It’s all about the people

Published on 13^th April 2010 in Articles.

When it comes to running a successful games website, there are many things that help. Having a healthy relationship with PR can get you invites to industry events and give you access to games early. Website traffic makes you feel good and brings with it the potential of returning users. Money can help offset the costs of running a site and a slick design can make you stand out from the competition. These are all helpful, but they are not essential. What really matters are people.

Time as value

Any volunteer website’s greatest asset is time, or more specifically, its writers’ time. These people are giving up their free time to write for you, at no cost. It’s incredible really. Perhaps it’s easy to take this for granted, but people’s time is by far the most valuable thing that any site possesses.

Maybe that sounds a tad cold and calculated though. These writers aren’t just a resource, an allotment of time or an asset. They can become true friends. Sure, some writers come and go, but the ones that stick around will stay with you for life.

The secret formula to creating a successful site, then, is combining a lack of internal tension and drama with a stable and happy team. You’ll make mistakes from time to time and people will disagree, but if you’re diplomatic and your team trusts you, you’ll get through it.

The practicalities

Enough platitudes though; how do you actually do this? Getting to know people that show up and want to write for your site can be surprisingly difficult. Maybe you know where they live, what they do for a living and how many years they’ve been gaming, but that’s not really enough to go on.

First of all, ditch email. As soon as you hire someone, ask them for their instant messenger details, whether that be AIM, MSN, YIM, ICQ, Skype or something else. If you don’t use the same service that they do, now you have an excuse to sign up.

While email is calculated, instant messenger is spontaneous. Conversations are more natural and flow to places that email would never take you. Maybe this is obvious, but it’s far easier to get to know someone through instant messenger than through long, thought out exchanges of prose.

The other fantastic thing about instant messenger is that you’re constantly reminded about your writers. Every time you log on, they’re there in your contact list. Making sure you have a chat with your staff every once in a while can be difficult, but with instant messenger, it’s easy to remember.

There’s only so much that text can convey, so the ultimate step is, of course, meeting your team. This can be impractical because of distance, but if you’ve worked with someone for several years, it’s well worth it. I’m proud to say that I’ve now met thirteen of my staff and it was a pleasure every time.

A role reversal

Of all the reasons to start a games website, managing people and making friends aren’t really at the top of the list. Maybe you just love writing about games, want it to lead to a career or you simply want to get your games for free. Either way, you probably think of your role as an editor, a writer, a designer and a developer. But along the way, you’ll realise that what you’ve really become is a peacemaker, a diplomat, a mentor and a friend.

Look after the people and the rest will look after itself.

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