Friends Pt2 (weareric.com)

As I mentioned in a previous post my friends have been everything to me so far with my progress of getting this started. The next person I would like to shout out is my buddy Eric Lund. He has a dope up and coming clothing line and has offered to do designs and printing for me. It's cool to get advice from someone who has already been making progress in this line of work. He is a very creative dude and I look forward to seeing him get more shirts on the street. His site is definitely worth taking a look at so please do. Check him out over at weareric.com.

You get what you pay for

I heard it's better to make a mistake early on and fix it rather than making that same mistake later down the road where it can cause more damage. I knew I had a couple engagements coming up where I would need business cards so I quickly jumped on a good deal I saw online. I was advised by a friend to not order from this online site and go to a local place. I politely refused and ordered from the online site anyways because it was much cheaper. The funny thing is that an art show came up out of nowhere so I ended up going to a local place anyways to have cards in time. I paid more but I must admit I was happy with the business cards. A few days later I received my box of business cards I ordered online and couldn't believe what I saw when I opened them. My local ones I ordered were of way better quality and had the same design. It was crazy how different they looked. I was frustrated that ordered a ton of the crappy ones and have already gave out all the good ones. I don't even feel comfortable passing these new ones out and since first impressions are everything I wont. They weren't super expensive so it's not a huge deal but as I keep spending money on advertisement and shirts, every dollar counts. So from now on I can't let price take away from the quality of this brand.

Network Network Network

I have made it pretty clear from the beginning that I am very new to the clothing industry. I felt it was very important to not waste any time and get out there and network. I never leave the house without business cards now because you never know who you will run into that can add something to your brand. I have been fortunate enough to meet some cool and talented people in the last few weeks. Before I kind of stayed to myself and just came home after work and did homework. Now I pretty much never turn down a social event because that is potentially missed clients and connections. I went to an art show earlier this week at the oceanfront and exchanged cards with a very talented artist that I hope to do business with very soon. Just tonight at a friends I was introduced to a guy that has an up and coming clothing line. I literally saw someone buy the shirt off my friend's back because it was sold out on the guys website. I just feel so blessed to be surrounded by talented people and good friends. In an industry that I am learning from everyday I at least know the importance of networking and I'm going to keep pushing.

First Line

I'm taking baby steps and there is no exact time of when my first line will be. I am still in the process of trying to secure a theme and designs for my launch. I think I have wrapped up the theme and almost have the first design complete. I am super excited about that. Everything is going very smooth so far. I am really enjoying putting effort into something like this. I also enjoy seeing the support I'm getting from the people around me. Keep following the blog and give me your input because I would love to hear it. This will be a clothing line that provides you with a sense of attachment to the message so get involved and let me hear what you think.

Logo

I finally feel good about a logo but at this point I still don't think it's wise to rule anything out. I don't want to reveal it just yet due to it not being protected against infringement. The last few weeks I have just been literally attempting to sketch any idea that comes to mind. Even though my effort looks like that of a fourth grader it is just good enough for my artist to interpret. If anyone wants to put forth an idea I am all for it. Currently I am working on a creative way to write MTB by MTB. Take a shot and let me know what you come up with.

Friends Pt 1 (hardwoodelite.com)

This will be a long journey but at this point I couldn't be more pleased with how things are going. It's slow progress but any progress is better than none. I am just getting a lot of support and have some good friends pushing me forward. I just wanted to do something to thank the people who have been helping me who also have sites or talents that deserve recognition. I'm going to do a series of post giving recognition to a friend's sites in each one. First up, lets start out with my best friend Jason, his little brother bryan, and another good friend of mine Adam. Adam will be helping me with some graphic designs and Jason is just my good friend who always has my back. Since Jason is like my big brother by default lol Bryan is my brother too so support all of them. They have a dope site for serious basketball fans, they follow the top high school recruits. Please check it out. (http://hardwoodelite.com/)

How bad do you want success?

Great video for inspiration and motivation.

First Impressions

In the last few weeks I have been doing a ton of research on things necessary to start my line. The most important piece of information I have taken is probably the most simple. Take your time because first impressions are everything. At first glance that seems pretty obvious but I'm sure that is a concept that is far overlooked by many business owners in the beginning stages. Right off the back when I decided to take the step in making a clothing line I gave myself a deadline that was under 365 days in time. If I make that deadline then that is fine but if I don't I will not lose any sleep. I want everything to be as close to perfect as it can be when I am ready to launch. Hopefully there will be people who purchase my items based solely on the fact that they know me. Hopefully there will also be another audience who does not know and this will be their first encounter with not only my clothing line but with me. For both of these audiences the first shirt they see may determine whether they ever bother again coming to my site again. I can't afford to waste that very important moment with putting out a mediocre product.

Don't sleep or you might miss something

I  never thought I could have such a good time running off only about 10 hours of sleep in 4 days. I was in Vegas to attend the Hoodie Awards and I had a wonderful time. I was able to meet many of the other business owners and also some celebrities. The biggest mistake of this trip was not having any business cards for my future company. I made the best of it and exchanged information with a lot of people. It was also nice just spending time with my family and friends. I was proud to see my cousins nominated and being involved in such a legit level of recognition. Even though the Fade Shop didn't bring the award home we had a great time and hopefully will return next summer.