept of Altered, and how has it evolved from its original idea?

Can you share insights into the creative process behind the game's unique blend of lore and visual design, especially with influences from Miyazaki and Dixit-like illustrations?

What challenges did you face in creating a balanced yet engaging gameplay experience in Altered?

Could you elaborate on how the game’s unique rarity system and algorithmically generated cards impact both gameplay and player strategy?

How did you approach the lore creation for the six factions in Altered? What inspired their distinct characteristics and stories?

Can you delve into the process of integrating the game's lore with its mechanics and card design?

What does a typical day look like for you as a game designer on Altered?

How do you balance creativity with the technical aspects of game design?

In what ways has player feedback shaped the development of Altered?

What future expansions or developments can players look forward to in the Altered universe?

How do you envision the growth of Altered in the competitive TCG scene?

What have been some of the most challenging aspects of developing Altered, and how did you overcome them?

Can you share a particularly rewarding moment or milestone in the game’s journey so far?

What advice would you give to someone aspiring to enter the field of game design, especially in the TCG genre?

How has working on Altered influenced your personal views on game design and storytelling?

If you could go back to the beginning of the Altered project, is there anything you would do differently?

Check out the Altered TCG Kickstarter campaign!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/equinox-studio/altered-tcg

Book a 30 minute strategy session with us to get your game store digital marketing plan created for free. It's yours to keep either way so you have nothing to lose. Go to https://manaversesaga.com/mma to book your call and start off 2024 strong.

Today we're talking with Rob Gruber, aka The Elf King. Rob is the owner of Good Times Games in Prince Rupert, British Columbia and he's built an incredible business by becoming somewhat of a local celebrity and personality. Rob plays the game store game a little bit differently and today we're going to talk about his approach to working within a small community and what sets his business apart.

Links

https://good-times-games.myshopify.com/

Good Times Games on Facebook

If your shop is based in the US, your game store's website may be a huge liability for you. Recently passed legislation has made the internet a public accommodation and that means that if your website isn't accessible, you're at risk of serious fines from the government and especially lawsuits. Game stores in particular are being targeted by a law firm in New York and if you don't want to be served with a five digit lawsuit, you need a solution. The best option on the market is AccessiBe. AccessiBe is an affordable AI based app that automatically makes your website accessible for all sorts of people and protects you with an accessibility statement and litigation support. It's an all in one win-win solution for game stores that only takes 48 hours to protect your business and make it more accessible to the people that need it. You can sign up for a free 7 day trial by going to manaversesaga.com/ada and protect your business starting today. Go to manaversesaga.com/ada now.

I'm also looking for a few more stores that want to make the end of 2022 their best quarter yet! I'm opening up a few more slots for clients of the Manaverse Marketing Agency this month so if you're either in the start up phase of opening up your game store and want to kick things off with a powerful digital marketing strategy that's been proven to attract customers and drive sales from day 1, or you're an established game store that wants to expand operations and use digital strategies like email marketing and paid advertising to grow rapidly, let's chat! Go to manaversesaga.com/mma and we'll put together a custom Q4 marketing plan for your business and talk about how we can make it happen for you!

Welcome to another episode of the Manaverse Podcast! In this episode, I sit down with Travis Severance, the co-owner of Millennium Games in Rochester, New York. Join us as we dive into Travis's incredible journey in the gaming industry, exploring the challenges he's faced and the strategies that have made Millennium Games the largest game store in the USA.

In this interview, we cover:

• Travis's early passion for gaming and how his family's gaming habits influenced him.
• His unique career path, from professional poker and mortgages to owning a game store.
• The origin story and growth of Millennium Games, expanding from a small store to a 28,000 square foot gaming haven.
• The importance of diversity within product categories to handle market fluctuations.
• Strategies for creating a successful game store, including the significance of customer feedback and community building.
• The role of game stores in fostering a welcoming environment and adapting communication for new customers.
• Insights into balancing a strong online presence with the success of a brick-and-mortar store.
• Personal lessons and the importance of learning from mistakes in the business.

Links Mentioned:

Millennium Games TV on YouTube

Millennium Games and Travis on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/MillenniumGames

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009368408612

Millennium Games on Instagram

Millennium Games on Twitter/X

Millennium Games on Twitch

Travis also shares his experiences from industry events like the ACD open house and GenCon trade day, offering invaluable insights for aspiring game store owners and gaming enthusiasts alike.

Don't miss this episode if you're looking to learn from one of the best in the business! Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe for more interviews and insights from the gaming industry. Enjoy the interview!

This is Part 2 of my interview with Joshua Pyle-Carter from The Deck Box where we focus on personalized client service as a key factor in his success. Understanding individual customer preferences, especially in complex games like Magic: The Gathering, is crucial and so is guiding customers based on their interests and experience levels, rather than pushing sales. He discusses the benefits of carrying a wide range of products to meet diverse needs and the significance of building trust with customers through genuine recommendations and attentive service.

Book a 30 minute strategy session with us to get your game store digital marketing plan created for free. It's yours to keep either way so you have nothing to lose. Go to https://manaversesaga.com/mma to book your call and start off 2024 strong.

Does Your Game Store Need an SEO Specialist?

If you've been in business for any length of time you've probably been pitched SEO services at least a few times by people promising to get you on page 1 of Google.

That sounds pretty good right? The trouble is hiring someone for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can be very hit or miss.

Some people are great and others will try to rip you off completely, and it can be challenging to know who's who.

SEO is technical and somewhat abstract so it can be hard to tell if someone you hire is doing a good job or nothing at all, and it generally takes a few months to see any real benefits from the effort.

Something to keep in mind for someone who is planning on opening a new store in the near future, SEO is a long term strategy and if you're opening up shop in month or two, SEO isn't going to do all that much since you only have a short amount of time to get things rolling.

You should definitely get the basics started so you have an online presence that people can find to learn more and that you can grow over time, but if you want to prime the pump on your opening week, you should be spending time on promoting your store on the local Facebook groups in your area and trying to get the word out with some paid ads.

That would be money better spent than hiring an SEO specialist.

But all that said, it's still worth your time to get some SEO basics in place for your game store business.

The good news is 80% of what you want to achieve with SEO (namely better rankings for keyword searches that matter for your business) can be done yourself in the course of an afternoon assuming you already have a website created.

Here's a quick rundown on what you need to know to get your SEO going this weekend.

The Set Up

Start with getting the basics in place.

Open up Google and search for Google My Business and go through the set up process. It’s pretty straightforward and the app will walk you through what you need to do to get everything online. You will have to verify your address with a code they’ll send you in the mail so it might take a couple weeks to completely finalize GMB.

Make sure your graphics and logo assets match your website and branding, same with the copy.

Grab your Yelp listing and be prepared for a Yelp rep to call you and essentially hold your page hostage unless you pay them. Don’t worry about that too much though, the direct impact of Yelp itself on your business is minimal, but it does help rank what you actually care about, which is your website.

Don’t worry too much about Yelp reviews, direct people to your GMB or Facebook page to leave reviews there. They rank higher than Yelp and most people default to these first since they use them everyday already.

Set up your Facebook page and other social media accounts. Make sure the graphics and information match your website and branding. Also make sure the social media accounts that you plan on using are linked up on your website. Most website platforms make that pretty easy.

Create a listing on Yellow Pages. Not much to this one. The vast majority of people searching will find your website or Facebook page first and use that to contact you, or get your info from the GMB info box.

That's the foundation and will get you most of the way there. You should also try to register your website with other relevant directories like the Chamber of Commerce for your local area, or Industry Store Locator directories and GAMA, and any others that make sense.

None of these extra directories will drive any significant traffic to your site, but they will help build up your backlink profile, which I'll explain down below.

The Goal

SEO has three end goals. You want people searching for keywords...

Here's what we know

If you've been active in the game store owner groups on Facebook you've probably seen the posts recently about game stores and publishers being targeted by a law firm in New York and being sued for lack of ADA compliance.

So far they've sued Crafty Games of Washington, Games of Berkeley in California, Black Rowan Games in Tracy, California, GMT Games in Hanford, California, GameScape North in San Rafael, California, GameKastle and more. This is not an exhaustive list by any means but California in particular seems to be a hotspot.

But let's back it up a bit.

What exactly is accessibility and ADA compliance?

Without getting too into the weeds on the legislation, web accessibility is essentially a set of rules, behaviors, code standards, and design guidelines that were created by the W3C and are called the WCAG 2.1. The WCAG 2.1 is a massive 1,000-page guidebook that encapsulates a range of disabilities that go from hindering internet use to making internet use impossible without adjustments. This spectrum actually comprises 20-25% of the general population depending on if we're going with the CDC or WHO. There are many disabilities covered, and the primary categories that require attention are:

● blind people using screen-readers,

● the motor-impaired using only the keyboard to navigate,

● epilepsy, color blindness,

● cognitive and learning disabilities,

● visual impairments, and more.

What are the risks of having a non-compliant website?

Non-compliance penalties are no joke, as they can go as high as $75,000 even for the first violation. The more you fail to respect the requirements, the higher the penalties will be.

As a small business, it is in your interest to ensure that your website is accessible to people with disabilities. Not only will this increase the number of customers you can serve, but it will also protect you from some nasty fines and lawsuits.

From what we're seeing, the firm going around and suing game stores is usually looking for settlement amounts in the $20k range and they apparently do this for a living. And part of the shakedown is when they serve game stores the lawsuit, in order to become compliant they suggest working with specific companies they are associated with. So in some cases, not only do they exhort a settlement from the business, they also generate revenue for their associates at the same time.

What can you do about it?

So you basically have three options. Two of which I recommend and one that's mostly a waste of time. The first one is to go with a web accessibility plugin. These are usually free or very inexpensive and apparently get a website to about 10% of the way there. You probably shouldn't go this route since your business will still be exposed to the risk of lawsuits and fines, and it's not particularly effective on the actual accessibility side of things.

The second is to hire a company to make the necessary changes for you. This is the most expensive option, but if you can find a good web developer to work with that can show you what needs to be changed, you can also get your staff to do the work by hand over time. For stores with big websites this can be a major challenge since even just adding alt text to potentially thousands of product images and pages is a ton of work. This kind of work can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000 and takes months to accomplish.

If you've built out the inventory for your online store you know what I'm talking about. Imagine doing that all over again, or paying someone else to do it.

The third solution is something more AI based like AccessiBe.

Full disclosure here. I recently worked with a client to figure out how we should protect their new store from these lawsuits and we settled on AccessiBe because it was clearly the best...

This is Part 3 of my interview with Joshua Pyle-Carter from The Deck Box, Halifax's Premier local games store. We delve into inventory management, pricing strategies, and how Josh empowers his staff to make good decisions without requiring his input as the owner.

Joshua talks about balancing pricing for different card rarities, adapting to market changes, and setting prices appropriate for the local market, and why he doesn't use platforms like TCGPlayer to set his prices.

This one is real crunchy if you're curious about the back end operations of how a local-first game store really functions and cultivates a profitable TCG ecosystem of local customers.

Book a 30 minute strategy session with us to get your game store digital marketing plan created for free. It's yours to keep either way so you have nothing to lose. Go to https://manaversesaga.com/mma to book your call and start off 2024 strong.

Shannon Ebbitt is the co-owner with husband Vince, of the Mana Boardgame Tavern in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, a steampunk inspired venue offering a variety of adult beverages combined with a library of board games for their patrons to enjoy. 

The Mana Boardgame Tavern was conceived with the idea of bringing great games, great drinks, and great people, all together into a welcoming atmosphere. Add in a hefty amount of passionate geekdom and every night is game night.

