Merchandise isn’t just a revenue stream, it’s a strategy for promotion. Museums, Breweries, and Theme Parks don’t make a majority of their revenue from merchandise (even Disney’s merchandise only makes up 6% of it’s total revenue in 2022) but it is a powerful tool, and can be for small businesses as well.

I remember the commercials for the Disney Vault vividly (hopefully I’m not showing my age too much). In case you aren’t familiar, here’s the gist thanks to Wikipedia: "The Disney Vault was a term formerly used by the company for its policy of regularly imposing sales moratoria on home video releases of it’s films. It really was a stellar marketing campaign, and one that a lot of us can learn from.

I had the opportunity to complete UGA Innovation District’s Innovation Bootcamp back in the fall of 2022, and have loved staying involved in the program as a workshop facilitator talking about marketing for budding entrepreneurs and those looking to grow their business!

In the workshop we explore how to identify creative marketing, content, collaboration opportunities using the concept of brand themes [continued]

There are two main ways that people talk about their marketing in relation to getting their audience to buy, but I use a third - especially with consumer goods and brands that are trying to create pull through retailers they have less control over (and less data).

Content Marketing is focused on brand-lead and distributed content that is valuable and relevant to your target audience to increase brand awareness, consideration, and conversion. I want to highlight a few benefits that I believe in most strongly, and that you’ll see when you get your content marketing right.

Side Hustles get a bad reputation among employers. However, they can actually be a huge benefit to employers and their employees!

According to Collabosarus, their research found that brand collaborations can be up to 25x less expensive than digital advertising. In my experience, they’re often money makers rather than expenses, when done right! That makes them ideal for growing brands across industries with smaller marketing budgets and big brand goals.

Collaborations can be a great way to increase your brand reach to new audiences, establish yourself in a new or different space, and create media buzz around products even if they’re not new offerings!

Marketers often hate hearing the term “Return on Investment” - especially from an accounting department. I was lucky enough to spend a week with the ROI Institute learning how marketing can better utilize not just the term ROI, but also the concept as a larger analysis tool.