The Manaverse Podcast

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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/

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!

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/

We've got Krisy Viola, the owner of Nostos Boutique on the the podcast today.

Nostos is a small, well-loved, and carefully curated WPN Premium shop filled with the very best of comic books, trading cards, and vintage and modern toys in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Their tagline is "a homecoming for all things pop culture" and we're going to talk about what makes their shop such a vibrant and successful pillar of their community!

This interview is the perfect example of how a truly unique and inspired brand, combined with a carefully curated community-oriented culture (alliteration!), can make a fantastic game store.

Seriously, don't miss this one!

https://www.nostosboutique.com/

https://www.facebook.com/nostosboutique/

https://twitter.com/nostosboutique

https://www.instagram.com/nostosboutique/

The $100 Startup (affiliate link)

Today we're talking with Tyler Selee. Tyler is the owner of Elysium Cards and Games, a WPN premium retailer of tabletop games, Magic, Pokemon, and more in Fair Oaks, California, where everyone is welcome to the table.

We have an excellent conversation on the importance of creating a inclusive space and community within your game store, how simply being observant and listening to your customers can help you plan for the future, and how they partner with local creators to expand their audience.

Links

Friendly Local Game Store

https://www.elysiumcag.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ElysiumCaG/

https://twitter.com/ElysiumCards

https://www.instagram.com/elysiumcag/

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 updates, you'll have all the resources you need to keep your marketing efforts up-to-date and effective.

Plus plus, you can save 51% off the price tag if you use the code "2023" to enroll before the end of the year!

You can check out the course at manaversesaga.com/flgs

With that said, let's dive into the interview!

https://www.versusgamessf.com/

https://www.facebook.com/VersusGamesSF/

[email protected]

https://twitter.com/Versus_Games_SF

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.

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/

[email protected]

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.