265: Outside the box marketing ideas for small business | Joe Baron 

Looking to try some fun and creative ways to market your business? 

What if your next marketing strategy was something a little different? 

In this episode, I chat with branding expert and graphic designer Joe Barron, about an outside-the-box marketing idea that can help small businesses stand out. 

We explore how merchandise - from pens to hoodies - can become a powerful brand awareness tool, plus how to do it in an affordable and strategic way.

If you LOVED this part of your trip (the episode), make sure you share this on your Instagram stories and tag us @contentqueenmariah and @brandedbaron 

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KEY EPISODE TAKEAWAYS 👇

✨ How small businesses can use merch for brand awareness

✨ Why low-cost, high-impact physical products (like pens or stickers) can work

✨ The difference between merch to sell vs. merch to give away

✨ Creative ideas for turning everyday items into a marketing tool

SHOW RESOURCES 👇

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @contentqueenmariah⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Other than that, enjoy - chat next week 💕

ABOUT THE GUEST

Joe Baron is a New York City-based branding expert and the driving force behind Branded Baron, his boutique design and marketing agency. With a background in graphic design and hands-on experience in screen printing, Joe has honed his craft across every stage of brand development. His expertise has led him to work on creative projects for powerhouse brands like Harley-Davidson and Foot Locker, equipping him with deep industry insights on branding, design, and business growth.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

This is episode 265 and I'm talking to graphic designer, Joe Barron, all about an outside the box marketing idea for small businesses that could be super effective. Welcome to the Content Queen podcast. I'm your host, Mariah, entrepreneur, storyteller, digital nomad, creator of Content Bootcamp and founder of Content Queen.

I'm here to teach you how to share your unique story, create content and market your business with strategy through the channels that work for you. Each week I'll deliver a story to help you connect to a powerful strategy around marketing. Business and content creation. I'll also be joined by amazing souls and entrepreneurs who are here to share their own journey along with actual steps to help you take your business to a whole new level through amazing storytelling, powerful line marketing, and content strategy.

Let's do it. Hello gang. Okay. Quick backstory.  2020  we were, before the pandemic, I was hosting a workshop and I wanted to order pens for the workshop. It never went ahead. And I kept those pens and those pens became really good quality pens. And I used them a lot and I gave them to all my friends and then people were randomly finding them in their workplace because one friend would have it and they worked in the same office and then someone stole the pen and it would end up in random places.

So I had these pens. And then when I finally started doing workshops, I could give out these pens and these pens became part of people's Instagram stories when they talked about said workshop.  I went a step further for my clients and I created little notepads that I could gift them for their birthday with Content Queen branding.

And then last year I thought, let's get stickers. That would be super fun. These are great ideas of merch and marketing. Now, all these things didn't cost me a lot of money and I feel like they're super fun and super cute ways.  super cute things for me to gift whilst doing things. But when Joe Barron landed in my inbox, I thought, Hmm, is there more to this?

We've got businesses creating merch that they sell. We have local coffee shops selling hoodies. I'm working with one of our clients who owns a seafood place, a seafood fish market and fish and chip shop in Brabby Island. We're working on merch for their 20th celebration, being in business anniversary situation.

So yeah, why can't we? Create our own merch. I've seen people do this. It's a super fun idea. So let's talk about it. So I thought I would get a expert in branding to come on and chat about merch and what we could do with it and how we could create content for our business and use it for brand awareness, basically.

So let's chat to Joe Barron, who is a New York based branding expert and the driving force behind. Branded Baron, his boutique design and marketing agency. He has a background in graphic design and hands on experience in screen printing.  And Joe really honed his craft across every stage of branding development in his expertise and vast experience.

He's also worked on creative projects with powerhouse brands like Harvey Davidson and Footlocker. And this has really equipped him with a deep industry insights on branding design and business growth. So. Let's chat about a really outside the box marketing idea. Jo, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for joining me.

Uh, firstly, I would love for you to tell us a little bit more about who you are and what you do.  Uh, yes. Uh, hello. Well, thanks for having me. Uh, uh, my name is Jo Barron. I, uh, run a design marketing media agency, uh, in New York City. Uh,  Like a nice boutique, so we have that small but effective, you know, we always reach us and we just, um, so that's our focus is on branding and just trying to  grow that aspect for the business and that ranges from a variety from actually designing the logo and brand strategy to creating the, uh, helping you create the merch for your products if you so desire it.

Amazing. I think I can see a bit of background, city background, which is like New York. Is it cold? Yeah, you can see a little bit of New York. Yeah, it's a little chilly. Actually, today was a really nice day. Oh, that's good. You're nearly over your long winter, I guess, so that's  always a win.  Amazing. I love, so one of the comments I always get on this podcast is like, Oh, I love hearing about entrepreneurs and their stories.