Main Topics Explored

• The Kickstarter campaign that started it all
• The story of how the building they rented burned down before they could open their doors
• How Shannon and Vince came to the decision to open a specialty bar 
• Lessons learned during the launch
• Raising money with Honeycomb Credit to stay afloat during the lockdown
• Tips on running a successful crowdfunding campaign

Find out how you can run your own Loyalty Bonds campaign by going to manaversesaga.com/honeycomb

New round table episode!

• Wizard's new $999 Beta booster pack product,
• The future of the friendly local game store,
• Are game cafes the natural evolution of the FLGS?
• What separates good retail from bad,
• And more.

Matthew Vercant and Pat Fuge join me to discuss the future of the friendly local game store and speculate on the future of Magic: the Gathering. Are lawsuits incoming? Is the game cafe model the only way to succeed in a world of ecommerce?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think is coming over the next 10 years!

Just Games Rochester

• https://www.justgamesrochester.com/
• https://facebook.com/justgamesrochester
• https://instagram.com/justgamesrochester
• https://twitter.com/justgamesroc
• sales@justgamesroc.com

Gnome Games

• https://gnomegames.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/GnomeGamesWorld/
• https://www.facebook.com/GnomeGames

If you're in the start up phase of opening up your game store and want to kick things off with a powerful digital marketing strategy that's been proven to attract customers and drive sales from day 1, or you're an established game store that wants to expand operations and use digital strategies like email marketing and paid advertising to grow rapidly, let's chat! Go to manaversesaga.com/mma and we'll put together a custom Q4 marketing plan for your business and talk about how we can make it happen for you!

Wizards of the Coast made an announcement recently on the WPN site detailing the changes to the program and what it takes for local game stores to qualify for WPN Premium status.

So let's dig into the announcement and talk about the three major changes to the program and some options for game store owners looking to become Premium.

https://wpn.wizards.com/en/article/evolving-wpn-premium-covid-19-and-beyond

Devon Chulick is the Founder and COO of Start Playing Games, a service that helps connect tabletop RPG gamers and professional game masters together to create amazing gaming experiences.

Devon has been involved in the eCommerce industry for over a decade with a number of businesses under his belt. He enjoys reading, volleyball, pizza, and Dungeons and Dragons, and today we're going to get to know Devon and how his latest project is bringing about the age of the professional dungeon master.

Questions

How did you get into tabletop RPGs?

What is the big idea behind Start Playing Games?

How can game store owners use the platform to grow their businesses?

What kind of tools do people need to become a GM and run great gaming sessions?

What are some best practices you've seen from the most successful game masters on the platform?

What do you have planned for the future of Start Playing Games?

How can game store owners learn more and get involved?

Links

https://startplaying.games/

dndbeyond.com

https://roll20.net/

Email Devon@startplayinggames.com

Remember, there's always room to improve and opportunities available, and if you want to be part of a community on your business journey to share ideas with and continue learning, you can become a member of the Manaverse Network by going to manaversesaga.com/join. That's where you can get access to all the seminars from the recent LGS Success Summit as well as additional exclusive content.

Today we are talking with Alex Thor and Jonathan Adams. Alex is the Director of Operations at RPG Travel and Jonathan is their resident gaming master. Both of these fine gentlemen were featured at the recent 2021 LGS Success Summit and today we are going to explore what RPG Travel is, how it works, and how you, dear listener, as a game store owner can work with them to offer your customers an unforgettable gaming experience that they'll love, while making money and travelling to exciting locations at the same time.

Think playing DnD in Dracula's castle, having an adventure through Middle Earth in New Zealand, and gaming sessions in historic pubs, dungeons, catacombs, and more.  Seriously cool stuff.

Intro (Why RPG Travel is awesome and why you should care)

• Before we jump into the details, tell us how RPGT got started. Where did the idea to fuse exotic locations and gaming come from?
• How does it work? What does RPGTravel do?
• Who travels with RPGT?
• How many tours have you run?
• How do you find your game masters?
• What kinds of locations do the tours visit?
• What’s a typical RPGT experience like?
• What kind of planning goes into an RPGT experience?
• Do you need to be a specific game level to play?
• What does the owner of a FLGS get when working with RPG Travel?
• What games does RPGT support? RPGs, Tabletop, Card games, etc.?
• What are the requirements for a FLGS to get involved?
• As the game store owner, what are their duties on tour?
• How many travelers do you need to run a tour and how many days?
• What happens if the trip doesn't fill? Are there any expenses? What if something prevents the trip from happening, like a global pandemic or something?

I'm sure someone is listening right now and thinking "This sounds really cool but I've got so much going on right now. I’m too busy." What would you say to them?

Do you have any tips for game store owners for making their custom branded experience a success?

How can the listeners get started? Where do they go to begin working with you?

Get Connected with RPG Travel

rpgtravel.com

alex@explorationsbythor.com

The LGS Success Summit Black Friday Deal Is Here!

For the first time you can get access to the 2020 and 2021 LGS Success Summit recordings for over 50% off!

That's 40+ seminars from some of the most successful game store owners in North America covering a variety of topics critical to growing your tabletop game store including:

• brand building,
• running events,
• email marketing,
• game demos,
• networking and collaboration,
• TikTok,
• SEO,
• word of mouth marketing,
• creating a WPN Premium level business,
• ecommerce and shipping,
• hiring the right people,
• creating video content,
• creating a risk free system for selling used games in your store,
• financing your store,
• as well as sessions from publishers covering some great new products you can stock in your game store over the coming months.

It's all included, but the deal ends Friday night at midnight, just under 12 hours from when this episode goes live, so if you've been waiting for the right time to pull the trigger on getting the summit recordings, this is the perfect opportunity!

All you have to do to pick up the deal is go to lgssuccesssummit.com/bf2021

In Part 4 of my interview, Joshua Pyle-Carter digs into the future plans for The Deck Box, with their 10-year anniversary quickly approaching this summer.

Josh talks about the balance between online and in-store sales, stressing that each requires a vastly different approach and business model, and why he favours the local first approach for his community.

Book a 30 minute strategy session with us to get your game store digital marketing plan created for free. It's yours to keep either way so you have nothing to lose. Go to https://manaversesaga.com/mma to book your call and start off 2024 strong.

We've got Christopher Wood and Deon on the podcast today. Chris is the owner of Modern Table Top Gaming, a WPN Premium store in South Chesterfield, Virginia. MTTG is a fantastically executed game store with an epic sign out front and we dig into what makes the store tick and how they earned the WPN Premium status.

https://moderntabletoprva.com/

Check out other episodes of the Manaverse Podcast https://www.manaversesaga.com/podcasts/

The Complete FLGS Digital Marketing Course: By the end of this 21 day step-by-step course, you'll have all the pieces of the digital marketing puzzle put together for your game store.

https://www.manaversesaga.com/flgs/

Manaverse Marketing Agency: Book your call to find out if your game store is a good fit for the paid ads and email marketing automation system and learn how we can plug it into your business.

https://www.manaversesaga.com/autopilot/

Make Your Site Accessible: Start a 7 day free trial of AccessiBe and make your website accessible in the next 48 hours.

https://www.manaversesaga.com/ada/

Molly Zeff, the cofounder of Flying Leap Games is on the Manaverse Podcast to talk about getting into the game publishing business and what she learned by visiting over 250 game stores all over the world.

If you're interested in discovering how to get your game published, Molly shares a number of valuable lessons on how to take a game from concept to manufactured product and then getting that product onto the shelves of retailers and the tables of customers at home.

We also cover some of the common threads that the most successful game stores share and how to incorporate them into your own game business.

Episode Breakdown

2:30 Why did you decide to get into game publishing?

8:20 What was the journey for Wing It to become a tangible product like?

14:30 How did you begin selling the game and get it into the hands of retailers?

29:10 How creating real relationships leads to more business and sales

36:25 After visiting over 275 game stores all over the world, what are the common threads you've seen that the most successful business's share?

37:50-42:32 Gaming builds community

42:50 Without game stores to provide the community, the gaming hobby would barely exist

46:47-52:24 Welcoming all types of gamers means welcoming all types of people

53:10 Games create connections across boundaries including language, the story of the North American Magic player in Japan

56:08 The Wing It conversation club story

59:22-1:05:20 Go out into your local community and outside your four walls

1:07:31-1:11:30 Bring publishers to your game nights virtually

1:12:13 Diversify your offerings to protect your business

1:21:54-1:32:10 What is the best way to create relationships in this business?

1:32:45-1:38:26 Why you need to get your game store online now

1:39:07-1:47:13 Find a mentor and why you should cooperate with your competitors as much as possible

1:48:04 What does success look like for Flying Leap Games

Links Mentioned

Flyingleapgames.com

@penguinsoaring on Twitter

Reach out to Molly at flyingleapgames@gmail.com

BinderPOS

Shopify

Wix

If you want to be part of a community of peers on your business journey to share ideas with and continue learning, you can become a member of the Manaverse Network by going to manaversesaga.com/join. That's where you can get access to all the seminars from the recent 2020 LGS Success Summit as well as additional exclusive members only content, marketing reviews, and training.

Steve Port joins me on the podcast to discuss his latest project, Melee.gg and the future of Magic tournaments, online and offline. Learn how Melee.gg can allow your game store to run Magic tournaments more efficiently than ever, both in store and on Magic: Arena.

Find out how the platform works, how you can run events with minimal staffing and still have a smooth tournament experience for your customers, and how the Melee.gg team is changing the way events are run.

Melee.gg is a great way for game stores to run tournaments that was previously reserved for the likes of the Star City Games Tour and other premier organizers.

Steve Port

Steve’s introduction to competitive gaming was in the early 90's when he began organizing leagues for strategy games. This was followed closely by organizing sanctioned events for Wizards of the Coast.

This early hobby quickly turned into full time employment as he acquired contracts with companies like Wizards of the Coast, Upper Deck, and Konami.

From 2001-2015 Steve organized some of Magic’s largest tournaments while also starting and overseeing several companies connected to the tabletop gaming world.

He's heading up Melee.gg with Jason Flatford, Brad Nelson, and Adam Shaw, each of which brings something unique to the team in addition to their shared passion for Magic: the Gathering.

Steve was also one of my first interviewees on the podcast years ago. He appeared on episode 14 of the Manaverse Podcast back in 2015, and now he's back to give us the lowdown on Melee.gg and the future of running tournaments online.

Questions

How did you get involved in Melee.gg?

From a complete newbie perspective, how does the system work?

How do you capture payments? Is there a limit? How are prizes (if any) distributed?

What are some best practices for running great tournaments with the software?

What's the biggest tournament you've seen on the platform so far?

How should store owners be using the platform to run events?

How can they get involved and become organizers?

What's planned for the future of Melee.gg?

Links

melee.gg

Become an Organizer

Melee.gg Documentation

manaversesaga.com/join

This interview that you’re about to hear with Scott Church is fascinating. Scott is the owner of Category One Games, an online only store he started way back in the mists of time, also known as 2004. A 20 year old online only store is interesting enough, but Category One Games specializes in dead TCG’s. Games that have been written off and dumped in the clearance sections of stores in the past are the bread and butter of Category One Games and Scott has a thriving business because of them. 

Since game store owners often look at the products they sell as hot potatoes, Scott’s experience may lead you to reevaluate that common wisdom. Maybe there’s gold in those dead games sitting on your back shelves. 

We also talk a fair bit about Crystal Commerce and the struggle of working with a legacy system that has a huge amount of potential, and the intricacies of marketing online. Good stuff all around.

