My son drawing.

I believe one of the best gifts you can give to your children is the knowledge and skills to become an entrepreneur. It’s not for everyone, and you can’t force it, but at least you can show them a few things at an early age.

Artists are especially resistant to learning to sell and market their products. This is probably because many of them believe art is to be seen and not necessarily paid for, or they are totally focused on producing the artwork and hope that it alone with sell itself. Most artists are not comfortable in the ‘salesman’ role, which is what makes them artists and not ‘sellers’.

My son is a budding artist. He’s 9. And he likes to draw (although lately he has been spending the majority of his time with Legos and Mega Blocks). Over the years I saved most of his work, and set aside a few of his best drawings and put them in a drawer. I had no intentions other than to make sure we didn’t lose the best ones.

As Christmas approached I started thinking about gifts or experiences that were not what Santa usually brings at Christmas. I wanted to give him something totally unique and then it came to me. Why not put his drawings on a T-shirt?

He loved the idea (I broke it to him early because I was so excited) and I found a relatively easy way to get his artwork from paper and then onto a t-shirt. But then another idea came to me. Why not take it a step further and teach him a little bit about marketing and selling and using his t-shirts as a starting point? Continue reading →