Our own Mr Tecthis, interviews Thebigsadler/Jason Sadler about his new venture Iwearyourshirt.com.
As seen on:
ON CBS EVENING NEWS
A Walking Advertisement - CBS Evening News - CBS News
What exactly is iwearyourshirt.com?
IWearYourShirt.com is a way for companies to advertise to a highly engaged audience for a very affordable price. That's the "fancy" way of describing it. Really, I wear t-shirts for a living, promote companies via social media (twitter/facebook/youtube/etc) and try to have fun doing it. This year January 1 was $1 and the price increased $1 every day until December 31 at $365 - which L4P's own Tim Walbridge from 503 Motoring owns! I sold the last available day for 2009 earlier this year (August 10th) and starting selling 2010 at double the price a week later. As of this interview I have 93 days left for sale in 2010 and the next available days are in August (Calendar - I Wear Your Shirt - 365 Days of Sponsored Shirts).
Where did the idea come from?
I've been in advertising and marketing for over 10 years and am constantly trying to keep up with the newest trends and learn from the mistakes of others and myself. I knew that nearly all companies printed t-shirts and that social media has some barrier to entry for companies. I figured I could create all this content, cheaper than an ad agency would, and have an audience ready to consume it. I thought of IWearYourShirt.com in September of 2008, had a website up in October and started selling 2009 days on November 11, 2008. When January 1, 2009 rolled around, I had already sold 5 1/2 months of days before ever wearing a t-shirt for money.
So what happens if you have somewhere important to be and the shirt for the day has a teddy bear on it?
I haven't had 1 shirt with a Teddy Bear on it yet this year! Seriously... what's the deal with that? I have had some pretty hilarious shirts that were too small, bright pink, made for women or covered in glitter/feathers. I've had a couple formal dinners, a wedding and even a funeral this year and wore the shirt under a sport coat. The t-shirt ends up being a great conversation starter and I've been lucky that the shirts on those occasions weren't anything too crazy.
Okay, so you put on a shirt and wear it, do you then just make plans on what to do that day to be out in public?
Being out in public with the shirt means absolutely nothing to me or the sponsor for that day. I went to Times Square this year and knew that more than 1,000 people walk through it at any given minute. I was there for 10 minutes and over 10,000 people could have looked at my shirt... do you think they did? And even if they did, do you think they remembered and went home and visited that company's website? No. The whole point is that I've grown, and continue to grow, an audience online that is very social and interested in what shirt I am wearing on a day to day basis.
What do you do with all your old shirts?
Before the project even started I knew I needed a place to keep all the shirts. I'm fortunate to have purchased a house with a large walk-in closet that can hold all these shirts. I bought 200+ hangers before the project started and have continually hung them up after wearing them. At the end of this year I will donate all of the shirts to the same company that donates the Super Bowl shirts (for the losing team) to Africa. I might keep a handful of my favorites, like Zappos.com, the shirt I wore for Bill Cosby and a few others.
What is your favorite exotic car?
It's tough because I'm 6'5 so my options are slightly limited, with that being said I'm very fixated on an Audi R8 at the moment. I've owned a handful of cars and am thinking there's a unique way I can give a company some exposure via my car since I am so closely followed and my life is very well documented. I currently drive a blacked out Jeep SRT8 and have been contacted by Nissan to drive a Cube in 2010.... hmmm, haha. A Cube and an R8??
Do you wear a watch, if so what kind?
I have a Bell & Ross that was a gift, but hardly wear it. I'm a big Panerai fan and like some of the styles from the new L4P sponsor Sonbol.
What are some of your hobbies?
I'm a fairly athletic guy, play some league basketball now that my college days are over and also spend a good amount of time in the gym. Over the years I've really started to appreciate the fact that my 60 year old father (I'm 27) can still bench press his weight, ride 25 miles on a bike and never get sick. Outside of fitness related stuff, I'm a huge movie buff and sports fan. Go Jaguars, Gators, Magic and Tar Heels!
How did you find luxury4play.com and what are your thoughts of the community?
Like many of the members around here, I was on the "other" forum before this one. I was a reasonable early member to join here and have loved it every since. I hope to take part in some of the L4P events in 2010 and wish I had more time to join in some of the topics/discussions around here. I've already made some great friends around here and invite anyone to contact me at any time and say hello!
What advice would you pass aspiring entrepreneurs?
I've been in a ton of really big press lately and am very blessed. I've also been working straight for 300+ days without a break. Some people think my job is to just put on a t-shirt and wear it, but that's just the beginning. I spend 12-16 hours a day working to grow my audience, answer emails and to give value to the daily sponsor. I strongly believe that the more you work the more opportunities will come your way. You can't give up at the first sight of hardship and you certainly can't count your chickens when the first thing goes right. I've found a successful business for now and I hope I've created a unique way to advertise on the internet... but I'm not naive. I'm constantly thinking of the next idea and trying to network as much as possible. I've only made it where I am through the people I know and their willingness to support and help me. With that being said I want to thank my family and girlfriend for their continued support, the members of the L4P community for all their help/advice and the opportunity to do this interview.
How can people get in touch with you online?
Twitter: iwearyourshirt (iwearyourshirt) on Twitter
Facebook: Jason Sadler - Jacksonville, FL | Facebook
YouTube: YouTube - iwearyourshirt's Channel
Email:
iwearyourshirt@gmail.com
ON CBS EVENING NEWS
A Walking Advertisement - CBS Evening News - CBS News
L4P Interviews: An Interview with Iwearyourshirt.com our own "Thebigsadler"
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