With so many companies around the globe using social media marketing to some extent, what can your business do to ensure that it stands out from all the others? Which social media platform will help you maximize the impact of your Internet marketing and increase social engagement among your customers?

One key to answering these questions is to define and then stay clearly focused on your company’s story. What is the essence of your organization and how did you get where you are?  Don’t shy away from the often-fascinating details of what your company believes in, including the highs and lows and everything in between.

Once your story is clearly defined, you can mine this rich content to help draw in new customers and keep your old ones.  Here are some companies that have found success with this strategy.

Einstein Bros. Bagels

A few years ago, Einstein Bros. Bagels noticed that the number of new visitors to its Facebook page had reached a plateau. In response, the company shifted its social media marketing approach and tried direct marketing through the Facebook page.

How did Einstein Bros. do it? It gave all its existing Facebook fans an exclusive offer for a free bagel then offered the same deal to new fans. The promotion was short but powerful. During the first week of the campaign, Einstein Bros. increased its number of fans by 1,000%, eventually becoming the 54^th most-popular business on Facebook.

Cheerios

In late 2009, Cheerios cereal began a Facebook campaign targeting parents of young children as a way of gaining fans. The company offered a free children’s book to charity for each new Cheerios Facebook member. Within a day, visitors to Cheerios’ Facebook page increased 1,500%.

During the campaign, more than 120,000 books were given away, helping paint an image of Cheerios as a responsible and caring business.

Levi’s Outdoor Clothing Line

When Levi’s launched its “Ready to Work” campaign featuring a new line of outdoor clothing in 2010, the company zeroed in on the residents of Braddock, Pennsylvania. The rugged steel town was seeking to revive itself by breathing new life into its mills.

Levi’s featured Braddock residents in Facebook ads targeted at 18 to 34 year olds; it also offered a 40% discount off products through Facebook. Over the course of the campaign, Levi’s saw a 35% increase in its Facebook fans.

Each of these three companies researched its audience and was able to shape a storyline to garner the best possible social engagement from its customer base. Conversations evolved and ideas were shared through marketing aimed at real people and their real lives. The companies knew what kind of offers and discounts would generate the most buzz and bring in the most new fans.

Looking for a key to social media success? Know your company’s story and share it strategically through your social media platform.

About the Author: This guest post was provided by University Alliance and submitted on behalf of University of San Francisco.  USF offers online marketing courses including SEO training, search engine marketing, social media training, mobile marketing and more.  To learn more about University of San Francisco’s certificate programs visit www.usanfranonline.com.

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You run a small business and use your website to sell goods or generate interest from consumers.

You might even use analytics tools to track your visitors’ behavior. If you want to make more informed decisions about your website, include testing in your online marketing plan. It’s an effective way to determine what works and what doesn’t with your website.

Conversion Rate

To start, you need to know that conversation rate is the percentage of visitors who complete a conversion goal. For example, you want to know how many visitors to your website purchase a product. In this case, your conversion rate is the number of sales divided by the number of visitors. Other examples might include the number of visitors who register new accounts, fill in forms or click on a particular link.

In order to optimize your conversion rate, you need to know your current conversion rate and clearly define how much you want the conversion rate to improve (e.g. 10% increase in sales or 15% increase in leads). Now that you know the basics, you’re ready to make some changes to your website.

How do I start improving my conversion rate?

Testing can be described as a series of experiments that enable you to comprehensively track the activity on your website. By conducting testing, you can effectively determine the variations that are impacting results. Possible variations to test include redesigning the landing page, featuring a single product or service, changing the headline to include a more direct call to action or  changing the color or text of action buttons.  Here are some variations to test.

A/B Split Testing

This type of testing is called A/B split testing because visitors are directed to variations of your website in order to track your conversion rate. You can test variations simultaneously and get real-time results, which means that you can implement changes to your website as soon as you get conclusive results.

For example, UK job site WikiJob changed their landing page by highlighting customer testimonials while greying out the rest of the page. This variation proved to be very effective, increasing sales by 34%. You can read more about this test here.

Signups Increased by 60%!

It’s important to test because you can never be certain of your customers’ behavior. Vendio, an e-commerce business was able to improve signups by 60% in a very counter-intuitive way: by removing the sign-up form from their landing page! You can read about this test in detail.