This is my favorite part. So I would love for you to share how you got to where you are today, owning your own boutique marketing agency in New York City.  Uh, well, it started when I was a little boy. I knew that I could draw and color and just, just hit me. Um, well, that is, there's, there's a kernel of truth in that and, um, I've always been the artistic guy.

And so, once I ended up in college, I studied, um,  And then from there I proceeded to, uh, I always knew that, uh, I wanted to have my sort of own agency or, or, or go freelance on my own at some point. Uh, especially after seeing my father who has a, uh, video post production company and seeing how he's done that.

So there's, you know, I guess a little bit of an influence there. Um, and then.  I just worked from various jobs from being a marketing manager. And then, uh, I was into, um, I started my company as a kind of like.  A t shirt brand, which was able, which was very effective. And I was able to, um, gather experience working at a, at a couple of screen printing shops, uh, while also doing some, you know, graphic design work and marketing.

Um,  and from there I just  kept working on that, expanding, and then I ended up at a large,  uh, merchandise company that licenses a bunch of, um. Have a bunch of big names to license. You might know them as the, you know, the Rolling Stones, you might know Guns N Roses, maybe Eminem, Taylor Swift, and, uh, and Harley Davidson.

Uh, so there was, that, they, uh.  Bunch of big ticket names under their belt. And I got to able to learn a little bit more and grow from, uh, my art direction and work for a bunch of freelancers and still have connection with a bunch of them. And, and not only that, I've made sure I continue my education by going to conferences, creative conferences, and try to network as best as I can to, with the, you know, with local agencies or whoever, uh, until just, um.

You know, I've officially decided to head out on my own and, you know,  give it the good old, as we say, the good old college try. So we just kind of, you know, expanding there, there, and just, you know, growing and  reaching for, for the stars with, um, every step we take with, uh, every proposal, every, uh, new client, big or small, medium size, you know, if you have.

Some sort of budget and you're really interested, you know, let, let's talk and I can maybe, you know, let's work out what we can do.  And I provide a bunch of, you know, and doing so I, I'm able to have, you know, certain level, uh, certain team around me. Um, some of it could be just, might be in-house, some of it might be outsourcing, but they'll all, you know, they might white label under me and as the same as I would, you know, take my little agency and be a  white label into a bigger company.

So just to make sure that we, everybody's. It's, it's one full circle and everybody meshes and grows together and you know, it all works out and we see those, uh, see the cashflow coming in. That's all.  I love it. And isn't it funny sometimes when you reflect back on where you started, it's like, it feels like different lifetimes.

I imagine when you, you know, were, had your business in, Doing t shirts and printing compared to now and in between, you know, working different jobs, it always feels like a different chapter of life and like a whole different life completely. Every time I reflect on things I've done, I'm like, oh my god, I can't believe I used to do that.

That's crazy. But it all makes up for what you do now. It's all part of the journey and like, you wouldn't have the skill sets if you didn't do those things. So I think it's always interesting to reflect on that.  You do hit the nail on the head. It's exactly that. It's just,  you know, I forget how much I know.

I speak with a friend of mine. We used to have a blog. I talked about helping reviewing our viewing, um, other clothes, independent clothing brands, and just  we've realized how much knowledge and sharing what we have, how much knowledge we have. And even speaking to, uh, you know, younger generation, just, it's just kind of like, wow, we, you know, it's, I have knowledge behind this.

I know what I'm talking about.  So it always feels good and you never know where it takes you or, or the reminders of, Oh, wow. I remember that. Like I've  even just prepping for this, this, uh, talk. I forget that. Oh yeah. I've done that in the past.  Yeah. And I think, um, clients really value that because you're always willing, like you've always got a solution or you've got, you know, someone that.

know someone that has the knowledge, even if you don't. So I think it's so good. And I love that you said, like, you know, over the journey, you've always been expanding your knowledge through networking. And I think that's really powerful, especially in, you know, now we've got social media, we've got all these platforms and it's like, Oh, you can build your business without leaving your house, essentially, which is so true.

But at the same time, there's so much knowledge that you gain. And I always find that. And maybe you're the same. A lot of those clients come from those, you know, expanding your network or, um, putting yourself out there. They don't just come knocking on your Instagram inbox or your emails all the time.

That, that's so true. I remember, uh, you know, one of  my good friends, uh, you know, has an agency. And I've met him at a, you know, outside a line for a pop up shop. And then, you know, we hung out and he offered me a job. I have another one I  I've, you know, known through the, when the internet used to have message boards, and, you know, he, we just kept in touch, and, I mean, we've met in person a couple, multiple times, and then he just reached out to me for a project, it was great, I mean, it's, people think of you, um,  In many ways, but you just also have to stay on top of mind, uh, you know, keep people, you always have to reach out every once in a while, just to let them know, even just to, just to say hey, just hey, how you doing, hope all is well, you know, uh, you know, if everything, anything you need  comes along, you need extra help, a set of hands, I'm here, you know, or whatever you're not, or just, you know, it's good, or just saying hey, I'm glad, I like what you're doing.

