Want to Make a Little Christmas Money for Your Festival?

I ran a small town visitors bureau for several years and learned the local parents loved to come in and ask where they could buy town souvenirs to send their kids away at college. Our town had no souvenirs per se, but local restaurants and our big Barbecue Festival did.

So parents went away happy to know they were being pointed in a direction to short-cut their holiday shopping list.

The Grifton Shad Festival, eastern North Carolina's second-oldest festival, keeps a running stock of shirts, caps, pins and more to sell just as souvenirs throughout the year. However, this year, they've had a Christmas sale - marking leftover stock half-price to make room for next year's supply - and to make a little money along the way.

MARKETING TIP: Promote your souvenirs year 'round. They can go well in Christmas stockings, Easter baskets and care packages from home. Include information about them, such as images, on all of your Websites and reach out to local parents and youth. Post your information on sites for local churches, clubs, schools and youth groups. Give information about where your items can be purchased.