by Thomas Traplin | Jan 14, 2019 | Podcasts
Gordon Johansen is back on the Manaverse Podcast along with John Coviello and Wayne Mittlesteadt to talk about holiday sales and driving big numbers during the holiday season. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and the Christmas season are the focus of this... 
by Thomas Traplin | Jan 6, 2019 | Podcasts
2018 has been an interesting year for the games industry. We've seen a glut of excellent board games hit the market and more mainstream adoption of the gaming hobby by the 'mundanes' as John Coviello would say, but we've also had to deal with new issues. Online... 
by Thomas Traplin | Jan 4, 2019 | Articles, Community, General Business
Game stores of all stripes have a problem. A big problem. A tragedy of the commons in a way. At least the ones that have dedicated play space do. The question is “What do you do about the people who want to use your space without spending money with your... 
by Thomas Traplin | Jan 1, 2019 | Marketing, Tom's Blog
Making your goals public drastically increases the odds of you actually accomplishing them. It also helps to have something great in your life to work towards. It doesn’t have to be grandiose and world changing, it just has to encompass more than just the day to... 
by Thomas Traplin | Dec 6, 2018 | Podcasts, Tech
The days of Magic Online are numbered, at least in its current form. The question we explore today is "Will Wizard's of the Coast shut down Magic Online?" and how will this affect local game store owners. The short answer is "yes", the long answer is "it's... 
by Thomas Traplin | Nov 22, 2018 | Community, Fundamentals, Mindset, Podcasts
In this super short episode of the Manaverse Podcast, we ask the question "are you focusing on the right things?" Specifically, are you building a business, or are you building a community? I'm going to give away the plot on this one and take a potentially... 
by Thomas Traplin | Nov 19, 2018 | Articles, Marketing
I originally wrote this article early in 2016 and at the time, it was pretty thorough. But the times are changing so it seems like now would be a good time to update and reevaluate our strategy for the coming new year. The first thing I want to point out is that the... 
by Thomas Traplin | Nov 12, 2018 | Fundamentals, General Business, Marketing, Podcasts
Matthew Vercant has worked for three game stores, done shipping fulfillment for various Kickstarters, managed shipping for Minion Games, and now owns Just Games Rochester. His background before entering the games industry was in publishing and teaching. He also just... 
by Thomas Traplin | Oct 13, 2018 | Podcasts
Do you know what it takes to start a movement in your local game community? That's the essence of this episode of the Manaverse Podcast. Darcy and Daniel Leech, the owners of Mind Sculpt Games in Great Bend, Kansas, have returned from the front lines to share how they... 
by Thomas Traplin | Sep 10, 2018 | Mindset, Podcasts
Sometimes you reach a point in your business where you begin to question whether or not the whole endeavor is worth the effort. You face a crossroads where you can either choose to quit and walk away, or push through the tough times in hopes that good times are on the...