It's amazing. You're writing great stuff. You're, you're producing great videos, you know, whatever, whatever it is that, that you do and, and what they do in your industry or whoever's, you know, your clientele just. You always want to make,  keep the touch, the touch points coming. So that's, that's important.

And then, like, like I said, with the whole education, you know, I'm, I'm part of a creative community where, uh, yeah, I pay, uh, but I pay for a mentor who, who, I mean, I've read his book and he has multiple books and now it's like,  I have a, you know,  potentially  really huge project where he's had the experience.

And I am still.  It didn't have the, I don't have the full grasp of the, the global. Scale as as he did and now it's like, oh, okay. It makes sense You know that it's the same as as a smaller, you know company just  just more money. That's all  So it's just like it's just you know if you need sometimes you just need that extra boost and somebody who has another set of eyes who's Experiencing and be able to just help you get to A to B  Faster, you know.

Yeah,  I definitely agree Having mentors is, is very powerful and, and especially someone that's doing what you are doing or like that little step ahead, um, so that they can support your journey as well. Um, so you're obviously a graphic designer, you have told us that and you've worked on, um, some really big brands.

You only just have to go to your website to see a few massive logos on there, which is really impressive. And you've had some experience, obviously merchandising. I wanted to talk about something a little bit different with you today, obviously you've got a lot of expertise in this, but I guess the people listening would be like, okay, interesting, what are we talking about here?

So, a lot of small business owners don't think about this, um, but you talked about merch and how you can support people getting merch out there. And I want to talk about how it can help market our business. So I'd love to know from your expertise how you've seen, you know, business owners, big or small, develop, you know, merchandising or with their own branding to help market their business and just go that little extra mile.

Okay, so first we want to figure out, you know, what's  Whatever industry you are in, you have to figure out What's actually  appropriate. You can't just, you know, do something that doesn't make sense if your clientele or, you know, your sales team won't find the value of.  Passive, you know, of sharing these products.

It's just, you don't want it. You don't want it to be a waste of money. That's  if you have a budget, what big or small doesn't matter. You want to make sure everything's effective because  merchandise is, you know, the way it helps your business is that it's, it's a walking billboard, you know, whether it's a t shirt, whether it's a tote bag, whether it's a mug, whether it's, you know, a water bottle, notebook, uh, you know, little notepad.

It has your information and whoever you're giving that out to, it's always, they'll always be reminded of your company, you know, so that's, it keeps the brand, the company name in circulation and, and part of it is also, you know, you're creating a community by sharing it with others, you know, uh, handing it out, whether it's at a trade show or, you know, you're, you're giving something away for free, yes, a lot of it may be thrown out, um, but at the same time, you know, it's,  People may, may keep it.

Who knows? I, I have markers that I still use that have nothing to do with it. I just happen to keep it and you know, I'll  sketch in my, my sketchbook and, or write ideas down because it's there. And like, oh, I remember that, that company, that brand, you know, even as simple as pens. You know, you're talking about pens.

People, you know, people,  pens are, people, people find pens as silly, but it can be very effective because we all write, you know. And, and like I know, Like I said, my father had, has his company and he,  he, every, every once in a while, companies will give away like free pens, just try to advertise to get the, get that business.

And, you know, he found the perfect pen. I use it. I have a couple and it's actually a pretty good pen. So it's, it's as simple as that, but it's gotta be, it's gotta be smart. You know, it's still part, you have to think about your marketing strategy, if it's effective to give it out, because people may, may forget about it.

It just be, it's something else. But, and then another part about it is that, you know.  Whatever. It's just brand recognition. People are going to associate you with your brand with, you know, if it's a well,  well produced product, it's something I'd be like, Oh, this company is willing to invest in  a quality product.

They must be doing something that I want. They must be offer something of quality value, you know, a high end value, you know, it's, you don't want to,  it's one thing if you're doing like a, uh, a charity run and you're getting cheap shirts with, With the, um, logo, and just to acknowledge the type of, uh, causes for it, and that's a great thing, you want to have that, you want to make sure  people know about, you know, Cystic Fibrosis, or, or any other cancer, Alzheimer's, you know, anything, really, but it's Maybe, how about we take that and up it by adding like, you know, nice quality shirt that you exercise, uh, you know, like, like an Under Armour shirt.

So, you know, some sort of moisture wicking shirt like that you could use and, and, and just keep, put the branding on it. Put the branding of the, of the run or your company name. I mean, again, that's just one example of you doing some sort of run. But you just want to, you want to think behind it. You don't want to just slap on, hey, give me the cheapest stuff and hope people, Will follow your brand.

You want to produce  something of quality because then people are going to see that and see, Hey, I respect my company. I respect my brand. I like what they're doing. And I want to be able to, I want to be able to, you know, if you have a good quality shirt, people might want to going to want to wear that.

