Fun T-Shirts By Life Is Crap

So, what’s a person to do? Paul Wheeler believes the only answer is laughter. The whole focus of his company — predictably named Life is Crap — is to take the inevitable, put it up front and visible and laugh it off. “It’s our mission,” says Wheeler of his Manchester, Vt., company. Together with his partner, Ken Lefevre, they have successful brought the company to the marketplace.

“Everything we do revolves around the idea that crap happens and that laughter is the cure.”

That means the message shows up on T-shirts, caps —anywhere an individual can make a statement on the way things are in this troubled world. The company is now expanding into checks that give folks a frequent opportunity to reflect on the vagaries of life and apply their sense of humor. “We’ve seen what works, now we’re scaling up. We’re always looking for ways to expand.” Always within the boundaries of the basic concept, he adds. That careful attention to sticking to initial principles has turned Life is Crap into a $10 million dollar enterprise.

If you ended up with a bad split in the bowling alley, there it is—a shirt showing the ball rolling easily between the two widely separated pins. Out of wine? Lament the fact with a public display of the empty glass. The bicycle depicted crashing into the pile of dirt at the bottom of the hill? It has happened to all of us. Wheeler and crew simply take the universal hazards of everyday living and put them out there where everyone can laugh along. The company customizes such items as magnets, books, calendars, shirt, caps, towels, hoodies, key rings, shot glasses, beer steins, decals, greeting cards, page a day calendars items— any desired surface that will accommodate an image.

Looking at the irritations of life might seem like a negative approach, but those who retail his products don’t seem to mind, Wheeler has found. No one has ever complained. Of course, that means finding the best outlets for Life is Crap merchandise. Someone lacking the sense of humor to appreciate the products, obviously, isn’t the one to present them to his purchasing public, Wheeler has found. The bah-humbuggers who refuse to find humor in life are to be avoided. And there are, believe it or not, some “crap” areas that don’t translate well to the buying public.

There have been some bombs along the learning curve. The company thought that politics was a logical target for its kind of humor and found that, in fact, no serious person of any political persuasion wanted anyone publicly poking fun at their well-known areas of crap. That venture was a failed effort that cost time and money, he said.

Another spot too sensitive to subject it to humor, the company found, is the current economy. No merchant wanted his customers reminded that times are tough. The popular idea of what’s funny changes with time and events, Life is Crap has found, but there is always plenty of grist for its mill in just the ongoing, everlasting irritations that humans endure. The company expects to continue to thrive on items that make the enduring easier.

The whole road to success, Wheeler said, has been a process of trial and error. When the group started, they were up against the same basic questions each new small business faces. How to put their ideas into concrete products. How to find the best business model to meet their goals. How to allocate the existing resources most effectively. Where to find the most effective market outlets. They spent a year in development.

To date, the company has developed some 500 images, licensed them and marketed through over 1100 stores. As the small business got a toe hold in the market, the next logical step was putting the goods online, he said. “We buy back product from the manufacturer and sell it online. We’ve done well and have seen it grow. Now we are focused on getting traffic to our site.”

The basic concept for Life is Crap requires employees who are in tune, he said. The group is small—just five employees—but they comprise the gamut of artistic and business savvy that is making Life is Crap a growing concern. Being constantly alert to possibilities has contributed to the growing of the company’s product lines. Pure serendipity, in fact, had a hand in bringing designer checks into the fold. Wheeler, et al, met the owner of Carousel Checks during a trade show. There was an exchange of ideas and voila! Another licensing arrangement was born.

In 2012, the company will be focused in building and expanding our direct to consumer internet business. New products to be launched include several other related sub-brands: Life is Poop — for infants, Life is Ruff for dog lovers, Old Life is Crap for Senior Citizens, College Life is Crap for College Students and Life is Beer — for BEER LOVERS.

The fact that life is crappy is not likely to end soon. There is always the bird overhead looking for a place to unload. That bodes well for Wheeler and Life is Crap as they look for new targets for their brand of humor.

