Notes from the off-season
Why I take on a few independent businesses each year, and what they get out of it.
This is the first post on the new branlan.com blog. It exists mostly to confirm the plumbing works — but it’s also a fair place to say what kind of writing will land here.
What this is
Field notes from running marketing programs at outdoor brands, plus the work I do on the side for independent businesses in the off-season. I’ll write about things I’m actually thinking through:
- Strategy that survives contact with reality — positioning, GTM calendars, brand systems that hold up when budgets shrink.
- Partnerships that move the needle — what actually unlocks an audience you can’t buy your way into.
- E-commerce and SEO, the unglamorous parts of growth that quietly compound.
- The AI-in-the-loop angle — how modern tools let one experienced person do work that used to need a team.
Why now
Most independent businesses can’t justify the cost of senior marketing leadership. But they need it just as much as the brands that can. The math has changed — AI tools, used responsibly, let me take on a handful of clients each year and bring real strategic depth at budgets that make sense for them.
If you’ve read this far and you’re working on something interesting, tell me about it. Otherwise, more notes soon.