And whether it's a coffee shop, I've seen people sell products there because they want to represent their local coffee shop, you know? And it's just, it's about, it's important to be able to  present yourself. Properly, you know, it's a great conversation starter. If you have something fun if you have like a whimsical mug.

Hey, that's funny Where'd you get that from? It's I got it from that from from that company, you know the local  Grocery store by me  sells these for like 10 bucks, you know, or whatever, you know, it's it's all about  Presenting yourself, create something, and put thought behind it. You don't, you don't want to just slap your logo on and, you know, call it a day.

Let's be, let's be creative about it. Let's, let's see what we can do, you know, something fun. You know, we could,  it's about, you know, make it exciting, you know,  you know. You go hiking, let's get a nice little, you know, canteen or, you know, some sort of stainless steel water bottle, you know, let's just put some, you know.

Let's add some fun to it. You know, let's play with like  add a dad joke to, to your merchandise. If it's appropriate for your brand, obviously, but, but, but make it, but it'll be memorable with what I'm really trying to say, whatever the product you produce, let's try to make it memorable, make it something that people start a conversation, people will like people want to want to wear or share or just pass along or, you know, think of, or, or just a friendly reminder of like, Oh, I should use them again for, for this business or X, Y, you know, X, Y, and Z.

It's so funny because I've seen a lot, you mentioned the coffee shop, a lot of like, um, you know, cafes, restaurants, um, like people, like tourism places, whatever it is, they now sell their own merchandising and it's like we have local breweries that do it, they have their own like cool t shirts and they almost become like a souvenir thing, actually one of my clients who is the Um, owns a seafood, like, we say fish and chip shop in Australia, like hot chips, and, or fries, and fish, and seafood, they have their own, they, they catch their own fish, and the next step is they're celebrating 20 years, so we're doing merchandising for those, but so many people come to this place, we wanted to create actually a t shirt design that wasn't super, super branded, but was, In a nice way that someone would wear it like they would wear an everyday t shirt.

So, like, what you're saying is, you know, you have to be really intentional with what you want to use it for. But then there's, like, free merchandising, like, you know, I'm going to run an event, I want to have pens. I, I, I don't underrate  pens because I got a really, like, pen, good pen with Content Queen on it.

And people comment on it all the time. So when I get a pen, I actually had a client, she does merch for her workshops. Her pen's really great too. And I was like, I think you can't underestimate a good pen. But what she also does is, um, and this is free merchandising, is she does public speaking coaching.

And she's got a very distinct brand. So there's two things that she gives at her workshops, which actually are then incorporated into people's content when they share about her events. One of them is that she does lips, like red lips, because she's wears red lips a lot. And it's a stress ball, because obviously when you're going to speak, you're stressed.

So you squeeze that stress ball to help, you know, prepare  you. And then she, she loves wearing like, as part of her branding, she wears these like love heart sunglasses. And she does do a lot of her workshops with women, but my partner came, and we're all wearing the Love Heart sunglasses, and we've all got pictures and videos and content, and now we have these Love Heart sunglasses, and I think a lot of people love getting photos and posting content from their experience if they have that bit of merch, I think it does really elevate, you know, whether you do events, um, or you do like, I know a lot of coaches now, like, when someone signs up to their program, they'll send, you know, a gift box, but to elevate that, adding your own like merch in it, you know, thank you for doing my program.

But I've had some people, you know, they give like, maybe it's a notebook, but then they brand it or things like that. I think just really elevates that, that customer experience as well when you're marketing your brand. So I love what you say, got to be really intentional. I think it's going to make sense to your overall goal of what you're doing.

Not just like, Oh, let's just get this. Cause it's cool. But as you're saying this sort of like, Two different elements, there's merch to sell, and then there's merch to sort of give away for free, right? Yeah, so, so there, you know, like you said, first I just want to acknowledge that, yes, if there's a photo op opportunity, like, that's, that's fantastic, you know, people, that's part of, like, building the community, the branding is building the community where it makes the company relatable, it, that's, it's, Part of the branding process is creating this narrative that you're  one with the company you understand You're not just some big corporation or trying to be some big corporation You know, it's all about it's fun, right?

The heart the heart, you know, those those those glasses come on that they sound like they were amazing  And they're memorable. So you always remember like I remember that's not like it's just if you  Any good place that does great branding, the whole experience is going to be fun from the merch to the actual experience, whether it's a speaker or, or just a place where you ride.

It's just, it's going to be fun and you want people just to remember you. That's, that's kind of the,  that's what you really want. You want people to remember who you are, what you do, what's your message, you know, do you bring value to the table? Do you, can we relate on some sort of level? Um, and like, that's why people, you know, yeah.

Love certain brands over others. People love, prefer,  uh, Adidas over Nike. You know, it's just like, it's how they connect to, to each. And yeah. And speaking of that, yeah. What you said is that there's merch to sell and then merch to give away. And you know, it's, there is the part of where you could make some, you know, passive income out of it.