Speaking of marketing, that’s what we do! We help local game stores get more sales and establish a stronger presence online with digital marketing strategies like email, Google ads, Meta ads, social media, content, and search engine optimization, and we’d love to work with you! If you go to manaversesaga.com/mma and book a free call, we’ll go over your store’s current digital footprint and put together a custom digital marketing strategy plan tailored to your business. We’ll go over the plan together on the call and talk about how we can implement everything for you. If you want to work together, great! If you want to take the plan and try implementing it in house, that’s cool too. Either way, it’s yours to keep. We’ve helped game stores in nearly every stage of the business, from prelaunch all the way to multiple millions in yearly revenue, and we’d love to help your LGS take advantage of the massive opportunities that exist online. Head to manaversesaga.com/mma to get started!

Links

https://www.categoryonegames.com/

Scott Church on Facebook

Kylie Prymus has been the owner of Games Unlimited in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania since 2015 but Games Unlimited is one of the original founding game stores in North America. Opening their doors for the first time in 1979, Games Unlimited has been serving the Pittsburgh community for decades, bringing people and games together the whole time.

With a special focus on being community oriented, family friendly game experts, Kylie and the Games Unlimited crew help people find the perfect game for their needs and have built a thriving business while doing so. 

Topics/Questions

• How Kylie got into the game business and how he grew Games Unlimited after taking over the ownership in 2015.
• Why your customer's trust is the most valuable asset your business can have.
• The impact of the shutdowns on Games Unlimited and how Kylie kept the business going.
• Honeycomb - "We raised $11,085 in our first day! As a business that relies heavily on customer relationships, giving my customers a way to support us during the shutdown is a win-win for both of us."
• How Kylie found out about Honeycomb and what lead to the decision to give them a try.
• Tips for game store owners that are struggling right now.

The Manaverse Podcast is supported by Honeycomb Credit. Honeycomb Credit is here to support your small business during these uncertain times. 

As a leader in crowdfunded small business loans, Honeycomb gives you the opportunity to raise community capital from your customers, fans, and the network of Honeycomb investors.  

Sign up and get connected with one of their funding experts by going to manaversesaga.com/honeycomb. 

If you're a local game store owner in need of funding, working with Honeycomb Credit creates a way for your existing community to invest in the future of your business. 

If you want to support the local game store in your area, let them know how Honeycomb Credit can help! Go to manaversesaga.com/honeycomb to sign up and get started today!

Brendan Carrion, email marketer/game designer/podcaster with Athoria Games in Arizona, is on the podcast to talk about the nuts and bolts of marketing a game store and getting new customers, what makes Athoria Games tick, and discuss the state of the gaming industry as a whole.

Good times. Don't forget to connect with Brendan here.

Links Mentioned

https://www.athoriagames.com/

https://www.thecarrion.com/

The launch of Lorcana has been a roller coaster for game stores. The absurdly high demand combined with a very limited supply of product has created a perfect storm for game store owners looking to sell, as well as consumers and collectors looking to buy. Online communities of players/speculators have accused game store owners of scalping and gouging if anything is priced above MSRP, with game store owners justifiably pushing back and defending the market price as the only viable option given the circumstances.

Basically, no one is happy about the Lorcana launch and the whole thing has been extremely frustrating for all parties.

As of the publishing date of this podcast, restocks of Chapter 1 are just now hitting the shelves of game stores several weeks later than originally promised by Ravensburger, with Rise of the Floodborn just around the corner.

As a collectible card game, Lorcana will be scrutinized as an example for years to come. Despite all it's challenges, and they are substantial at this point, there is still massive potential for Lorcana to become a major player in the collectible card game market.

And that's what Brendan Carrion and I discuss in today's episode! Let's talk about the future of Lorcana as a collectible card game, it's place in the pantheon, where Ravensburger went wrong with the launch (and where they went right), and speculate on whether Lorcana is the next big thing.

Topics Discussed

• The popularity and anticipation of Disney's Lorcana card game
• Comparison of Lorcana to Pokemon and its market impact
• Ravensburger's supply challenges
• The speculative nature of collectible card games
• The secondary market for collectible cards and investment perspectives
• The effect of volatile card prices on game stores and industry ethics
• The controversy and value of reprinting cards in the collectible market
• Challenges faced by retailers with pre-orders and customer expectations
• Ravensburger's cautious approach to printing and market delivery
• Potential impact of a new Star Wars card game
• The complexity of card game production and consumer awareness

Links

Athoriagames.com

@athoriagames on Instagram

Athoria Games on Facebook

@deathbyroleplaying

This is the second podcast in a series that I'm calling Launch Lessons, where I'll be breaking down the Six Pillars of Digital Marketing and show you just how powerful and important they are to your business's growth. If you haven't listened to the last episode on how much your email list is worth, go back and check that one out.

Today we're talking about content and why having the right content on your website and social media channels leads to more sales, more traffic, more customers, and a bigger audience for you to reach.

In this episode you'll learn:

• How content helps visitors progress through the buyer's journey and presell themselves on what you have to offer,
• Why the most important content targets the largest number of people, in particular the ones who need the most education and help on getting started,
• Why your core content should answer as many questions preemptively as possible,
• And why you should leverage those pieces effectively by making them easy to find on your website.

And if you like what you've heard today and want to find out how we can implement this in your game store you can book your free strategy session by going to manaversesaga.com/mma. We will do a deep dive on the six main areas of digital marketing for your game store and identify what's working and what can be improved on, create a plan that incorporates each of the Six Pillars, and how we can put the plan into action for you over the next 90 days. Book your strategy session today at manaversesaga.com/mma

We've got Whitman Bottiger, the owner of Critical Hit Games on the the podcast today. Critical Hit Games is a WPN Premium game store in Abingdon, Maryland carrying the classic selection of TCG's, miniatures, RPGs, and board games with a special focus on custom TCG formats.

Game stores can be an intimidating environment for customers who've never been to one before, so we discuss how to make your game store more approachable and friendly to newcomers.

Tons of nuggets in this episode. Check it out!

Links Mentioned In The Show

https://crit-hit.com

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SmallGameStoreSanctuary

Check out other episodes of the Manaverse Podcast https://www.manaversesaga.com/podcasts/

The Complete FLGS Digital Marketing Course: By the end of this 21 day step-by-step course, you'll have all the pieces of the digital marketing puzzle put together for your game store.

https://www.manaversesaga.com/flgs/

Manaverse Marketing Agency: Book your call to find out if your game store is a good fit for the paid ads and email marketing automation system and learn how we can plug it into your business.

https://www.manaversesaga.com/autopilot/

Make Your Site Accessible: Start a 7 day free trial of AccessiBe and make your website accessible in the next 48 hours.

https://www.manaversesaga.com/ada/

In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, I sit down with Dustin Staats from BGE Tabeltop and Dae from Fire & Dice to talk about their journey as local game store owners and their ambitious plans for their first-ever convention, LFG Con. We dive into their backgrounds, the challenges of organizing a convention from the ground up, and the budgeting hurdles they've had to navigate. They also share what makes LFG Con unique and how they’re working to create an event that stands out. Throughout our conversation, we explore the power of community, the value of collaboration, and the excitement building around the convention.

Check out LFG Con everywhere

https://www.lfg-con.com/

https://www.instagram.com/lfgconvention/

https://www.youtube.com/@LFGCon

https://www.tiktok.com/@lfgconvention

This episode of the Manaverse Podcast features Eric Dieulangard, the CMO of Equinox. Today we're discussing "Altered," a new trading card game scheduled for release in the summer of 2024, and diving into how the game's innovations fit into the business model of your friendly local game store.

Eric elaborates on Altered's unique features, including its integration of digital elements with traditional card gameplay, and the innovative use of QR codes to merge physical and digital collections. He explains how Altered aims to refresh the trading card game industry, emphasizing a new IP, engaging gameplay, and a mix of casual and competitive elements. We also discuss the game's market strategy, retailer support, organized play, and a Kickstarter campaign, highlighting how these elements are designed to benefit both players and retailers.

If you've been curious about Altered and wondering what all the hype is about, this interview is a great place to start!

Key Points We Discussed:

• What is Altered and what makes it different from other TCGs on the market today
• How the game integrates digital elements with traditional card gameplay
• How the QR code system works
• Altered's artistic inspiration and intellectual property and building that out in a world of established IPs
• A little bit of how the game plays
• The Kickstarter details and retailer pledge
• The Organized Play program details of Altered and the planned support for stores, as well as the the competitive circuit planned for late 2024/early 2025

Links

Altered.gg

Altered Discord server

Altered FAQ

Altered on X/Twitter

The 2nd LGS Success Summit is scheduled for September 7th to 9th, 2021 and we're going bigger and better for this one.

Just like last time, this summit is a virtual event so you don't have to worry about spending thousands of dollars on airfare and travel and accommodations and food. You can attend the summit and listen to the expert speakers from the comfort of anywhere with an internet connection.

We're talking three days of content, delivered by 24 of the most successful game store owners in North America, covering the entire spectrum of experience. Day 1 of the summit is all about new store owners and what you need to know to get your business off on the right foot. Day 2 is all about growth and marketing and learning how to sell more products with cutting edge marketing strategies, and day 3 being dedicated to operations and optimizing where you're going to learn about the systems and processes you need to build a business that runs itself.

And just like last time, the LGS Success Summit is free to attend live! You can pick up your free ticket by going to lgssuccesssummit.com and signing up right now.

And if you act soon, you can also upgrade your summit experience and purchase an All-Access Pass at early bird pricing and save 25%. As an All-Access Pass holder, you get access to the audio and visual recordings once the summit is finished, as well as the resources and bonuses mentioned during the summit.

If you've been thinking about how to grow your game store but just aren't sure about what to do next, the LGS Success Summit is where you want to be. It's three days of actionable strategies, useful resources, industry connections, and networking opportunities and I'm super excited for you to be there

Grab your free ticket and All-Access Pass by going to lgssuccesssummit.com and signing up today.

Supply chain issues are coming. Let's talk about the causes of the disruptions to the game trade supply chain, why shipping container costs are exploding right now, and how you can mitigate some of the impacts on your business.

Quick hits

#1 Diversify your product offerings

#2 Work with a larger number of distributors

#3 Focus more on the secondary market

#4 Do more events and make them profitable

#5 Offer additional services

#6 Order direct

#7 Order what you need for the holiday season now

In this special update episode of the Manaverse Podcast, host Tom Traplin sits down with Blake Edward Hawkey, one of the co-founders of 2nd Hand Geek. Together, they discuss the evolution of the platform since its inception, the exciting new features available, and how the marketplace can benefit both players and local game stores.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• The story behind 2nd Hand Geek, an eBay-style marketplace for used and new games, miniatures, and other geek culture items.
• How 2nd Hand Geek differs from platforms like eBay and TCGPlayer by offering a unique community revenue share model that rewards local game stores.
• An in-depth look at the new features on 2nd Hand Geek, including the innovative "Collection Feature" that helps players manage their collections and track the market value of their armies and miniatures.
• Details on the platform’s paint standards for miniatures, making it easier to sell and buy painted models with confidence in the quality.
• Upcoming features such as PayPal integration, secure transactions, and Shopify integration that will allow store owners to easily list their products on the platform.
• How game stores can benefit from 2nd Hand Geek’s affiliate program, earning 20% of the fees generated from their customer base’s transactions.
• The vision for the future of 2nd Hand Geek, including plans to become a one-stop shop for all things geek culture.

