Day 365- Final Day in the 1 year venture

Where else do you start but at the beginning...

Day 1:
So today is the day I decide to do it. I just announced my venture on Facebook and already I'm getting some feed back. Very exciting! The idea here is to document my t shirt venture every step of the way. I will need to know how to blog, design, market, sell and well... everything else associated with starting a small retail business.

Fast forward to Day 365:
Well I have to say this has been of the most enjoyable 1 year ventures that I have done along with the master mind behind it all, Bob!  We have had our ups and downs, the frustrations of learning how to do things, what works, what doesn't, how to get our name out there, how to create designs people will buy, where to sell them, Facebook, Twitter and even Tumblr gave us a hassle.  But we kept pushing through, trying different things, learning from mistakes and eventually starting to get into a routine and understanding of the basic skills needed.

Year in review...

• Day 16 we started on Facebook with 36 likes
• Day 21 we made our offficial entry into the Manchester Roller Derby logo contest
• Day 29 we revealed a sneak peek at the new brand
• Day 48 & 50 showed us our first glimpses at Rootbeer Explosion t shirt
• Day 51 showed us our first glimpses at Grape Grenade t shirt
• Day 69 we released the name of our brand SODA BOMB APPAREL
• Day 84 & 100 brought us the first views at our first shirt... First Edition
• Day 151 showed us a Superman inspired design for our church youth group G4
• Day 154 we had 54 likes on Facebook
• Day 150 & 158 showed us a design we did advertising Texas Barbecue for a friend
• Day 159 brought us the official Soda Bomb Apparel logo
• Day 193 brought us the first bottle cap for the First Edition Limited Release shirt
• Day 194 showed us a design we did for our family vacation with friends
• Day 197 we had 74 likes on Facebook
• Day 198 brought us the packaging for our shirts... our logo cups
• Day 206 brought us the behind the scenes printing of the First Edition Shirt
• Day 220 we were officially open for business in our online store
• Day 223 we had 96 likes on Facebook
• Day 229 brought us the Red Logo Shirt
• Day 240 brought us the Our Lady Shirt
• Day 249 we were given our first Shout Out on Geek Shirts blog
• Day 256 we had 125 likes on Facebook
• Day 290 brought us Sugar Stache Shirt
• Day 295 showed us a design for our son's indoor soccer team called Winnisquam FC
• Day 300 we had 136 likes on Facebook
• Day 307 we announced that a portion of the final proceeds in the Sugar Stache shirts will go to the Movember charities
• Day 308 we announced you could get the Sugar Stache shirt at Lucky's Barber Shop & Shave Parlor
• Day 312 we had 140 likes on Facebook
• Day 319 brought an awesome review from Indie Minded blog
• Day 323 brought us our first official Soda Bomb Photo Shoot with Memories Frozen in Time
• Day 330 brought Soda Bomb to the Davis Flea Holiday Market with I want a pony!
• Day 332 brought Soda Bomb to a new store The Altered Bee in Bristol
• Day 344 brought an awesome review from Geek Shirts blog
• Day 345 brought the introduction of the 6 pack flavors collection and the contest to find the 6th flavor to be announced tomorrow
• Day 359 brought us a sneak peek at the new SBA mascot
• Day 363 brought us a sneak peek at the revamped Grape Grenade design
• Day 365 we have 159 likes on Facebook and 97 followers on Twitter!

And here we are on day 365... we have had 2 awesome reviews, 4 seperate t shirt designs for SBA, 3 separate t shirt designs for friends, our shirts in 3 different market locations and we are getting 2-3 new followers every couple days.

2012 New Year's Resolution...   Start a T Shirt company...      

2013 New Year's Resolution...    World domination one Soda Bomb at a time!

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!

Sue :P

Day 363 Sneak Peek

Can't believe we only have 2 days left until the year is up!  Anyways, enough nostalgia, onto the news at hand...  We have been working hard on the first of the 6-pack flavors....

Can anyone guess which one it will be?

Don't forget you can still get these shirts by going to our store (Simply click the design below).  The New Year will bring new stuff including E-Gift Certificates for those of you who want to give SBA as a gift for the choosing! :P

These shirts can also be purchased at The Altered Bee in Bristol NH.  Make sure to stop in and say hi as she rearranges the shop from Christmas to Winter Wonderland!

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!
Sue :P

Day 359

Well it's obvious we are coming to a quick end on our year long t-shirt venture... But we aren't throwing in the towel yet!  As a matter of fact, this next week will be full of creative juices and a lot of ink and paper!  We are already working on the new designs for the 6-Pack flavor and we also have started work on the new Soda Bomb Apparel Mascot...