You know, there it's possible to,  to sell some products and, you know, at least. Get some sort of stream going, whether it's just to just put it back into the company or maybe make enough where you could produce more products, put it in yourself, the company, or, or just like whatever you take, just maybe pay yourself a little bit.

If, if, if it turns out to be that, you know, that successful. Um, but yeah, no, it's all about what do you. It's also part of what your goals are. Are you trying to make some money in it? Are you just trying to like  get some brand awareness? Are you just, do you, are you just trying to maximize your visibility or do you want to maximize your visibility and see that return on investment?

Yeah, that's a good point because  that's where your goals come in. And I think like in terms of, you know, selling merch, um, I don't know about you, but. I think it makes a lot more sense to have that brand awareness before you start selling merch. So the client that I have selling their merch that they're getting designs for t shirts and things, they've been in business for 20 years.

So they have like built a, like a brand, um, even without trying because they haven't done a lot of marketing. But they have, you know, consistent flow of people and it's a tourist area, right? So it makes sense to sell merchandise. And I think people, you know, after they get to like, Five years in business, people know who they are.

That's when they probably want to look at selling merchandise. And I think as part of that process, you know, you want to test if that stuff that people like, or if it's going to actually work. So you can do that through sort of free, free things. I think, or just giving them away. It's like when people write books and then those books become part of like their merchandise in a way, because I'll give.

Books away for free. If I joined someone's podcast and they sent me one of their books, um, you know, people give away their books to their clients, things like that. So I think it's all part of, you know, building that brand awareness so that if you ever do want to sell merchandise and then a lot of those things become product, right?

And then you sort of become a bit of a product. It's a different income stream, which is really smart as you diversify your business. So I think it's very interesting to. Have a think about, if you were to create merch, what would that look like? I think it's a fun activity and, you know, I, I recently told you I got, um, I got stickers made and I've got, like, the logo and as I travel, you know, there's these people that have, like, murals of stickers in different cities and my goal is to, like, put a sticker on it.

You know, they cost me, like, I don't know, 70 from Canva, so it was just a low investment and it was already my logo that's already been done, but just something, like, fun and we can create content for it for our You know, various pages and stuff as just a bit of fun, but I think it's interesting to explore the world of what we could create if we were going to do anything.

That should be,  if you're listening right now, just imagine you don't have merch. Assuming you don't have merch. Just imagine what you could do. What you could think of. There's so many products and you can even just Google promotional items or merch ideas, and just think what you, what would be possible. I mean, stickers is a, is a low, um,  it's a low price item.

You could certainly order a bunch of them, pass them out. It's a great  tool to, to just give away, or, you know, I've had. You know, I've sold, I still sell stickers and I have people buy that. I have a friend who can't believe people buy stickers. And I always say, Hey, so someone bought another one. I mean,  people like to slap their stickers that they, they relate to, or a big fan of on their laptop, their, their water bottle.

It just doesn't matter, you know. You go, you go to some dive bars and there's the stickers in the bathroom wall or the door people just hang, you know, you'll see them everywhere. It's, it's, I actually have a friend who, who's a comic book writer and he's asking me to, you know, produce some  stickers and he's thinking about magnets because that's something different.

Uh, you don't see too many at the, at comic cons. Um, so he's just, you know, like.  What else to offer besides, you know, his comic books and I was like, all right, well, you know, we'll create something You know cool and fun to that that will be able to you give away To sell at your you know at these comic conventions or you know, give away if you want I mean, it's just it's it's whatever you feel comfortable with and whatever You know, think is more, uh, what's effective, not just cost effective, but what, what's your, again, like it's the plan it's what's the strategy behind it because it's, it's fun.

I mean,  I've, I've worked with a lot of, you know, independent, small, you know, fashion brands, clothing brands. Um, especially in the t shirt market and they've, you know, I've seen them, some of them grow really well and, and work with actually, uh, collaborate with big companies and, um, and some just have a nice steady fan base and it's just all about growing it and expanding on that.

And from there  you could make it fancier, you know, just it's produce some quality products, produce some, get some great designs. Or good designs enough where it just something different besides the logo. I mean, it could be a simple, I would call a badge logo, which is more just like, it's like, well, you see something on a patch, you know, might have the logo in the middle and the tech, the top with your slogan, the bottom with maybe the years.

Um, I mean, and just if that looks cool itself,  that would sell and that could be, that could start generating, you know, uh, a whole process of creating more, more products, more merge. Maybe you want to do patches, maybe you want to do, uh,  hats with the patch on, or maybe you just want to print some, some t shirts or, like I said, or,  you know, sweatshirts or anything.

