I Am Paddy

Interview: I wear your shirt

Would you give up your wardrobe for a whole year?  Would you turn yourself into a walking advertisement?  Jason Sadler from I Wear Your Shirt.com is doing exactly that in 2009!  Jason is giving everyone the chance to ‘buy’ a day of his life, and on that day Jason will wear a shirt with your advertisement on it, pimping your business. I had the pleasure of interviewing Jason about this project.

I also purchased the 11th February.  Can’t wait!

Firstly, who are you?

I am a 26 year old business-creative currently living in Jacksonvile, FL. I’ve used the internet, design and social media for business pursuits over the last 10 years, both professionally and personally. I co-founded Thought & Theory in 2006, a company that specializes in creating, designing, talking about and developing simple and beautiful web applications. My past work experience includes working with large advertising agencies, social networks, professional sports leagues, along with other various new/social media and internet related work.

What exactly is the project?

I am selling ad space on my chest, to anyone in the world, in the form of a t-shirt. I plan on wearing a new t-shirt everyday for 2009. January 1, 2009 is Day 1 and it starts at $1, and each day the price of a shirt goes up $1, until December 31, 2009 when the price is $365.

Where did this idea come from?

I love interesting marketing and advertising ideas. I like when people push the boundaries beyond typical banner advertising and I feel like this will give people a much better bang for their buck. What’s better then having someone physical talk about your brand, company or product?

I just bought February 11th, what can I expect to happen on that day?

That’s the secret sauce in this whole deal. I don’t want any particular day to outweigh another, which is why my exact daily schedule isn’t on the iwearyourshirt calendar. Regardless of where I am in the world, you can expect a bunch of photos, some video clips, facebook updates and of course a twitter/blog post.

Are you really going to wear other people’s shirts for a whole year?  What if you have an important meeting and you’re wearing a pink carebears tshirt?!

All 365 days of 2009! If I am sick, the shirt will be worn and I will do my best to get photos and video, but hopefully I’ll stay healthy. No meeting is so important that you can’t wear a pink carebears shirt and a nice sports coat… Plus, it’s a great icebreaker.

Do you think more and more projects like these prove you can sell anything on the internet?

The internet is such a great place and anyone can make a living if they are creative enough, have some determination and know some good people.

Anything else you would like to say about the project?

I encourage people to think outside the box when it comes to advertising and buy a spot on iwearyourshirt.com before they all sell out!

Thanks

Thanks Jason!  I urge everyone to hop on this great project of quirkiness.  It felt superb to purchase the 11th February!  Now I have something to do on that day.  Er, stalk Jason I suppose!  Jason will be blogging, taking photos and recording videos each day so you can keep up with how your shirt is doing.  January has already sold out and February is almost gone too so I’d definitely get in while this project is still in the early stages.  Once this hits the mainstream media it’s going to explode!

There are thousands of creative and quirky projects on this old Internet but it’s great when you discover one that is perfectly executed like I Wear Your Shirt.  Their site design is awesome.  So simple and well laid out, and with a lovely hint of mint.   It’s such a clear indicator that the innovative people will survive in this time of financial crisis.  People who utilize the power of the internet to its full potential and put a little thought into their marketing campaigns will prevail.  You can follow I Wear Your Shirt on Twitter.  I am!

One important thing to take away from this: ‘No meeting is so important that you can’t wear a pink carebears shirt’.

Good advice Jason. Be more unusual and creative in your daily life and you will be noticed and remembered.  And remember, no meeting is that important.  Take the stress out of your life and do what you love and everything will turn out alright

25 Creative Twitter Creations

I can’t deny it anymore.  I have to admit it.  I am a Twitter addict. During a conversation with Takete, he described Twitter as ‘throwing a message in a bottle into the sea’, and that’s exactly what it is!  Maybe someone will come across your message, maybe they wont.  It doesn’t matter, that’s the beauty of it!

Well the Internet has been getting very creative with Twitter mashups, apps and sites popping up all over the place.  So here is a list of 25 of the best, most interesting, useful and unusual ones that I have found, all nicely collected for you.  How nice

Cursebird

My Tiny Jesus

Twitterrific

TweetWheel

Flickr my background

Twittervision

Twittersnooze

Twubble

Twistori

Foamee

Qwitter

Typetweets

Twitzu

SecretTweet

TwitPic

Is Twitter down?

