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Online Boutique Selling Collegiate Gameday Apparel
Liz Thomas, Founder of Twelve Saturdays joins the show to talk with show host Eric Dye about how she put her passions together and created an eCommerce Store through Shopify. Twelve Saturdays is an online boutique selling collegiate gameday apparel and accessories for the SEC and ACC.
About Twelve Saturdays
If you’re visiting Twelve Saturdays for the first time, you may find something missing. In fact, if you’re accustomed to the selection found at most university bookstores or websites, you may find a lot missing.
We don’t have the standard-issue collegiate logo tees and hats that you see throughout the stands. Instead, we have the most stylish gameday clothing and accessories from young and modern designers who love the game as much as they love to look unique and fabulous.
About Liz Thomas, Founder, Twelve Saturdays
On a road trip to the beach in 2010, a girlfriend and I were discussing careers, the notion of “doing what you love” and how one could make that happen in their life. I jokingly said that my two passions were fashion and college football and, “if only I could figure out a way to combine the two into a business then I’d be set.”
After thinking about that conversation for a couple of weeks, I decided to figure it out. Fast-forward one year and Twelve Saturdays has become a reality. As a Virginia native, a graduate of the University of South Carolina, and a current resident of Tallahassee, Florida, I’ve seen that nothing unites the South like college football. It’s this passion and community that I love. Each Saturday is an event and I want you to be the best-dressed for the occasion.
Build an eCommerce Store Today & Win with Shopify
Ottawa, Canada, September 22, 2011 – Shopify, (www.shopify.com) the online SaaS eCommerce platform second annual Build-A-Business contest continues through December 31, 2011. The company is offering over $500,000 in prizes and giveaways to inspire entrepreneurs to start an online business. To provide entrepreneurs with additional support, Shopify has teamed up with industry titans Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk and Tim Ferriss to provide ongoing advice, education and encouragement to contestants. The concept is simple: think of something to sell, create an online store, and then build your business.
Participants can sign up any time as long as they’re selling for at least two months. The store that has the highest grossing two months (non-consecutive) wins the grand prize, with six $20,000 prizes awarded to winners from designated categories: Apparel and Jewelry, Food and Health, Sports and Hobbies, Art and Photography, Home and Office and Other. Because of Shopify’s easy-to-use platform, previous technical or eCommerce experience is not needed.
“The prize money is significant, but don’t forget the spirit of the contest: to give a kick in the pants to all those people who have wanted to start businesses but haven’t,” said Tobi Lütke, co-founder and CEO of Shopify. “The real prize is having a business of your own at the end of the contest.”
Shopify, a company that is deeply rooted with entrepreneurial spirit, is committed to helping participants along the way by offering world-class marketing and sales tips through a special Build-A-Business website, which will offer knowledge and insight from partners Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk and Tim Ferriss, and sponsors like Google, MailChimp, and PayPal. Shopify has also built out significant prizes for the winners to help their businesses succeed long after the contest:
Grand Prize: $100,000 cash; VIP trip for two to New York, including round-trip airfare, hotel and spending money, lunch with Seth Godin (he’s cooking); one-hour power session with Gary Vaynerchuk on how to further grow your business; trip to Mountain View, California, to visit Google Headquarters and receive special education from Google experts; and while in California, enjoy dinner with Tim Ferriss.
6 Industry Prizes: $20,000 cash each; VIP trip for two to New York, including round-trip airfare, hotel and spending money; lunch with Seth Godin (he’s cooking); $7,500 Google Adwords credit.
Canadian Prize: $5,000 at the Apple Store; five-day VIP trip for two to New York, including round-trip airfare and hotel; lunch with Seth Godin (he’s cooking); $15,000 Google Adwords credit.
The winner of last year’s contest – which created nearly 1,400 businesses and generated over $3.5 million in combined revenue – was DODOcase (www.dodocase.com), a San Francisco company that makes iPad cases using traditional book-binding techniques. The founders, Patrick Buckley and Craig Dalton, are now running a company with projected annual earnings of $4-5 million.
“Our online store looks so good, and works so well that our cases are flying off the shelf,” said Craig. “Without Shopify, there’s no way we would be where we are today. Shopify is our secret weapon.”
For more details on the Build-A-Business contest, including registration, please visit (www.shopify.com/contest)
About Shopify
Shopify is an online SaaS eCommerce platform that allows individuals to create online stores. The platform currently hosts over 15,000 online retailers, including: Angry Birds, Amnesty International, General Electric, Tesla Motors, Foo Fighters, Beastie Boys, and Evisu Jeans. Shopify was founded in 2006 by two snowboarding enthusiasts who wanted to create a better way to sell their snowboards online. Shopify is located in Ottawa, Canada, and has over 60 employees. On December 12, 2010, Shopify announced the acquisition of $7 million in Series A funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital, and Felicis Ventures.
About Shopify’s Partners
Seth Godin
American Way Magazine calls him, “America’s Greatest Marketer,” and his blog is perhaps the most popular in the world written by a single individual. His latest book, Poke The Box is a call to action about the initiative you’re taking — in your job or in your life, and Seth once again breaks the traditional publishing model by releasing it through The Domino Project.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary’s cult-like following is the result of his unconventional, often irreverent commentary on wine, combined with his business acumen and foresight to use social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to reach an untapped audience. In The Thank You Economy, Gary reveals how companies big and small can scale that kind of personal relationship using the same social media platforms that carry consumer word of mouth.
Tim Ferriss
Forbes Magazine’s “Names You Need to Know in 2011”, Tim is an angel investor (StumbleUpon, Facebook, Digg, Twitter) and author of the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek bestseller, The 4-Hour Workweek, which has been sold into 35 languages. Tim helped launch Shopify’s first Build-A-Business Contest in 2010 and is an advisor to Shopify.
Link: shopify.com/contest
I guess that to get the loans from creditors you must present a great reason. However, once I’ve got a car loan, just because I wanted to buy a building.