#elephant – Weekly thoughts

Quite often when I read any article, column, blog, I cannot avoid to spot a few words: sexy, passion, epic, story telling. These old words have gotten totally new meanings in current (postmodern) businesses. As a shy Finn, I hardly can write these down, never speak in loud. And if ever, only blushing.

All companies offer sexy products, every experience is epic. It seems that there are not workers or employees anymore – only passionate enthusiasts and of course storytellers. The last one is so last season – it has been precept already decades (at least in some countries).

Is it really so that all the companies are filled with passionate people, who sell and offer sexy things. Sometimes the comprehension is not possible. One of my latest experience (not anything epic) was to find out that web analytics is very sexy. Really? I enrolled Digital Marketing Specialization program (offered by Coursera & Illinois University). Our lecturer was enthusiastic, perhaps passionate, when telling all the possibilities the web analytics can offer. Why not? But sexy – can analytical science be sexy. Also accounting was declared sexy in one blog (forgotten the specific blog, but it was written by Kaushik).

I have worked on sales, account management, business development for years, so story telling is familiar with me. There are storytellers and storytellers. I hopefully followed my morals during my sales journeys. I truly believe in honest and truthful selling, if you have no solution to fit, say no.

It is almost touching to read of epic journeys, which first time travelers publish. Everything is epic. Still sometimes I doubt, if it is, really. Eating MacLunch in a new city is not necessarily so epic. Or at least not in the sense, how ancient Homer probably thought it to be. But in the other hand Homer wrote of young, omnipotent heroes, so actually it can be exactly apt.

But passionate. There has been enthusiasts, heroes, explorers, evangelists. And now everyone has to be passionate. The most common question on job ads is “What is your passion?”. Again, only blushing. Okay, it is something deeper than to like or feel happy for, but it is a strong word. (at least for a Finn)

And in job interviews, always the question, what are you passionate for? What an earth I could answer. My passions, well, reading, books, anything new, walking and hiking in pool or in the ground, cultures, elephants, baking, my bread starters. … Nope. Should I tell that yes, my passion is web analytics, you know, it is so sexy tool. No again. But what I have said then that one of my passions is my curiosity, I want to learn new and I am enthusiastic with it. Hopefully it is not comprehended nosy, negative curiosity, but only positive – in the way that I want resolve problems, I want to see forward, I need to know the background. Never know what impulse gives you a new idea.

I feel passionate elephants. They are vanishing, soon in the extinction. Only because of us, humans. I have read, clicked in social media, shared videos, photos and articles of elephants that much that probably half of Facebook friends have hidden my posts. The concern, caring passion I should say led me to act. Unfortunately I have no possibility to move onto any elephant sanctuary to help there, but I wanted to do something very concrete. That’s why I established two online shops via Threadless and RedBubble.

My objective is to donate 50% of my sales share to the organizations preserving wildlife. First week sales (Threadless) was 3 t-shirts and 1 hoodie, my share $49 (US). Donation is not huge at the moment, but I want to believe it comes dollar by dollar. My target annually is $1000. If your passion also is wildlife, I am glad to see you sharing my blog or posts.

Online shops:

RedBubble: http://www.redbubble.com/people/norsumarketing/works/21750929-no-poaching-collection?grid_pos=5&p=t-shirt&style=mens

Threadless: https://norsumarketing.threadless.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/norsumarketing/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

A few of weeks ago I posted of my digital experiment as a part of my digital marketing specialization program, and I submitted a picture onto threadless.com. Unfortunately my submission was declined. Totally my bad, because I just submitted a picture, nothing else. So my intention was to create a new submission linked to Threadless product line. Intended for too long, Threadless reached me before my action. The company suggested me to create a webstore of my own. My first reaction: what a… never. But then a couple nights after I had an idea to open webstore to sell Threadless products with my own design, and to donate 50 % of my sales share to organizations, which preserve wildlife, especially elephants.

Two more weeks, and I got untold help from my dearest, I decided to open online shop. Threadless offers an opportunity to create an online shop to sell its products, but designed by anyone. Online shop model is called Artist Shop.

The design of mine is my tattoo. I drew it about 15 years ago, and got tattooed. So to me it is very personal, private I could say, but also something larger. Why elephant? Elephants are gentle, they communicate in several ways – touches and sounds and gestures and moves, they live in herds lead by matriarch taking care of each other, they are essential to our ecosystem, they don’t have any natural enemies (except poaching humans), they wander thousands of kilometers annually and they are able to share drinking spots and food fields with other species (if not too threatened). Elephants are playful, learning, sentient creatures.

We humans exploit elephants many ways: we think they can entertain us and live in very unbearable conditions (circus, tourist attractions, zoos), some even think to have elephants as pets at the back yard (!), etc. Touristic elephants are mainly ill-treated, must live in such circumstances that not even close to their natural habits. Elephants rides might seem to fun, but most of those elephants work almost 24/7, having some food, some water, but nothing else than a huge work load. Elephants yearn to wander around freely, having their own speed, space, communication to their peers. Not walking around a circle getting hit every time turning off the road.

Back to my objective. I opened an online shop to sell t-shirts, hoodies, baby clothes (products by Threadless). I will donate 50% of my sales share to the organizations preserving great mammals, especially elephants, but also rhinos, orangutans – all species under the thread of becoming extinct. My target is to sell so many t-shirts that I can donate at least 1000 US dollars to 1-3 organizations mentioned annually. I will donate quarterly, or when there is at least $100 to donate.

How Threadless manages Artist Shops? If I sell a t-shirt at the price $25, Threadless’s share is about 75% ($18). My share is $7. Threadless has all rights to any additional expenses, so my share can be less. But ideally every t-shirt I sell via my online store transfers $7 onto my account. Of the sum ($7 x ?) I shall donate 50% to the selected elephant sanctuaries and trust and organizations helping wildlife to survive. I will publish the sales statistics monthly or quarterly – depending, how the sales keeps ongoing. Why I don’t donate all? I have some expenses to cover, my intention is not make business, my only target is to donate. I will analyze the business flow continually, to fix donation percentage more consistent.

I wish sincerely you can share this message (even if not buying) to reach as many we can together. Save great mammals! No poaching!

The link to my online shop: https://norsumarketing.threadless.com/

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am glad to answer.

Book I recommend highly: An African Love Story by Dame Daphne Sheldrick.

#savegreatmammals #nopoaching # norsumarketing #elephantsanctuary

Tag: #elephant

Sexy, passionate, epic, storyteller?

Save great mammals, Digital experiment further, part 2