LazyTweet

Friend or Follow

TwitMarks

Twitterleague

TwitStamp

Dear Robot

Oh My Science

Follow Cost

Post like a Pirate

Other links

Here are a few other resources and articles of interest regarding the wonderful world of Twitter.

• You’re no-one if you’re not on Twitter song
• How to start a Twitter novel
• Attracting followers 101
• How to secure unused Twitter accounts
• Gary Vaynerchuk on Britney Spears
• 30 Creative Twitter backgrounds

As always, feel free to suggest any I may have missed out :)  Oh, and check me out on Twitter

Spam of the Day

7 new messages from ladies for you (dating)

Are you unlucky in finding a perfect wife?
Maybe you should try your happiness here and choose a fantastic Russian lady that will love you with all her heart and soul.
Better hurry - you have lots of portfolios to check.

best regards, Natali(admin)

‘Maybe you should try your happiness here’?  Any happiness I have will not be used on (dating).  Great use of brackets there Natali(admin).

Web 2.0rigami for real!

Someone has accepted the origami challenge!  Gilad Aharoni created the Gmail logo in real life after being inspired by my web 2.0rigami icons.  How much does it rock!?

And Gilad also has put instructions on how to make it in PDF form at his site.

Could this be the start of something big?  The icons have gotten a lot of publicity over the last few days from the likes of Smashing Magaine and 37 Signals.  Send me pics of your attempts at creating the rest of the set and I’ll post them on here!

Thanks again Gilad!  Legendary stuff.

Greatest 404 page ever

Its rare to find a site without a custom 404 page these days, but its even rarer to find one that’s so cool you actively seek it out!  I havent found one to beat Look Its Me’s flash animation yet.

You have just entered a grumpy frogs domain and he doesn’t want you there.  So this asks the question, ‘what should a 404 page do?’  Should it encourage you back to the homepage?  Point you to a search page?  Pat you on the head and tell you everything will be alright?  This one blatantly tells you that it doesn’t care what you do, just leave this page.  Brilliant twist.

Anyone found any better ones?

Who knows who on Twitter?

One thing I always thought was missing from Twitter is a ‘followers in common’ feature.  I think I have found a solution with Tweet Wheel, and I must say it could not be better visualized.  Check out my tweet wheel below, you can interact with it on the site, highlighting which friends know each other.

Also check out how annoying it would be to follow me on Twitter with Follow Cost.

Words that flutter

Just stumbled upon this while browsing the old interwebs, and thought it was a good reminder to us all.  A bit reminiscent of the concept of Twitter I thought.  Maybe I’m obsessed though?

You’re no one if you’re not on twitter

If you haven’t heard this song by Ben Walker from I Hate Mornings then I’m afraid you are no one :p

A really inspiring song, which sums up Twitter and our journey with the internet beautifully.  Well maybe not ’sums up’ as there are like 6 verses, but it does kick ass.  My favourite line in the whole song is the last: “And try to self-promote without being caught”

Very true.  Send Ben some love for his efforts @ihatemornings

The Lyrics

You’re no one if you’re not on Twitter
And if you aren’t there already you’ve missed it
If you haven’t been bookmarked, retweeted and blogged
You might as well not have existed

In the old days it was all about achievements
Collecting all your trophies in a shrine
Then everybody came across the internet
And suddenly you had to be online

A home page was all you really needed
To seem like a success but not a geek
As long as you updated semi-annually
And checked your email once or twice a week

You’re no one if you’re not on Twitter…

Technology was moving rather quickly
And the next thing you needed was a blog
With intimate and detailed press releases
And now and then a photo of your dog

More recently the students brought us Facebook
And everybody has a hundred friends
The parties in the photos look amazing
They’re not so great but everyone pretends

You’re no one if you’re not on Twitter…

Now you need to publish every movement
And every single thought to cross your mind
I’m told the Twitterverse is full of rubbish
But most of us are actually quite refined

We validate each other’s insecurities
And brag about the gadgets that we’ve bought
We laugh out loud at every hint of jolliness
And try to self-promote without being caught

You’re no one if you’re not on Twitter…

Peter Jones’ Stripy Socks

Lee Munroe, Kyle Boyd and myself turned up at the small business and franchise show in the Kings Hall on Friday and we’d be lying if we said we were going for any other reason than to see Peter Jones

[Pic via dailymail.co.uk]

The dragon, in his first visit to Northern Ireland, answered some questions in a seminar with that guy from UTV.  I’m kicking myself now that I didn’t ask him if had he heard of Twitter!  He definitely needs to join the Stephen Frys and Richard Bransons of the world so we can keep tabs on him.

