139: {Interview} The Importance of Swag in Branding with Amanda Hofman

In today's episode, Amanda Hofman shares her entrepreneurial journey, discussing her experiences in running businesses, the importance of hustle, learning from mistakes, and the role of swag in branding. She emphasizes the need for entrepreneurs to take ownership of their work and the significance of building relationships through quality merchandise.

Takeaways

Amanda's journey began with Urban Girl Squad, proving her entrepreneurial spirit.
Hustle is essential for success in any business venture.
Entrepreneurship is not for everyone; it requires a willingness to face challenges.
Learning from mistakes is crucial; ignoring red flags can lead to bad decisions.
Quality swag can enhance brand relationships and should not be treated as mere promotional items.
Companies often print swag inefficiently, leading to low-quality items.
Swag should be seen as a marketing tool, not just a giveaway.
Opting for print on demand can solve many swag-related issues.
Building relationships through swag is key to effective branding.
Entrepreneurs have the power to say no to bad partnerships.

Connect further with Amanda on LinkedIn HERE or visit her website HERE

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Transcript

Caroline Pennington (00:01.168)
Welcome Amanda.

Amanda Hofman (00:02.73)
I am so happy to be here with you.

Caroline Pennington (00:06.226)
So tell me, you're the co-founder, CEO, and chief swag officer of Go To Market. You've been in business for over five years now. Tell me your story, where you are now, and how did you get here?

Amanda Hofman (00:17.622)
Yeah, so this is not my first company. I used to run an events group for women in New York City called Urban Girl Squad, and it was the light of my life. It was my first child before I had human children. And it was the proving point to prove to myself that I can run a business, I can be an entrepreneur, and this is the right path for me. This risk profile suits my personality. I like taking ownership.

I particularly like taking ownership in the sense that like when something works, it's because I did it. And when something doesn't work, it's cause I messed it up. Like there's no ambiguity. It's just, it's, can't blame like, you know, Pete in tech or like Mary in HR. Like it's just all on you. and that

it just really suits my personality to do that. So I ran that company for about six years and I sold it just before my second child was born. And then I was home with my kids for about six years. And when I was looking to start a new company, I...

really didn't know what I wanted to do. And I floundered quite a bit. I started a company, I stopped it. I wondered if my first success was a one-off. I wondered if I'd ever have a career again, know, all the normal, you know, kind of dowdy things that we do. And then when I learned about print on demand technology, like a huge light bulb went off for me. And I realized that I could solve, like I was in a unique position with my skills and my interests.

to solve this problem that I had faced in my first business, which is that I wanted to have swag, but the process of getting it was like a freaking nightmare. And so I never did it. And I was like, wait, there's print on demand technology. Why is not every company doing this? It really didn't add up.

Amanda Hofman (02:11.424)
to me. And like there are a few roadblocks here and there. I'm like, I can remove those roadblocks. So I started this company with the designer from my first company, Jesse. We already knew that we worked well together and I am not an artist. And so we come together as like the creative engine behind GoToMarket, where we create creative, sustainable, print on demand merchandise for brands and businesses.

Caroline Pennington (02:39.272)
Okay, let me back up a minute. I love the part that you said that you can't blame Keith in tech or Mary Sue, whatever her name is in HR, because I'm literally the exact same way, which is why I'm an entrepreneur as well. But I love that you said that and that's probably, that comes across, think really amazing stuff. Okay, you're two part founders. So what, what's worked for you in it?

when we're talking about growth, like in the first company, in the advanced company, I know it's totally separate, totally separate industries, but the concepts and the business development is the same. What worked, what didn't work.

Amanda Hofman (03:17.088)
I mean, the bottom line of what always works is hustle. Like, it's just hard work. And I know that it's not a sexy answer. It's kind of a boring answer. It's like a, yeah, we know that, but like really that's what it is. And when I was doing my first company, I had a lot of women come to me being like, how do I start an events company? How do I have the success that you have? How did you build this list? And I was like, I sweat over every.

day. just, I just every day I was out on the street. was talking to people. was leveraging my personal skillset. was outsourcing things that were not in my skillset, but like, it's just, you just need to like walk through the war zone of figuring it out. And I think this is what I was saying earlier with like, your losses are your own. Like you need to, if you want to take the path of entrepreneurship, you have to be willing to walk.

through the things that are hard for you and look at them.

