I’m horrendously distracted this week by re-writing the next MiniGuide. Instead of thinking about blog posts, I’ve been writing and rewriting the newest miniguide. See, I left the manuscript for the new miniguide on the back seat of a taxi and I’ve been re-writing the chapters whilst I can still remember the outline and ideas that I wanted to put down.
The next MiniGuide will be the World of Warcraft Gold Guide for Teenagers.
I have a few concerns about it that I would appreciate your input. I’m thinking about how I can address the needs of this special micro niche without alienating parents. As a parent myself, I’ve set parental controls on my son’s World of Warcraft, with a maximum time per week, and I’m always ready to chat to him about anything that he’s seen or heard. Â I see it a little like the playground: Â You can’t stop kids from growing up. Â You can’t stop them from hurting themselves, but you CAN minimise the risks, and be there to mend them, and you can let them free in the world in the safest possible way.
I have this wierd overprotective but kinda-liberal thing going on.
The main concern to me about marketing to teenagers is that gold is a commodity that is linked very much to envy, and therefore to peer pressure. And parents can be touchy about peer pressure. I’m either very niaive or too generous with my time, but I think that any parent that’s a decent parent will help their teen understand and make their life decisions without bowing to peer pressure. It’s part of becoming an adult, learning to deal with the expectations and pressures of friends and people that you care about.
As an example, I taught my son the rude swear words at a young age, and what they mean, and how to use them, and why they are rude, and how different people will react to them. As a result, he rarely swears, and when he does, he knows wtf he is saying. I have sex education books on my top shelf in the lounge / sitting room he can see when he’s ready, but if I catch him with prn or any image that doesn’t treat man or woman as a human instead of an animal, I’ll hit the roof.
Teenagers Gold Guide Focus?
The miniguide was meant to be 5,000 words, like the last Pet Selling miniguide, but I’m currently at 6.5k and in danger of turning this into a huge everything-you-need-to-know gold guide, instead of focusing selectively on the teen’s needs and barriers. oops?
This guide is aimed at teens who can’t afford the big guides yet (20k!) or for parents like me who are trying to show their teens how much fun you can have in World of Warcraft. I know our younger players have reaction skills and pvp skills that are better than mine, but I can still pwn them on the AH and this miniguide is to help them.
Thanks for reading, and for your patience with me as my time is spent on the miniguide instead of on the blog.
Questions: How long should a mini-guide be? how much should I charge for it? How much text / pictures ratio would you expect? What subjects should I cover? Am I on dangerous territory in teaching under 21s how to do something? Do you know any teenagers who would use this? What do you think are the primary worries and problems that a teenager faces specifically when they try to make gold? Do you want to be an affiliate?
My biggest concerns when playing in MMO markets in years past were twofold: Learning how to do it, and a fear of being burned by messing up, and losing big. Not knowing how to start making money, and not knowing where to learn how to start making money, basically, with a fear of mis-investing. Dangerous? Perhaps…after all, I know how often I can undercut my competitions posts. 😛
Lol don’t listen to Cold. You can teach teenagers how to farm, use professions and all the simple yet effective gold strategies that can be explained without economic theory. Part of 20kleveling is focused on this particular group and honestly it was the easiest part to write. Think about what a teenager wants: decent gold for minimal work. That doesn’t require economic theory, just a good understanding of what to farm/buy and what to craft/sell.
Good luck with the guide!
Teenagers are great. Especially for doing your farming for you.
ow, my son just smacked me one.
It’s not so much ‘age’ that differentiates them, but experience. I want to offer a basic groundwork about how it all works, in an open way that they can use as a stepping stone for Bigger and Brighter things when the time comes.
I think your parenting is perfect. I do the same with my son, teach them all you can even the taboo things. We need to explain to them these things before their peers do in a screwed up way.
How long should your guide be for teens? Well, I would say it has nothing to do with teens it’s about the attention span of everyone now days using this media. With so much information online bombarding our screens you need to be short and to the point.
SOME THOUGHTS ON YOUR QUESTIONS
– A mini-guide should be to the point, concise but a quick reference to do what they need to do.
– Use headings lots of headings per topic.
– Dot points with examples or very short paragraphs, one per heading.
– Use pictures to summarise your points to the above, as many as you can to save words. A picture is worth a 1,000 words.
– Fees, personally I would do a free introduction first that gives an incentive to buy the full copy. It’s in the full copy you flesh out more detail but still written as points above.
– How much, well given most people can’t afford alot this is a hard question. The cheaper you make it the more people will buy so that might give you more in return. As a published author you can ask for more so if you market yourself then I suppose a going rate might be from $10-$20.
– Dangerous to minors, no if they are reading about this topic then they are already reading ‘how to do’ at least you can guide them in the right direction.
Further, I think you should be aiming this at a non-specific age because there are a lot of people out their who are adults new to WoW that fell like teenagers so to speak in this world. Therefore, in this instance age doesn’t matter in a virtual world.
Maybe you should market the ‘whys’ before you market the ‘hows’.
Best of luck with your son and your guide look forward to reading the final submission.
When my son was 2, I taught him:
“Swearing, is like picking your nose. You only do it in front of people you really really love.”
I thought I was so cool, such a progressive mother. Then a short while afterwards, he started picking his nose really openly in front of me. “but mummy,” he said “I’m only doing it to show you how much I really really love you.”
>>POP<< went that bubble. Do not pass GO. Do not collect £200. Time for Plan B ! Thank you for your very sensible and very encouraging thoughts. I will take them on board. I do think that the "beginners" market is covered (HELLO MARKCO!) but that some of the needs of teenagers can be addressed in a short mini guide.
lol I suppose this is not the forum to discuss but my son loves picking his nose! OK his is nearly 6, but oh I hate it but he seems to enjoy watching me scream. idk kid will be kids and hey boys are always kids even when they grow up lol.
I think the hardest part about writing a gold guide for teenagers would be getting the younger players to understand the basics of economic theory and strategy. While some high schools have a chapter or a single class on economics, the majority of students don’t learn about Macro-Economics until college level instruction. Can a non-fully developed mind really understand the workings of macro and micro economics?
“hey guys, what if you bought cheap things, did stuff to them to make them more valuable and then resold them? then you’d have more gold to do the things you want!”
Yes. I’m not much older then most teens, (20) and I’ve been playing various MMO markets for years. Its not hugely complicated, unless you are getting into the very depths of trying to predict market trends perhaps, and some markets are plain lawleasy. Pets, for instance.