: Social Media

IkigaiWay Shirts Now Available!

Over the past two months I've had the opportunity to do T-Shirt giveaways thanks to a few generous companies. While people enjoyed participating in the giveaways, they kept asking me "how do I get a shirt if I don't win?"

I didn't have an answer because I never focused on IkigaiWay specific products. The T-Shirt situation came about by chance. Of course I was pumped to hear that people were interested in sharing the concept of the website and would enjoy wearing something based on it.

Recently I teamed up with a company called Spreadshirt in order to make IkigaiWay apparel a reality. Spreadshirt is a professional T-Shirt creation company that prints shirts on demand. Through their technology I was able to design the shirts to my specifications and keep the cost relatively low. As a result, IkigaiWay gear is now available in multiple designs, colors, and products.

Browse the Apparel Shop

Thanks to Spreadshirt's imbedding technology, I have the storefront right here on the site. The actual store is hosted and encrypted via Spreadshirt, which means it's as easy and safe to use as Amazon. Ordering a shirt on the site comes with full capability of returns, refunds, and customer service.

To access the store, navigate to "ikigai shop" above and you'll notice it on the dropdown. Or just click here – GO TO THE SHOP.

Shirts Available May15th – June15th

This shirt shop is an experiment, so I intend to keep it open for a month. If people seem to enjoy it I will keep it open, otherwise I will close it down. If you'd like a shirt, please place your order within a month.

Get Your Picture Posted!

IkigaiWay has always been a community driven site, but now we get to see it in action! I've dedicated three pages specifically to showing off IkigaiWay members in action:

• ikiGuys
• ikiGals
• ikiGroups

Grab a shirt, take a picture, and send it to ikigai108@gmail.com. Imagine dozens of pictures from people all over sharing the same message of Budo Spirit!

T-shirt Giveaway Results from Ooshirts

Thanks to everyone who helped make this giveaway a success! We reached our goal and have crested the 10,000 mark on Facebook. The value and contributions of facebook members continue to be an important part of ikigaiway.com.

As you might recall, I decided to work with a private company called Ooshirts for this giveaway. Ooshirts.com specializes in T-shirt printing, and here is the result from the ikigaiway project:

Since receiving the shirts, I have reached out to all three randomly selected winners of the contest. If you didn’t hear from me, unfortunately it means you didn’t have a lucky draw – but don’t worry, there will be more giveaways in the future!

I’d like to take a moment and express my appreciation for the quality of easy process provided by Ooshirts. Their website is very intuitive, and made the design process a snap. I didn’t have any issues with file type or size or formatting. Many of the hair pulling elements of working with online design were carefully avoided by Ooshirts.

The company also utilizes a friendly, hands-on customer service method. They provide free review of design by their internal graphic designers, who guide you and alert you to any complications that might arise BEFORE they go about printing.

Check em out, and thanks again to everyone involved.

Reader Week Submissions! (Exercise Your Write)

As evidenced by the comments left on this blog and the awesome facebook community, IkigaiWay has some smart cookies reading and participating!

There’s no question that IkigaiWay wouldn’t be where it is today without the thoughtful contributions of the community. We’ve all come together under the idea that it is possible to share and learn online while preserving the spirit of the martial way.

Now I’d like to open the floor and give some readers a platform to share their experiences and ideas. This will be a “Reader’s Week” where every day I will feature a new and interesting article.

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Who’s Eligible to Submit an Article?

You are! As you know IkigaiWay is not style-specific, so you can bring whatever experience you have to the table. Whether you’re a 30 year vet or a 2 year newbie, it doesn’t matter. If you have something interesting to contribute, go for it. Since I’ll be acting as your editor and assistant, you needn’t be self conscious about matters such as spelling and grammar.

What Should I Write About?

The door is fairly wide open regarding your topic. However, I can give you some general guidelines that will improve your chances of getting selected:

Avoid:

• Attacks on any specific person or organization you happen to dislike
• Promotional bragging about your organization or school
• Raw training schedules about your workouts or routine
• Self aggrandizing biography

Consider:

• Weird or unique historical studies
• Important lessons learned throughout your training
• Memorable experiences with instructors
• Specific concept analysis
• Broad scope trends and goings-on in the martial arts world
• Whatever else you can dream up!

How Long Should the Submission Be?

My articles tend to vary wildly in length. However I would suggest not dipping below three paragraphs. If you start to wonder if your submission should be an ebook, you might have gone on too long.

How Do I Submit?

Submission is easy. First, create your article in a file that is friendly with Microsoft Word, Wordpad, or Notepad (if this is impossible for you, let me know. We can probably make arrangements via Google Docs). Include the text of the submission either in the body of the email you send or as a separate attachment.

Once your article is prepared, click here:

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If the link above does not work, email submissions to ikigai108@gmail.com.

What Are the Benefits of Submitting?

If your submission is selected, you’ll gain exposure on an internationally recognized martial arts platform. You can use that as a writing credit or resume builder.

Furthermore, I will feature a small bio snippet of you along with your article which can link back to any blog or school website you happen to be associated with.

You’ll also receive an “IkigaiWay Guest Author” badge to place on your website (never before seen).

I will also send you ikigaiway stickers.

Can I Use An Old Blog Post or Previously Published Article?

Although I ‘m not inflexibly opposed to older work, I prefer an original piece. In general, Google and other search engines don’t care for duplicate content. DC tends to work against the reputation of both sites involved; not to mention that if IkigaiWay ranks higher than your original post, you’ll lose traffic for that very same content!

That’s no good, so an original article tends to best for both parties.

You retain legal rights to your article, but I ask that you do not republish the work in full anywhere on the web for a year after it appears on IkigaiWay.

What If I Have Questions?

If you have any questions about the process or the validity of your submission idea, just email me at ikigai108@gmail.com. I’ll be happy to field any concerns you have.

What’s the Deadline For Submission?

I’ll be collecting submissions for the next two weeks. The earlier you submit, the better your chances.

Good luck, and I look forward to hearing from you!