[Advice] Should a company offer a store with promotional merchandise?

Hey guys, just answered a question over on Quora

This question was asked:

"I’ve discussed this with a friend today. We are thinking whether we should create store and sell a few promotional T-Shirts with our logo and slogan, mugs, stickers, plush toys of our mascot, etc. etc.



Examples of stores like these http://minecraft.net/store and http://store.imgur.com/



These can obviously also be given away for free as promotion but selling them would by my primary goal, without making much profit of course, just trying to cover all of these production expenses."

For the right business it can be a great idea. Especially if you have that kind of brand excitement.



Using it for promo material is also a nice benefit.



Just make sure it isn’t a distraction from other money making opportunities. I’ve also seen this go wrong where you basically waste a lot of time and end up with a bunch of merchandise nobody wants.



So just be smart with it and know if it is right for your business or not.

Hope that helps,

-JR

JRGriggs.com || RedWallMarketing.com