These are 13 weird marketing moves you can copy on a small budget. Each card has the true story with its sources, a blank you fill in for your business, 3 steps and an example. And every card wears a stamp that says how sure we are of the facts, so you can repeat it in a meeting without getting caught out.
It's open to everyone, no email needed. Save any card to your phone, or grab the whole thing as text.
HighChecked against strong sources, like the original pages or big news outlets.
Med-HighGood sources, but a few details (like daily counts) change from story to story.
MediumSome of the numbers come from the company itself or from one source.
Med-LowMostly the founder's own telling. The move is still great, so we kept it, with a warning.
Move No. 001Facts: High
The Reveal
PDT · New York, 2007
In 2007, a bar called PDT (short for Please Don't Tell) opened behind a hot dog shop called Crif Dogs on St. Marks Place in New York, and the only way in is through an old wooden phone booth. It had no sign out front, and in 2009 it was named World's Best Cocktail Bar at the Tales of the Cocktail awards.
The Wall: something keeps people out, and there's a real reason for it.
The Knock: a small, fun thing people do to get in.
The Reveal: a ta-da they get to give to somebody else.
A made-up example: Maria's candle shop paints a thin gold line inside every jar. When the candle burns down to it, a sticker says to bring the jar back with a friend who's never been, and the friend gets to pick from a cabinet nobody else can see.
The psychology: The Curiosity Gap: when we know there's something we don't know, we feel an itch to close the gap (Loewenstein, 1994).
Watch out: As the owners tell it, the hidden door came from a liquor-license rule. And PDT isn't a secret at all. It's on every list and people still line up, because people share reveals, not secrets.
Liquid Death took plain water, put it in a tall can with a skull on it, and wrote "Murder your thirst" on the side. Within a couple of months of launch it had more than 100,000 fans on Facebook, more than Aquafina had there, and in March 2024 investors valued the company at $1.4 billion.
Find who your buyer wants to be, not who they are.
Dress your thing up as that: the name, the look, the words.
Make it easy to show off.
A made-up example: Dan sells a "Monthly Budget Spreadsheet" that looks like thousands of others, so buyers just pick the cheapest. He renames it Dragon Hoard, where every dollar you save drops gold on your dragon's pile, and each month it makes a picture of your hoard that's sized to post. Inside, it's the same rows and boxes.
The psychology: The Framing Effect: the same thing feels like a different thing depending on how it's presented (Tversky & Kahneman, 1981).
Watch out: They didn't make the water better. It's still just water, and that's the whole point: they changed the costume, not the product.
In July 2012, Simon Griffiths sat down on a toilet in his team's empty warehouse in Melbourne, went live on camera and said, "I'm not leaving this toilet until we pre-sell $50,000 of product." He got up just over 50 hours later, and by the end, 1,333 people had pre-ordered $66,548 worth (in US dollars).
Make every helper a buyer: pre-orders, not favors.
A made-up example: Leo the dog groomer parks his van in the town square, climbs into his own dog tub and goes live: "I'm not getting out of this tub until 30 dogs are booked." Every time someone books and pays, he rings a bell and wipes one muddy paw print off his van.
The psychology: The Home-Stretch Outlier, also known as the Goal-Gradient Effect: the closer a finish line looks, the harder people push to cross it (Kivetz, Urminsky & Zheng, 2006).
Watch out: It was Indiegogo, not Kickstarter, the money was US dollars, and people were pre-ordering, not donating. Only promise what you'll really do.
In 2013, one bakery in New York made a pastry that was half croissant, half donut, and called it the Cronut. Within days it was selling out in about 15 minutes, the bakery capped it at two per person, and scalpers were reselling them for up to $100.
“Only per person, and when the are gone, they're gone.”
Make a small batch of one thing people love to talk about.
Set a real limit per person and say it out loud.
When it's gone, say so, and tell people when the next batch comes.
A made-up example: A bakery makes 40 cinnamon knots every Saturday, two per person, and posts "sold out, see you next Saturday" the minute they're gone.