Here is a quick peek to see what you think...

There will be more to come over the next week including sneak peeks at the new line to be put up for Pre-Sale in January...

In the meantime, you can still order these great designs from our store (by clicking the picture below) and on Weds you can get them again at The Altered Bee as well!

Pray that you all have a wonderful Christmas with your families and we will see you later!

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!

Sue :P

Day 352

First of all, we want to say we are continuing to pray for those families and lives effected in this horrible tragedy in Newtown, CT.  Our hearts and prayers go out to each family and to all those families and children who will be continuing to deal with this for the rest of their lives.  May God be with you each day!

13 days left to finish out this year long t-shirt venture...  While we started January 1st in blogging our little expedition, we only started printing shirts in July/August so we aren't throwing in the towel just yet! We have seen an increase in views to our social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr) and we thank you all for it!  We ask you to consider sharing our posts and our shirts with others as we want to continue to grow in the new year!

We also want to thank you some local businesses who have teamed up with us to make this all possible...

First and foremost, Shirtmasters who has come along side to aid us in selecting the right shirt blank to printing these incredible shirts!

Second, The Altered Bee who allowed us to be shown in their store in Bristol, NH.

Third, I want a pony who has taken our shirts for the long drive down the highway to Providence RI and Somerville Ma to show us in the various vintage markets.

And finally to Lucky's Barber Shop and Shave Parlor who allowed us to show the Sugar Stache shirt that aided in the awareness of "Movember" and how these cancers effect so many of our men.

The new year will bring new designs, new shirts, ladies and children sizing and hopefully some Pop up shops of our own at various events.  We will also be starting to give to the Wounded Warriors Project and we still are working on our donation to Movember charities!  We look forward to continuing to work on this venture with your help!  And pray that we get the opportunity to make someone's day with a new shirt with a purpose!

Remember we are also available for t-shirt designs for your company, club or event! Simply shoot us a message with ideas and we will see what we can do to add some "Soda Bomb" flair in there!

Check back this week for additional Sugar Stache shirts becoming available via our Store.

Have a great day everyone... Hope it was 'Da Bomb!
Sue :P

Day 345- New "Flavors"

Well it's been fun coming up with the new 6-pack flavors...  We didn't want to be too cliche but wanted them to be new,fun and exciting!  But we could only come up with 5 flavors and it's a 6 pack?!?!

We brainstormed and brainstormed and just couldn't come up with something we really loved... So we decided... Why not ask the fans?!!?

Here is our next contest... The 5 flavors we know we are using are listed below.. message us on either Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook and let us know what you think the 6th flavor should be!  The winner will receive the first shirt off the presses in the design they choose out of the 6-pack flavors.  Simple as that!  You have until January 1st to get your entry into us.

In the meantime, we will be releasing little glimpses of the new designs over the next few weeks... Let us know what you think!

GRAPE GRENADE

ROOTBEER EXPLOSION

ORANGE NUKE

CHERRY BOMB

LEMON-LIME NAPALM

????????

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!!

Sue :P

Day 344

Shirts are still selling well at our various shops including 2 more out the door at the Davis Flea Market with I want a pony!  We are looking to get the current designs off our shelves and into your homes so that we can release the new 6 pack flavor designs for the New Year.

Currently the Sugar Stache t-shirts are only available at Lucky's Barber Shop and I want a pony! so make sure that you get down there and pick up yours before they are gone.  As soon as they are gone we will be donating a portion of the proceeds to the Movember charities to aid in the research to find a cure.

We also have been working with a couple other independent bloggers and have gotten our names out there via 

and

Check out the write-ups on us and see if you agree! :)  We love the feedback and look forward to producing more shirts for our fans to love!

A big thank you to our supports and colleagues...  Check them out for yourself...

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!

Sue :P

Day 341

Good Evening Soda Bomb Loyal Fans!

Don't forget to stop by our local shops to pick up our shirts for the discounted price of $20!  We still have Sugar Stache shirts available down in Concord at Lucky's Barber Shop and you can pick up in Bristol, Our Lady and First Edition up at The Altered Bee.  We are also available at The Davis Holiday Flea Market down in Sommerville MA at the I want a pony! booth where you can pick up Sugar Stache and Our Lady.

We are also working on many designs behind the scenes.  New for the New Year we are working on our "6-pack flavors" collection which includes such favorites as The Grape Grenade.  All new shirts being introduced will also be available, for the Pre-Sale time, in both Ladies cuts and children's sizing.  This will give you opportunity to personalize your fit and get something Soda Bomb for the kiddos!

