I just finished reading Tribes by Seth Godin. Great book. I need to go back through it an pull out all the nuggets of goodness that I can apply to life and ministry. One thing that really intrigued me was the idea of creating movements and raging fans. I found an example of this today right here!
Behold the Three Wolf Moon Shirt.
Dumb, isn’t it?
I guess it started as a joke. Someone gave this thing a ridiculously positive review outlining it’s mystical powers. Other people have caught on and now it has almost 500 reviews with an average rating of 4.5 stars. Even the negative reviews are funny. Seriously funny. I’ve included some of the reviews at the bottom of this post.
The not so funny part is that the shirt has increased sales by almost 2000%.
Weather organized or not, these people created a movement around a stupid T-Shirt. How do we in ministry create this kind of fan base around aspects of our ministry or the ministry as a whole? It could be a service that everyone wants to work at, a program everyone wants to serve in or even a ministry t-shirt that everyone can’t live without. I know that’s the kind of energy I’d like to see among my team.
What do you think?
Reviews:
Review One: This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that’s when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the wolves on my shirt that I, like a wolf, am a mysterious loner who knows how to ‘howl at the moon’ from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called mehth. I told them no, because they didn’t have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a wolf-shirt shouldn’t settle for the first thing that comes to him.
I arrived at Wal-mart, mounted my courtesy-scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side saddle so that my wolves would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the wolves on my shirt, I told her I wanted to howl at her moon. She offered me a swig from her mountain dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling along side out the door and into the rest of our lives. Thank you wolf shirt.
Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women
Cons: Only 3 wolves (could probably use a few more on the ‘guns’), cannot see wolves when sitting with arms crossed, wolves would have been better if they glowed in the dark.
Review two: Unfortunately I already had this exact picture tattooed on my chest, but this shirt is very useful in colder weather.
Review three: So after much meditation, fastings, prayers for guidance, consultations from priests, and reading these reviews,I decided to buy 2 of the “3 wolves shirts”. I took the advice of a reviewer and cut out the wolves from the second shirt and sewed it on the back for that extra protection. After trying it on I still didn’t feel that full 6 wolves protection I’ve read about. I didn’t want to feel 20% protected, I wanted that 100% guarantee I thought I was paying for. So I went back on Amazon and purchased 9 additional shirts for a total of 27 WOLVES! I now am the well protected owner of a, one 6 wolves shirt, one 12 wolves pants, one 3 wolves full facial ski mask, and two 1-1/2 each wolves gloves! I feel so fully protected I could easily walk through the streets of Compton or Afghanistan with virtually no worry at all!
Kenny! This article is a fine example of the reasons why I love you:
a. You don’t actually wear wolf t-shirts
b. You dig up random goodies from the internet like this
Thanks for the laughs. Great way to drive home your point.
Sara Conleys last blog post..Cooper’s BBQ in Llano, Texas
That’s my wife who just commented. She’s awesome, isn’t she?
This reminds me of Tuscan Whole Milk on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Tuscan-Whole-Milk-Gallon-128/product-reviews/B00032G1S0/ref=cm_cr_pr_redirect?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0
jonathans last blog post..Tribes, fans and mini-movements
A friend of mine directed me to that same shirt a week ago. I didn’t realize that it had reached epic status…
Some interesting thoughts. I, too, enjoyed Tribes. I don’t think there is anything by Seth Godin I don’t like. My first exposure to him was when I read Free Prize Inside about 7 or 8 years ago. He’s got some great thoughts and an awesome blog.
As for your thoughts on how to create a movement… I don’t think we have much control over it. You have to keep doing what you do well over and over and over again. To steal some images from Godin, you need to create that “long tail” that supports everything that you keep doing… or you need to keep pushing through the dip. There are some movements that catch on like wildfire, but those are few and far between when you take into account how much is out there, and those movements fizzle out quickly. What lasts are movements that are quality, authentic, and consistent that keep going at it over time building a positive reputation and relationships over time.
One thing to remember, though, is that success isn’t always measured in numbers or sales. Success is people coming back over and over. Success is people telling other people about what you are doing and bringing people. Success is building a positive reputation in your community. Success is about making a difference in the world around you. It isn’t always “big” but it should always be lasting.
Henry Zonios last blog post..Are You In or Are You Out? Part 2: Colouring In Between the Lines
Henry’s last point is so true. It’s the viral nature that makes things successful. People have to be willing to talk about the thing…whatever it is. In our case, a freeing relationship with Jesus is what we want them talking about to their friends. I always say that I will talk to a stranger on the street about my latest diet craze. I’ll just talk and talk about my success on the diet, the tricks I’ve used to lose weight, the online networks I’ve found for support, etc. Am I this passionate about sharing my relationship with Christ with others? Unfortunately, I must admit, it’s much easier for me to talk about a diet craze than the most imortant gift in the world-Jesus Christ.