The psychology: Scarcity: in a 1975 study, people rated the very same cookie as more wanted when it came from a jar of 2 than from a jar of 10 (Worchel, Lee & Adewole).
Watch out: How many they made each day changed a lot, and there are no sales numbers, so don't quote any. Your limit has to be real.
Move No. 005Facts: High, self-reported
The Bring-a-Friend Ladder
Harry's · 2013
Before Harry's sold a single razor, it put up a page where you could bring 5 friends and get free shave cream. The team says about 100,000 emails came in that week, and 77% of them came from people inviting friends.
Pick a prize your best customers would actually brag about.
Give everyone their own share link and show them how many friends have joined.
Add a bigger prize for more friends, so there's always a next rung.
A made-up example: A yoga studio opening next month: "Bring 3 friends to the waitlist and your first week is free. Bring 10 and you get a whole month."
Watch out: These numbers come from the company itself, and Harry's was a funded team of about 10 to 12 people, not broke founders.
Move No. 006Facts: Med-High
The Treasure-Map Post
Kogi BBQ · Los Angeles, 2008–09
Kogi, a Korean taco truck in Los Angeles, was struggling to find customers, so it started posting on Twitter exactly where it was parked. By March 2009 it had about 8,000 followers, lines of hundreds of people, and a second truck.
“Today we're at from to . After that, we're gone.”
Post your exact spot, not just your town.
Give it a time that runs out.
Post in the same place every day, so people learn where to look.
A made-up example: A coffee cart posts "Corner of 5th and Main, 7 to 10 a.m., then we vanish," with a photo of the cart and the street sign.
Watch out: There are no checked sales numbers for Kogi, so don't use any.
Move No. 007Facts: High
The Funny Truth Video
Dollar Shave Club · 2012
Dollar Shave Club's founder made one funny video about his own company for about $4,500, and about 12,000 people signed up in the first two days. In 2016 the company sold for $1 billion.
“Here's the dumb truth about that nobody in my business says out loud: .”
Write down the one thing that bugs buyers about your whole industry.
Say it yourself, on camera, with a straight face and a joke.
Show the fix: your product, and what it costs.
A made-up example: A plumber films himself in his van: "The dumb truth about plumbers? We never show up on time. So I'll text you a photo of my van when I'm 10 minutes away. Every time."
Watch out: They also had about $1M in seed money, so this wasn't a broke startup.
Move No. 008Facts: Med-Low
Answer the Scary Question
River Pools · 2009
In 2009, a pool installer that was close to going under started posting its real prices and answering every question customers asked on its blog, even the scary ones like "how much does a pool cost?"
“How much does really cost? Here's the honest answer: .”
List the 5 questions customers ask that you'd rather not answer: price, problems, who else to hire.
Answer each one in plain words on your site, with real numbers.
Send those answers to people before they even ask.
A made-up example: A wedding photographer posts "What does a wedding photographer cost in our town? Here's my price, here's what the cheaper ones skip, and here's when you shouldn't hire me."
Watch out: Most of this story comes from the founder himself. Skip the "$150K from one post" line you'll see online, because only he says it.
Move No. 009Facts: Medium
Name It by the Job
Graza · 2022
Graza launched in 2022 with olive oil in a squeeze bottle, and it named its two oils by the job they do: Sizzle for cooking and Drizzle for finishing.
“Don't call it . Call it , because that's what it's for.”
Picture the exact moment your buyer uses your thing.
Name it after that moment or job, in one or two words.
Put the job name where people decide: the label, the menu, the button.
A made-up example: A candle shop renames "Lavender Soy Candle, 8 oz" to "Sunday Reset."
Watch out: Graza's early sales numbers come from a marketing company's case study, so skip them.
Move No. 010Facts: High, on its start
Make 400, Sell 600
Supreme · New York, 1994
Supreme started in 1994 as one small skate shop in New York, opened with about $12,000. Its founder's rule, in his own words: "If we can sell 600, I make 400."
Tell people the real number, and never secretly restock.
A made-up example: A T-shirt printer thinks 60 of a new design would sell, so she prints 40, numbers each one, and posts "No. 1 of 40."
