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How do you like getting free stuff?

Last year, my email marketing service provider, MailChimp, sent me out a free t-shirt – http://blog.mailchimp.com/holiday-shirts/ – A cool print on an American Apparel tri-blend t-shirt.

Now for someone who deals with t-shirts all day, every day, you might not think that would be so cool, but honestly I was stoked.

I just got their newsletter and they had a little piece in it about visiting their t-shirt printers and at the end linked to an article by Adam Nash , VP of Product Management at LinkedIn.

The article is basically about the psychology behind giving and receiving t-shirts as it relates to business. Check it out here – http://blog.adamnash.com/2010/11/29/why-t-shirts-matter/

Sending you this might now seem a little self serving, and in a way it is, I need to sell t-shirts to put food on my family’s table. But it made me think back to receiving that MailChimp t-shirt in the post and how it made me feel. I thought it was the coolest thing (maybe I am a bit of a nerd though?).

I agree with everything that Adam Nash said in his article but here is something I experienced first hand with MailChimp’s tees…

We had a prospective client call us up wanting some t-shirts printed (hey Sacha!!). As he was going on to tell us what he was after, he explained that he got this t-shirt from an email company called MailChimp, and how he loved it and wanted his t-shirts to be just like it etc.

Jodi was speaking to him and said “Yeah my husband Joel got one too”.

Sacha was so stoked that he met someone else that used MailChimp and had the same t-shirt. In the end he couldn’t wait to place his order with us.

The point to the story is, that by giving away those t-shirts to a limited number of customers, MailChimp has created a little “club”, manufactured a feeling of exclusivity in their clients. Could you do that in your business?

It does take a little more than just slapping your logo on a t-shirt though. I think the design is a big part, people have to want to wear it. But that gives you another opportunity…run a t-shirt design competition to generate some serious goodwill amongst your customers. That’s a topic for another time though.

Anyway just some interesting stuff I wanted to share with you guys. I would love to hear your thoughts on how you could use it in your business. Just pop them in the comments section below.