Why Testing Really Matters

Your customers are talking to you every time that they visit your website; their mouseclicks tell a story that you can better understand through real-time testing. Whether it’s implementing testimonials,  adding photos, or improving your site’s copy, testing helps you understand which variations improve your conversation rate and help create a site with a great user experience. And all that hard work will pay off when a potential customer becomes a paying customer. After all, isn’t that why you’re in business?

If you’re new to testing, I encourage you to give it a try. You will gain valuable insights into your customers’ behavior that can improve your business decisions and your revenue. You don’t need any technical expertise: paste a piece of code, create a test with variations of your website and prepare yourself to enter the world of online marketing. Enjoy testing!

About the Author: Anish Kothari is associated with Wingify, the company behind world’s easiest A/B testing tool: Visual Website Optimizer. Thousands of businesses worldwide (including Fortune 500 companies and SMBs) use it daily to increase their online sales and conversion rate. For interesting tips on conversion rate optimization, follow us on Twitter @Wingify.

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If you ever want to see a microcosm of humanity, try working in self storage.

Our units are rented by people in all walks of life, many of whom are creatively making their way in the world using the resources that they have — no matter how minimal those resources might be.

I am especially amazed by people who are nearly out of money, who have nothing but a few scant possessions and a set of skills, who nevertheless see no reason why they should not go ahead and start their own businesses.

I was skeptical at first, but I’ve learned that I need to be more openminded. Statistics from the Small Business Administration say that about half of all new small businesses fail within the first five years.

That might be true for small businesses, but I am not convinced that it is true for tiny businesses, businesses that fit inside a self storage unit — businesses in a box, I always call them. The entrepreneurs who start tiny businesses with just what they have are simply too good at keeping their overhead down and riding out the dry spells. You can do that when you don’t need much to begin with.

What are these tiny businesses? Some of them are Craig’s List- or eBay-based retailers, or other online businesses. But I have to admit that the businesses that really go to my heart are not the online businesses but the truly creative ones.

Here are a few examples:

• Green cleaning: One of my tenants had started a working part-time cleaning houses. But the chemicals that she used were exacerbating her asthma. She decided to get her green cleaning certification. But that meant changing out the equipment and supplies that she kept in her unit. She uses a lot of steam cleaning equipment now, and she replaced her old chemicals with cleaners that are approved by the EPA as green. To finance the change, she decided to sell her cleaning van, which had been brand new. I was surprised — I think most small business owners would decide that this was a calculated risk, and would take out a loan and go into debt. Not this tenant. She told me, “No way — I would be a slave to that debt for the rest of my life!” She decided to rent a truck twice a week from the storage facility instead. That way, she saved money on the insurance, and she simply made a point to schedule all her cleaning appointments on the same two days. I know she schedules her appointments in the same part of town on the same day to save money for gas and the truck rental, but I think it’s awesome that in the process of doing that, she also reduces her business’ carbon footprint by reducing her emissions from transportation.

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• An old-fashioned trading post: This example may really be one of a kind. I traveled to a small town near Fairbanks, Alaska, to help open a new storage facility. I was fascinated to find that one young entrepreneur, a 19-year-old fur trapper, chose to share a storage unit with his grandmother, an elderly Athabascan woman who made a living skin sewing (making mukluk boots, hats, mittens, and in some cases ruffs for parka hoods, out of moose skin and bits of fur from rabbits, wolves, wolverines, foxes, and the like). People heard about the couple through word of mouth and would come to buy furs or mukluks, or to trade with them, much in the style of trading posts in the Old West, which still seem to exist in Alaska in some places. I was fascinated to see barter still being used in a business context (one fellow brought them a freezer full of frozen salmon and traded it for mukluks for his three children for the winter). This wasn’t the world’s most lucrative business, and it will never be a Fortune 500 company, but it doesn’t have to be — it’s supporting the people who depend on it.

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• Leatherworkers: At the same facility, a leatherworker opened a workshop. He didn’t opt for a very big space. “I don’t need it,” he told me. While in the Southwest and Southeast I often saw leatherworkers (sometimes in self storage units) making custom handmade chaps to use for horseback riding, here in Alaska this leatherworker was concentrating on sheaths for large buck knives (used for gutting and cleaning an animal during a hunting trip, I’m told), scabbards for rifles, and even pouches to hold things like shot shells or cartridges. In that small space, this highly skilled worker looked as though he would be in business for a long time to come — he was booking custom leatherworking assignments six months in advance. A waiting list like that is almost like having money in the bank.

