Deciding to Add Activism Into Your Sales Strategy?
Some food for thought
I love puppies-their sweet little faces and cute little wiggles make my heart smile every time I see them. But, if someone comes up to me asking for donations to their favorite animal charity I’m normally going to say “no” because I’m aligned more deeply with other types of charitable given and stances.
As content creators building online many of us may be find ourselves creating businesses and brands that are designed to lean into different types of activism. We may be building spaces for people who are underserved in a certain emerging areas of interest such as podcasting or maybe we curate art, music or events that otherwise would be unseen or ignored if not for our advocacy on behalf of that work.
Why am I talking about advocacy and sales? Well, there are a lot of people who are thinking very deeply about expanding the scope and impact of their businesses beyond just sales.
This expanded impact could look like the following:
Donating food and money to those impacted by the defunding of SNAP and other food security benefits.
Collaborating with a local initiative such as the Denver Community Fridges project where community members can get free food from fridges around town.
Designing projects such as the Black Readers Appreciation Event that connects readers with Independent Black Authors. Thank you A.A. Lewis for bringing this wonderful event to life.
I’m talking about advocacy and business models because I’m hearing a lot of people talking about boycotts, spending, focused spending approaches and more as we head into the holiday season. Those folks are discussing how many citizens are responding to the moment in time that we’re currently in. But what does activism look like from the small digital entrepreneur perspective?
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Adding Activism Into Your Business Model
Isn’t for the faint of heart
There will be many people who will be pissed off by the positions that you take and will express that annoyance with you loudly. That means you should truly be deeply invested and passionate about the positions that you take-especially in front of your community and audience (I’m looking at you Target) people will know when you’re being disingenuous.
I’ve been socially active since I was 16 years. I’m about this life and there are some things that I think people should consider.
You don’t have to explain anything about what you’re doing-If you’re taking a stance that is right for you…it’s right for you. There may be strong feedback, support or fallout-but at least you committed to your beliefs.
Activism shouldn’t feel random or out of the blue-I feel like many people’s audiences are turned off because many entrepreneurs compartmentalize their lives. I’m unable to do that which is why my content always weaves in my activism.
Your pricing approach could include having scholarships, tiered pricing that helps pay for other members’ participation without putting pressure on them. Or, maybe you decide to give away a grant in honor of a loved one or a passion that you care about.
How you design your tagline, brand copy, who you serve and more could embody adding activism of some sort to your business and content design.
Taking a stance can be done subtly-It doesn’t always have to be a super intense loud assertion about something.
Examples of what this could look like:
Create content that highlights, advertises or supports a business/brand/or creator who needs the support.
What and who are the resources that you’re sharing with your audience?
Adding your favorite subversive artist’s work on your wall/bookshelf or table that will be seen when you’re recording a video, livestream or news mention.
Supplying your stores from underserved communities or incredible allies.
Being an affiliate of those projects
Sharing photos of people that otherwise wouldn’t be seen in digital and printed media.
Other types of product placement in your content such as
Wearing cute earrings from a local maker to an event and sharing their store with the other attendees.
Buying delicious pastries made by an organization focused on social good and sharing what their mission is.
Enjoy some amazing coffee roasted and crafted by your favorite Black Coffee Roaster-show the bag on the screen and drink the coffee and talk about it while recording video, audio or both.
Sales Campaign and Business Design
When are your products going on sale or not during the year? When do you take breaks or vacations throughout the year? What are the holidays, lives and moments that you celebrate as an entrepreneur. I briefly worked with a podcasting organization that collectively chose to celebrate Claudette Colvin’s birthday as a day off.
You’re building your business and brand so you get to decide what you will and won’t support.
Holiday Sales Are Coming
I’m Spilling the Tea Now…
I thought it would be helpful to tell you what and when my products will be going on sale during the holiday season. Regular prices are shown below. Browse the Creators Getting Paid Store to check out some of the other ways you can support this work.
Previous Posts
Creators Getting Paid Holiday Sales Sprint
Previous Recordings
For the next 3 Sundays I’ll be going “live”to discuss different topics designed to help YOU (and me) prepare for the Holiday Sales Cycle. Below are the links to the first five discussions of an eight week holiday sales sprint.
This Sunday, November 9, 2025 I’m discussing what it’s like to “Go Live” With Your Collaborators. Basically, how to prepare and what to consider. I hope to see you-I plan on going live at 5:00 pm MTN/7:00 pm EST on Sunday in the Substack app.
What are your thoughts about building activism into your business approach?
I’m curious,
Michelle :)