The Questions

Here’s a summary of the questions and answers from the seminar.

What advice would you give to a budding entrepreneur?

There’s a ‘down in the dumps’ attitude from a lot of people at the minute and I feel like I’m on a soapbox sometimes. There’s a lot of inspiring people out there, don’t read newspapers or watch tv and give in to the depressing view.  And certainly dont stop spending or we’ll bring down the global economy.  Just evaluate and keep on top of who you lend money to. I lost everything at a stage.

Do you have an aquarium in your home and would you like to buy one?

Yes, the kids love it. Invent a cleaner that works though!

Growth and importance of online businesses?

Online business is the replacement for direct selling, its extremely important. Don’t everyone set up online businesses just selling products, you need to be original. No-one is really selling other people’s stuff online at the minute.

[Eh Peter, what about Amazon? Ebay? Etsy?]

How should you pitch your idea to the Dragons?

Say what your business does on the tin. Communicating your vision effectively is so important. What is it going to do? How it will make money? How it will be competitive?

How much time should you spend refining your idea?

Do your own research, get out there and ask the public if they want it.  Not enough people go beyond asking their dad would they buy their product.

Do you make your own luck?

Yes, never start a business that you aren’t passionate about. If you chase your passion, money comes. Don’t compromise your passion for love of money.

How do you remain calm in the face of adversity?

I am controlled/furious in the office.  They key is to remain in control no matter what the situation is and you will come out the other side.

Who is your greatest influence?

My 5 kids. No-one personally inspires me, but I encourage you to just be passionate about the future, look at your kids for inspiration.

Were you a child when you want to make money?

Well, at 12 I started. I set up a tennis academy by 16. At 17 I started building computers. I wasn’t that visionary, I just copied someone else’s idea, Dell. Its inspiring to watch my parents working in their 70s and have given up so much.

Levi Roots?

I love him!  [Peter sings the reggae reggae sauce song ] The success of his business is all down to Levi, with a little bit of help from dragons den. He’s now a multi-millionaire and its all because he was so passionate about his product and he was different/original.  You can learn a lot from his story.

If there’s a similar product, should you sell it cheaper to compete?

Its dangerous to go into a price war. Viral marketing, using the web are better tools to use to compete. Don’t go head to head, just prove in your advertising how different your product/service is and how you can do it better, subtly.

Is it real money on the tables on Dragons Den?

Nope James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne invest so much that they cant afford to put real money there. Ha ha.

How can you get over the fear of failure?

Put a thick black line through the word failure in the dictionary. There is nothing that is a failure, its all about feedback and using your knowledge to get to a successful goal. We should not be breeding a generation of non-tryers. If you’re not successful then you NEED to use your feedback to go on.  Life is just one long journey.

Is the first step the most important?

You have to go out there with a real passion and enthusiasm and look at why other people are not doing it right. Its my first time in NI and I love it. Go out and do it.  There’s a guy who’s been hassling me all day, pitching his idea, but at least he’s out there doing it!

What’s the role of outside professionals in setting up a business?

I sort of condemn management consultants.  There’s very little value in them unless they are as passionate about the product/business.  I support using consultants for specific needs concerning your business, but be careful.

Is there any advice you would like to add?

Everyone in this room is working for a company that was started by and entrepreneur.  Its possible so just get out there and do it.  And remember,iIts never too late to start.

Also stripy socks are in.  I always wear them and even though I get teased about them constantly, they ground me.  People will notice and remember you if you’re slightly outrageous.

Some great advice there from Peter, I am a big fan of stripy socks also so that’s step one taken care of!  Here’s also a little video of Peter looked riled, eh… not.

Smashing Origami

To say thanks to Smashing Magazine, who generated a lot of publicity for my Web 2.0rigami icons over the past couple of days, here’s a little something for you guys.  Hope you like it