And if that's not interesting to you, then it's probably not the path for you. And I also don't mean to like glorify entrepreneurship. I don't think it's right for everyone. I don't think it's objectively better than working in corporate. It's just different. And if your personality suited to that, if it sounds exciting to you, then like you got to be willing to do the work. So like for me, hustle always like going out there, talking to as many people as you can, getting feedback, hearing hard feedback, adapting, like keep showing up even when it's hard.

Like that's, that's it.

Caroline Pennington (04:50.3)
I love that you said that because I spoke to a group recently about podcasting and my journey and how to start growing scale it. And I told them like the raw dirty truths, like you're going to get people, your uncle or, you know, Sam down the street saying, how's your little podcast going? And they're very beginning, but then flash forward a year, two years, three years later. And they're like, holy crap. How did you do that? And it was hustle. That's it.

Amanda Hofman (05:15.872)
Yeah, exactly. They're like, yeah, you just like somehow found success. You're like, no, every single day I showed up to do this and I got incrementally better every single day until I ended up here and you just weren't watching every day.

Caroline Pennington (05:32.188)
So tell me about your biggest mistake.

Amanda Hofman (05:36.724)
in business. You know, one error I make a lot is I confuse wanting to like people. Like I can...

Caroline Pennington (05:37.84)
Yeah, in business.

Amanda Hofman (05:53.004)
my optimism and desire to like someone can gloss over warning signs and can gloss over the reality of the situation sometimes. So there have been situations that I've ended up in with bad clients or people I've hired because I liked them, but not because they could actually do the work. And...

You know, we're talking about doing the hard work. I think for me, I have to learn how to be a little bit more objective and realistic so that I can like see the warning signs and pay attention to them so that I don't end up in these bad...

situations. mean, they happen less and less, but then when they do come up again, like for example, I worked for this guy early on in Go To Market when I was trying to learn about the bulk side of things as well. And he was creepy from day one. I mean, day one, would, he, there were like so many red flags. He was telling me about like how hot his girlfriend was. I'm like, that doesn't need to be a part of this conversation. And then like all kinds of weird, creepy stuff kept happening.

until at the end, I take off the time between when my kids camp ends and when school starts because what am I gonna do? I mean, guess I could get childcare, but that's a time that I can spend time with my kids. I told him, I'm not gonna be working during that time. And when I came back, he was like, how was your vacation? I'm like, dude.

But like the signs were there all along and I just ignored them. So I think that's a mistake that I've made many times that I will probably make again, but I'm trying to do less.

Caroline Pennington (07:36.732)
think we all are guilty of that and we all make mistakes, right? It's just like, how much time are we gonna waste and how much money is it gonna cost? So it's like.

Amanda Hofman (07:45.624)
Like how quickly can we be like, I did it again. And then just back out without, you know, apologizing.

Caroline Pennington (07:52.966)
I had a similar situation happened recently. And I just told the guy no. I was like, the red flags, I smelled it. The phone call was weird. The follow-up email treated me like I was the help. And I was like, this is a hell no for me.

Amanda Hofman (08:05.986)
That's right. I haven't made that specific mistake again. Like if I get weird vibes from a dude who seems to be like talking down to me as a mother, as a woman, and I'm immediately like, yeah, I don't need you. Like this is not, no thanks. Yeah, like I'm A-okay and I am not gonna subject myself to this. And that's the lovely thing about being an entrepreneur, right? Like we can say no, we can say no.

Caroline Pennington (08:21.22)
your money. Thank you.

Caroline Pennington (08:34.01)
I love that. Yeah. And I say no plenty too. So I hear you. All right. So let's switch characters here. I want to talk to you about swag because I love all the swag stuff that you do. I see you on LinkedIn. All your stuff is like so fun, so progressive. So all the things. So why does every brand or business owner needs swag?

Amanda Hofman (08:36.534)
Yeah. Yeah.

