With the economy in it’s current state, many game developers/publishers are either downsizing or closing their doors all together. However, indie game studios have seen some solid growth. Games like Braid, Castle Crashers, Geometry Wars RE 2, World of Goo, and A Kingdom For Keiflings have been met with both critical and commercial success. This is a trend that I don’t see changing any time soon.

The opportunity is this: Many of these small (many/most under 10 people) game studios don’t have dedicated marketing resources. Think of them as new authors promoting a book. The do all the work creating the game and then they have to go out there and sell it. I know they don’t have big budgets, but where’s the savvy marketers willing to work for a commission or percentages?

Big opportunity and still growing. I’d like to give it a try. Anyone else?

It’s easy to make the decision to do some “new marketing”. Just take a small budget for “blogs, social media, and stuff like that” and stand back and wait for it all to go viral. What’s tough is the follow through, getting beyond that initial commitment to the point where you can make some progress. You have to get beyond The Moment of Float.

(No, I did not really get this in a fortune cookie, but thanks for believing.)

We give people reasons to visit a web site. We give people reasons to tell a friend about a great product. We give people reasons to try something outside their comfort zone. We give them reasons to keep clicking through, to read the instructions, or to just pick up the box.

And while this seems simple, you’ll soon find you need a better and better reason. “Because I threw enough money at you” or “Because I interrupted so many times, you really couldn’t help it” are not going to be good enough.

It gets called different things, dressed up, and complicated, but in the end our job is simple. We have to give people a reason to do something (buy, join, act, etc.).

And when all you have is a reason, you better make sure yours is a good one.

-Develop a Strong Personal Brand Online Part 2 – Chris Brogan

-How Connected Should You Be? – Brian Branca

-How to Get a Custom Blog or Website Design on a Small Budget – Blogging Expertise

-How to Write a Business Recommendation – Conversation Agent

-How To: Write a Really Crappy Business Blog – Conversation Marketing

-Social Feed Aggregators – Whitney Hess

-Twitter is the watercooler of a new era – CrapHammer

-Add Equal Parts Business and Culture. Blend until Smooth. – Alex Hillman

-The “you test” for social media agencies – Greg Verdino

-The One Video All Marketers Should Watch – David Armano

-Brand Building in the “Application Economy” – Paul Isakson

-Social Media in Plain English – Todd Andrlik

-Add Spark to Your Writing With These 3 Simple Tweaks – Copyblogger

-Potential Employers Are Watching You – Social Media Explorer

-Free Advice – Alan Wolk

-Thinking about Danny Devito – Seth Godin

Why do early adopters tell everyone they know about the next big thing, and then complain when everyone starts using it?

Is it still a wiki if only one person edits it?

If you accept a friend request from someone you hate, does that make you friends?

We want brands to join the conversation, but do we really want to talk to all of them?

If blogging gives everyone a voice, why is it still so hard to hear anyone?

If you’re in Second Life more than half the time, is it still second?

Why is the next big thing small now?

If knowledge is so valuable, why is everyone giving it away?

If you can’t find yourself in Google, do you really matter?

Why is it that when you’re completely busy, the first thing you do is tweet about how busy you are?

If people are so lazy, why isn’t RSS more popular?

Which came first? The troll or the message board?

When did something behaving like a virus become a good thing?

If the consumer finding out is inevitable, why do companies still try and trick us?

If a blog has more comments than posts, who’s blog is it?

What did I miss? Feel free to add your own.

I’m not quite what you’d call a small person. And as such, this whole hipster/skinny jean trend is killing me. Think of an apple stuck on top of two toothpicks. Not a very exciting picture.

But the important thing is that I recognize this. You won’t see me trying to squeeze myself into any ultra-slim low rise Levi’s. And I don’t expect you to be forcing yourself into social media.

If it’s not right, it’s not right, I don’t care how trendy and “hip it is with the kids”.

If you run a concrete business, or a pizza pan company, then a Facebook ad might not be right for you. A blogger outreach project might not be smart if you’re the number one supplier of caulk in North America.

I still think that the future of marketing is connecting with people. But you have to pick your battles. Besides, “Caulk Talk” probably wouldn’t fly anyway…