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• Jewelrymaking: At the other end of the country, the Southwest, I met an Arizona jewelry maker one day. He did not do much work on the jewelry itself in his unit — he had a lot of equipment in his garage at home, he told me, and he usually needed a torch, which would be a fire hazard in a self storage unit. “For the longest time,” he told me, “I only made a few pieces of jewelry at a time — just what I could fit inside my little safe in my house.” He didn’t feel that his garage was a secure place to keep valuable jewelry or the gems that he was planning to work with. When a self storage facility opened up near his home, he came over and checked the security very carefully. Once he was satisfied, he rented our smallest unit — it is just five feet square — and he uses it to store finished pieces of jewelry, along with gems and materials that he was planning to use to make other items. He also kept a traveling jewelry case there. Every so often, he would go to visit jewelry stores and sell a few of his pieces, which were very original. Sometimes he took his jewelry to arts and craft fairs, or drove to visit people who had called him to ask about having a piece custom made. When he was done for the day, he would come back and stow everything securely. “It’s a weight off my shoulders not to have to worry, especially about the more expensive pieces,” he told me. “I certainly didn’t have the money to open a store and install an alarm system!”

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What fascinates me is that many of these entrepreneurs are making a living out of skills that I did not know were salable: skin sewing, hunting and trapping, decorating artistic leather cases. I would have called those things hobbies. These entrepreneurs didn’t need capital (aka debt) to start their businesses. All they needed was one passion — one hobby or art that they were good at, a little creativity, and a space the size of a closet. That’s ingenuity for you!

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About the Author: Art Gould is a division manager with Self Storage Company, which operates a group of websites, including a California self-storage locator. Though busy, Art enjoys meeting new people and clients when traveling to sites, like San Francisco or the Los Angeles self-storage center.

Photo Credit: getinet

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Entrepreneur Christian Arno started his translation and localization company Lingo24 in 2001, with a degree in French and Italian from Oxford and a handful of start-up money. 
 
Initially working from the spare room in his parent’s house in Aberdeen, Scotland, today Arno has built Lingo24 up to become Scotland’s largest translation company and one of the fastest growing in the world, with projected earnings for 2010 of over $9m USD – and along the way he has learnt some important lessons on how to succeed as a small start-up in a hostile economic climate. 

 Lessons Learned

One of the most important lessons is that, as a start-up with limited capital, you can’t afford to throw money around on expensive projects like advertising and office space without knowing what your guaranteed Return on Investment (ROI) will be. Luckily for Arno, he quickly discovered the power of the internet for both marketing and communication purposes. 
 
By starting his business with a network of employees and freelance translators based around the world, working from home and communicating online, Arno was able to not only reduce his business costs and carbon footprint by avoiding renting office space, but also to start operating 24 hours a day, with employees in different time zones who would pass the baton from one zone to another as business hours finished. 

The Turning Point

A major turning point for Lingo24 was discovering SEO, keywords and Google AdWords as inexpensive and highly effective online marketing strategies. By investing nominal sums for click-through results with Google AdWords, Arno was able to boost Lingo24 straight to the top of the search rankings, and also test out the popularity of various keywords by seeing which ones brought in the most click-through traffic from month to month. 

Targeting Keywords For Success

Researching keywords online through search engine results, checking out what the competition was using, and using keyword search applications such as Google Keywords were other effective ways Arno used to figure out the best terms to use for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). By figuring out the tricks for success in the Google rankings – including using keywords prominently, keeping websites updated regularly with relevant, useful information and building links with affiliates through guest posts and media coverage – Lingo24 rose up to the top of the Google rankings and stayed there. 
 
Arno discovered that there was much less competition for translation services in the European market – particularly in Scandinavia and Germany – than there was in the UK and not only that, but competition for search engine rankings was also less, purely by virtue of there being less sites overall in non-English languages.  

Research Leads to Expansion

He decided to expand Lingo24’s business into the European market to expand its customer base, and also to cushion against currency fluctuations. Lingo24 built five translated ‘toe in the water’ pages for European countries, and the resulting spike in business was encouraging enough to expand with web sites for France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland (in French, German and Italian), Belgium (in French and Flemish), the Netherlands, Luxembourg (in French and German), Norway, Sweden and Denmark. 
 
