Thanks for stopping by. If you're new here, please subscribe to my RSS feed or you can head over to the following pages to find more of what you're looking for: Marketing Ideas, Consulting, Media Inquires, Contact Me or my Twitter page. Thanks for visiting!

This is an interview with Jason from iwearyourshirt.com. Jason came up with a fun and interesting idea for marketing businesses by wearing a paid-for shirt everyday for one whole year. For Jason to wear a shirt, businesses or people paid by the day starting at $1 January 1st and $365 for December 31st. He still has some days left and is more than willing to wear and promote your shirt for any number of days.

What inspired you to start iwearyourshirt.com?

I’ve always been an out of the box thinker and lover of creative and interesting marketing/advertising ideas. I wear shirts on a daily basis, don’t typically care what the shirts say and knew that a lot of companies make shirts to promote their stuff. I put 2 and 2 together, started my pricing structure extremely low and exploited a bunch of free social media tools on the web to help me out.

What has the overall perception been with your idea of wearing a new shirt everyday?

When I first started the project back in October of ‘08 there was a mix of positive and negative feedback. My friends/family obviously supported me 100%, but like me, they didn’t think it would take off as well as it has. I just gave my first ever presentation at a Refresh Event in Toronto and not one person clapped when my name was announced to speak because they had never heard of me. 7 minutes later my presentation was done and people were clapping and lining up to ask me questions. Moments like that are very rare and really awesome.

When do you think all of the day slots will be sold off?

A couple times this year I guessed and was wrong. I am not worried about the last remaining days selling out, but I hope it happens sooner than later!

What do you plan on doing after the end of the year?

Wearing more shirts obviously… Ha. The project will continue in some shape or form, I just haven’t figured out exactly what that is yet. I love meeting all these new great companies/people and wouldn’t mind having my wardrobe picked out for me again. Maybe start next year at $2? Can we lock you in for a day Josh?

Josh Here: I would absolutely love to book days next year if you were to do it again. Especially if I get first dibs.

What are some of the different venues you plan on visiting while wearing others shirts?

No planned venue visiting. I’ve told people from the start, I am living my life.. You didn’t spend $67 and get to tell me what to do all day. You spent that money to have me be your advertising for a day, get your name out there to a new audience and see me in your shirt. As far as planned events I will be attending, I have a few weddings coming up, a trip over the summer at some point to somewhere tropical and that’s it.

Have you had any strange encounters while wearing other people’s shirts?

Not too many strange encounters. I always get really funny looks when I explain the idea to a complete stranger, a stranger who is typically not internet savvy. I have had a couple ‘celebrity sighting’ moments. I had someone DM me on Twitter saying they were sitting behind me in a movie theater and I had a guy come up to me in the Washington DC airport and ask if I was “the iwearyourshirt guy”? That stuff is pretty neat.

How would you measure the success of your shirt wearing venture with nearly four months behind you?

I would say it has been very successful. 334 days have been sold at this point, I haven’t gone a month without a monthly sponsor and I am still receiving media attention. I really enjoy meeting new people and encourage anyone to reach out to me. My e-mail address is iwearyourshirt@gmail.com and my Twitter name is @iwearyourshirt. I’m easy to find and happy to chat. Obviously when I am sitting on Oprah’s couch I know I’ve made it… haha, kidding, maybe.

How much time a day are you spending on the adventure?

Typically between 6-10 hours depending on the day. I spend a lot of time interacting with people on E-mail, Twitter and Facebook throughout the day, along with all the content creation that goes on (daily photos, video and live video show). The more time I spend, the more results I see. I could spend 3 hours a day and be done, but I know I wouldn’t be in the position I am right now.

I don’t call a lot of businesses out when I see poor customer service, but my experience with Curt’s Lock and Key of Fargo is a good example of one business that missed out on gaining a new customer.

I needed to make a copy of a house key and stopped into Curt’s Lock and Key in Fargo as it came recommended by the person who lost my spare keys (Justin). I had never been to Curt’s store before, so I had no expectations.

I walked in right behind another couple looking to get some keys made. I stood patiently behind them waiting my turn. There were two employees behind the counter, one helping the customers in front of me, the other buried in a book of sorts probably lock related. There was one more guy moving around in the back room going about his business and another one standing 4 feet from me in the showroom talking with a customer (probably a regular).

The man in the showroom seemed to be the manager or possibly the owner. I have no idea what his position actually is, but judging by the lack of dirt on his clothes compared to the others, he must be important.

After about 5 minutes of listening to and watching these two men talk, I assumed business is so good they must not need my business. So I left.

I know they aren’t going to miss their monthly budget because they didn’t make me a set of spare keys, but what they did do is fail miserably in the customer service department. I can imagine 15 different ways they could have had a loyal customer for life who would pass along word of their excellent service to family, friends and blog readers. But not one of those things happened.

