I’m looking for a handful of entrepreneurial people who want to launch City Games in their own market this fall, and we’re building a pretty compelling way to get started. The launch strategy is built around football season and local bars. Instead of trying to introduce City Games to an entire city all at once, a publisher can start by building a network of participating sports bars, breweries and restaurants and running a season-long football promotion that gives people reasons to visit those locations, play local games, complete challenges and compete for prizes. That creates three things every new City Games market needs immediately: Players. Participating venues. Recurring advertisers. The bars get something much more interesting than another social media ad. They become part of an interactive local promotion running throughout football season. The publisher gets a natural reason to walk into bars and say, “We’re launching this across the city for football season. Want your bar to be one of the locations?” And once those businesses are inside City Games, the opportunity extends far beyond football. They can become ongoing Venue Partners while you expand into restaurants, retailers, suburban Side Quests, seasonal promotions and other local experiences. You don’t need to launch with 100 businesses. Start with 6 to 10 great bars. Build something people want to play. Then grow the market from there. City Games provides the platform, game concepts and business model. You build the local relationships and own the opportunity in your territory. If you’ve been looking for a local business you can actually build, this football season gives us a very natural starting line. Interested in becoming one of the first City Games publishers? Comment “CITY” below or message me.

Hey @Toby Shaver do you know where I could make/order some mockup samples of a 9x12 with my branding?

One of the biggest prospecting mistakes is treating every local business as an equally good opportunity. They are not. Before you begin calling, emailing, or walking into businesses, spend an hour learning the territory. Define a specific area you can realistically own, such as one small town, downtown district, suburb, or cluster of nearby neighborhoods. Then identify the places where residents already eat, shop, gather, and spend money. Start by building a list of 50 strong prospects across several categories: - Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and breweries - Home service companies - Health, beauty, and wellness businesses - Realtors, insurance agents, and financial professionals - Retail stores and family entertainment businesses - Community organizations and event venues Do not build the list entirely from Google. Drive through the territory. Visit the downtown district. Look at local Facebook groups, chamber directories, community event sponsors, and the businesses already advertising in local publications. Businesses that sponsor festivals, sports teams, fundraisers, and community events have already demonstrated that they understand local marketing. Next, rank each prospect based on three simple questions: 1. Is this business locally owned or locally managed? 2. Does it need customers from this specific territory? 3. Does it have a clear reason to participate in your first product? Your strongest prospects will usually be businesses that answer yes to all three. Those should receive your personal attention first. Finally, look for clusters. If three popular businesses on the same street participate, the fourth becomes easier to sell. If one respected business owner joins, ask who else they believe should be involved. Local business communities run on relationships, and one trusted introduction can outperform dozens of cold emails. The goal is not to contact every business in town. The goal is to identify the right businesses, understand how they fit into your local ad ecosystem, and approach them with an offer that makes sense for their market.