I mean, well, you're, you know, wherever you are, it's truly gets cold, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. A little chilly, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so, yeah, so, so, so, so hoodies, you know, you could do some of that. Whatever. I mean, it's, it's, if you're on, you know, the swim team, there's chamois, you could print some sort of something fun to, to wipe yourself down, you know, it, or towels, beach towels, you know, everyone loves the beach.

Most people love the beach. I know some people are out there and say, I don't like the beach, but, you know,  it's true. It happens.  Yeah, it does happen.  Um, but, but there's the case where, you know, you could,  that, that's, and, and the towel, the beach towel is something where you can really, you know, Be creative and, and have fun and create something cool with, with your company name or, or your personal brand and just, you know,  with bold colors or whatever.

I mean, and there's a variety of, of companies out there, you know, there's print on demand companies, there's, you know, uh, Gelato is one, Printful.  Uh, and Printify merged, so at some point there'll be one company, but you can still use them, and, and these are, they have company, these are companies that you can use  wherever you are in, uh, in the world.

They're, they're global. Yes, I think Printful is more American based, but they're, they do have locations, and Gelato's more of the, uh, I think it's European, but I think they also have, they, everywhere, and I mean, and,  And not only that, I know, I know, I've bought stuff from Australia, too, where like, I know they have, you guys have your own printers and, and, um,  companies out there, you know, it's, it's, it's whatever you, you think at the end of the day.

I mean,  it's, it's, there's some thought behind it. Like, it, just don't think that, hey, we'll, we'll, you know, let's throw, let's create a T shirt and a sticker and call it a day. It, we, again, it's just, it's about a whole process. And then from there, depending on what you're doing, you know,  let's talk about the content, right?

Like you could, with the cool stuff you, you made,  you have, you could create a, there's a video,  an unboxing video. Look what I just got in the mail. To check it out and then jump cut, jump cut, jump cut to, you know, showing the big reveal or, you know, slowly building it up and maybe, maybe you'll wait for the big reveal and, and in a tomorrow's post, you know, it's just stuff like that, or, or, you know, then you have, not only that, do you have the video you have, you take the pictures and you have, you have a whole bunch of, you have a carousel of images for Instagram or tick tock.

Cause they do also do images in case you. Weren't aware and, uh,  but you have everything then, you know, like I said, you could, maybe you want to work, you work with influencers. Or you're trying to work for the influencer, and it's, this is something that you may wanna somehow work out a deal where they wear it for their posts, or you want them to review, or anything like that, I mean there's, like I said about the unboxing,  there's YouTubers, you know, kids watch Other kids  unbox toys like  or even adults like they watch the sneakers or the cell, you know new tech It's just people are fascinated by it.

It's also fascinating watching people fascinated by that But it that's it, but I digress it's so but it's about you know There's different ways of creating content and then you could you know, maybe add some sort of storytelling marketing and how this product relates to your audience and you know  Maybe it's like, oh, this reminds me when I was a little, when I was a little kid, it, it brought me back and you know, I wanted to  catch some waves and then afterwards my mom would wrap me with a warm blanket, a warm towel and dry me off and you know what, just sitting there in the sun looking up at a beautiful sunny day, just chilling on the beach,  yeah, I like this, this is, this is home and this is what, yeah.

We're about, we're about a familial experience, creating that family, community, come hang out with us, let's have a nice cold beverage, and then just, you know,  hang out. I mean, it could be, like, that's something we could do, maybe there's a, a tourist restaurant that would, that would benefit from, from something like that, you know?

There's It really depends on what you're looking for, what you're actually thinking. Um, again, think of the industry, like it,  you know, if you're in golf or, or maybe rugby, you know, if people wanted to create their own rugby jersey, that's possible. Like, it's just, it's all whatever you're, you know, again, it's just,  these are just simple ideas, but like, there's always, you know, you can always think outside the box, you know, I want to create my own custom cooler.

Okay, that's fun. That's, that great, makes for a great summer treat, you know, oh, that's, that's fantastic. I have a buddy of mine who does that with his own brand. He created,  uh, he has a whole hiking brand, uh, shout out to Atomic Child, uh,  he, uh, he has a bunch of stuff where I was like, that's, It's really cool and, and it's just kind of like creating artwork that people, that's eye catching.

And, um,  I mean, it's, again, it's all about, it's a lot of merch is to, is to really gravitate  the eyes to be staring at it and make people know what, what, what you, what you are, who you are.  So it's, it's just thinking about what's the, the best way to, to engage your audience, your potential customers.  Yeah. I love what you're saying about the content because I think people love that stuff.

And I, I remember, um, there was a woman who had her own podcast and she was traveling back to the UK. She was from like living in Australia. She's from the UK and she got like a hoodie with her like podcast, you know, logo on the back and everyone likes. You know, it made for conversation at the airport, or, you know, whatever, and then she got all this content with her, you know, and she was traveling around with her hoodie, with her podcast on it, and everyone loved it, like, she got lots of engagement, um, you know, on social media, because people were like, oh my god, that is so cool, it's like, you've made it, you've got merch, you know, like, I feel like people hold that to like, oh my god, you've got branded things, that means, you know, you've made it type of vibe, and I think people, Love seeing brands and, and it's interesting because, um, one of my clients, she, um, went to an event yesterday about retail marketing.

