Thinking About Independent Entertainment Sales
So, you’re thinking about independent entertainment sales, huh? Lots of folks imagine it’s just about making something cool – a game, some music, maybe a little film – and then, bam, sales. If only it were that simple. My journey taught me it’s a whole different beast.
First off, “independent” means you are the sales department, the marketing team, the customer service, and often the janitor. It’s not like you just hand it off to someone. You’re juggling a dozen platforms, trying to figure out where your audience even hangs out. Is it Steam? *? Bandcamp? Your own website? Each one has its own quirks, its own cut.
Then there’s the noise. Everyone’s shouting to be heard. You think your creation is special – and it probably is – but getting people to notice? That’s the real mountain to climb. I remember when I first started, someone threw this term at me: “Market Penetration – The concept of increasing sales of existing products into an existing market.” Sounded fancy, right? Like some secret sauce.
Well, let me tell you how I really got my hands dirty with this stuff.
My Little Adventure into Indie Sales
I had this little game I poured my heart into. Spent months, maybe a year, coding and designing. Thought it was pretty neat. So, I figured, time to sell it. Easy, I thought. Put it up online, tell a few friends, sales will come. Boy, was I wrong.
The first week, crickets. I mean, literally, a handful of sales, mostly pity buys from family. I started looking into how to actually, you know, sell. That’s when I encountered that whole “market penetration” idea from some online guide. It said, “focus on your existing market!” What existing market? I was starting from zero! That advice felt like it was for big companies, not some solo guy like me.
So, I had to learn the hard way.
- I spent hours, no, days, trying to figure out social media. Posting, engaging, trying not to sound like a desperate salesman. It was exhausting.
- I reached out to tiny bloggers, streamers with like ten viewers, anyone who might give my game a look. Most ignored me. A few were kind.
- I learned about SEO, keywords, all that jazz, just to get my tiny website to show up on page 50 of Google.
- I tried running a tiny ad campaign with a budget that would barely buy a pizza. Guess how that went?
It wasn’t about some grand strategy. It was about grinding. It was about sending a hundred emails to get one reply. It was about celebrating a single positive comment like it was a major award. I learned that “independent sales” really means being incredibly persistent and willing to do a lot of unglamorous work. That “market penetration” stuff? For me, it was more like “market creation” – building an audience from scratch, one person at a time.
Looking back, that whole experience was a wake-up call. It wasn’t just about having a good product. It was about the hustle, the constant effort to get seen, to connect. And yeah, it was tough, but I wouldn’t trade what I learned. It showed me what “independent” truly entails when it comes to getting your work out there. It’s not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure.
