Welcome to your future favorite clothing company. J. Benjamin blog is for fans of the brand. Here you will get updates on the brand as well as well as valuable and interesting information that may inspire the brand.
I love holiday time! I like when the family gets together to celebrate. I like the cooking and big feasts. I like cooler weather and the sweaters that you could wear. I like the seasonal lattes offered at Starbucks. I like the decorations and time that retail stores and cities put up. It really is the "most wonderful time of the year"!
Last year I saw some really cool tee's that I didn't pick up but wish I did. I decided to compile a list of a few tee's that I find cool this year. Maybe Santa will bring me one or two.
You're invited to the party! So come on in! Well, not a real party. Sorry if I got your hopes up. I am referring to the party of goals. In this case the party is the ultimate goal and the person hosting the party is the goal-getter. Still confused? Allow me to explain.
I do a lot of things in the kitchen. I cook, bake, clean, sweep, wash dishes, etc. You know, all the things one does in a kitchen. I came to the realization today that I do a lot of my thinking while in the kitchen. I especially do it a lot while washing dishes. Usually no one is talking to me so as the water is running my mind begins to wander and I start to think about things. Anyways, today one of my friends mentioned how he felt as if he was in a rut. I didn't comment on the situation at the time but I suppose this is my comment to his dilemma. I too, recently stressed to a couple of people that I talk to on a regular basis that I felt as if I was stuck or in a rut. Why was I feeling stuck though? What was I stuck on? Well in this particular situation I felt that I was just "spinning my wheels" when it came to my clothing company. After talking it out with these two people, I came to the realization that I wasn't really stuck. I actually had the answers right inside of me but my problem was taking action. So what does this have to do with a party? I'll tell you.
I wanted to start a clothing line since forever. I knew that I needed to JUST DO IT but back then, before I started anything, I felt like I was stuck. Once I got the ball rolling my momentum began to build. I was now "invited" to the party. I was given an invitation but I still had to decide whether to go or not. As momentum began to build, I began planning and executing what I would do to start a clothing line. I decided the best way for me to start was to design one t-shirt and market it to people I think would find it interesting. The only way to get one of the shirts was to pre-order it. So in a sense, I was now in the car and on my way to the party. I set a deadline and orders came in until the deadline. I made a connection with a printer and ordered some tee's and away we went. Over the next couple of months this is how I orchestrated my business. I offered a shirt and people had to pre-order it and it was then shipped to them when it was finished. Now if I was at the party I would be considered just a spectator. I'm not socializing much. Basically just being a wallflower.
Now in my mind my ultimate goal is to be the hostess of the party. I want to be the one who invites others to come over. I want to be the one who organizes the event. At the moment though, I just feel like one of the people mingling. I am socializing a bit but I am just part of the crowd. Now how do I go from just being part of the party to being the party? That's is where planning comes in as well as executing. I planned, although not the best, but was able to execute my moves in order to get the ball rolling. If there are steps to take then I should never really feel stuck. If at anytime I feel stuck I think it's because I am failing to execute plans or I have no plans to be directed by. Opportunity occurs when you take the necessary steps to set up the chance of embracing what you are after. I believe people only feel stuck because they want to achieve something. Whether they know it or not the feeling of "wheels spinning" happens because you want to achieve something more. Isn't that what a part of living life is about? Setting goals and reaching them only to strive to want more. Life would be pretty boring if we weren't looking for better, don't you think?
Many people that I am inspired by would be the hosts of the parties I want to attend. I am enjoying the company at their party but I want to be more than just the socializer. I'm really trying to have them at my party and inviting new people to my party. While being at others parties I take notes. I take notes on how to have a successful party. I take notes on what kind of work goes into putting on a well put together gathering. This is my planning. This is where I learn while I patiently execute my brand to be one of better known, sought-after companies.
So where are you at the party? Have you been invited yet? Are you still wishing you were invited to the party? Where do you fit in at the party? Are you the life of the party? Are you blending in with the crowd?
As Will Smith said in the movie Pursuit of Happyness, "If you got a dream, you gotta protect it. When people can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can't do it. If you want something, GO GET IT! Period!"
First and foremost I want to thank everyone who has supported J. Benjamin Clothing Co. thus far whether it was purchasing a t-shirt, giving advice, supporting my Facebook fan page, retweets on Twitter, and countless other ways you may have motivated me to continue to follow my dream. Since the start of 2009, I decided to finally give it a go at starting my pathway towards my own clothing line. I have great ultimate goals I want to achieve but I felt one way to get there was to design t-shirts. I certainly have come a long way since my first design and I am still working towards my ultimate goal.
As you can see with the picture next to this post it says "under construction". Technically I am not going anywhere but what that means is that I am working on making the brand better. As stated before I decided to just give it a go when starting this so I could at least generate the momentum to continue towards what I want. Well now that I have generated some momentum, I now feel it is time to make the brand more personal and customized. During this time I will be adding more personal touches to the tee's as well as to other aspects of the whole brand. When you see the product in the future it will be so much more "J. Benjamin".
Unfortunately, for you and me, being under construction also means there will be no new product. My store will still be open as long as product is available. I've been considering putting out a teaser piece but if I do it will look more like the future J. Benjamin Clothing than the way it is now. My target date to relaunch will be in the Spring of 2010. I have an actually date in mind but I will announce that at a later time. Meanwhile, I will be raising the necessary funds and working on other aspects of J. Benjamin Clothing Co. so that the "new" J. Benjamin becomes more of a success.
I have some designs ready but again that will take some time to do. My question to you is, what types of suggestions do you have that I can do now to build the J. Benjamin brand that doesn't cost anything? I have a small list of things that I want to do but I am looking to really create a buzz about the "new" J. Benjamin brand. Now, I am not necessarily talking about just marketing here, I am looking for suggestions also in all areas of business that do not require capital. Please feel free to either leave comments below or contact me at my email: jbsiii3@jbenjaminclothing.com. I would love to connect with you and talk about how to grow. As Rev Run said, "Surround yourself with smart people! Half of being smart is knowing what you're dumb about!"
Big Kid Thief by Johnny Cupcakes ($35.99)
You are Unique ($18.95) by Snorg Tees
Snow Day by Snowed In ($25.00)
Peanuts Stupid Holiday by 80's Tees ($24.00)
Grinch I Hate Christmas by Emerchandise ($23.99)
Festivus -For the Rest of Us by Noisebot ($22.95)