These sites were all fully localized and search engine optimized, with local domain names, intensively researched local keywords, and with copy translated by in-country speakers, using culturally specific references and phrases. This intensive localization of the websites was seen as essential since internet demographics research shows that, while English may be the ‘mother tongue’ of the internet, the majority of internet users don’t speak English as a first-language, and 85% of consumers will not buy a product from a website if they can’t read about it in their own first language. 
 
Lingo24 was able to exploit this gap in the online European translation market with its localised sites, and the business grew rapidly, facilitating the opening of offices in Romania and, most recently, Panama, to offer a complete international 24-hour service. 

Moving Ahead

Lingo24’s current strategy is to distinguish itself from other translation companies by using innovative technologies, such as the revolutionary web-based Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) XTM system that allows translators and editors to log-in and work on a project simultaneously from anywhere in the world, and also allows clients to update and monitor their projects in real-time.  
 
The XTM system also makes use of statistical machine translation, building up a glossary of often-repeated terms that it can replace automatically when it finds them in context in a new piece of text, meaning the longer translators work on a project, the faster they get. The technology is compatible with any file type and is open architecture, meaning Lingo24 can scale-up operations infinitely, as well as open source, which means clients keep and control their terminology glossary.  

What Can You Learn From Christian?

Essentially, the lessons that can be learned from Christian Arno’s business strategy are to keep costs low by working from home wherever possible, use the internet for marketing and communication purposes, and work with the latest technological advances. With a similar strategy and commitment to a bright idea, you too can grow from a home-based start-up into an internationally successful business. 

About Lingo24: Global translation and localizationcompany Lingo24 was launched in 2001 and now employs some 4,000 professional freelance translators covering a hundred different language combinations. Follow Lingo24 founder Christian on Twitter:@Lingo24chr

Photo Credit: dierken

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We’ve been talking the last couple weeks about email marketing for your business, and so far we’ve covered a lot of ground and hopefully got you thinking seriously about integrating email into your marketing mix.

So far we’ve gone over:

The 5 Reasons your email marketing is not working

10 Reasons Your Business Should Be Using Email Marketing

How to Use Email to Effectively Grow Your Business

Today we’ll be covering how to take your email list from zero to hero so you actually have someone to use these marketing tactics on.

It’s In The List

The money is in the list. You’ll hear that saying a lot in the world of online affiliate marketing, the more people on the list the more people they have to buy their stuff.

The same is true with any email list, whether it be for an online biz or offline “bricks and mortar”. The more people on your list – more opportunity, especially if you’re taking the time to establish a trusted relationship with those on it.

So the goal should be to grow  a list, and grow a big one.

5 Ways to Grow Your Email List Online

These strategies will work well on your small business website, or if your entire business is online.

1) Make it Visible

I have to see your sign up box in order to opt-in.

2) Demonstrate Relevance

What am I signing up for, and why do I care?  Explain this if you can, right on your sign up form. Better yet have a section on your website that says “10 Reason You Should Get Our Newsletter” and then go into details on what they will receive by being on your list.

3) Give an Incentive

Give something away for free to entice sign-ups. A free report, discount on a product, access to a trial of your service, etc. The most bang for your buck here it to giveaway something that demonstrates you expertise, and proves your product/service rocks. Not only will they sign up to get the freebie, but if it rocks they’ll going to tell people about it. Word of mouth at it’s best – building your list and your immediate business.

4) Get Creative

If you can, use a creative medium to draw people to your sign up area. Right now video is hot, and a great way to get subscribers. Make the video yourself, of yourself, introducing what you do and what people will get for signing up to your list.

Video works well for two reasons 1) High perceived value 2)Builds trust as they can see you as a real live person

5) Include Your Privacy Policy

This can be as easy as stating “I hate spam and you won’t get any from me”…people are leery of giving their email address away to just anybody. Set their mind at ease for more sign-ups.

5 Ways to Grow Your Email List Offline

Have a brick and mortar storefront, or do most of your business offline – you should still be building your list. These strategies should help, and you’ll notice they don’t differ too much from the “online” world.