And one of the biggest takeaways that she had from that was like, engagement equals conversion. So if you can engage with your clients in a different way, you know, people are now buying from brands that are going to engage with them. Even like massive brands like BMW. McDonald's, they've all hired community managers to comment on TikToks, funny things, like not even like big influencers TikToks.

Like, I saw Flight Center, which is like a really big, um,  tourism company in Australia, commenting on a creator that they, they didn't have many likes and, and comments. And their, their post was like, you know, me just traveling the world, posting twice a day to get three likes on my posts. And then, um, Flight Center popped in, was like, Keep going.

You're doing an amazing job. And everyone's like, Oh my God, how cool is that? So that's that engagement level that, you know, a lot of what this client heard about from this conference was like engagement equals conversion. So it could be commenting on posts, but it also could be like having, you know, things that you could give away to your customers, things that are branded.

Um, you know, we now know like people don't pay for, we don't have plastic bags at supermarkets or shopping, but we now have their branded. , you know, like bags. It's, it's, so that's why I, I always try to push the, the tote bag because, you know mm-hmm  . For that reason, you know, it's, you could, oh, it's reusable and it's like you're walking around, you're, that's that literally walking billboard as you're carrying your groceries or, or whatever you're putting in there with, you know, there it is.

Content queen. And, and I, and a lot of the clothing brands now in Australia, they say like, Oh, do you want to get a 2 bag? Right. And the bag's actually a nice tote bag. And I have one somewhere around here. Um, for a clothing brand and I use it all the time. So like, cause it's handy and like we travel and when we travel we need little extra bags for like day trips or whatever.

And it's just got their logo on it and they're happy cause I paid 2 for it. But, you know, maybe they don't make any money off it because 2 for a tote bag is pretty cheap, right? But I carry it around. All the time and people see that and and they can nicely designed as you said, they've got thought into and they're not just like their logo.

They've got like, kind of like a, they're like a more Boho  type of theme. So the bag like looks quite nice. So it's very interesting how we something so simple, but has a lot of thought put into it can be so effective with our marketing and I feel like a lot of smaller business owners have probably thought, Oh, it's too expensive for me to do.

So like, why would I invest in that? But it can be a really good marketing spend. Um, especially if you go to a lot of events or you network a lot, like having those things. I know, and I know a lot of small business owners do network or go to markets or go to trade shows. Maybe they don't have a booth, but they might be going there, you know, even just.

Instead of handing out a business card, I had one client hand out a postcard. Um, and you, you wrote a letter to yourself on the postcard and then I didn't come up with, she came up with the idea. We executed it together and the QR code went to a mailing list. So it was just something so like, but it was more like people could take that home and reflect on, you know, that it was about confidence.

Cause she's a, um, she does mindset work and, and growth coaching and high performance. So it was just an opportunity for someone to reflect on that. And whilst it wasn't merch as in a pen or something, but it was rather than handing out a business card, you know, it was just something a little bit different.

Yeah, it's interactive. It's interactive marketing. You're, you're, again, it's a little merch. You think about it. 'cause they still, you're still using it in some sort of way and it's, uh, it just, it creates that experience and some, and something that's like, that's nice, that's like, you know, sweet in a way, you know, you're writing to yourself.

It's, it's a, it's thoughtful and again, there's a lot of thought behind it and, and,  and think about of, of the content for.  A, there's, you could get, you could get cheap tote bags or you could get really nice quality ones. So for those, you know, you just pick the price depending on who you are. Um, working with re um, regarding the, um, promotion, who, which company, which promotional company you work with, they'll tell you which is the actual price range for you.

Mm-hmm . Um, or.  And then another thing too is, is, you know, create a, a social campaign where, you know,  make it fun, maybe some sort of raffle, you know, the, maybe some sort of little discount free shipping or something, or, or maybe next, next time you go into the store, just. Maybe a couple bucks off or something, something to return and, and, you know, just have, make sure you have your, your audience, your customer base, take pictures with it.

You know, that's one way of doing hashtag, hashtag funsies, you know, like, and everybody who  uses that, we'll see every, Oh, this is, this is great. They, they, they took that picture with this item here, you know, and, oh, that person, whoa, that person traveled across the world and did this with this product.

That's amazing. Like you, you'll be amazed about how. If people love a product or a company, they'll,  would gladly be part of, try to be part of the, that, that community. I mean,  Nike, if you think about it, was, was a  Uh, it was all about running shoes, you know, and there's jogging clubs everywhere, running clubs everywhere.