Remember we are donating 10% of the Sugar Stache sales to the Movember charities to help in this fight against men's cancers. And starting in January 2013, we will also be giving $1 of each shirt sale to The Wounded Warriors Foundation.  These men and women give so much for us, it's our turn to give back to them!

So get out there and pick up your shirt whether at one of our local dealers or online at our store at http://sodabombapparel.bigcartel.com/  and don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Blogspot!

Hope your day was 'Da Bomb!

Sue :P

Day 336 Part 2

Lucky's Barber Shop and Shave Parlor wanted to keep the Sugar Stache a little longer....  So stop on by and check them out and pick up a Sugar Stache for only $20! Custom wrapped and ready for gift giving!

And you can get the First Edition and Our Lady at The Altered Bee for the low price of $20! Just stop by Weds through Saturday for the whole month of December... Pick up a shirt and some other cool vintage items while you are there!

You can also get the Sugar Stache and Our Lady t-shirts at the I want a pony! booth at the Davis Flea Holiday Market!

Happy shopping everyone!

Hope your day was 'Da Bomb!

Sue :P

Day 336

Bob is picking up the Sugar Stache tees from Lucky's Barber Shop today...

Movember is over but you can still get your Sugar Stache while they last... Remember a portion of the proceeds will go to the Movember Charities to aid in finding cures for the diseases plaguing our men.

Shirts will still be sold until gone via our website by clicking the shirt above, at the Grand Opening at  The Altered Bee in Bristol, NH, and at the Davis Holiday Flea Market today and tomorrow in Sommerville, MA via the I want a pony! booth.  The price has been marked down at these locations for these two events to $20 per shirt!  Each shirt comes with a shirt, (2) matching magnetic bottle caps, (2) vinyl logo stickers, and a reusable plastic logo cup.  And they come package with red tissue paper in a brown kraft bag.  So you have the present and wrapping all done in one shot!

Happy Christmas shopping everyone!

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!
Sue :P

Day 332 Sharing the family business

The Altered Bee has its GRAND OPENING this Thurs Nov 29 starting at 10:00am. Come and check them out in Central Square Bristol and see my mother in law's unique craftiness with The Altered Bee, my sister in law's gorgeous jewelry and antique ephemera with I want a pony! and of course Soda Bomb will be showcasing their First Edition, Our Lady and Sugar Stache t-shirts, stickers and bottle caps.  

Here is a sneak peek at what goodies are in store on opening day...

All Soda Bomb shirts will be on sale for $20 in honor of this Grand Opening so make sure you stop by and grab one for your Christmas list.  All come all wrapped for quick gift giving.

Hope you day is the 'Da Bomb and we get to see you on Thurs!
Sue :{P

Day 330 Sugar Stache Final Days

Only 35 more days until the New Year!  A lot has happened here at Soda Bomb Apparel... We have printed (4) shirts, along with matching bottle caps, logo stickers and cups! Not too shabby I think since we have only been printing since August! We have learned a lot and are continuing to do research and designs behind the scenes here at home base.

We are now currently being offered in our store, and Lucky's Barber Shop and Shave Parlor in Concord, NH.  We will be also be available starting Thursday at The Altered Bee in Bristol, NH and the next 2 weekends at the I want a pony! booth at the Davis Flea Holiday Vintage Market in Sommerville, MA.

Black Friday discount  (use code: BLACKFRIDAY at our store) is still available through tomorrow, so take the opportunity to get those Christmas presents out the of the way.  Our shirts come pre-packaged in a brown kraft paper bag, so no extra wrapping here!

Come the first of the year we are going to be offering some new "flavor" designs such as the Grape Grenade that everyone has been asking about from us.  Something new we are trying is having these be available for Pre-sale where you will be able to order both kids sizes and women's fit shirts.  After the Pre-sale is done, our regular unisex t-shirts will be available for sale.

Hurry and take this last opportunity to get your very own Sugar Stache shirt that was specially printed for Movember... Once they are gone, we will not be printing more.  These are a favorite so make sure you get yours while they last.

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!

Sue :{P

Day 327 BLACK FRIDAY SALE

I know that there are some of you out there right now, standing in the long lines, braving the huge crowds to save a buck on those much wanted items!  That is usually our M.O. but this year we decided to hang with family and go to bed instead of staying up.   But our hats are off to you!