1) Make it Visible

Have a register or checkout area in your store – have a sign-up sheet by your register. Wrapping up with a client, ask them if they want to be a part of your mailing list. Since you will be getting subscribers face to face, be sure to focus on #2 below.

2) Explain Relevance

Tell them why they want to be on your list. How often they’ll hear from you, and what kinds of information you share.

3) Give an Incentive /  Exclusivity

Freebies work well offline too. Sample products, coupon, or offer for free service is usually enough to get them onboard. Also, make sure you stress that you’ll be giving exclusive deals to your newsletter/subscribers only.

4) Get Creative

Every interaction with a customer or potential customer is an opportunity to get them on your list. Think about all the different opportunities you have to interact, and get creative with the how’s and why’s to get them signed up.

5) Include Your Privacy Policy

A must. Let them know you don’t spam, and that they’ll only hear from you on relevant matters. Also, be sure to stress you do not sell or rent your email list – for some reason this is more of a concern when someone signs up to a list offline as opposed to online.

Time to Get Married

There you have 5 strategies to get your email list growing both online and offline – now marry the two. Anyone who’s been with me long knows how strongly I believe all small businesses should have an online presence, so grow your list using both online and offline tactics even if you’re a brick and mortar.

Work exclusively online with your business? I bet you go to networking functions, or interact with somebody in the offline world who you can sell the benefits of you list too.

Work your list building from both sides of the fence and watch it grow faster than you thought possible.

Up Next

Well, email marketing summer school is about over. Up next we’ll put all this information together and have you using everything you’ve learned to start growing your small business using email. I think you’ll be pleased with the results. 

See you soon…class dismissed.

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Plaza Cleaners in Portland, OR had this sign up in their window recently.

I’m calling this a “Random Act of Recessionary Kindness”, and it’s nice to see people working together to get through the tough times. Not only that, but what cleaner do you think the people who take them up on this offer will use once they get jobs?

Have you seen any Random Acts? Let me know about them in the comments below, or better yet send us a picture.

Photo Credits: Rebecca Gabriel (via WWeek.com)

arimoore’s photostream (front page)

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Of all the things in business you can make difficult, branding has to be close to the top of the list.

We all know the importance of branding, and brand management, and as such tend to over think it.

Branding really comes down to answering these four questions and then remaining consistent to your answers as implement your marketing messages.

This is the foundation of a great brand, focus on it while building yours.

Who Are You?

Seems simple on the surface, but often overlooked. Your brand will reflect who you are as a person, and as a company. What do you stand for, what is your mission, do you have core values and principals that drive your business decisions? All of those go into what makes you, you. And it’s the first step in fleshing out your brand.

What Do You Do?

What does your business do? This one is pretty straight forward, it’s essentially your elevator speech, or how you would sum up your business if given 30 seconds to talk about it. Focus on your core competencies when answering “what do you do”; because while we may think we’re all things to everybody, in reality there are specialties within our businesses that should be highlighted.

Why Does it Matter?

This is a tough one for many. Exactly why does what you do matter? How does your business touch people, interact with the customer, in such a way that it is relevant? Until you know why you matter, and to whom you matter, you can’t begin to develop the proper messages that will act as the foundation of your brand.

What Makes You Different?

If you’re exactly the same as the next guy it’s going to be hard to develop a meaningful brand. The good news is hardly anyone is exactly the same as the next guy. You have strengths, beliefs, ideas, and business models that make you different. Your answers to the other three questions should help you realize your differences, and what makes you unique. Focus on your competitive advantage, and when it comes to building a brand remember to celebrate your differences.

In a Nutshell

That’s really all there is to developing the messages that will build your brand. Forget logos, fonts, colors, or any other brand building tool until you answer the questions above. Those are brand strentheners, not brand builders, knowing the four W’s is the foundation from which to build on.

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In today’s economy who wouldn’t want something for free? Our latest “Featured Entrepreneur” is taking advantage of that fact, and giving it all away at anyluckyday.com

Proving that free can be a perfectly suitable business model, owner Giancarlo Massaro jokes that there is such a thing as a free lunch:

“At AnyLuckDay.com, your free lunch is not too good to be true. The prizes are absolutely free (or else they wouldn’t be prizes). We even cover the shipping.”

To get an idea of what’s going on at Anyluckyday.com take a look at the interview below, but first don’t overlook the fact that you can win free stuff too!