Key Takeaways:

• 2nd Hand Geek is growing rapidly with over 500 accounts and hundreds of transactions. The team is focused on building out robust features to support further growth.
• Game store owners can easily sign up and start earning money by referring customers to the platform or listing their own inventory. The QR code and referral link system make it simple for stores to promote the platform and earn a percentage of transactions.
• The platform aims to support the broader gaming community by making it easier for players to find hard-to-get miniatures and games while also providing a new revenue stream for local stores.

Connect with 2nd Hand Geek:

• Visit 2ndHandGeek.com to sign up for a free account and start listing your items.
• Join the 2nd Hand Geek community on Discord to share feedback and connect with the team.
• Interested in getting your store involved? Contact the team for more details on how you can benefit from their referral program and upcoming features.

Episode Links:

• 2nd Hand Geek Website
• 2nd Hand Geek Discord
• Manaverse Podcast

We've got Maryam Al-Hammami on the podcast. Maryam is the co-owner of The Game Chest, a four location local game store business in California. Maryam and I discuss what it takes for a game store to grow into a multi-location business, how making the in-store experience welcoming and diversifying your inventory can change everything, why hiring a great team is crucial to long term success, the merits of having your store inside a mall, and more.

This is a great conversation for anyone that wants to set their sights on expanding their game store and growing into a seven figure and beyond business.

Links Mentioned

https://www.instagram.com/thegamechest/

https://linktr.ee/thegamechest

https://www.tiktok.com/@thegamechest?lang=en

https://www.facebook.com/thegamechestDelamo/

https://www.facebook.com/GameChestIrvineSpectrum/

https://www.facebook.com/thegamechestoc/

https://www.facebook.com/theGameChestArcadia

Enrollment is officially open for the April 2023 Digital Marketing Bootcamp!

We're taking all the strategies that we use for our clients and teaching the frameworks we use to drive online visitors and foot traffic from Google and social media, build up an email list of paying customers, send campaigns that sell, and run ads on Facebook and Google that generate thousands of dollars in sales each month.

Plus we're going to cover two of the hottest topics facing game store owners over the coming months and years. The first being accessibility and making sure you and your business are protected from the slew of ADA related lawsuits impacting the industry. We are going to go over how to make sure your website is accessible and compliant, but also how to protect yourself in the event you get served.

The second being the recent advent of AI with the release of Chat GPT and how you can leverage this exciting new tool to make your SEO and content creation more effective and easier than ever.

It's going to be 4 weeks, 8 sessions of live over the shoulder training with value-packed 90 minute sessions Tuesdays and Thursdays each week plus a little Q&A at the end of each.

In case you need a little more incentive, Bootcamp attendees that go on to become MMA clients in the future will get the price of the Bootcamp discounted on the program!

We're keeping the Bootcamp small so the sessions can have the maximum impact, so if you want to be one of the 5 attendees for the next bootcamp and score an early bird discount, now's the time to join us!

Go to manaversesaga.com/bootcamp and enroll today.

Joe Masilotti is on the show to talk about how WeTabletop can help game store owners get in front of more customers and fill up their events more consistently.

WeTabletop allows players looking for games to connect with store owners hosting those games, and they're not just restricted to the usual suspects. Players can find nearly any table top game on the system.

For game store owners, WeTabletop is a completely free way to reach more customers and sell more games. Due to the current circumstances surrounding Covid-19, WeTabletop is also offering store owners to host remote/virtual events so there is no excuse not to claim your store's page right now.

Go to https://wetabletop.com to get started.

If you're in the planning stages of your future game store or were about to launch, you should put everything on hiatus right now.

Hold off on opening your doors or making any major purchases in the near future because the circumstances in which you would be operating are changing, almost by the day.

If you went through the effort of putting together a business plan, the very assumptions the plan is based on are now incorrect. A business plan presupposes a few things, like a somewhat stable economy, reliable infrastructure, and a reasonably consistent regulatory environment.

But that's no longer the case. Let's talk about what you should be doing instead of pulling the trigger on your game store plans and how to set your business up for success later on.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great time celebrating the arrival of 2022. One of the things I like to do at the beginning of the year is to look back a bit and see what happened over the past 12 months and establish a bit of a theme for the coming year. So that's what we're doing today.

Let's discuss three of the biggest lessons I learned over the past year and how they've changed the way I think about what I'm doing, and then look forward to the future and talk about the big trends I think are coming for game store owners in 2022.

Find out how we can help you grow your game store with the 90 Day LGS Transformation Program. you can book your free strategy session by going to manaversesaga.com/mma. We will do a deep dive on the six main areas of digital marketing for your game store and identify what's working and what can be improved on, create a plan that incorporates each of the Six Pillars of Digital Marketing, and how we can put the plan into action for you over the next 90 days. Book your strategy session at manaversesaga.com/mma

Commander players are the ultimate casual Magic player for game stores. Having a thriving and vibrant Commander community is a huge asset since Commander players often spend the most money on the hobby and buy all sorts of cards that conventional Standard or Modern players wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole, and are happy paying for them!

The more Commander players you can create and attract the better, but there are some barriers to organizing events for this particular community of Magic players.

As an event type, Commander is usually as casual as it gets, so traditional event organization doesn't really make much sense. Commander players aren't playing for the competition, or even the prizes most of the time. They're there for the fun and friendly atmosphere and to live out their Timmy/Johnny dreams of hilarious situations and ridiculously improbable combos.

Traditional tournament organization doesn't really fit the bill.

The second issue is some people find it awkward to show up to a store for the first time and ask a bunch of strangers if they can join their game. Social anxiety is a real thing, and it can keep potential Commander players from ever giving it a shot.

So what should you do?

Hang out with the founder of LFG Nexus and myself to find out about Commander Nexus and the Kickstarter project launching September 14th!

Commander Nexus is a platform being explicitly designed to facilitate Magic's most popular casual format and make it easier than ever for game stores to build a community of Commander players.

Find out:

• What makes the Commander Nexus tick,
• How you can get early access to the platform,
• And how you can start growing your Commander community.

Get in on the ground floor by clicking here to be notified when the project goes live!

Host note: Sheldon Menery, the godfather of Commander recently passed prior to the release of this podcast. Sheldon was a trailblazer in the Magic community, helping to shape the judge program from its earliest days and serving as a level 5 competitive Magic judge until retiring from the program in 2011. A prolific writer and content creator, he shared his insights and expertise through articles, videos, and podcasts, and he was one of the people responsible for the creation and proliferation of the Magic's most popular format. Sheldon left a mark on the Magic community that few will ever be able to match and he will be missed.

Frank Rossi and Jordan Shankman are the featured guests for today's episode of the podcast. Frank and Jordan are the owners of Petrichor Productions in the Greater Atlanta area and they specialize in video production and helping businesses bring their brand story to vibrant life. The Petrichor team recently worked with Jason Mastowski, the owner of Peach State Games in Woodstock, GA, to create a video telling the story of his shop and the amazing community that has formed around Jason's passion and energy. It's a great example of how a well produced video can convey emotion and tell a story that can't really be replicated any other way. Check out the short three minute video they created for Jason below. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-TdqzviHho

In our interview, the Petrichor guys and I discuss why video is so effective and creating a connection between businesses and potential customers, how you can start creating video content for your game store today without the need for expensive cameras or equipment, and what makes a piece of video content effective.

Video is one of the most powerful ways you can market your business, and when paired with social media and digital marketing, it's a great tool for getting new customers into your store or shopping your website. If you're an established game store that offers a great experience to your customers, this is an excellent strategy for taking your marketing to the next level. Find out how the Manaverse Marketing Agency and Petrichor team can blow up your inbox and in store traffic with a killer video marketing package by going to manaversesaga.com/petrichor.

Dustin is the owner and founder of Board Gaming with Education and BGE Tabletop. He has experience teaching English as a second language to a variety of age levels – from kindergarten to university. He also works in the field of education in various capacities. BGE started off as podcast in 2017 and has expanded into a platform for educators to learn how to incorporate games into their curriculum, with a brick and mortar storefront planned for 2022.

Links

https://www.boardgamingwitheducation.com/

https://bgetabletop.com/

Why We Buy by Paco Underhill

https://www.facebook.com/groups/openinggamestore

BinderPOS

Crystal Commerce

Shopify

You can get your customized digital marketing plan right now by going to manaversesaga.com/mma to book your free strategy session.

Once that's booked we'll do a full assessment of your current digital presence. We'll do a deep dive into each of the six elements of digital marketing for your game store to identify what's working and what's missing. Then we put together a customized strategy for your business, and then when we're on the call we will work together to identify the unique aspects of your brand that set you apart from your competitors, as well as figure out who your ideal customer is and how to attract more of them.

At the end of the call you will have a framework for building out a complete digital marketing strategy for your game store and can find out how we can get that all implemented for you over the next 90 days.

Make 2022 your best year yet. Book your strategy session today by going to manaversesaga.com/mma

Erik Bigglestone makes his return debut on the Manaverse Podcast to share his experience dealing with an ADA lawsuit last year and talk about ways for game stores to protect their businesses from predatory actors.

We discuss how Games of Berkeley was targeted last year for an Accessibility claim out of New York, the pattern of certain plaintiffs and lawyers in serving businesses in the local game store community, why making your website accessible needs to be a high priority for every game store with a website (pretty much everyone in the US at this point) and the solutions that are available right now.

Links Mentioned

Case Tracker: https://www.pacermonitor.com

Games of Berkeley Case: https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/45245700/Toro_v_Evil_Empire_Inc,_dba_Games_of_Berkeley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_public_participation

Remediation Company #1: https://216digital.com/

Remediation Company #2: https://adasitecompliance.com/

Lawyer that handled Erik's case: https://www.steinllp.com/

https://www.accessibility.com/search?term=mars+khaimov&type=SITE_PAGE&type=LANDING_PAGE&type=BLOG_POST&type=LISTING_PAGE

Try Accessibe free for 7 days: manaversesaga.com/ada (affiliate link)

See how accessible your website is: https://accessibe.com/accessscan

If your shop is based in the US, your game store's website may be a huge liability for you. Recently passed legislation has made the internet a public accommodation and that means that if your website isn't accessible, you're at risk of serious fines from the government and especially lawsuits. Game stores in particular are being targeted by a law firm in New York and if you don't want to be served with a five digit lawsuit, you need a solution. The best option on the market is AccessiBe. AccessiBe is an affordable AI based app that automatically makes your website accessible for all sorts of people and protects you with an accessibility statement and litigation support. It's an all in one win-win solution for game stores that only takes 48 hours to protect your business and make it more accessible to the people that need it.

You can grab this deal by signing up for a free 7 day trial by going to manaversesaga.com/ada.

In today's episode we are going straight to the source and exploring what makes the WPN program tick, how to achieve that coveted Premium status for your game store, and how to make the most it.

Luke May is the Retail Experience Specialist for Wizards of the Coast in the UK and Nelson Brown is the Wizards Play Network Community Manager in Seattle, and they join me today to discuss the Premium program and what it takes for a game store to qualify as one of the best shops in the world.

Questions

What is the WPN origin story? Where did the idea for the Premium program come from?

What sets Premium game stores apart? What makes achieving Premium status awesome?

What are the main obstacles that store owners run into during the approval process and how can listeners avoid them?

What is the WPN program trying to achieve?

How can store owners make the most out of their Premium status?

Where can store owners go to get more information?

