Poor Choices prototypes are finally here!

[wade1mil]

I have a progress thread for my new game in the INSIDERS section, but I wanted to share this with everyone. I started the process of creating a card game last December. I was part of a mastermind with @AndrewNC @TheTruth and @JasonR and we made a pact to stick with something for one year no matter what.

I kept using language like, "as long as I can buy it cheap enough, I'll continue making the game." Everyone called me out on that. Boris said something that stuck with me - something along the lines of, "We are entrepreneurs. If it costs too much to make, I expect you to research a new material until it doesn't cost too much. Something." This was sort of an epiphany for me because my default language was basically saying, "When I find an excuse to stop pursuing this, I'm going to bail and start from scratch again on something else." The mindset I started taking was, "There are other people that are making this work, so I can make it work too. I just need to figure out how to do it."

It was a combination of a lot of things that shifted my mindset - this was one of them. I honestly feel I went from pessimist to optimist and from introvert to extrovert over the course of a week or so. I'll write a post on this soon because it's completely flipped my life around. And the cool part about it was I was able to break it down into tangible actions, which I think is completely missing from a overwhelmingly large majority of the entrepreneur and self-help industry. Thing like, "Never give up" and "You have to want it more than you want to breath" do absolutely nothing for me.

I started this process with an idea back in December of 2014. After a few months of lallygagging, a few months of research and brainstorming and a few months of planning, I've made it to the point of holding my creation in it's physical form. Today is an exciting day for me, and even though I still have a few months until I launch it on Kickstarter, I feel like this is a win for me and my future backers.

Check it out and let me know what you think. I'd appreciate your help in spreading the word on social media if you don't mind. Everything helps!

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Poor Choices website

 

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[liquidglass]

I'm proud of you. You took an idea stuck with it through production, which a lot of people wouldn't do. You identified a huge reason people have shiny object syndrome, if you can distill your thoughts and experience into a small book you might have something you can add to your business card.

I love that you're gaining interest before launching your kickstarter. You may have thought of this but I'd like to offer you an idea or two to help build more fire underneath your supporters.

1) Read This: Tim Ferris, Hacking Kickstarter

2) I love that you're doing a giveaway of your cards to gather email addresses, but have you considered adding a social function to entries?
- entering your email is one entry
- sharing on facebook is another entry
- etc.

I believe untorch or something similar might give you a solution for this.

I hope some of this can help you out, good luck and keep up your hard work!

 

[Bellini]

I have a progress thread for my new game in the INSIDERS section, but I wanted to share this with everyone. I started the process of creating a card game last December.

I started this process with an idea back in December of 2014. After a few months of lallygagging, a few months of research and brainstorming and a few months of planning, I've made it to the point of holding my creation in it's physical form. Today is an exciting day for me, and even though I still have a few months until I launch it on Kickstarter, I feel like this is a win for me and my future backers.

This is exciting! The game looks really cool.

Congrats on finally having a finished product in your hand. Must be a great feeling.

I'm glad you have a clean version. ha. That's probably the one I would buy.

Your post is inspiring, too. I can relate to a lot of what you said. Trite sayings don't do much for me.

If we sign up on your website for the free drawing, is our email safe with you? I mean, you won't sell it or anything right?

 

[wade1mil]

I'm proud of you. You took an idea stuck with it through production, which a lot of people wouldn't do. You identified a huge reason people have shiny object syndrome, if you can distill your thoughts and experience into a small book you might have something you can add to your business card.

I love that you're gaining interest before launching your kickstarter. You may have thought of this but I'd like to offer you an idea or two to help build more fire underneath your supporters.

1) Read This: Tim Ferris, Hacking Kickstarter

2) I love that you're doing a giveaway of your cards to gather email addresses, but have you considered adding a social function to entries?
- entering your email is one entry
- sharing on facebook is another entry
- etc.

I believe untorch or something similar might give you a solution for this.

I hope some of this can help you out, good luck and keep up your hard work!

Thanks, I appreciate that. I may do something with the stuff I've learned after the Kickstarter. Blog, book, contest software, etc. The Tim Ferriss' article is great. I've read it a few times. I'll read it again today The way I have it setup is you get one entry for entering your email address, and 10 entries for referring someone else. So sharing it on social media doesn't give you points, but if someone clicks on your link and signs up, you'd get ten points. I'll look into untorch, thanks for the suggestion.

 

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[liquidglass]

Thanks, I appreciate that. I may do something with the stuff I've learned after the Kickstarter. Blog, book, contest software, etc. The Tim Ferriss' article is great. I've read it a few times. I'll read it again today The way I have it setup is you get one entry for entering your email address, and 10 entries for referring someone else. So sharing it on social media doesn't give you points, but if someone clicks on your link and signs up, you'd get ten points. I'll look into untorch, thanks for the suggestion.