The psychology: Scarcity, the same cookie-jar idea as No. 004 (Worchel, Lee & Adewole, 1975).
Watch out: It took about 26 years to get huge, so this is a long game. It's the same scarcity idea as the Cronut, so pick one of the two.
Move No. 011Facts: High, on the stunts
The Anti-Sale
Cards Against Humanity · Black Friday 2015
On Black Friday 2015, Cards Against Humanity took its store offline and put up a page where you could pay $5 for nothing. 11,248 people paid $5 for nothing, and the stunt brought in $71,145 in all.
Pick the day everyone in your field does the same thing.
Do the funny opposite, out loud.
Tell people what happens with the money, then show them it happened.
A made-up example: A bike shop on Black Friday: "No sale. Instead, we're fixing flat tires free all day, and you'll leave knowing how to fix the next one yourself."
Watch out: Cards Against Humanity wasn't small by then, and the payoff was mostly press, not proven sales.
Move No. 012Facts: Medium
The Torture Test
Blendtec · 2006
Blendtec, a company that makes blenders, started filming its founder blending things that should never go in a blender. The first "Will It Blend?" videos cost about $50 to make, and they got about 6 million views in the first week.
Put it through that day, on camera, with no tricks.
Keep it short, and do a new one every week.
A made-up example: A phone-case shop drops a phone in one of its cases off a ladder onto a parking lot, then picks it up and reads a text on it.
Watch out: Blendtec was already an established company, and the "700% sales jump" you'll see online is the company's own claim.
Move No. 013Facts: High
Sell It One Square at a Time
The Million Dollar Homepage · England, 2005
In 2005, a student in England named Alex Tew made a web page with one million pixels and sold them for $1 each, in little 10-by-10 blocks. When the last 1,000 pixels sold at auction for $38,100, the page had brought in $1,037,100.
Turn one big thing into lots of small pieces anyone can afford.
Show the board filling up, so every buyer can see their piece.
Make the last few pieces a big moment.
A made-up example: A new pizza shop sells 200 tiles on its mural wall for $25 each, with the buyer's name painted on the tile, and throws a party when the last one sells.
Watch out: Part of why it worked is that it was the first, which made it news. Copy the idea, not the pixels.
The Don't-Copy Pile
These are famous marketing stories we checked before using them. Some turned out to be myths, and some are true, but you just can't copy them from a small shop.
Myth"Wine Library's video show took it from $3M to $60M."
What's trueMost of that growth came before the show even started.
Myth"Poo-Pourri's famous video only cost $25K."
What's trueThat $25K is most likely a mix-up with the company's startup money, and the brand was already big by then.
Myth"Liquid Death started when concertgoers drank water out of Monster cans."
What's trueIt was his friends' band, up on stage at Warped Tour in 2009, drinking water from Monster cans because Monster sponsored the tour. CNBC, 2022
Myth"Liquid Death got more Facebook likes than Aquafina got in its whole history."
What's trueWithin a couple of months of launch it had more than 100,000 Facebook fans, which was more than Aquafina had there at the time. Not "in its whole history." Eater, 2021
Myth"The toilet guy raised A$50,000 in donations on Kickstarter, in exactly 50 hours, from his bathroom."
What's trueIt was Indiegogo, the goal was US$50,000, they were pre-orders, not donations, it took just over 50 hours, and he sat in the team's warehouse. Indiegogo page, archived
Myth"Dollar Shave Club was a broke startup with a $4,500 video."
What's trueThe video cost about $4,500, but the company also had about $1M in seed money. Fortune, 2015
Myth"PDT's lesson is: make it a secret."
What's truePDT isn't a secret. It's on every list and people still line up. The part worth copying is the reveal, the ta-da you get to give a friend. Chowhound, 2024
True, but…Scrub Daddy's huge growth
True, but you can't copy it: the growth came from Shark Tank and QVC, not a move a small shop can make this week.
True, but…Little Moons' viral moment
True, but you can't copy it: the brand was already big, and the buzz came from its customers, not from a move the brand made.
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