Bourbon-barrel Marketing (More Bang for The Buck)

My high school buddies and I spent last weekend in Kentucky, touring bourbon distilleries. 

Fun fact: Distilleries must use “virgin,” white oak barrels to age their whiskey. Otherwise they can’t call it “bourbon.” 

After they age the whiskey for two to 23 years and empty the barrels, distilleries can’t use them for bourbon again.

What then? 

There’s no such “virgin” rule for other spirits, wine, or beer. So bourbon makers sell used barrels to those making scotch, tequila, wine, rich beers, rum (etc.). The barrels add a touch of smokey, bourbon flavor to the creation.

Tabasco buys used barrels from bourbon distilleries and ages its hot sauce in them. 

Furniture makers buy the barrels and turn the wood into tables, chairs, shelves, and knick-knacks. 

And BBQ masters use chunks or chips from old bourbon barrels to smoke brisket, ribs, and other meats. 

(I have a bag of Barrel Proof Bourbon Barrel Blocks Wood Chunks — $16.99 for a 2-pound bag — in my outdoor kitchen.) 

Marketers call this “repurposing content.” 

Create something for one use…

…and then use it again (or sell it to someone else to use again). 

I repurpose my emails and turn them into LinkedIn articles, blog posts, e-books, podcast introductions, and more. 

I repurpose webinars and podcast videos and turn them into short videos, social posts, and more. 

Almost everything I make I use more than once. 

More bang for the buck. Greater impact with less effort. 

Business people often tell me they don’t have the bandwidth to create enough content. 

Most who say that make emails they use only for emails or social posts they use only as social posts or videos they use only for videos. 

One and done. Time-consuming. Inefficient. Costly. 

When you repurpose content, you get more bang for the buck, and you achieve greater impact with less effort. 

In the next few weeks, I’ll host a workshop to show you how to repurpose content efficiently and profitably. Stay tuned for details.