Here is another "Black Friday" sale that should be appealing to our Soda Bomb Fans...  Click on the logo below to get routed to our store to being saving on your favorite tee.  Simply enter "BLACK FRIDAY" in at check out and receive 15% off your entire order!  And remember that shipping is always free within the continental US.

Offer is good through Monday Nov 26 at 8am so act now to be able to get those savings.  Hope you had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends!

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!
Sue :{P

Day 323

We had our first Soda Bomb Apparel photo shoot today and I dont think it could have gone any better...
The weather was awesome, the back drop and props (1950s truck) were the best, the models looked great, and the photographers captured it all perfectly!

Here are a few sneak peaks from the photographers, a pair of sisters (twins actually) that take their job seriously with great ideas and vision for what you could only have imagined... Click on the pics to go to their link and see what else they do...

The crew who made this possibly.. our amigos!

 Our three boys, got to love them!

 Our smaller fans showing of their 'staches!

 Looking good fellas!

 Our men showing the love for Soda Bomb!

Check back in a few weeks to see all the pics!  We will also be offering Black Friday sale so come back on Friday at Midnight to get a code for 15% off any one of our shirts or other merchandise through Sun.

Hope your day was 'Da Bomb!

Sue :{P

Day 319

We got an awesome review by Indie Minded...  Check it out!

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!
Sue :{P

Day 317

Wow only 48 more days of this t-shirt venture...  Can't believe how quickly this year has gone by... Many designs, lots of feedback, sales and give aways...  Not too bad but definitely aren't ready to throw in the towel yet... 48 days is a long time! ;)

A good friend asked us about what our demographic was... Who are we trying to sell to? What age group?  It took us a while of thinking this over...  But in the end we came up with this...  mid-20s to about mid-40s, mostly male though we have some strong women followers as well :).  And our style... Well its tattoo art with a vintage feel....  That's why Lucky's Barbershop loved our recent Sugar Stache design...  So we have decided to go after that demographic...  We are currently trying to pursue local tattoo parlors to see if anyone would be interested in selling our shirts.  The goal would be to get into as many local shops as we can, and get our name out there selling off the current designs before making new ones.

Now don't get scared...  We are still working hard on the next designs... Trying to come out with a Flavor 6-pack in the New Year including some cool flavors like the Grape Grenade!

We are also currently working on a photo shoot with Memories Frozen in Time to get this done this coming Sunday! Looking forward to getting some great shots of our products up on the website.  Should be good to go by Dec 1st!

So we are still working hard in these last 48 days... Stay tuned to see what happens next...

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!

Sue :{P

Day 314

Officially on tomorrow (Saturday) you will be able to pick up Soda Bomb Apparel's Sugar Stache t-shirt at Lucky's Barber Shop and Shave Parlor.  Go down and check them out for a great hair cut and pick one up!

You can always still get one at our store... Just click the shirt above!

Hope your day was 'Da Bomb!
Sue :{P

Day 310

Another crisp day in New Hampshire... But just makes the men growing their mustaches for Movember more advantageous. :{P

Tomorrow I go down to Lucky's Barber Shop and Shave Parlor to drop off a Sugar Stache shirt for display for sale.  Know that you can get them now, just click the picture below...

Something else we are working on for Black Friday is if you are a loyal fan we are looking to have you hand out our info cards for us.  Each info card will have a specific code that is just yours.  The person receiving will get 15% off their Soda Bomb order using your code. And you will get an email with a coupon for $2.50 towards a Soda Bomb apparel purchase. You can use these coupons individually or stack them to be able to receive a free shirt!  Email us now to let us know if you are interested so we can get working on them! 

Also for everyone who has already purchased the Sugar Stache t-shirt, THANK YOU! And as soon as we receive the matching bottle caps this week we will send them out!

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!

Sue :{P

Day 308

Hey Fans!!  We got the shipping confirmation on our Sugar-Stache bottle caps so we should be good to start mailing out orders by end of next week!

Another big item we are getting the opportunity to do is if you are a fan of Lucky's Barber Shop & Shave Parlor, you will be able to see the Sugar Stache shirt first hand.  Lucky's is a wicked cool 1950's barber shop in Concord, NH where you can get the best shaves and awesome cuts! Always a line and well worth the wait...  Josh and Jimmy have been long time favorites and have done all of our son's first haircuts!

One more awesome item and then I'll be done  :{P   We have decided to donate a portion of the Sugar Stache proceeds to the Movember charities to aid in research to see if we can help eliminate some of these cancers plaguing our men!  We will announce the total amount to be given at the end of the month so order yourself up one for a good cause!!  And don't forget to grow out those 'staches!