Links Mentioned During The Interview

Retail Improvement Grant 50% (only available while supplies last)

Why We Buy by Paco Underhill (affiliate link)

Mary, Queen of Shops

UK Retail Expo

wpn.wizards.com

askwpn.wizards.com

WPN Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1659498737640125/

How to apply for WPN Premium: https://wpn.wizards.com/article/how-apply-wpn-premium-during-pandemic

WPN articles: https://wpn.wizards.com/grow-your-store

publishergamenights.com

Jouni Jussilla is on the Manaverse Podcast to talk about Dized, a digital companion designed to be used next to physical tabletop games. We all know that one of the biggest obstacles to picking up a new game is learning the rules, which is why we often refer to our friends to teach us. It creates a much better learning experience and gets us into the game faster.

Imagine having that exact same experience in a highly interactive and engaging app with an ever expanding library of tutorials that you can use to teach anyone how to play. No need to slog through a 15 page rulebook before you can even get set up. Just jump right into the game and learning as you go.

This is where Dized comes in. With Dized, players can learn games while they play and enrich their tabletop gaming experience and it can do everything from Smart Tutorials to full game expansions!

Dized brings the experience of the best video game tutorials to the board game table and we're going to find out more right now.

Questions

What is the origin story of Dized? How did you guys get into this business?

What is Dized and how does it work?

How much does it cost?

How the content creation tools work?

Who creates the content?

What are some of the best ways store owners can use the app to sell more games?

How does the advertising system work?

Where can listeners go to get started?

Dized is beneficial to all industry operators:

• Publishers can make their games more accessible with smart tutorials and more immersive with digital content. Dized has also proven to be very efficient at demoing games at expos!
• Retailers can use Dized as a “demo person” at the store, and Dized offers a great selling point: “If you buy this game, you can skip the rulebook and learn while you play!”
• Board Game Cafes can utilize Dized as “someone” who teaches guests how to play the game and is able to handle all the tables simultaneously!

Reach out to Jouni: b2b@dized.com

Become a Manaverse Network member: https://www.manaversesaga.com/join

Welcome to another episode of the Manaverse podcast! I’m your host, Tom Traplin, and today, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Tyler Brotton, an ambitious entrepreneur charting a unique path in the gaming industry. From starting as an online card trader during the COVID-19 pandemic to his current venture of setting up a brick-and-mortar game store, Tyler shares the ups and downs of his journey, offering a treasure trove of insights for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Tyler's journey is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit, showcasing the blend of passion and practicality needed to succeed in the competitive world of game retail. His story offers valuable insights for anyone aspiring to turn their hobby into a thriving business.

For more insights and updates on Tyler’s journey, listeners can follow him on Facebook and join his Discord community, Righteous Gaming.

Key Points We Discussed:

• How his journey began with online card sales, focusing on the 'Flesh and Blood' TCG.
• Tyler's strategies for scaling his online business through the buying and selling of card collections.
• Tyler opens up about the hurdles of moving from an online business to a physical store, including capitalization, location scouting, and balancing dual operations.
• We delve into Tyler’s vision for a game store that's more than just a business.
• Tyler highlights how mentorship has been pivotal in his journey, helping him navigate the complexities of opening a brick and mortar retail location.
• We discuss strategies for staying relevant in a dynamic market, including product line diversification and keeping a pulse on customer preferences.
• Tyler shares his long-term goals, painting a picture of growth and expansion in the gaming industry.

Links

Opening a Tabletop Game Store Facebook Group

Friendly Local Game Store by Gary Ray

#righteousgaming on Discord

Tyler Brotton on Facebook

Email Tyler: tbrotton93@gmail.com

Is coronavirus worse than the flu? At this point it doesn't matter, the panic and fear is real.

Governments are taking this seriously.

Coronavirus is going to affect all retail but game stores are a unique business model and are very focused on face to face interaction. So what do local game store owners need to be concerned with over the coming weeks and months?

• Health Concerns
• Do you have a plan in place for what happens when your team gets sick? What about you?
• What are you doing to reduce the spread of disease? Hand sanitizer
• Economic Concerns
• Supply chain issues, China manufacturing is reduced. Shipping is delayed as countries go into lockdown. What can you do to prevent issues with restocking? Will likely affect board games more than other products as majority is manufactured overseas, can you refocus product lines to others that won't be as affected?
• Do you have enough of basic items like toilet paper! to last a prolonged shortage?
• Do you have enough set aside to float the business if sales are reduced for the next 6 months?
• Dealing with quarantines, reduced foot traffic, low to zero event attendance, reduced sales.
• Insurance isn't going to cover this.

Recommendations

1. Personal, have food/water/basic supplies on hand. Prepare to self isolate if necessary, at least a few weeks worth. Wash your hands, avoid touching your face. You will likely be infected or someone you know so be prepared to be knocked out for a while.
2. Put a plan in place if you can't work for up to a month. Does your manager know how to order or take care of other admin tasks? Do you have a chain of command in place? In the extreme case, what happens to your business if you die?
3. Speak to your distributors and suppliers. Ask them if there any items they expect to see shortages of, consider stocking up now if necessary. 
4. Be proactive, not reactive. Speak to your staff about ways to reduce the spread of the disease. Put up guidelines for customers as well. Avoid touching each other's cards or game pieces as much as possible, wash your hands often.

Athena Games in Norwich, UK

In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast, we're talking with Jamie Grinstead from Athena Games. Athena Games is Norwich's premier tabletop game destination for gamers of all sorts and we dive into their origin story, what sets them apart, and how they have navigated the changing digital landscape over the last two years to create a thriving ecommerce business using Shopify.

Links

athenagames.com

shopify.com

https://www.facebook.com/athenagamesuk

Did you miss your chance to attend the 2021 LGS Success Summit live? Right now you can still pick up the All-Access Pass by going to lgssuccesssummit.com/buyaap and get access to all three days worth of content. That's 24 sessions from some of the most successful game store owners in North America covering topics like brand building, running events, email marketing, game demos, networking and collaboration, TikTok, SEO, word of mouth marketing, creating a WPN Premium level business, ecommerce and shipping, hiring the right people, and tons more. You can find all that in the Manaverse Network when you pick up your All-Access Pass by going to lgssuccesssummit.com/buyaap.

Welcome to another exciting episode of our podcast! Today, we dive deep into the world of gaming retail with Joshua Pyle-Carter from The Deck Box. Joshua shares his incredible journey of building a successful gaming store from scratch. We explore how The Deck Box has created a community-centric environment, offering a personalized client service that goes beyond just selling products.

You'll hear about the innovative strategies in inventory management, pricing, and staff empowerment that have contributed to the store's success. Joshua also sheds light on the future plans for The Deck Box, including balancing online and in-store sales and maintaining a profitable margin to support community events.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in gaming retail, community building, or just loves a good success story. Tune in for insights and inspiration from a gaming retail expert!

Links

https://www.thedeckboxhalifax.com/

https://www.facebook.com/DeckBoxHalifax

https://www.instagram.com/thedeckboxhalifax/

We've got Adam Scholtz on the podcast. Adam is the owner of Cosmic Games in Bellingham. Cosmic Games is Bellingham's premier source for Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon Trading Card Game, Video Games and more.

Links Mentioned for Cosmic Games

https://www.cosmicbham.com/

https://www.facebook.com/cosmicbham

https://www.instagram.com/cosmicgamesbham/

https://discord.gg/3aAVJj6tWn

Friendly Local Game Store (affiliate link)

Enrollment is officially open for the April 2023 Digital Marketing Bootcamp!

We're taking all the strategies that we use for our clients and teaching the frameworks we use to drive online visitors and foot traffic from Google and social media, build up an email list of paying customers, send campaigns that sell, and run ads on Facebook and Google that generate thousands of dollars in sales each month.

Plus we're going to cover two of the hottest topics facing game store owners over the coming months and years. The first being accessibility and making sure you and your business are protected from the slew of ADA related lawsuits impacting the industry. We are going to go over how to make sure your website is accessible and compliant, but also how to protect yourself in the event you get served.

The second being the recent advent of AI with the release of Chat GPT and how you can leverage this exciting new tool to make your SEO and content creation more effective and easier than ever.

It's going to be 4 weeks, 8 sessions of live over the shoulder training with value-packed 90 minute sessions Tuesdays and Thursdays each week plus a little Q&A at the end of each.

In case you need a little more incentive, Bootcamp attendees that go on to become MMA clients in the future will get the price of the Bootcamp discounted on the program!

We're keeping the Bootcamp small so the sessions can have the maximum impact, so if you want to be one of the 5 attendees for the next bootcamp and score an early bird discount, now's the time to join us!

Go to manaversesaga.com/bootcamp and enroll today.

Today we're talking with Jason Garvin. Jason is the manager of Total Escape Games, a premium retailer of tabletop games, carrying a vast array of role-playing games, card games, miniatures games, board games, and more in Broomfield Colorado. Jason is going to give us some insight into the origins of the store, dealing with the day to day operations of running a large retail focused game store, how to manage an almost completely hands off owner of the business. So if you want to understand how to build a game store that runs without you as the owner being there all the time, it's time to pay close attention.

I'm opening up a few more slots for clients of the Manaverse Marketing Agency this month so if you're either in the start up phase of opening up your game store and want to kick things off with a powerful digital marketing strategy that's been proven to attract customers and drive sales from day 1, or you're an established game store that wants to expand operations and use digital strategies like email marketing and paid advertising to grow rapidly, let's chat! Go to manaversesaga.com/mma and we'll put together a custom Q4 marketing plan for your business and talk about how we can make it happen for you!

On May 13th, 2021, Wizards of the Coast announced plans to move away from it's current iteration of Organized Play and phase out the MPL and Rivals leagues. The 2021-2022 season will be the final season of Wizard's foray into e-sports in it's current form, and it looks like they will be refocusing on in-person and local level play more closely in the future.

Wizards Announces Major Changes To Professional Organized Play

The new Organized Play vision is to balance the five categories of play away from the heavy focus on professional or “elite” play. The five categories include:

• Friendly play (local game store level)
• Aspirational play (drive to play at a higher level in stuff like States)
• Elite play (higher level events similar to Grand Prix or Pro Tour)
• Festivals (things like CommandFests)
• Digital (playing on MTG Arena and Magic Online as an on-ramp for players anywhere to have access to varying levels of play).

Key Points

• Magic is a poor e-sport and is not compelling to watch from a spectators perspective. This was a major hurdle that Wizards had to overcome to make Magic successful as an e-sport and this announcement indicates that it didn't achieve what they were hoping.
• Players shouldn't expect to make professional Magic into a career. Organized Play always has been a marketing strategy and always will be. It's not a way to employ people.
• The older paths towards high level play were simpler and easier to follow for the average Magic player, making them more aspirational and interesting, which drove sales. The current version is convoluted and messy, and reducing the complexity will certainly help.

What does this mean for the local game stores?

Overall, it's probably a positive change. With a renewed focus on local and regional events, the focus will be more on the average major player and using organized play as a way to support their enjoyment of the hobby, and the local game stores that support the community.

Future versions of the program will probably be simplified and recapture the original sense of excitement and achievability for average players.

Links

https://magic.gg/news/esports-transitions-and-getting-back-to-gathering

https://articles.starcitygames.com/news/2021-2022-will-be-last-season-for-pro-magic-play/

https://articles.starcitygames.com/news/weekly-mtg-answers-questions-regarding-op-announcement/

We've got Michael McKinney on the podcast today. Michael is the logistics manager of 95 MTG and 95 Game Center in Wilmington and we dig into some really interesting aspects of the way 95 Game Center runs and how it built up the singles side of the business.

