PPB August 2020

Inside Tips For Selling Into e Cannabis Market T oni Spizman, owner of distributor 707 Promotions in Santa Rosa, California, focuses about 75 percent of her business on clients in the cannabis market. After working for a supplier for two years, she started her business in 2016—at about the same time the cannabis industry was becoming legal in California. What has surprised her about selling into this market is how few promo products she sells that are specific to cannabis. “I sell a lot of the same things I’d sell to any business: lanyards, sunglasses, bags, fanny packs, t-shirts and hats.” PPB talked with her to glean some other insights on selling into this thriving market. What should distributors know about this market if they are interested in selling to it? With the lack of overarching federal regulation, you have to be aware of the state and local regulatory environment. In California, where I am, the state allows a lot of local regulatory overlays. It’s quite a patchwork that seriously affects how the industry is structured and where the bottlenecks are. What kind of businesses within the cannabis market do you sell to? I used to joke that my clients were in dirt, fertilizer and lights. I’m near the Emerald Triangle, so there is a big growing community. One of my biggest clients distributes garden products. Another big client is a cannabis manufacturer and I have some smaller manufacturers on my client list as well. I also have a laboratory, a couple of delivery services and a couple of hydroponics shops. What marketing or promotional needs do these businesses usually have? The type of business matters a lot. I’m always asking about the target audience. The end users are important, and we might do giveaways for dispensary customer events and other event sponsorships, like music festivals. (I did a lot of sunglasses last summer.) An important channel are the budtenders who are often recommending products. [A budtender is an employee in a dispensary or store where medical or recreational cannabis is sold. Their job is to offer suggestions to customers, answer questions, handle products and showcase products.] T-shirts are important and we go through lanyards fast. My dirt companies are selling to growers—my first recommendation is hats. Nice drinkware is also good, and they work for the laboratories, too. One of my hydro shops designed a t-shirt they love and we have reprinted it so many times that I’ve lost count. What do you think has made you successful with this market? I have no idea—I have never figured out how I sell. I just do. My husband says it’s because I care. Toni Spizman has had success in the cannabis market with these products that could appeal to any market: a bottle opener from High Caliber Line, a tumbler from ADG and a coaster from Record Remix. "I sell a lot of the same things I'd sell to any business: lanyards, sunglasses, bags, fanny packs, t-shirts and hats." —Toni Spizman | AUGUST 2020 | 41 GROW