SPECIAL OFFER:To see what this site is all about, head on over to Anyluckyday.com and enter for your chance to win a brand new Flip Mino. The contest starts today, and it’s absolutely free!!

What is Anyluckyday.com?

Have you ever heard the phrase, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

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At AnyLuckDay.com, your free lunch is not too good to be true. The prizes are absolutely free (or else they wouldn’t be prizes). We even cover the shipping.

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How can we do this? In this economy, companies are trying to save advertising dollars but still need to successfully promote their businesses. By donating their products to us, companies get the exposure they need and YOU have the chance to win great prizes, absolutely free. All you have to do is go to the specific contest that is running, read the blog post, and make a comment. So, ANY DAY can be your LUCKY DAY. A free lunch never tasted so good.

When did you start the business?

I started the business in January 09. We are about 1 ½ months post launch and the site is growing quickly. We’ve received an amazing amount of donations from sponsors, and with some upcoming interviews we have, we expect the donations to continue to grow.

How did you get the idea?

I used to think of website ideas and then have them built, but ever since I started college two years ago, I was unable to properly manage my time and therefore sold off all my sites. This year I finally managed to setup a good schedule, and I wanted to get back into making websites. I pondered for weeks on what type of website I could make that would not be targeted towards a specific niche, and would allow me to include almost anyone. I was actually lying on the couch at my girlfriend’s house one night and thought up the idea for AnyLuckyDay at around 3:30 in the morning after watching an infomercial on TV. They were selling the Snuggie and I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if they gave those out for free. A light bulb then went off in my head and I instantly grabbed my laptop, open notepad, and starting building off my idea.

What sources did you use to fund your biz?

My long time friend, Jason Tessitore and I have funded the site completely. We have not searched for outside funding.

What was the biggest start-up challenges?

The biggest challenge was getting people to come to the site. You know you have something great to offer, but no one knows about it. It was hard to accept the fact that the site would not explode overnight, even though I feel like it should have because of the idea behind it. I have learned that patience and persistency is key.

How did you overcome those challenges?

Social media. I talked to people via twitter, facebook, myspace, and linkedin and let them know about my idea. I then began talking to many bloggers and was able to get some links back and reviews of my site. I was then able to get some interviews done. I also talked to members of a few forums that I frequent. Once you begin to get your name out there, people will recognize you and tell others and it grows from there.

What has been the response/reaction to your business from your clients?

To be completely honest, not a single person that we have talked to has responded with negativity towards our business model. People seem to love what we do and have only given us constructive criticism to help improve the site for everyone who visits. No negative feedback? Hm..I might be onto something here.

Best advice you can give to a new start-up?

You must love, care, and be passionate about what you are doing. If the love and passion for your startup isn’t there, then you should not be doing it. If your users see that you care and are passionate about them and what you are doing, they will begin to care as well.

Biggest lesson you’ve learned from starting your own business?

Analyze every single feature that you want on your website, and ask yourself if you REALLY need it. This was a major mistake on my part and I ended up having so many features put into the site at the beginning that it actually drove people away from the site rather than bring them in.

What’s the future look like for Anyluckyday.com?

I see a very, very bright future for the site. I’ve had my ups and downs and have been unmotivated at times, but recently there has been an increase in interest in the site and we have received an overwhelming amount of sponsors. The more attention and press the site gets, the bigger it will get, and the more sponsors it will get. I see endless opportunities for Any Lucky Day because literally anyone who knows how to use a computer can simply come to our site and win something.

What inspires you to do what you do?

As a little kid I always loved buying presents for my family and friends and would enjoy seeing their reaction when they opened it. Now that I am older I’ve tried to apply this same notion to Any Lucky Day and help companies get more exposure while at the same time giving gifts to people.

In one word, what’s the key to success?

Passion.

Short personal bio:

Giancarlo Massaro is a 19 years old college student at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. He is a Division I soccer player, and founder/owner of AnyLuckyDay.com. Previously he founded WootAgent.com which was featured on TechCrunch, LifeHacker and many other large blogs, and the site has since been sold. Also he founded friendfleet.com, a popular myspace friend adding tool, also sold.

