^Marketing
They Blew Our Business up in a Matter of Hours

Spreading the Word, Their Way

Do you have the time you need to market your business? Probably not. But you can’t shrug it off, either. The entrepreneurs from The Way Up have all placed their share of ads, but they’ve also moved the needle with non-traditional marketing plays.

Winning in the Attention Economy

Sometimes, marketing can be as simple as answering a last-minute invitation. Alex Samuels experienced the extreme side of this when she agreed to bring Rustler Hat Co. to an influencer event in Nashville.

What happened next dramatically changed the size of her business’s audience. Samuels said there were roughly 50 influencers at the event — all of whom had seven-figure follower counts — and that they "absolutely blew our business up in a matter of hours."

While her everyday customers’ online followings are smaller than those of influencers’, Samuels says organic social media marketing is a tactic that continues to pay off for her brand. "[Organic social media] marketing has been really, really big for us," Samuels said. "Someone coming to our store and filming the process and then going and posting it to their followers. It"s just been a way to reach so many different people in so many different areas."

Key Takeaway

Every customer is a potential content creator. And while Rustler Hat Co.’s products are inherently both personal and visual, any business can take steps to replicate some level of their organic marketing success. Start by identifying the parts of your business people post positively about on social media, and then make it easy for more of your customers to capture and promote those items or experiences. This could be as simple as rearranging displays to optimize lighting or picture composition or posting small signs next to your products encouraging people to take pics or videos and post online. In the end, if your customers are having a great experience, they"ll want to share it with the world. Give them a reason, and the means, to do it right.

Marketing as a Line of Business

Why pay to advertise when your customers will buy the ads from you?

While no business coach will recommend putting your entire marketing budget into branded merchandise, most of the entrepreneurs featured in The Way Up have found some level of success in selling products like t-shirts, and hats that promote their businesses.

Jenny Nguyen is considering letting future Sports Bra franchisees make city-specific twists on the brand’s logo and collaborate with local artists on merchandise. Meanwhile, Samuels’ Rustler Hat Co. has introduced lines of trucker hats, t-shirts, and other branded clothing for sale for those who don’t want one of their signature custom cowboy hats.

Branded products turned into a momentary game-changer for Mulvihill, who was able to turn a bit of wry humor into a revenue driver for Green Apple Books during the pandemic.

“We did a little shirt that said ‘stay home, read books,’” Mulvihill said. “And I thought that that would just be a cute little thing. And we sold thousands of them. That money really helped. It helped me pay people. It helped me pay my rent.”

Key Takeaway

If you represent your community, your community will want to represent you. You can test this by selling one or two pieces of branded merchandise you feel make sense for your core audience. Then, pay attention not just to your sales figures, but also to what conversations the merch inspires and if customers ask about future product lines.

Creating — or Borrowing — the Main Event

The concept and success of Record Store Day always made Mulvihill jealous, so he decided to borrow liberally from it.

“I saw people lined up at a record store waiting to buy something, and [I’d think] ‘I want people to line up in front of my store waiting to buy something,’” Mulvihill said.

The appeal to the community was the same as its Record Store Day counterpart: Come out one day each spring to support your local bookstore instead of buying from an online behemoth. After all, more of your money stays in your community when you shop local, and you'll also get the opportunity to pick up something exclusive for your efforts.

The first event in 2014 was limited to local bookstores in California, as that's as far as the founders could organize. Today, an estimated 1,400-plus stores across the U.S. participate.

Green Apple Books’ Independent Bookstore Day promotion has become a hit, with several unique products that are only available one day per year at each of their locations. The events have also featured on-demand poets, beer from local brewers, and live podcast recordings.

“It's one of our biggest sales days of the year outside of the winter holidays,” Mulvihill said.

Key Takeaway

Creating or joining forces on events that make sense for your business can amplify your status in the community and bring in new customers. Need help? Try listing ideas for events that highlight your 10 bestselling products or services. When you have a few ideas you like, run them by your core customers in person or poll your loyalty members to see if there’s significant interest around a specific activation.

63%

of consumers say they prefer businesses communicate with them over email more than any other method.

Source: The 2025 Square Future of Restaurants Report

Making Marketing a Breeze for Busy Businesses

Chef Quie Slobert knows he has to put the Charles Pan-Fried Chicken brand in front of as many people as he can. But that takes both time and money that even the most acclaimed local restaurant may not have. That’s why he turns to Square email marketing to stay front of mind.

“We don't have enough money to do a Super Bowl commercial,” Slobert joked. “But Square does have a marketing tool that we can use and shoot out emails and constantly show them, ‘Hey, listen, we are here.’”

And their fans respond, too. Slobert has chatted with soul food aficionados across the country through Square marketing tools to figure out where Charles Pan-Fried Chicken should do pop-ups and events.

"Fortunately, with Square, we have a system where everyone can write us," Slobert said. "I'm getting emails every day on where we should open up. 'You should come to Baltimore. You should come to literally everywhere in the country.'"

Slobert says he takes that input and then consults historic sales data via their Square Dashboard to see if traveling for a pop-up or event is feasible.

"It is been amazing for us," Slobert said.