Fast forward life: marriage and few kids and I was at a point where I felt I was missing that passion/calling with what I was doing with my life. I like my day job but I needed something more…
I read Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk and he talked about doing what you love and writing and sharing that knowledge with others who have the same interests. The book is a great read and it also has an appendix that has 21 great things to remember. It talks about becoming your own personal brand talking about that passion and becoming an expert on it.
I had a hard time coming up with a brand name but that didn’t stop me from thinking of all the other aspects of the brand and constantly brainstorming by myself or with others to build the concept/idea.
Once I had a brand name that I loved and just didn’t settle on. I knew that I needed to start doing something via social media. I started a tumblr and I just posted anything and everything that I could find that was sandwich related. I wanted people to know that I loved sandwiches and I wanted to share that love. So I look for things that I think would be unique and posted it for all to see. I then went to twitter and instagram and did the same. My goal the whole time is to interact with others and build awareness as well as connect with others that love sandwiches.
I am inspired by Johnny Cupcakes. Though my brand may be a food item, my intentions are not to ever copy or imitate Johnny Cupcakes. I respect the Johnny Cupcakes brand and my brand too much to do that. I am influenced by his brand- providing quality products, ridiculous branding with great designs and something that people love to wear. Johnny Cupcakes is not just about the shirts- it’s about Johnny Earle and his team/family. There is a community based around the brand. All things I love about the brand and hope to be able to one day create with my own brand. Trust me I too get upset when I see Johnny Cupcakes designs done/duplicated by others.
I look at building a brand very much like making a delicious sandwich. Like every sandwich you first need to have an idea of what type of sandwich you want to create. You then need to get the right ingredients to make that sandwich. Those ingredients may include:
- Bread (the type of shirt you will use)
- Condiments (The extras: pins, tags, packaging etc)
- Meat (the design)
- How it’s going to be prepared (type of screen printing, how it will packaged, how it will be plated and presented, etc)
- Whatever else you can think of putting into it.
There are a lot of little things that can go into making a sandwich (brand); it’s up to you on how simple or extravagant you want that sandwich to be. Sometimes you may have a vision of what you want that final sandwich to have, but you may not have the resources to do it all. So then you need to decide; what are the most important ingredients in the sandwich you are making. Will the lacking ingredients/condiments take away from the sandwich? Focus on those ingredients and then reach a point where you are happy with the sandwich that you created and want to serve others. At the same time continue to build and evolve to make that dream sandwich bigger and better.
Whenever I tell my mom how delicious something she cooked was she would always say “It was made with love”. I think that also plays a big part in making a sandwich people want. People can see what kind of sandwich maker you are and what you are trying to make and serve them. Sometimes things just taste better because someone else made it for you.
In the end anyone can make a sandwich it’s up to you on whether people keep coming back for more of YOUR sandwich.
I will always try to make Deli Fresh Threads a tasty brand that you will love to wear over and over again; just like your favorite sandwich!
Shop now at DeliFreshThreads.com
Anthony Biggie Bencomo - @DeliFreshThrds
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