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Today’s featured entrepreneur is Jason, of iwearyourshirt.com.  Iwearyourshirt.com is an innovative and fun approach to marketing and advertising. How’s it work?  Every day in 2009 Jason will be wearing a different shirt, your shirt, for promotion.  As Jason says, 

“In this up and down economy I’m outsourcing my wardrobe (namely shirts) to corporate America and you! I’m going to wear a different shirt for 365 days straight in 2009, take multiple pictures throughout my day and blog about it. Days are sold at “face value” so January 1 is $1 and December 31 is $365.”

The possibilities around this kind of marketing are limitless, and the buzz factor is sure to be high with such an original take on marketing a product or service.  Jason has already sold 115 of 365 days in 2009, so it appears word is spreading fast! 

We were lucky enough to make contact with Jason through Twitter, and he was not only kind enough to grant an interview, he also went above and beyond by offering a day of his services to one lucky Small Biz Bee reader! 

That’s right, one lucky Small Biz Bee reader will get a day of Jason wearing your shirt to promote just about anything you can think of.  

What do you have to do to win a day at iwearyourshirt.com?

All you have to do to win is sign up for Small Biz Bee’s newsletter.  That’s it!  Just sign up for our newsletter between December 8th and December 22nd and you are eligible. The winner will be drawn at random on December 23, 2008.  

Use your free day to advertise:

Jason explains below exactly what you get by having him wear your shirt for a day, and you’re really only limited by your own imagination. Use your day to promote:

A special thanks to Jason for making this happen!  Below Jason shares what it took to get his project started, some challenges he faced, and what he thinks the future holds for iwearyourshirt.com.

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When did you start the business?

iwearyourshirt.com (IWYS) was conceived on September 24. That was the night/early morning I was laying in bed and had a light-bulb moment. After a month of tweaking the idea, talking it over with friends/family and having the Thought & Theory team build the site, I was finally able to launch on October 21.

How did you get the idea?

I am always amazed at interesting little marketing ideas that work, the “Million Dollar Homepage” was a big inspiration for me. I wanted to think of something I was in complete control of, but was still easy and inexpensive enough for people to get value from.

What sources did you use to fund your biz?

Everything is self funded with some design/development time donated from the company I co-own, Thought & Theory.

What was the biggest startup challenges?

The biggest challenge was trying to get things up and running fast enough. There are a lot of moving parts behind the scenes and I really wanted people to have a simple and flawless experience. No matter how hard you try, there will always be bugs and errors that pop-up. Another challenge is adoption. Trying to reach an audience of people who understand the value and like to have a little fun with marketing/advertising.

How did you overcome those challenges?

You really have to be patient. I can’t sit here and try to tell you that you will find every problem before it happens, that just isn’t realistic. When I was doing bug testing I wanted everything fixed immediately, but it can’t be done that way and you have to take care of what is most important first. Knock out the things you think are critical to a person’s experience on your website and worry about the nit-picky items later. As far as overcoming the issue of adoption, I still haven’t found the perfect answer. Sites like Twitter and Facebook are a big help, but it also helps to have a solid network of contacts. I wouldn’t be where I am today without some great people I knew prior to this project lending a helping hand. 

What has been the response/reaction to iwearyourshirt.com?

The response has been overwhelmingly positive, within a week of launching the IWYS Calender, January, February and March sold out! I’ve had a bunch of people come to me and tell me they love the idea, they wish they had thought of it and can’t wait to watch me in 2009. It’s definitely not easy putting yourself out there, whether you are wearing 365 shirts or launching your own startup. 

Best advice you can give to a new startup?

Be confident in the product you are selling, don’t give up at the first sign of trouble and nothing is an overnight success. 

Biggest lesson you’ve learned from all of this?

Launch your project. Sometimes you might think you need every bell and whistle, but starting with a solid foundation is more important then launching a feature-intensive project. 

Why do you think Small Biz Bee readers would benefit from buying a day on iwearyourshirt.com?

Getting your name out there is tough these days. Banner advertising isn’t worth the money, especially not compared to the cost of IWYS. I really feel like this is a great opportunity for people to learn about different brands, companies or products. Not only are you engaging an Internet audience, I am going to out there everyday, trying my hardest to get the shirts seen.

If someone buys a day, what can they expect you to do on that day?