You're welcome, honestly from the look of your site and the direction you seemed to be headed I was sure you had covered your bases, but we're here to look out for each other.

Just as a note of curiosity how are you tracking the referral links?

I'm just glad to see you're ahead of the curve, you're definitely setting yourself up for success.

 

[wade1mil]

This is exciting! The game looks really cool.

Congrats on finally having a finished product in your hand. Must be a great feeling.

I'm glad you have a clean version. ha. That's probably the one I would buy.

Your post is inspiring, too. I can relate to a lot of what you said. Trite sayings don't do much for me.

If we sign up on your website for the free drawing, is our email safe with you? I mean, you won't sell it or anything right?

Thanks! It does feel great. One thing I've learned doing through this process is that it's been fun the entire time. So rather than the destination being fun, the entire process has been fun. But holding what was just an idea is pretty dang cool.

Haha, yeah I only recently decided to make a completely clean version. Your email is safe. I'm only using it for my stuff. I've read a few articles suggesting not to put the "we don't spam" message below the button because the word spam stops people from signing up even if it says you won't spam. Would that have made you feel more comfortable signing up? <- the start of my research

 

[wade1mil]

You're welcome, honestly from the look of your site and the direction you seemed to be headed I was sure you had covered your bases, but we're here to look out for each other.

Just as a note of curiosity how are you tracking the referral links?

I'm just glad to see you're ahead of the curve, you're definitely setting yourself up for success.

Thanks, I appreciate that.

I looked at services like Rafflecopter, but they were quite expensive (if you wanted to integrate with your email service provider) and ugly in my opinion. I actually custom coded a referral system using the AWeber API. Every time someone signs up, I generate a random nine-digit id for them. The thank you page give you the referral link to share, and I setup the .htaccess file for cleaner links. I'm considering turning this into a SaaS after the Kickstarter is over and I have the sale of the game on autopilot. I think it's super useful.

 

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[Bellini]

Your email is safe. I'm only using it for my stuff. I've read a few articles suggesting not to put the "we don't spam" message below the button because the word spam stops people from signing up even if it says you won't spam. Would that have made you feel more comfortable signing up? <- the start of my research

No, the phrase "we don't spam" would not have made me more comfortable. I think the notion is correct that using the word 'spam' gives a negative connotation.

I would suggest something like "Your email is safe with us. We will not share or sell your email to anyone." --- something like that. Plain, direct, simple. That's what people really want to know.

Some people don't even know what 'spam' means, and others are not sure what that includes and doesn't include. ha
For example, some people may use it to mean that they themselves won't send you a bunch of offers or bombard your email inbox, but they still might sell it to someone else who will. And then others may mean the opposite. Know what I mean?

Good question.

 

[J_Lock]

This looks awesome!

Poor choices is such a suitable name for a party game like this as well, especially if alcohol is involved!
Really like the Design, super branding power.

I have also entered for the giveaway!

Well played on all fronts good sir.

 

[wade1mil]

For example, some people may use it to mean that they themselves won't send you a bunch of offers or bombard your email inbox, but they still might sell it to someone else who will. And then others may mean the opposite. Know what I mean?

I do know what you mean. Good points. I added a little something to each giveaway landing page. I don't have anything setup to split test it, but I'll keep an eye on it over the next couple weeks. I appreciate the feedback!

 

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[wade1mil]

This looks awesome!

Poor choices is such a suitable name for a party game like this as well, especially if alcohol is involved!
Really like the Design, super branding power.

I have also entered for the giveaway!

Well played on all fronts good sir.

Thanks! I plan on having a drinking game add-on (variant) either the day I launch or later. I'm not the illustrator, but the guy who did it is amazing and I'm thrilled with the way it turned out.

P.S. Good luck!

 

[JasonR]

Speed+ for the execution on this. Even if this "fails" (it won't) - the execution is excellent - and is how you do something right.

@wade1mil - recognized his own language was limiting him. This is a self limiting belief, and I guarantee, you, the reader have some as well. Listen to them.

Wade kept saying he was going to stop if he can't make the game profitable because of manufacturing costs. This statement actually confused me, because, in my head, I would keep going until I found a way to manufacturer the produt at a profitable price point. The evidence is there, thousands of companies manufacturer card games profitably every day.

The point is, people get hung up on different things. Start looking at your language for the excuses you're making. Asking someone else to spot them really helps.

Business success is as much about changing YOUR mindset and beliefs as it is sales, products, and marketing.

Can't wait to see this launched, man!

 

[VegasMan]

Congrats on your progress so far!! It's definitely an inspiration to the rest of us and thank you for that.

Can't wait to play the game. I'm spreading the word as much as I can.

 

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