We talk about the differences between the pay-to-play model versus a free game space, how 95 MTG grew into a Magic singles powerhouse with their own custom built software, how to keep things fresh and interesting for customers, tapping into what your community really wants, and more.

Links Mentioned

https://95mtg.com/

95gamecenter.com

A digital marketing strategy is crucial to your game store's success. In order to grow, you need to get your store in front of new customers and the most effective way to do that is online using strategies like Google ads, email marketing, social media, and content marketing. This is where the Manaverse Marketing Agency comes in. We bring in new customers to your online store and physical store front using a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that we build around your brand and existing operation, and then implement for you. Book a 30 minute strategy session with us to get your game store marketing plan created for free. It's yours to keep either way so you have nothing to lose. Go to manaversesaga.com/mma to book your call and let's take your game store to the next level.

Curt Covert is the founder, creative force and jack-of-all-trades at Smirk & Dagger. He’s worn all the hats including art director, copywriter, marketer and concept director, and in a past life he was also a creative director and marketing planner for promotion agencies servicing Fortune 500 companies and brands like M&Ms, Jameson, Dannon, Unilever, Disney theme park eateries, and more.

Today we're going to talk a little bit about the business of making tabletop games and then we're going to dive into the business of selling those tabletop games.

Publishing

• Why did you decide to get into game publishing?
• For those who may not know, describe the ‘house style’ of your line and who you see as the key audience?
• What does Smirk & Dagger provide as retail support?
• You mentioned demo copies and demo scripts, what would you say to stores that don’t have the manpower or retail space suited to doing demos?

Retail

• What are some best practices for merchandising games that help game store owners move more product? (I will spend a lot of time here, doing a borrowed brilliance exercise )
• How often should store owners remerchandise?
• As a game publisher, what is one thing you wish retailers knew or would do differently?

Links

• Retailer Resource Page: https://www.smirkandlaughter.com/retailer-resources
• SND Retailer FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/666949490455299
• Envoy: https://www.dexposure.com/envoy/
• Dized Interview: MVP096

If you want to be part of a community of peers on your business journey to share ideas with and continue learning, you can become a member of the Manaverse Network by going to manaversesaga.com/join. That's where you can get access to all the seminars from the recent 2020 LGS Success Summit as well as additional exclusive members only content, marketing reviews, and training.

Alan Blakeborough, Founder and CEO of 2ndHandGeek.com, talks about the new online marketplace that supports friendly local game stores. Alan and his team are creating a new competitor to the $9 billion marketplace of eBay, where the fees are competitive and 1% of each transaction gets paid back to the friendly local game store associated with a user's account.

We also talk about what he learned along the way as an owner of multiple game stores over the last couple of decades, and how 2ndHandGeek supports store owners with additional income, as well as organized play support.

Summary

• Creating a marketplace for gamers to buy and sell gaming-related items.
• How 2ndHandGeek works and how it supports local game stores.
• The growth of the tabletop gaming industry.
• The International Wargaming League and 2ndHandGeek organized play program
• 3D printing and its potential in the miniature Wargaming industry.

Links

2ndhandgeek.com

blake@2ndhandgeek.com

Give Blake a call! 864-420-4788

How Game Stores Can Change Lives and Build Community

In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast, I dive deep into a topic that's been on my mind a lot lately: the growing loneliness and division many of us are experiencing in the modern world. With nearly a third of adults in the U.S. feeling lonely on a regular basis and our society becoming more polarized, I believe local game stores have a unique opportunity to bridge these gaps and foster genuine human connections.

The Loneliness Epidemic

Loneliness has become a silent epidemic with significant consequences for our health and well-being. Studies show that social isolation is linked to increased risks of heart disease, stroke, dementia, and depression. It's clear that people are craving connection more than ever, but finding meaningful ways to connect can be challenging.

That's where game stores come in.

My Story: How a Game Store Changed My Life

I want to share a bit of my own story to highlight just how powerful these spaces can be. When I was about 12 years old, a kid from down the street introduced me to a local game store called Deja Vu Games. It wasn't much to look at—a small, basement unit with a few folding tables and some shelves of Magic cards. But for me, it was a magical place where I discovered a community of people who shared my passion for games.

I spent nearly every day after school at Deja Vu Games, and over time, I met the friends who would shape my life for years to come. These were the people who became my core group, my business partners, and eventually even the ones who helped me meet my wife. The connections I made there were deep and lasting, and they all started with a shared love of games.

The Unique Role of Game Stores

Game stores are more than just retail spaces; they're community hubs. Unlike most other social environments—like schools, workplaces, or bars—game stores provide a unique space where people from all walks of life can come together over a shared interest. Whether it's playing Magic: The Gathering, hosting a D&D campaign, or participating in a board game night, these activities naturally foster conversation, cooperation, and connection.

At a time when many people feel isolated, game stores offer a welcoming environment where new friendships can be formed and old ones can be strengthened. The structure of playing games with others helps remove the awkwardness of meeting someone new, creating a positive feedback loop that encourages more social interaction.

Building a Better World, One Game at a Time

I genuinely believe that game stores have the potential to make a significant impact on their communities and, by extension, the world. Imagine a future where every community has a friendly, well-run game store that serves as a gathering place for people of all ages and backgrounds. These stores could host a variety of events—game nights, paint nights, puzzle parties, and more—that bring people together, encourage socializing, and help build stronger, more connected communities.

By fostering these connections, game stores can help combat the loneliness epidemic and create a more open-minded, cooperative society. It's a small step, but one that could lead to a much happier and healthier world.

So, if you're a game store owner or thinking about becoming one, know that you're not just selling games—you're offering a space for connection, joy, and community. And that, to me, is something truly special.

Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed this post, make sure to check out the full podcast episode. And if you'd like your game store featured on the show, feel free to reach out to me at tom@manaversesaga.com.

Together, let's build a better world, one game at a time.

Daniel Vander Kooy comes onto the Manaverse Podcast and talks about the OGL, whether Wizards of the Coast is killing the golden goose, what's happening in the hobby industry, and how game store owners can prepare.

Get a customized digital marketing strategy for your game store by booking a free 45 minute strategy session with us. We will do a deep dive on the six main areas of digital marketing for your game store and identify what's working and what can be improved on, create a customized strategy based on your brand, and show how we can implement everything for you. Book your strategy session at manaversesaga.com/mma

Let's have a quick chat about the allocation situation and how distribution can help support game stores that spend years building the communities that create the demand for the products in the first place.

Grab your ticket to the LGS Success Summit >> https://lgssuccesssummit.com

Follow Dave Salisbury on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dave.salisbury.fanboy3

If you're a game store owner, you're ridiculously busy most of the time.

You've got inventory to manage, events to organize, people to hire, and a million products to stay on top of.

It's a lot to handle... and marketing your game store often becomes an afterthought. Something that always gets pushed onto the back burner.

And it doesn't matter what stage of business you're in. If you're just getting started you have to do everything yourself.

You wear all the hats, all the time.

If you've been running your shop for a few years you've got even more moving parts and people to manage.

Marketing is almost always seen as a nice-to-have rather than a necessity.

It's the old build it and they will come attitude.

Most game store owners make the assumption that the gamers in their local area will find them. Seek them out.

And for the most part that's true, but if you want to grow your business you need to tap into a larger market than just the uber geeks.

But there is something else that I've noticed over the years...

The most successful game stores in the world have mastered digital marketing.

They have a comprehensive digital strategy that leverages the power of e-commerce, social media, paid advertising, email, search engine optimization, and content creation, all working together to create a powerful marketing machine for their business.

I've been putting out content around digital marketing and the business of running game store for a long time now, but, like I said, you're probably super busy and as much as you know you need to market your game store if you want to grow, there just isn't enough time in the day to figure it all out.

Sometimes you just need someone to come in and do it for you.

And that's the perfect lead in to my biggest announcement since the LGS Success Summit.

I am officially announcing the launch of the Manaverse Marketing Agency, the only digital marketing agency specifically for game store owners.

Get your customized digital marketing plan and kick off 2022 strong by going to manaversesaga.com/mma

Brenda and Paraic Mulgrew are the owners of the incredibly thematic Knight Watch Games in San Antonio. Knight Watch Games is a full service gaming center that specializes in board games, card games, miniatures, and role-playing and is beautifully decked out in Medieval fantasy decor.

To quote one of their customers: THE OWNERS AND STAFF HAVE CULTIVATED A NIRVANA FOR GAMERS. A MORE OPEN AND WELCOMING PLACE YOU WILL NEVER FIND."

Brenda and Paraic on a mission to show what a game store can be in 2020 and beyond and during the episode we dig into what it takes to be a game store owner, the advantages of having a partner that compliments your strengths and weaknesses, and what game stores need to do to attract and serve the most misunderstand demographic of customers right now and turn them into raving fans.

Don't sleep on this one, especially in these strange times we live.

https://www.knightwatchgames.com/

Get your FREE ticket to the upcoming LGS Success Summit below

https://lgssuccesssummit.com

This is part 1 of a 4 part interview I did with Josh Pyle-Carter. He’s the owner of The Deck Box, a massively successful and tremendously cool tabletop game store in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In this part of our interview, Josh tells the story of starting his first game store in PEI on a shoestring budget and how being profitable from day 1 was basically his and his partner Rachel’s only option. We talk about the importance of stocking a wide range of magic singles to meet customer needs, the evolution from a small to a larger store, and the emphasis on client relationships over mere transactions.

It was a fun conversation that I was able to have in person, at Josh’s new expansion lovingly called the Rules Lawyer, which is something I definitely want to do more of in the future. Enjoy part 1 of Josh’s interview.

Links

https://www.thedeckboxhalifax.com/

https://www.facebook.com/DeckBoxHalifax

https://www.instagram.com/thedeckboxhalifax/

We've got Jamison Sacks on the podcast today. Jamison is the owner of Common Ground Games in Dallas. Founded in 2013 by Jamison Sacks & DR Hanson, Common Ground Games brings a premiere retail and gaming space for all of D/FW to enjoy and has well over a thousand five star reviews on Facebook and Google.

Links Mentioned

https://www.boardgamesdallas.com/

https://www.facebook.com/commongroundgamestore

https://www.instagram.com/commongroundgames/

https://www.tiktok.com/@commongroundgames

https://twitter.com/commongrounddal

Welcome to another episode of the Manaverse Podcast! My name is Tom Traplin and I am your host and this is the podcast where we talk about building successful friendly local game stores. Today, we’re talking with Michael Bahr, the mind behind the LGS Net Income newsletter and former owner of Desert Sky Games in Arizona. 

Michael relatively recently sold DSG to another game store owner, and I say relatively because I’ve been sitting on this recording for way too long, but we dive into what it takes to build a game store into a sellable asset. The processes and systems that you need to have in place to create a business that not only functions without you, but also gives you the opportunity to potentially exit the business profitably and on your own terms. 

It’s an excellent conversation, and if you want more of a backstage pass look into the operational side of a local game store I definitely recommend signing up for the LGSNI Substack. I’m a member and Michael’s insights into the crunchy, data driven aspects of the business are tremendously valuable. You can go to manaversesaga.com/lgsni to sign up. I’m not affiliated or anything with the newsletter, but I am a big fan, so check it out!

Before we jump into the conversation, I’ve also got a fairly big announcement to make as well. 

As of today, I am officially a co-founding member of the 2nd Hand Geek team! I’m coming on as the CMO for 2nd Hand Geek and together we are going to build a marketplace that truly supports the local game stores that are the heart of the hobbies we all love.

If you haven’t heard of 2nd Hand Geek yet, check out my interview with Alan Blakeborough in episode 138, to find out more about what it’s all about. 