This has a question that has been asked a lot and I want to make it very clear, I am not just wearing the shirts for a photo and video on that day. I am wearing the shirts from the time I get up in the morning until I go to sleep at night. What if I have an important meeting or an occasion that requires nice clothing? That’s what sports coats are for.. nothing on my schedule or in my life is too serious for a t-shirt and sports coat. But as far as exposure is concerned, IWYS will be featured on the homepage of Ustream.tv for a daily 20 minute show. The same show and other video clips will be spread across YouTube, AOL Video, MySpace Video and multiple other video sharing sites. IWYS is a member of the FuelMyBlog network which is connected to 20,000+ other blogs and bloggers and will also be spread to an audience of 10,000+ Facebook and Twitter users. Daily photos and blog posts will be featured on Flickr and the IWYS Official Blog to round out every day.

What’s the future look like for iwearyourshirt.com?

Hopefully a bunch of great Small Biz Bee readers will join IWYS and buy a day or two, because I already have big plans for 2010. I really want to create a sustainable medium for advertising that reaches an audience that cares. 

Bio:

I’m a 26 year old business-creative currently living in Jacksonvile, FL. I’ve used the Internet and design for business pursuits for the last 10 years, both professionally and personally. After working a few design focused jobs, it became clear that the marketing and business end of things were much more interesting and rewarding. In 2006 I co-founded Thought & Theory, a company that specializes in creating, designing, talking about and developing simple and beautiful web applications. I’ve worked with large advertising companies, social networks, professional sports leagues, along with other various new media and Internet related work. Outside of the web and computers, I’m a sports fanatic, both watching and participating in, a movie buff and an automotive enthusiast.

Remember: 

All Small Biz Bee readers have a chance to win a day of Jason’s services. All you have to do to be eligible is sign up for our newsletter between December 8th and the 22nd. One winner will be drawn at random on December 23, 2008.  

Use iwearyourshirt.com to promote:

• Yourself
• An event
• Your compnay
• Your product
• Personal message (Happy Birthday Mom?)
• Your website/blog

As entrepreneurs we all understand how important, and profitable, filling a niche can be. Sometimes finding a niche can be as easy as thinking of products or services we wish existed, and instead of waiting for somebody else to bring them to market, doing it ourselves. That’s exactly what Christen Ward of Honeywear, Inc has done with her company.

As you can see Christen is getting a lot of attention due to her unique approach to a product she (and many others) needed, and all of her hard work is really paying off! Her company recently caught the eyes of Forbes.com and their “Boost Your Business” contest, where she found out she was one of the finalist.

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By: Christen Ward

Honeywear is a company committed to producing functional, locally made products in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. About 3 years ago, we (Christen Ward and Kristin Keliher) could not find a made in the USA baby carrier to suit our needs, so we created one! As soon as we began using our creation, we knew we would have to share it with everyone! We saw an amazing business opportunity to market something that was uniquely ours while filling a market niche. With that in mind, we incorporated as Honeywear, Inc. in January of 2007.

We started Honeywear with essentially no capital, which has been one of the biggest challenges, but also one of our best assets. The small amount of capital made production challenging, limited our funds for marketing and PR and prevented us from taking salaries. However, without major loans, we have been able to turn a profit in under 2 years! And through determination and grassroots marketing we have achieved brand recognition.

Around May of 2008, we were notified of a national competition, put on by Forbes.com—the annual Boost Your Business Contest, with a grand prize of $100,000. Honeywear, along with 1500 other national applicants, sent Forbes a 500 word synopsis of their business plans. From those, the contestants were narrowed to 20 by a panel of judges. We were absolutely thrilled when we received the notification that we were in the top 20. In order to make it to the final round, each company needed online votes. The 5 companies with the most online votes would move into the final round. Honeywear finished in 3^rd place. In the beginning of October, our letter of notification informed us that we would be flying to New York for a 10 minute presentation of our product and company. The presentation was to be in front of a panel of judges, all of whom are high powered executives. We were also notified that we would have 1 week to rewrite our business plan to the specifications of Forbes.com and to prepare our presentation.

The presentation went better than we could have ever expected. It will be aired, along with the other 4 finalists, on Forbes.com on Monday, November 3^rd. The winner is determined 50% on the judges’ opinions of our business and 50% on public voting. Get involved and help a small business get major capital! To help Honeywear win, you can vote from the Honeywear website, www.honeywear.net. Just click on the Boost Your Business button from the Honeywear home page!