Let’s start with a truth most marketers won’t say out loud: You don’t need a massive budget to build a memorable brand—you need guts, a sense of humor, and the willingness to actually care about your audience.
That’s the heart of my book, Marketing Without Millions. It’s not a how-to guide for buying your way to attention. It’s a field manual for small businesses, local legends, and scrappy entrepreneurs who are tired of wasting money on campaigns that don’t move the needle.
So what is grassroots marketing?
It’s marketing with heart. With hustle. With ridiculous ideas that somehow work—like “Name Your Sandwich Night” or a coffee shop that hosts foam art battles. It’s less about paid reach and more about making people feel something, remember you, and want to tell their friends.
The Big Idea? Connection > Cash
Throughout the book, I break down the kind of strategies that actually work for small businesses:
- Hosting weird, wonderful local events that build community
- Using storytelling instead of sales scripts
- Ditching corporate jargon for real human language
- Leveraging your quirks instead of hiding them
There are chapters on understanding your audience (hint: they’re not a spreadsheet), building a brand that people want to be around, creating campaigns that drive conversation, and yes—even measuring success without falling asleep.
And the best part?
You don’t need a marketing degree to pull any of this off. If you’ve ever hosted a backyard BBQ, posted a meme, or talked someone into trying your favorite sandwich shop, you already understand the power of grassroots marketing.
The book’s full of real stories, awkward fails, and a few questionable pizza topping ideas (RIP gummy bear & pickle pie), but the message is simple: Be real. Be useful. Be memorable. And stop trying to sound like every other brand on the internet.
Why this matters for Weldwood clients
If you’re working with the team at Weldwood Marketing (recently listed as a top Eugene digital marketing agency), you’re already ahead of the game. We’re not here to give you cookie-cutter strategies—we’re here to help you build something honest, effective, and maybe even a little fun.
Starting this month, I’m hopping on coaching calls with Weldwood clients to dive even deeper into these ideas. We’ll talk scrappy brand building, community engagement, and how to make people actually care about what you’re selling.
Because you don’t need millions.
You just need the right mindset—and maybe a little glitter glue.