Amanda Hofman (08:54.956)
Well, there are so many ways to answer that. Let me start by saying that most brands are already doing some kind of merger swag. So let's start there. know, law firms, car companies, financial planners, communities, consultants, skincare brands, like they're all printing stuff anyway. So if you look at the way that companies are printing things, they're doing it inefficiently. They're doing it in bulk. They're

ordering like they're trying to get something to everyone and in doing so like The budget gets smaller and smaller and smaller per person because they're like well We should send it to these thousands of people and these thousands of people or these or I have to go to a trade show I have to give something to everybody who's there and that's how you end up with junk That's how you end up with a stress ball because you're like well the budget per person is like a dollar and 53 cents Well, guess what you can get for a dollar and 53 cents. It's nothing good. So

I think that companies can do swag so much better if they start to think of it as a sales and marketing tool and not a quote like promo item. Like we're not spraying flyers across a room or across the city. We're not like stapling Dan can teach you to play guitar like all over the city. Actually, you're not in New York. I don't know if you get that reference. Does that make sense?

Caroline Pennington (10:19.75)
No, no, but tell me more.

Amanda Hofman (10:22.51)
I think all New Yorkers know this. Dan teaches you to play guitar as like a flyer that's like literally everywhere for like 15 years. Anyway, you can cut that out if it's like absolutely irrelevant to your audience.

But you don't want to take the flyer approach to your branded merchandise. It means that you're printing really inexpensive junky garbage. When you create higher quality swag, and you might be thinking to yourself, well, I can't afford higher quality swag. And it's like, you absolutely can if you print less of it. If you tier your swag so that it's like,

you know, just for giveaways or just for your most loyal customers or just for your C level people or like find a way for people to opt in. Or even if you just make it available for purchase and give everyone a discount, give everyone a credit towards it, there's beauty in letting people choose what they get, right? When people choose what they get, they're much more likely to keep it, wear it and use it. And that's the role of good branded merchandise and swag.

It should be a relationship builder. If it's not building a relationship, don't print it.

Caroline Pennington (00:01.313)
Okay, so you and I first met because I was gonna do a live event here in South Carolina and I wanted to have merch there for the attendees, for the sponsors, all the things. And I think one thing that you and I talked about in the beginning that I really loved with your process and your company is a lot of times when you think about ordering merch, you think about, okay, I gotta order a thousand units or I gotta have the minimum order quantities and then I gotta have it delivered to my house and then I gotta put the goodie bags together.

And then I got to take the goodie bags to the event. And that's a lot of manual labor, right? And so tell me about, you don't have to, you know, share any secrets or IP or anything like that is about your processes, you just, when we talked, you like a light bulb went off with me. was like, wow, there's actually an easier way to do this where I don't have to spend a ton of money and do a ton of manual labor.

Amanda Hofman (00:49.484)
Yes, yes. I think people really underestimate the amount of manual labor involved in ordering swag. It's one of these things that you're like, it's not that big of a deal. And the time involved, they're like, yeah, I'll just ship it out to these people. Like, I have their address. How long could it take? And it's like a long time. The answer is a long time. Even if you're doing it while you're watching Gilmore Girls, it's still time that you don't need to be spending at all. And when you think about the fact that the process can be so much more efficient,

and people are going to have a better experience in the end, it becomes a no-brainer, right? So what we suggest for events is rather than saying like, everyone gets a hat, everyone gets a bag, everyone gets a journal, whatever it is, you create a print, we create.

you can also create. But my company creates print on demand storefronts for your brand and business, which effectively act as gifting platforms. And what it means is that you're giving everyone, here's $20, here's $30, just a gift card to your store. And you say, pick what you want.

and then they go on ahead of time, they order it, it ships directly to them. You're not involved in the process. The order goes directly to the printer. It gets sent directly to the person who wants it. And they don't need to discuss with you like, I like my t-shirts in this shape or I'm a this size or do you have like a 2XL or I really prefer this in green or like I don't like this design. All of that goes away. They choose what they want. And one of the most exciting parts about this is that if people don't want your merch, they can

can opt out, which is better for you and better for them. Because if they don't want it, no cool thing is going to change their minds. You're just wasting your time and money, and you're giving them a burden, because then they have to get rid of it. So it's a true win-win to do it this way.

