𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝘅 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 @Caroline Fransz a member of this group runs a crochet community. She calls her members Hookers! Which already tells you she knows exactly who her people are. (And she's hilarious!) Her recent post joked about the possible side effects of learning to crochet: • Buying yarn for projects you haven’t started. • Saying “just one more row” at midnight. • Collecting unfinished WIPs. • Calling the yarn stash an “investment.” • And eventually referring to yourself as a hooker in public. I read it and immediately started creating a 12-Step 'Recovery' Program for merch that would be fun: Project bag: One Stitch at a Time Row counter: One Row at a Time Stitch-marker tin: Emergency Hooker Supplies Project tags: Still Working My Program / It’s Complicated / On a Break Crochet notebook: My Recovery Plan — for recovering all those unfinished WIPs. Tool pouch: One Stitch at a Time — Hooker Survival Kit None of those ideas came from browsing “best merch for crocheters.” They came from the culture she had already created. The language. The habits. The inside jokes. The things her people immediately recognize as theirs. The products aren’t the idea. Her community is. Sometimes the best product ideas are already sitting in the way your customers talk. What’s one phrase or inside joke that would immediately tell your customers, “this was made for us”? Don’t give me a product idea. Give me one phrase, joke, habit or problem your clients, customers or members understand that an outsider probably wouldn’t. Let’s see what might be hiding inside it.

You decide you want merch for your business. What do you do first? A — Search “best merch ideas” B — Browse a product catalog C — Look at what other businesses are making D — Ask a vendor what’s popular Most people start with one of those. I wouldn’t. And that is exactly where Episode 3 starts in my new podcast. In What to Make Before You Make Anything, I walk through where I start before I look at a single product. Because the first decision you make can determine whether you end up with something that feels distinctly yours—or something that could have come from almost any business. Episode 3 of Merch Marketing for Entrepreneurs & Business Owners: What to Make Before You Make Anything, Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Then, come back and let me know what you'd do first!

Most businesses spend their ENTIRE marketing budget getting attention. Almost none of them have a strategy for what happens AFTER they get it. Content marketing builds visibility. Branded merchandise builds presence — physical, daily, unkillable by an algorithm update. The difference between branded merchandise that works and branded merchandise that wastes budget comes down to one question: does this product have a job? A custom product with a clear role in the client relationship — welcome gift, referral thank-you, community milestone — creates retention that no email sequence can replicate. That's what branded merchandise strategy actually means. Not logo placement. Not catalog shopping. A physical touchpoint chosen for the person, the moment, and the outcome you want next. What job does your next branded product need to do?