 Well, he surpassed his original claim and made $25,000 in 21 days. He decided to pay it forward and gifted John Chow $10,000. 

So, how do you make money using Facebook?

To begin with, sign up for an account and learn how to use various applications of Facebook to reprint your website blog feed, find and communicate with friends, post videos, provide valuable content to your visitors and provide leadership to anyone who wants to improve their financial condition. 

History of the Development of the Facebook Website

In 2008, Forbes Magazine declared the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, 24 years-old, the youngest self-made billionaire on earth with an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion U.S. dollars. Described as a young geeky computer programmer, Mark is the mogul who is guiding the extrodinary growth of Facebook.

In 2006, Yahoo offered to buy Facebook for a billion dollars, but Mark Zuckerberg declined. Microsoft then made him an offer of $240 million dollars to gain 1.6% of the company. Based on this information, some analysts came to the conclusion that Facebook is worth $15 Billion dollars. Not all analyst agree on that valuation. 

Mark Zuckerberg is not new to the field of computer programming. He wrote his first software program in the 6th grade. In high school he was approached by both Microsoft and AOL due to a hacking project he was involved in. He decided to go to Harvard University instead. 

He built the original Facebook site in two weeks, while attending Harvard. Within a short period of time, more than 2/3 of the student body at Harvard was using the program. Within four months they had launched the program to over 40 colleges. He expanded Facebook to be used in high schools and then in 2006, he opened it up to the public. 

Facebook now has more than 700 employees, has hired a lawyer, shares more than ten billion photos, has 100-million-plus users and is connecting people with each other like they have never been able to connect before. 

Facebook Helps Entrepreneurs 

It has been said that marketing in 2008 begins with conversations and what better way to have conversations with people than being an active member of the Facebook community? People around the world are using Facebook to connect with each other for social purposes and that provides the ultimate medium to network and share your personal recommendations for a huge variety of products and purposes. What kind of marketing system can you create on Facebook?

Watch the interview with Mark Zuckerberg on 60 Minutes here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yhXUab_4zA  With so much focus targeted with online marketing, sometimes we forget that offline advertising works well too. Here are some tips to help you advertise your website domain name offline.

1. Go to www.cafepress.com  and have some wearable artwork put on a tee shirt, sweatshirt, baseball cap, coffee cup, clock or many other items.
2. If you don’t have any artistic skills in making up logos for your website, go to www.elance.com and hire a professional graphic designer to make you a logo. Then you can upload it to www.cafepress.com  and order all you want.
3. License plate frames are a great way to advertise to all those people who are sitting in traffic behind you.
4. Put a cool graphic on your car window. Go to to find out what they look like.
5. If you are fortunate enough to have one, put your domain name on your boat.
6. Put a yard sign in your yard, if your neighborhood allows it.
7. Order pens that have your domain name on them.
8. Put your domain name on stationary, magnets, golf balls  and more.
9. Talk to people you see when you are out doing errands. Word of mouth is wonderful.
10. Make an unusual business card  stand out from the normal cards.   

Enhance your entrepreneurial skills by talking about your website offline and by using offline advertising such as the ten offline advertising ideas mentioned here.

Add your unique ideas here in the comments section!

I interviewed one entrepreneur profit maker, Pradeep Pradhan and asked him what he liked about selling his jewelry at the Salt Lake Gem and Jewelry show. In the amatuerish video (I will get better at this), Pradeep tells us about his best money maker.

During the interview I discovered that Pradeep has several businesses. He owns a restaurant in San Diego, California and he is currently working on another business and is in business negotiations with people in Nepal. He is truely an entrepreneur profit maker at heart.

Being an entrepreneur affects all areas of your life and with Pradeep Pradhan, you can tell he has taken advantage of several different types of businesses. He certainly is improving his financial condition and has added a nice story to the website.  Thank you Pradeep and good luck with your business plans!