I'm a big fan of people who utilize their passions to not only make their own lives better, but to also help make the world a better place.
I was recently introduced to a gentleman (thanks K.D.) who is accomplishing this feat, one product at a time!
Cleavon J. Blair is a young African American entrepreneur from the Valley of the Sun who has created Benedire.com, a Website that aims to share God’s Word with the public and His followers by finding fun and interesting ways of getting people to read scripture in the Bible.
Benedire.com offers a set of products (such as t-shirts and coffee mugs) that are very easy on the eyes and are sure to inspire others to crack open their Bibles and to not only read, but also find comfort in the Word of God.
Please take the time to read my "conversation" with Cleavon about Benedire.com ...
Q: What is the purpose of Benedire.com?
A: I like to call Benedire.com its own ministry, meaning its purpose is to bring people closer to Jesus Christ by offering God's Word to an interested public, it just so happens that God's Word appears on a t-shirt or a latte mug, and other products to come.
What I like about our products is that we share a verse from the Bible, but not the scripture itself. We do this purposely as a way to try to get people to open their Bibles and read what the Word of God says.
Also, in Italian, the word benedire means "to bless; to request of God the bestowal of divine favor." We want our products to represent a request of divine favor to others, to be a sort of blessing. For example, a good friend of mine has a younger brother who felt that God wasn't in his corner and getting him the things he needed. My friend sent his younger brother our Matthew 21:22 t-shirt and after receiving the shirt the younger brother called his older brother and thanked him for the shirt, but most importantly, he thanked his older brother for sending him a reminder of what God says, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." The younger brother had to have faith that what he needed would always be provided to him, and that it is his faith in the Lord that will get him what he needs, and he was wise enough to see that. That, to me, is the purpose of Benedire.com…
Q: Why should people buy merchandise from Benedire.com?
A: I would love for people all across this country, the world even, to support Benedire.com. Not just for the business side of it, but truly to share the Word of God with others.
To often people hide Christianity in their back pockets because society around us keeps telling us it is not ok to publicly support Christianity, as if it (Christianity) is offensive or something and I just don't believe in that. It seems to be ok for people to support everything else that they believe in, and I personally want to publicly support Jesus Christ because I've been through a few things in my life. Had it not been for Christ, I know I probably wouldn't be here today to reflect on my past. In short, Christ "got a brotha through", and I am very thankful and grateful for God's Grace and Love, and I want to publicly acknowledge that, so that He knows my love and appreciation is REAL. There are others who feel this way, so I want them to have a vehicle to do the same.
There are other vendors out there who have tons of products with Bible verses and scripture on them, and if consumers feel compelled to purchase from those vendors, then that is ok because at the end of the day, it is all about the words that appear on the products. We, Benedire.com, just want to do our part, to offer products to consumers, Christians who might feel that they are underserved by other vendors or their products. Our products don't overwhelm you with graphics and colors, etc, and that's the beauty of what we're doing. We provide products that are simple, yet classy, with an emphasis on the true purpose – sharing God's Word.
Q: When did the Benedire.com concept first pop into your head and when did you begin selling the shirts?
A: 4 years ago, when I was living in Chicago, I wanted to purchase a shirt with some biblical scripture on it, but the shirts that I found were not to my liking. The shirts I found were so loud with the prints that I couldn't find the scripture on them, which, in my opinion, totally negated the purpose of the shirt. That day I told myself I would have a line of products that plainly and clearly stated God's Word; something simple, yet classy that could be worn whether a person was dressed up or dressed down. In short, I wanted something that would state God's Words, but still allow me to "get my grown man on."
With life and everything else happening, it took 4 years to start selling our t-shirts. I mean, it was only last year (2006) that I started seriously looking for reputable, local printers and started ordering t-shirt samples. We went through the design process earlier this year, which was somewhat tough, but a fun process in coming up with the design of the shirts, which led us to a quiet launch of this line of business on December 13, 2007.
Q: Is Benedire.com turning over a high number of sales?
A: As I stated earlier, Benedire.com was launched on December 13, 2007, which was just a few weeks ago. We have done no marketing at this point, and I'm proud to say that we've sold over 175 shirts and 30 latte mugs across the country.
While this isn't an extraordinary number of product sold compared to what some of the bigger retailers do, it is substantial to us because it gives us a sort of grass roots support of our products, which, to me, is a great way to launch a product because you have a genuine opportunity to build brand loyalty over the long term.
Now don't get me wrong, if we were to receive 1000 orders a day for the next 4 - 6 months, I would not be unhappy with that.
Q: How do you market your products to the public?
A: As I stated earlier, we haven't done any marketing with our Benedire.com products yet. Our marketing strategy and plan will kick into gear at the end of January 2008. We will be advertising in industry-specific magazines as well as sending collateral and product samples to several Christian organizations around the country.
In the very near future, we hope to license resellers (churches, Christian bookstores, etc.) to resell product for us. Also, I would love for us to sell through a vehicle like Amazon.com, but we are too small for that at the moment, but we will definitely get there, and very soon…
Q: Do you have a home church in the Valley?
A: I attend First Institutional Baptist Church in Phoenix, AZ.
Q: Do any of your proceeds go to charities?
A: We have short-term and long-term donation goals for Benedire.com.
In the short-term, we will select a new organization each year for 3 years to donate a percentage of sales to. This year, we've selected the St. John Missionary Baptist Church of Springfield, OH as the organization to receive our donations, of which will be distributed quarterly.
Long-term, we'd like to establish our own charitable organization of which we can donate funds to. This organization will be used to directly help individuals, rather than us donating monies to a larger organization. We want to be able to help people in a more definable way, such as, paying someone's mortgage for 3 – 6 months, or buying someone's groceries for a year, or making their car payment for a year. Not necessarily taking the costs away forever, but giving a family or an individual an opportunity to "take a break" for a few months and possibly save a little extra money. We are a couple of years away from doing this, but that is our goal…
Q: Can you tell us about your personal life?
A: Well, I'm a married father of one little girl, and I live in the Valley byway of Ohio (how 'bout those Buckeyes!!!). I'm a graduate of Bowling Green State University (Go Falcons) in Bowling Green, OH with degrees in Business Administration and Computer Science.
As far as community service is concerned, all I've done is try to be a respectful member of society and help in ways that I'm able to.
I encourage you to visit Benedire.com and support Cleavon's efforts for success - in the businessworld and the community!
Submitted by Alisa Fleming, AVF Marketing Group
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