Um, so it's, it's all about, you know,  they ha and they have their own little merch,  you know, all these different clubs and, and it just depends on what you wanna, what you wanna do. Uh, it's just Keep the community going. It's just stand out somehow, you know, think, just think some thought of it into it or hire someone,  you know, who specializes in, in branding or brand strategy me, um, and figure out what you would, how you want to think about how you want to present yourself out there in the world.

I mean, It's  that's the thing about today's age. It's, you know, we're in the digital age. We have to think completely different, but we have access to everything. You know, everybody across the world  can, you know, access you. I'm in New York. You're in Australia,  where two different hemispheres, chit chatting away,  otherwise if this was, you know,  20 years ago, it'd be quite the expensive phone bill, and,  so,  there's the, we, there's, just think, try to, just try to think big, try, you know, I, I understand, I understand that you're gonna, you're gonna feel overwhelmed, you're gonna think that it's,  it's gonna hurt my pockets, it's too small, it's, you know, there's, Tariffs here, tariffs there, all the countries, you know, the economy's going up, everything is not  doing what I want.

But maybe things turn, maybe things do turn for the better, you know.  What, just think, okay, things might be wrong, but what if they go well? And what if you make it go well for yourself? You know, it's, try to be proactive, try to think big, try to, you know,  it's scary but like  Wouldn't you rather try than, and then not at all make some cool stuff.

That's that that's actually effective for your company or your brand. I mean, it doesn't matter your, your single person brand.  But you're, you're global to, to, on the internet, it doesn't matter, like they,  you portray yourself  as a professional you'll, you should be able to receive that feedback and people will be excited to work with you, be able, excited to represent you and be part of that, that community you're trying to build.

I mean, yes, we all want money. We all need to live and survive, pay our bills and, and, you know, but the reality is that  we're trying to do what we love, right? You try, you know, this is, otherwise we'd get a job. Situations happen. I get that. But,  you know, let's, if we could do something fun along the way,  let's give it a go.

That's a good, a good ending remark. I like that. I think it's just like, don't, um,  dismiss something that could work really well for your business in terms of marketing. I think we're always like, yeah, spend money on Facebook ads or spend money in a digital space, which is totally fair, but you could also try something new.

And I think a lot of us are At that point where we're like, okay, we'll try anything, see what works in different ways. So I think it's a good, a good lens to look at it. So thank you so much, Joe, for sharing your knowledge in merchandising. I, it's got me thinking about so many things that I could do, um, for clients and, um, my own business.

So it's got me excited for that. So how can people find you and connect with you and maybe pick your brain a little bit more about how they could elevate their brand this year.  Well, uh, I am, you can follow me at, um,  on anywhere in social media at brandedbarron.  com. Well, um, brandedbarron, at brandedbarron.

Brandedbarron. com is my website and you can reach, see more of my work there and, you know, contact me through email, uh, on, on there. Um, and, you know, anywhere social media that is at brandedbarron. I would love to speak to you guys, speak to whoever, all you lovely people out there, you know, let's chit chat.

I'm a, I like to think I'm a friendly guy. I, I hope I come across as a friendly guy. Yeah, he is, he trusts me.  But yeah, no, if, if you do have questions, I've, you know, shoot me an email and then and if you want to dive in deeper then, you know, we'll do the whole actual  process of working together. I mean, it's, you know, it doesn't hurt to email.

Let's see where it goes, right? Amazing. We'll put all your links in the show notes. But thanks so much, Geoff. Really enjoyed chatting with you. Oh, thank you very much. I really appreciate it. So, what merch ideas came to you? I would love to know. Come over to Instagram and tell us. If you're listening to us on Spotify, you can put it in the comments.

I'd love to know. I don't know what I'm going to do next. I think it's super fun.  Obviously, then you can sort of become a bit of a product based business, I guess. I've seen clients, one of my clients, who launched a book, also launched a set of Oracle cards. Like,  as Joe said, we can think big with this.

Obviously, it does take some money, some outlay, so Make sure it's the right decision for your business. It aligns with your goals, et cetera, et cetera, but there's so many great marketing opportunities and also a chance for you to expand your business into different income streams as well. So it was very fun.

I have had a lot of fun thinking about some things that I could do in the future. So let's see where it goes, but be a content queen or king and remember that developing your strategy and story develops your business And also that life is content. So merch can become a really big content driver for your business Thank you so much for joining me today And please don't forget to share this with all your business and entrepreneurial friends You can do this by adding it to your insta stories and tagging us at content queen Mariah Or just tell them about it, hit the share button.

If you do leave a rate and review, it means that I can hear what you think and I can take on any feedback, but also it allows me to get great guests to come on. So  please leave a rate and review. If you haven't, I'll love you forever and follow us on Instagram and let me know any topics you want me to talk about in the future.

I would love to hear from you, but I will talk to you next week. Bye.

PodcastMariah MacInnesmarketing, marketing advice, how to be authentic online, business ownerComment