Growing Our Socials And Scaling Our $1.73M/Month Tabletop Game Business
This is a follow up story for Stonemaier Games. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 3 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
I’m Jamey Stegmaier, and I co-founded a tabletop game publishing company called Stonemaier Games in 2012. We’ve published 15 games during that time, focusing on putting our customers first, creating content that offers value to other creators, and bringing joy to tabletops worldwide.
We’re best known for the games Wingspan, Scythe, and Viticulture, which have collectively sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide in dozens of languages.
Here’s the link to our original Starter Story interview.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to. Has the business been growing?
We’ve had an interesting couple of years. In the first year of the pandemic (2020), sales were very strong, as people were looking for ways to entertain themselves at home. 2021 was also a strong year, but we started to see big cost increases and delays in freight shipping.
The holiday season was still quite strong. Then distributors stocked up on games, but the shockwave of Russia attacking Ukraine and the ensuing impacts on inflation resulted in distributors being overstocked, resulting in us making fewer units than usual in the second half of the year.
Focus on what you can control: What makes your product/service special, how you delight your existing customers, and how you add value to your community.
We used this time to focus on consumer and retailer relationships, both of which have blossomed thanks to our website and the hiring of our amazing retailer relationship manager, Susannah.
Instead of just broadcasting information to retailers like in the past, Susannah has fostered ongoing, personalized communication with hundreds of retailers (mostly brick & mortar), and we’ve seen direct sales from retailers skyrocket as a result. While retailers generally prefer to buy from distributors, distributors don’t always carry all products and they sometimes have high minimums–Susannah makes it easy for retailers to craft the order they want.
I also continued to foster strong communities on Instagram and YouTube (where we have nearly 100k combined followers) by sharing information about our games and elevating games made by other designers/publishers. I play a lot of new-to-me published games for the design/development side of my job, and I use those experiences to create videos about my favorite mechanisms in those games as well as top 10 lists focused on specific mechanisms/genres.
I record on Tuesdays and schedule videos in the future, and I try to keep the recording process easy: I take a few notes in advance, then just turn on the camera and talk (typically 5 minutes for a video about a specific game and 20 minutes for a top 10 list). To add some polish to the top 10 lists–which more people engage with–my coworker, Joe, adds visuals to the videos before I upload them.
The other unique marketing approach we use is to value those who choose us through our Champion program. It’s an annual membership that costs $15, and all Champions get 20% off on all website purchases from Stonemaier Games along with prioritized shipping and other perks. We currently have over 13,000 Champions, and I’m always trying to add new benefits to show how much I appreciate their support.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
Our focus remains on creating high-quality games that bring joy to tabletops worldwide and supporting past products that are still providing that joy. We’ll also continue to improve the accessibility and inclusion of our games, as well as their eco-friendliness (a major endeavor of the last few years).
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
I’m not sure that growth is the best goal. You can’t control how many people buy your product or service, so focus instead on what you can control: What makes your product/service special, how you delight your existing customers, and how you add value to your community.
I know it can be discouraging at times to feel like you’re talking and no one’s listening, but that might be an opportunity for you to listen more and talk less (advice I need to remember more often!).
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We have a rolling job application page on our website, but we’re not currently hiring.
Where can we go to learn more?
You can find links to everything at stonemaiergames.com!
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