There was no “Hi, I’ll be right right with you” or “Is there anything I can help you with?”

It was clear that B.S.ing with a customer was more important than someone standing there needing service.

I would think proper customer service would be standard and even more important than ever when money is tight. With customer service, I tell people to treat everyone like they are Bill Gates. You never know who could be around to pass along any shortcomings.

I doubt this post has any effect on Curt’s business or client base, but I sure hope if the employees read this they will consider changing how they respond to customers.

Cheers.

All marketers strive to have a product recognized by everyone and their mother like Coke Cola or McDonald’s. I heard once that Ronald McDonald is more recognizable to young children than Jesus. I guess that speaks volumes to where more people go on a weekly basis. Anyways, the other day my girlfriend told me that she saw a sign for Girl Scout Cookies in front of a house advertising that people could go there to buy their annual stockpile of Girl Scout Cookies.

The reason you have to stockpile the cookies is because they are available for a limited time once a year. Once you run out (in about 1 week) you have to wait 50 more weeks to get more. This helps to maintain the exorbitant price they sell these cookies for. I know they sell them to help raise money to do fun things like camping and helping elderly cross the street, but seriously do you need to charge $6 for a few mint wafers? Never mind all of that.

Did you catch the part that they have a sign in front of their house?

I remember helping to raise money as a kid. I had to travel the neighborhood asking my (mostly) polite neighbors if they would buy my overpriced goods to raise money for a good cause. Most the time they declined but nevertheless I was usually in the top fundraiser group at school. I didn’t cheat by having my family buy all my wares to win the competition, but I did go out and pound the pavement. Wow have times changed.

Now these lazy kids get to put a sign in their front yard and probably sell all their cookies because kids like me helped build the brand a long time ago. How long do you think people will keep lining up in front of a house with a sign in the yard to buy cookies before the brand suffers? Sooner or later people won’t care as much about the cookies as they once did because all of the kids quit patrolling the neighborhood trying to sell them. Eventually, the out of sight, out of mind will take hold.

I am not knocking the Girl Scouts for having such a powerful brand as to be able to put a sign in their yard and sell cookies. But I question how sustainable that model of promotion is. I don’t think it would take long before those kids have to go out door to door again to sell their supplies.

I have made a conscious decision to support any entrepreneurial kid that comes my way (including lemonade stands). But if they expect me to go out of my way to buy overpriced anything without effort on their part, they are sadly mistaken. If they came to my house and said I could buy all the cookies I want by going to the house with the sign in the yard, I would probably go and do so.

I guess the biggest lesson here is to understand how much brand equity you and your product have and then how much of that equity you are willing to spend. Brand equity is a continual balance that must always be replenished at some point and is a very important thing to monitor.

Has anyone else seen these Girl Scout Cookie signs around? How does that make you feel about the brand image they are trying to project?

I hope that everyone is enjoying the eggnog with loved ones next to a warm fire and some good food. This year Lindsay and I continued our tradition of having Chinese Buffet for Christmas lunch. We started going 3 years ago when both of us used to work on Christmas. This year is a little different.

I quit my last job a year ago this week. Hard to believe where life has taken me since. Quitting my job was the guttiest thing I have ever done, leaving behind a secure dismal paycheck to pursue a life of business and Internet Marketing. It was the best choice I have ever made. Deciding to strike out on my own definitely came with its ups and downs, but over all has been extremely worth it.

Looking back over the last year makes me very thankful that I get to spend time relaxing with my girlfriend Lindsay and for all the support that family and friends have given over the years. I hope that wherever you are, you are with the ones you love and cherishing every moment. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. God Bless you and may this year be more fruitful than the last.

-Josh Whitford

P.S. This year I am changing the focus of my newsletter to better help and encourage others to pursue a better life through marketing.

This is the thirteenth day of a 30-day trial. Follow the link to Marketing Ideas En Masse to find out more.

It’s not so much that a bunch of stores are having a big sale before the holidays but rather the name that accompanies the sale. Black Friday Sale, where did that even come from to begin with? Let’s take a great holiday time and cover it with the sale to end all sales. It is like more people talk about Black Friday than Thanksgiving. When did a one-day sale become some popular, other than Valentine’s Day? Talk about marketing at its finest.

We now celebrate more holidays in retail stores than we do with our family. I can just imagine way back when people lovingly gave a few handmade or long saved for gifts to one another, that that tradition would become the bonanza it has become today. I hope that I as well as others can recognize the true meaning of all of this holiday time and be truly thankful for the things we are blessed with. I hope that all of us take the time to really reflect on the things we are thankful for and spend quality time with our friends and family. Here are a couple of videos to get you ready for Black Friday.

Tips for Black Friday Shopping