Scale & Scope

With almost $2 million in sales in their first year, it seemed they’d made the right choice to stick with the products they knew best.

As 2002 drew to a close, however, Acorn officials realized their prospect pool was growing more shallow. They’d already mined video buyer lists and needed a new way to find customers. There was indeed an audience for their videos, but they didn’t just want to sell over and over to the same customers. Rather, they wanted to extend their marketing reach — that is, to expand their scope. They already offered some gifts and thought maybe there was a way to capitalize on that portion of the catalog. “In 2002-2003, we gradually started offering more gift items. Offering these items allowed us to expand our circulation,” says Penella.