Jason Sadler, Founder of I Wear Your Shirt
For most of us, our whole lives are spent hearing the way to get ahead is by capitalizing on our greatest strength. Apparently, Jason Sadler’s is getting dressed.
Started less than two years ago, Sadler’s start-up (aptly named “I Wear Your Shirt“) offers PR exposure on a calendar basis with January 1st going for $1 and December 31st going for $365. For the price paid, advertisers get their company’s t-shirt on Jason’s body for the entire day.
OK, so paying someone to wear your shirt might seem like a waste of marketing cash, until you consider this: Jason has acquired a substantial online following and spends hours posting photos, videos, and even playing online games like Pictionary (in front of a strangely voyeuristic following), all while throwing in important company info and random plugs.
With a business on the rise, Jason is increasing his exposure next year, and may soon be on the lookout for even more t-shirt-wearing talent. Start practicing.
1. What kind of return on investment do your offer advertisers?
I make a solemn promise that I will put their shirt on correctly in the morning and continue to wear it without messing it up for the day. But seriously, most of the customers see traffic growth, an increase in Twitter followers, sales increases and their logos/name are seen by 1,000’s of people! Some companies have seen record traffic days, record sales days and buildabrand.com saw a 4500% increase in user signups on their day!
2. What about shirt-wearing copycats? How will you deal with them when them inevitably start popping up?
Must mean I’m doing something right huh? Copycats are copycats… It makes me work harder to stay ahead of them and I’ve built an amazing community that supports me and the company’s t-shirts I wear on a daily basis. My previous customers always email me when a copycat pops up and it’s an great feeling to know they’re that loyal to not use someone else.
3. Your business is essentially doubling next year. What do you hope Evan will bring to the table in terms of social media/personality?
I want a whole new audience to watch Evan’s daily shenanigans. He’s way crazier than I am and I asked him to wear shirts with me because we aren’t the same person. If iwearyourshirt.com can “franchise” and grow, finding good people is key. I think Evan is going to be a fantastic addition and has been a huge help in making 2009 a success. Evan is also going to skydive 1 Saturday each month and will probably end up in Las Vegas quite often.
4. Of all the social media outlets you touch daily, which delivers the most followers/page views for your time? Which brings your best quality visitors?
On the hour long daily LIVE video show on Ustream.tv. I chat with friends all over the world on the web while wearing a company’s t-shirt. These streams see anywhere from 500 to 85,000 daily viewers. Most days it’s between 2-3,000 views and it’s probably the easiest/most fun part of my day. As far as quality is concerned, I think the YouTube videos are a unique piece of content that will live on forever and always tell a company’s story in a fun and engaging way. I particularly love the video we made for Webs.com on segways.
5. So much of your work is done from home. Even though much of it is social, do you ever get sick of being online?
Honestly… I don’t. Blah blah blah “it’s not work if you love what you’re doing” – but I really do love what I do. I’ve built a ton of friendships online and genuinely enjoy putting on a t-shirt every morning and getting paid for it. I took my first day off on December 19 and while it was relaxing it felt really weird. I missed talking with everyone and I feel like they missed me too. May sound weird to some people, but that’s what my business thrives on.
6. How has your business affected your social life, for better or worse?
I think it’s affected my social life for better and for worse. I know I don’t hang out with my local friends as much as I used to, but they also realize I’m trying to build a business, I’m trying to create something unique and I’m a very dedicated person. That would probably be the worse of it. The better is that I’ve met a ton of great new people and companies that will open doors for many opportunities down the road. I’m a firm believer in it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Oh, and I don’t have to stand in front of my closet and try and decide what shirt to wear anymore… that’s definitely a plus for me. And I don’t have to buy shirts, so I’m saving money!
7. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Living on the beach and not having to put a shirt on 
Jason’s Bio:
Jason Sadler hasn’t always been wearing t-shirts for a living, but has always been creative. From drawing on walls with crayons, possibly doing a small amount of graffiti and eventually graduating college with a degree in Graphic Design. Jason has worked with professional sports organizations, advertising agencies, online retailers and most recently co-owned his own web design company. Jason loves playing Scrabble, watching terrible movies (sometimes for 24 hours at a time), has been known to shoot a hoop of basketball or two and is an avid automotive enthusiast. Living at the beach in Jacksonville, Florida gives Jason the freedom to prance around in t-shirts 365 days out of the year with his Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Plaxico.
