The efficacy of making friends in higher places

Find somebody who knows more than you about what it is you have chosen to do.

In this case it's making video games, specifically making video games in a Skill Games Tournament setting. You might be deciding to grow lima beans in Ohio, or to finally take the plunge and start that antique book binding business.

Regardless of your chosen path through the tangled and web strewn hallways of small business adventuring, you should find a mentor, or an adviser, who will help you with your many issues.

By blogging my odyssey in to this strange realm for you I hope to at least provide a road sign here and there to direct you. I cannot ever hope to provide you with the level of advice that somebody who is a seasoned veteran can provide.

"But I cannot, because they are expensive these sages of business knowledge." you say to me. I will smile and let you know that for every horde of marauding bandits seeking to swell their wallets you will find one who is willing to help you, but only for the price of your friendship and gratitude. I mean that in a very Oscar Schindler sort of sense (go watch the movie), your gratitude needs to show that you aren't just happy to have found somebody you can mentally leech. Your gratitude needs to show that you are a person who takes care of those who took care of you.

I suppose a track record of success helps, but if you are genuine and sincere in all that you say and do those with true business acumen can sense this. We know who we can trust after about 10 minutes of conversation.

Take a shower too. Brush your teeth. Nobody trusts a person with an unpleasant personal odor.