Caroline Pennington (02:43.892)
So I love how you incorporate humor and sass and you are brilliant with your catchy, I'm just gonna say catchy things or kind of like one-off things that go with each industry and every, like where that to me is memorable as someone who has swag all around my house or whatever, like whether I'm not gonna use it or not. That what you do there is so brilliant. So where did that come from?

Amanda Hofman (02:54.881)
Yeah.

Amanda Hofman (03:11.022)
I mean, that's the most fun part of this, right? And I think that's where my personal passion comes in because looking back, I never sought out to be like, I'm gonna work in merch one day. It was like, that didn't happen. It was more like I had this business, I saw the problem in getting swag. And then I learned about print on demand and I'm like, I can fill this need. But when I look back.

Like I've never left a gift shop without buying the thing. Like I'm always buying that. Like that was when I was a little kid, my mom always looked for the thing that said Amanda. Like I had an Amanda license plate from California. I had like the ride that says my name on it. Like I had all that stuff and I loved it. And so I've always been paying attention, I think, to what makes something clever, cute, interesting, fun. And

So now in my role here, what I do is think about what is interesting about your business? What is different, interesting, valuable, and fun? What is the vibe of your company? Why are people drawn to you? It's not the name of your business. It's not your logo. It's something else. So we put our creative minds, me and my team, on what is something really cool?

trendy, interesting, fun, and vibey about your business that we can put on your branded merchandise. That also incorporates your logo, but isn't just your logo. So for example, I'm wearing this cute, I think it's really cute shirt that says Merch is Fun. it's like, it's just three words, but it very much encapsulates how I think companies should think about branded merchandise and swag. It's not an obligation. It's a fun, joyful tool that you can use to build your business.

Caroline Pennington (04:52.96)
Plus, I'm gonna add to that, people would like to wear fun stuff or catchy stuff. They don't wanna just wear your company logo. That's boring.

Amanda Hofman (05:00.248)
They really don't unless you're Nike or Peloton. There are exceptions or Tiffany, but like you can think of them because they're exceptions, right? Like I just think there's so much more to your business than the name of your business. And like there's a lot of opportunity there for the branded merchandise and swag.

Caroline Pennington (05:19.958)
All right, if I had to choose one piece of swag, what is the best piece of swag that converts? I know that everyone has their different personal preferences and everything, but what is your favorite piece of swag?

Amanda Hofman (05:31.666)
that's hard. That's choosing between my children. I kind of want to give you a non-answer, but I'll give you real answer. I'm going to give you my non-answer first though, which is that the best swag is the swag that somebody chooses. Right? So like I...

love one type of thing, you love a different type of thing, we each get what we want. That's my non-answer. My real answer is I love a tank top. I do. I just, I mean, I'm wearing a t-shirt now, but I count this as a tank top because it's off the shoulder. I love something that's like athleisure that I can wear, you know, when I'm walking around that I can, that's like versatile, that I can sweat in, that like looks cute on a call, that, you know, works.

Caroline Pennington (06:16.596)
Okay, I'm with you. literally got the gift certificate to order from the digital store and I chose the tank top.

Amanda Hofman (06:21.1)
Nice. Sweet. Love it.

Caroline Pennington (06:26.24)
So we're on the same page there. Okay, so what is lighting up some of the clients that you're working with right now?

Amanda Hofman (06:32.768)
I love the creativity that comes along with thinking about brands and I particularly like...

So my business partner, Jessie, she's an artist and a designer and she is so talented and she draws a lot from scratch. And I just love when she like will draw a character for her client or like she'll, she can really make an idea come to life in this way that like you couldn't have imagined otherwise. So like we have a client right now who's obsessed with buffaloes and like Jessie drew these like incredible buffaloes for him. And some are funny and some are beautiful, but we have another client who's a fine

planner for rural farmers and Jessie drew her cow like not any cow like her cow with like that cow's markings and it's like it's so special it's so personal it's so thoughtful I just love seeing that come to life

Caroline Pennington (07:29.408)
How can our listeners find you?

Amanda Hofman (07:31.95)
I'm most active on LinkedIn. You could find me there as Amanda Hoffman. Just know that there's one F in Hoffman. Something I need to say my entire married life. Or you can find us on, at gotomarket.studio online or go to market studio on Instagram. Sure, anytime.

Caroline Pennington (07:49.738)
Thanks, Amanda.