I am very excited about the future of 2nd Hand Geek and how it will change the way hobbyists buy and sell online, while also giving back and supporting the local game stores that built up those communities of gamers that make everything possible in the first place.

Links

LGS Net Income

MVP138

2ndHandGeek.com

If you’ve been open for any length of time in this business you’ve probably run into someone who thinks they deserve a special deal.

Maybe they’ve been a long time customer, maybe they’ve just rolled in off the street and feel like you owe them cheaper prices.

At the moment of this recording there is a surge of speculation in the Pokémon market with a huge number of people buying up product in order to resell and flip on platforms like eBay and Facebook. 

Depending on who you ask, this is either a great opportunity for store owners to clean up, or a problem that’s going to create a lot of unhappy customers.

Let's talk about how we should deal with speculators and crazy hot products in short supply, as well as the inevitable one star reviews and how we can use them as a marketing opportunity to reach your real customers.

Jess Carrier is the featured guest on the Manaverse Podcast today. Jess is the Head of Marketing and Events at Noble Knight Games in Wisconsin and we're going to dig into my favourite topic, which as you probably know by now, is marketing.

We're going to discuss her experience jumping in as the head of marketing at Noble Knight, some of the trends we've been seeing over the past year, content creation, social media, and a ton of different marketing strategies that Jess is using to grow Noble Knight Games right now.

Questions

• Give us a little background on the Noble Knight story and how you became the head of marketing.
• What kinds of marketing did Noble Knight do in the past? What are you focused on now?
• What kinds of campaigns have you seen drive the best results? How did you measure the success?
• Was there any marketing strategy that really underperformed?
• Thinking from the perspective of a smaller game store owner, maybe someone just starting out, what kinds of marketing do you think they should focus on?
• When it comes to marketing, what's the most important thing to keep in mind?
• What's in store for the Noble Knight in the future?
• What does success in marketing look like for you?
• Where can people find out more or connect with you?

Links

marketing@nobleknightgames.com

nobleknightgames.com

If you liked this conversation with Jess than you're going to love the LGS Success Summit. You can get your free ticket to the 2nd LGS Success Summit right now by going to https://lgssuccesssummit.com

The LGS Success Summit is a virtual event so you don't have to worry about spending thousands of dollars on airfare and travel and accommodations and food. You can attend the summit and listen to the expert speakers from the comfort of anywhere with an internet connection.

We're talking three days of content, delivered by 24 of the most successful game store owners in North America, covering the entire spectrum of experience. Day 1 of the summit is all about new store owners and what you need to know to get your business off on the right foot. Day 2 is all about growth and marketing and learning how to sell more products with cutting edge marketing strategies, and day 3 is dedicated to operations and optimizing where you're going to learn about the systems and processes you need to build a business that runs itself.

And just like last time, the LGS Success Summit is free to attend live! You can pick up your free ticket right now by clicking right here.

In the spirit of giving value up front, this is the first podcast in a series that I'm calling Launch Lessons, where I'll be breaking down the Six Pillars of Digital Marketing and show you just how powerful and important they are to your business's growth.

First up, we're talking about one of my favourite topics and one area of marketing that almost every game store I've looked at could improve on: Email Marketing.

We're going to explore the questions:

• How much is your email list worth?
• What is the best way to build an email strategy?
• How should you test and optimize email campaigns?
• How do you know if an email campaign is successful? What kind of metrics should you use?
• What is the best way to use data to segment and target customers?
• What do you write?
• How often should you send?
• What is the most crucial aspect of building email campaigns?

Find out how we can help you grow your game store with the 90 Day LGS Transformation Program. you can book your free strategy session by going to manaversesaga.com/mma. We will do a deep dive on the six main areas of digital marketing for your game store and identify what's working and what can be improved on, create a plan that incorporates each of the Six Pillars of Digital Marketing, and how we can put the plan into action for you over the next 90 days. Book your strategy session at manaversesaga.com/mma

In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, I’m joined once again by Kylie Prymus, the owner of Games Unlimited in Pittsburgh — one of the oldest game stores in the U.S. We dig into the current state of the board game industry, the tension between CCGs and board games, the role of retail, and the long-term viability of friendly local game stores.

We talk about:

Why board games might feel like they’re in trouble — but aren’t.

How Games Unlimited succeeds without Magic, Pokémon, or miniatures.

The downsides of Kickstarter exclusives and FOMO-driven content.

The difference between stocking games and selling games.

Why community and inclusion mean more than just packed event tables.

How to structure your store (physically and culturally) to appeal to casual customers, not just diehard hobbyists.

Let's talk about the future of local game stores, what it means to be board game-focused, and how to win without following the traditional FLGS model.

Today’s episode is called "The Biggest Lie in the Tabletop Games Business." And that lie is some variation of this thought: "You can't be really successful or make a substantial amount of money running a game store."

Now, if you've been in this industry for any amount of time, you've probably heard some version of this. Maybe you've even thought it yourself. I’ve been putting together this podcast for over 10 years now, and I can recall several guests more or less saying the same thing. 

The idea that running a game store or launching a tabletop game is a passion project at best.

But here's the truth: that belief is not only false, it's holding back countless game store owners, creators, and entrepreneurs from achieving the success they could be having.

Let me caveat this real quick. The folks repeating this belief online mean well. Starting a game store has a notorious and well earned reputation of having a low bar for entry, which means that most would-be store owners are under-funded and under-prepared for the realities of running a retail business.

Finding hard numbers on this is tough, but I would estimate that for every game store that exists and has been open for 3 years or more, there are between 10 and 20 stores that didn’t last more than a year or two. And those failed store owners, whatever the cause of the failure, disappear from the conversation, so we have a Survivorship Bias situation in online retailer groups.

So the general advice given online when someone asks about starting up their own shop is “Don’t do it.” The advice givers knows how difficult the business is to build and grow, so it’s correct to discourage someone who might not be ready to put off their dream or try something else.

I’m not arguing against that. I think recommending a prospective store owner come to the table with more resources and knowledge of the business will only increase their odds of success.

This isn’t what I’m talking about in this podcast.

I’m referring to the ingrained belief/mindset of game store owners that it’s not possible to become “wealthy” running a game store. One manifestation of this mindset is store owners discouraging would-be store owners from entering the market in the first place, but it also subconsciously limits their own potential.

There’s a quote attributed to Henry Ford that encapsulates this really well.

“Whether you believe you can or can’t, you’re right.”

If you believe, deep down, that the best you can do with your business is to muddle along and provide yourself and your team with a basic level of income, you’re not only wrong, you’re doing yourself and the people who rely on you a disservice.

Let’s get into the psychology of this for a moment. 

There’s a psychological phenomenon called the Pygmalion Effect, where higher expectations lead to an increase in performance. It suggests that when someone, for example, a teacher, manager, or leader, expects a person to perform well, that person is more likely to meet those expectations due to the positive reinforcement and belief in their abilities.

The concept is named after Pygmalion, a figure from Greek mythology who sculpted a statue that he fell in love with, which was later brought to life by the goddess Aphrodite.

Positive expectations can influence behavior, motivation, and self-esteem, leading to improved outcomes. Well, this applies to more than just the people you have working for you. In many ways, you are your own manager. The things you believe and say get internalized over time, and shape the actions you take in the future.

If you believe you’re destined for great things, that you are smart, talented, and capable of making a big impact on the world, you are much more likely to actually make it a reality. 

There is also the opposite phenomenon known as the Golem Effect.

When low expectations are...

Today we're talking with Pat Fuge. Pat is the Head Gnome of Gnome Games, Wisconsin’s Family Game store, with locations across the Fox Valley for customers to shop and play in. Pat talks about the early days of Gnome Games and how his approach to planning has helped expand to multiple locations and even venture into the world of gaming cafes.

Links

https://gnomegames.com/

https://www.facebook.com/GnomeGamesWorld/

Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up fast, and right after that is the busiest shopping season of the year. If you want to make the most of the last two months of 2022, marketing your game store online should be at the top of your list which is why the FLGS Digital Marketing Bootcamp is back starting Nov 7, 2022.

We're taking all the strategies that we use for our clients and teaching the frameworks we use to drive online and foot traffic from Google and social media, build up an email list of paying customers, send campaigns that sell, and run ads on Facebook and Google that generate thousands of dollars in sales each month.

It's going to be 6 days of live training with a value-packed hour session each day plus a little Q&A at the end.

In case you need a little more incentive, Bootcamp attendees that go on to become MMA clients in the future will get the price of the Bootcamp discounted on the program!

We're keeping the Bootcamp small so the sessions can have the maximum impact, so if you want to be one of the 10 attendees for the last Bootcamp of the year, now's the time to join us!

Go to manaversesaga.com/bootcamp and enroll today.

I've got D from Versus Games in San Francisco with me on today and one of the most consistent threads in our conversation on what makes Versus Games successful is marketing.

We kept coming back to how much D's marketing background shaped the business from the start and how important it is for game stores to have their marketing locked down if they want to grow in the future.

As you can probably guess, I couldn't agree more. Over the past year and half, I've been working with game stores to shape their marketing strategies and in that time helped them generate $100's of thousands in sales and add thousands of new subscribers to their email lists.

I've seen first hand what kinds of impacts effective digital marketing strategies can have on a business.

But the trouble is marketing is a big subject. It takes time and effort to learn all the different tools, and platforms, and principles.

And running a game store is a full time job in itself. Sometimes it can feel more like working two jobs at the same time. Especially now, during the busiest shopping season of the year!

And while I fully acknowledge the stress and pressure you're under right now leading up to Christmas, marketing your game store is not something you can ignore.

My goal is to make it easier for game store owners to leverage digital marketing and grow their businesses. If you just want someone to implement cutting edge digital strategies for your game store, we can do that for you. Head to manaversesaga.com/mma and book a time on the calendar and we'll happily put together a customized plan for you game store.

This time next week, you could have the frameworks and systems installed in your business that capture more email subscribers, drive more traffic to your website from Google, and sell directly with email campaigns and paid traffic.

The same powerful strategies that the major game retailers use to reach millions of customers every month.

But I've also been working on codifying what we do on a 1 to 1 basis with clients and making it more affordable and approachable. This is why I've created the Complete FLGS Digital Marketing Course. It's specifically designed to teach our systems in a way that's easy to implement by breaking everything down and making it step-by-step.

In the course I reveal exactly how we structure email campaigns, how we connect all the different platforms so that everything is integrated and automated as possible, how we build ads that sell directly to customers on Google and Facebook, how we improve webpages so they pull in organic traffic, and more.

All the techniques we use for our clients to increase their revenue and sell thousands of dollars of product online are in there.

Just to give you a quick idea of what kinds of strategies we're talking about, we recently set up Winning Campaign #2 (revealed in Module 5 of the course) in one client's business and in a mere 10 days and $100 in ad spend, generated over $2000 in sales!

The course is broken out into 21 days and each day there is a relatively short video walking you through one particular strategy or tool for you to implement in your business. By the end of the 21 days, you'll have all the pieces of the digital marketing puzzle put together for your game store.

On top of all that, you also get a bunch of resources along the way to help guide your marketing efforts, and the course includes four 30 minute coaching calls with me to use as you see fit.

We can go over your website, review your ads, or simply talk strategy. The coaching calls are yours to make sure you get everything implemented.

Whether you're a beginner or an experienced marketer looking to hone your skills, the Complete FLGS Digital Marketing Course has something for everyone.

Plus, with lifetime access and regular...

The situation is changing day by day and for many game store owners, business is anything but the usual.