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!! :{P

Sue

Day 307

Another great Fall day here in NH...  Looking forward to watching all the men grow out their mustaches for Movember!  The Sugar Stache t-shirts are now officially On Sale and we are just waiting on the bottle caps to get here to send out the pre-orders!

We are also working on getting both models and a venue to do our photo shoot for the store.  We have some people in mind and are anxiously awaiting to see if they are in.  If anyone else out there wants to give it a shot... We are looking for people in their mid twenties to mid thirties, 50's era feel to hair and clothing, tattoos are very acceptable, and maybe an old car or truck and/or motorcycle would be totally awesome!  Let us know!  I think we have locked down a photographer (or two) as well.

Also want to get the word out there to our fans living in NH and MA...  We are planning on doing a huge info card hand out on November 23th on Black Friday.  We will have info cards printed out with an official Black Friday coupon that we want to hand out to as many people as we can while out shopping the great deals.  If you want to help, message us on Facebook or Twitter and we can meet up the Nov 19th to give you all the information.

Thanks again to all our fans for spreading the word... Early next week we will announce the next t-shirt giveaway on the new Sugar Stache shirt...  Stay Tuned! Meanwhile check out what exactly Movember is all about, and how great a cause it really is.  This is dear to our hearts here at Soda Bomb Apparel as we have a friend who went through this and want to support him anyway we can!

Day 305

A short while ago we sent out one of our "Our Lady..." shirts to a blogger from the UK.  While they have yet to do the t-shirt review, we got a great Shout Out which has been re-tweeted many times...  Let's hope this will be a big break for Soda Bomb Apparel... Click on the link below to check it out...

Remember Sugar Stache shirts are up for Pre-sale, First Editions are On Sale, Our Lady is available and we are officially SOLD OUT of the Red Logo Shirts.

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!

Sue :{P

DAY 303

We are coming down to the last 62 days of the one year adventure in the t-shirt business!  And we have our new Sugar Stache shirt up for PRE-SALE!

And we also introduced to our loyal customers via email, a Loyalty Reward code for them to use towards their next Soda Bomb purchase!  

And we are also introducing Referral Rewards... Here is how it works, if one of your friends buys a Soda Bomb product, on the PayPal "Special Notes" they write your name.  When we see it, we will send you (via email) a "Referral Rewards" coupon that will be worth $2.50 off your next Soda Bomb purchase.  You can either save them up for a free shirt or use them whenever.  It's our way of saying thanks for getting our name out there!

The next t-shirt give away will be announced the week of November 11th. So check back for more details!

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!

Sue  :P

Day 297

The Sugar-Stache shirt was sent off to the printers yesterday. Today we ordered the shirt specific bottle caps. Bring on Movember. Keep your eyes peeled for another shirt give away coming later this week.

Day 296

Well it's official... The Sugar-stache shirts have been sent to the printers and the bottle cap design is being created and shipped off as we speak...

Also finalizing Loyalty and Referral rewards.  The initial thoughts are 10% off your next shirt when you purchase one at regular price for Loyalty rewards and then "Soda Bomb Bucks" for the Referral rewards that can be accumulated towards a purchase from the Soda Bomb Apparel store.  More to come...

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!
Sue :P

Day 295

Over this past weekend we were asked to put together a t-shirt design for our son's indoor soccer club.  After a couple days of working on it this is what we came up with...

We are excited and most importantly the Coach is ecstatic. See if you can notice where the essence of Soda Bomb is shown in there!

Hope your day is 'Da Bomb!

Sue :P

Day 293

Earlier this week I asked everyone's opinion on the color for Sugar-stache. I listened and agreed that read might not be the best color option, so take a look at what I have come up with. Blue, black and brown on a gray t-shirt. What do you all think?

Day 290

So I have been thinking over the color scheme, and it really comes down to 2 options (in my opinion). With or without the red?

The reason this is in question is because I don't want to lose emphasis on the mustache. Please let me know your thoughts.

Day 289

Ok. I've been working hard on the newest design and I have given out a few sneak peaks...but without further delay, here it is.....

The infamous Sugar-stache. I still need to iron out the colors but you get the gist. Any ideas, suggestions, critique? Speak now because it will go to the printers Wednesday.

Day 288

Here is another sneak peak of what is coming for Soda Bomb Apparel. I'm telling you guys, I love this one.

Day 285

Look what just arrived at our house, literally HOT off the presses!!!

Head over to the store to order up one or two or three?!!?  :)

Hope your day was 'Da Bomb!

Sue :P