Social distancing and isolation have made the traditional model for local game stores unfeasible if not impossible. Hosting events is no longer an option and likely won't be a long time.

And for the stores in regions that are particular hard hit like California and New York, options are even more limited as they've been forced to close their doors entirely.

But there is some good news. The industry as a whole is coming together to help support the front line game stores and there are still ways to keep your business running, even in the midst of a lock down situation.

John Coviello is on the podcast again to share how he's dealing with the situation in his business, and some of the things he's been doing to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic. Listen in to learn how publishers and distributors are creating programs to help your business continue to generate revenue as well what government programs are being made available to small businesses so they can weather the storm.

Click here to join the Manaverse Network free for 30 days and stay connected with other store owners and stay on top of what's happening in the games industry.

See the full list of available resources at https://manaversesaga.com/mvp085-resources-and-advice-for-staying-in-business-during-the-covid-19-pandemic

Robyn Lowy, the owner of Mindtaker Miniatures in Vancouver, Washington, talks about how she built a truly unique take on the friendly local game store. Find out how Robyn started by buying and selling miniatures online and expanded the business into a fully fledged miniature powerhouse. If you've ever thought about carrying miniature games in your store the business model (pun intended) that Robyn has built is one you should 100% be paying attention to.

Links Mentioned

https://www.mindtaker.org/

mindtakerminiatures@gmail.com

https://facebook.com/mindtakerminis

https://www.instagram.com/mindtakermini/

A digital marketing strategy is crucial to your game store's success. In order to grow, you need to get your store in front of new customers and the most effective way to do that is online using strategies like Google ads, email marketing, social media, and content marketing. This is where the Manaverse Marketing Agency comes in.

We bring in new customers to your online store and physical store front using a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that we build around your brand and existing operation, and then implement for you. Book a 30 minute strategy session with us to get your game store marketing plan created for free. It's yours to keep either way so you have nothing to lose. Go to manaversesaga.com/mma to book your call and let's take your game store to the next level.

Andrew Johnson comes onto the podcast to talk about creating Manapool.com, a marketplace just for Magic cards. Learn about the hottest new marketplace for Magic players and local game store owners to buy and sell Magic singles, and how Andrew and his team of co-founders and building a great solution for the Magic community.

Sign up for a Manapool.com account and get 0% seller fees for 6 months plus cash rebates.

We've got David Finn on the podcast. David is the owner of Giga-Bites Cafe in Marietta, near Atlanta. Giga-Bites Café was founded by David Finn 14 years ago and is the host for a gaming community of thousands, and is Atlanta's best stocked tabletop retail space. David is also the owner of Bridge Distribution specializing in a huge variety of hobby products.

Links Mentioned

https://giga-bitescafe.com/

https://www.facebook.com/GigaBitesTabletopCafe

https://www.facebook.com/davidhorsefinn

https://bridgedist.com/

Enrollment is officially open for the April 2023 Digital Marketing Bootcamp!

We're taking all the strategies that we use for our clients and teaching the frameworks we use to drive online visitors and foot traffic from Google and social media, build up an email list of paying customers, send campaigns that sell, and run ads on Facebook and Google that generate thousands of dollars in sales each month.

Plus we're going to cover two of the hottest topics facing game store owners over the coming months and years. The first being accessibility and making sure you and your business are protected from the slew of ADA related lawsuits impacting the industry. We are going to go over how to make sure your website is accessible and compliant, but also how to protect yourself in the event you get served.

The second being the recent advent of AI with the release of Chat GPT and how you can leverage this exciting new tool to make your SEO and content creation more effective and easier than ever.

It's going to be 4 weeks, 8 sessions of live over the shoulder training with value-packed 90 minute sessions Tuesdays and Thursdays each week plus a little Q&A at the end of each.

In case you need a little more incentive, Bootcamp attendees that go on to become MMA clients in the future will get the price of the Bootcamp discounted on the program!

We're keeping the Bootcamp small so the sessions can have the maximum impact, so if you want to be one of the 5 attendees for the next bootcamp and score an early bird discount, now's the time to join us!

Go to manaversesaga.com/bootcamp and enroll today.

Join me as I tell the story of interviewing for the position of marketing manager for Star City Games and my plan for improving the marketing strategy of one of the biggest Magic: the Gathering businesses in the world.

Resources Mentioned

semrush.com

analytics.google.com

mailchimp.com

activecampaign.com

Get your FREE ticket for the LGS Success Summit right here!

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is a little different from the usual show. In this shorter than average episode I talk about the different stages in a Magic player's career and how each stage relates to an LGS owner's business. We … Read More

The post MVP022: How Your LGS Can Crush It With Player Progression appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast features Aaron Tillman. He’s the proud owner of Nerdish Haven in Coffeyville Kansas. In this episode we explore an LGS in the very first days of it’s existence. That’s because Nerdish Haven opened it doors … Read More

The post MVP023: Nerdish Haven – The Story Of How To Start An LGS With $500 And A Laptop appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Today’s show features Alex Moore. Alex is the chef and board game manager at Bampot, a board game cafe in Toronto. Bampot, or the full version: Bampot: Bohemian House of Tea and Board Games is a trendy place that offers loose … Read More

The post MVP024: Bampot Tea, The Trendiest Board Game Cafe In Toronto appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

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The post MVP026: Derium’s CCGs Part Two appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Today on the Manaverse Podcast we're talking to Laura Schneider. Laura's the co-owner of Meeples Games and she's going to walk us through how she built her awesome game store /cafe/thunderdome. We go over how Laura spent an entire year … Read More

The post MVP027: Meeples Games, Welcome To The Thunderdome! appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast features Steve Ellis, the co-owner of Rainy Day Games in Aloha, Oregon. Steve had so much insight into the world of game store ownership that I once again had to split the episode into … Read More

The post MVP028: Rainy Day Games And Building An LGS That Stands The Test Of Time Part 1 appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is part two of the Steve Ellis interview and yes, that's a time travelling DeLorean in the feature image. Steve is the co-owner of Rainy Day Games in Aloha, Oregon in case you missed … Read More

The post MVP029: Rainy Day Games And Building An LGS That Stands The Test Of Time Part 2 appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Welcome to the 30th episode of the Manaverse Podcast. I’ve got a great show for you today, our featured guest is the creative content manager for one of the premier LGSs in North America. Perhaps you’ve heard of them, Card … Read More

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In this edition of the Manaverse Podcast and over the next few weeks, I am excited feature one of the most well known names in Canadian Magic. This particular episode our guest has competed on the Pro Tour twice, created and … Read More

The post MVP031: Captain Canada Talks Being On The Pro Tour, Content Creation, And Building ManaDeprived.com appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Welcome to another episode of the Manaverse Podcast. We’re continuing the Face To Face Games series today, this time we’re back in Toronto with Kelly Ackerman. Kelly is the co-owner of the newest iteration of the Face To Face business, … Read More

The post MVP032: How To Run Massive Magic Tournaments And Other LGS Secrets With Kelly Ackerman Of Face To Face Toronto Part 1 appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Face to Face Toronto - The Duelist Welcome to part 2 of the Kelly Ackerman/Face To Face Toronto interview. Today Kelly and I talk about the big mistakes, the big wins, and a bunch of tools and resources you can … Read More

The post MVP033: Face To Face Toronto – How To Run Massive Magic Tournaments And Other LGS Secrets With Kelly Ackerman Part 2 appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Nerd Haven v2.0 Welcome to a slightly delayed edition of the Manaverse Podcast. Today’s podcast is an update with a previous guest. Roughly six months ago Aaron Tillman started up Nerd Haven with $500 and a laptop. Now, he’s expanded … Read More

The post MVP034: The Nerd Haven Update – 5x The Haven appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

KW Vintage Games - from retro to cardboard Joaquim Mendes is quite the character.  Our guest today is the owner of one of the most unique shops in Kitchener, Ontario. Within the walls of his relatively small store is virtually … Read More

The post MVP035: Player 2 Press Start – KW Vintage Games appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

The featured guest on today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is Jay Mason-Grant. Jay is the owner of Black Knight Games in Hamilton, Ontario.  Jay has a pretty interesting origin story for how he got into the business, and yet … Read More

The post MVP036: Checkmate with Black Knight Games appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

The triumphant return of the Manaverse Podcast is here! No, this isn't a cruel April's Fools joke. The Manaverse Podcast is back! This episode of podcast is a short bite size update, a way for me to reintroduce myself to … Read More

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Welcome to the first edition of the Manaverse Podcast round table! In addition to the usual one on one interviews that you know and love, I've brought on a cavalcade of courageous co-hosts, a torrent of talent, an avalanche of entrepreneurial … Read More

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In the grim darkness of the deep internet, there is only war… The featured guest for today’s episode of the Manaverse Podcast is Matthew Glanfield. Matt is the co-owner of the popular YouTube channel MiniWarGaming and the website miniwargaming.com. There … Read More

The post MVP039: MiniWarGaming.com – From LGS To YouTube appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

How to run great events that grow your game store Running events is one of the most effective ways to grow the community for your game store. If you do a good job organizing each one and provide a good … Read More

The post MVP040: Round Table – How To Run Great Events That Grow Your Game Store appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Travis Parry and the tale of The Nerd Store Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast features Travis Parry, someone you may recognize from the round table editions of the show. As the only co-host that hadn't been interviewed one on … Read More

The post MVP041: Travis Parry and The Nerd Store appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

The Wizards Lawsuit In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast Tom, Wayne and John discuss the details and ramifications of the recent announcement that WotC is being sued by four judges in California. The class action lawsuit claims that MTG … Read More

The post MVP042: Round Table – Wizards of the Coast Sued By MTG Judges appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

  The end of the local game store? In this round table episode of the Manaverse Podcast Tom, Wayne and John discuss an article recently written by past guest of the show, Gary Ray. You can find Gary's interview on the … Read More

The post MVP043: Round Table – Will Local Game Stores Survive? appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Is Magic Digital Next Wizard's Answer To Hearthstone? In this round table episode of the Manaverse Podcast Tom, Wayne and John discuss the future of Magic: the Gathering. We also discuss how it may impact local game stores. With Wizard's announcement of … Read More

The post MVP044: Round Table – Will Magic Digital Next Make Magic an E-Sport appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

  Have you written a business plan for your game store? In this round table episode of the Manaverse Podcast Tom, Wayne and John discuss the importance of planning out your business. Sometimes that means sitting down and writing an actual, … Read More

The post MVP045: Round Table – Creating a Business Plan That Works appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

The game cafe and how to build one from scratch In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, I'm joined by my co-hosts John Coviello and Wayne Mittlesteadt as well as a special guest, Gary Sproul. Gary is the owner of … Read More

The post MVP046: Round Table – Game Cafes appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

GeekyGami's has appeared! The story continues. Allen Hicks comes onto the Manaverse Podcast today to share with us the latest update to the tale of Nerdish Haven in Coffeyville, Kansas. Nerdish Haven was the fledgling local game store we've been following … Read More

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Many game store owners think their Facebook page is all they need to compete online and reach new customers. Tom Traplin, John Coviello, and Gary Sproul come together on this episode of the Manaverse Podcast to discuss the question: Does … Read More

The post MVP048: Round Table – Does your game store need a website? appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Gary Sproul describes the terrifying history of the Haunted Game Cafe Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast involves a deep dive into the murky fog and buried past of Gary Sproul. Gary is the ghostly proprietor of the Haunted Game … Read More

The post MVP049: Gary Sproul on the Haunted Game Cafe appeared first on Manaverse Saga.