Dribbble global meetup sponsor 

With hundreds of meetups happening around the world in 2016, Dribbble's online community of designers is fast becoming one of the best offline communities for designers too. [Dribbble](https://dribbble.com/) is a place to show and tell, promote, discover, and explore design. It's a community that [Sticker Mule](https://www.stickermule.com) has been a part of for years.

Sticker Mule and Dribbble both started in 2010. We've had a great relationship with the team, located in Salem, MA, from the start. Dribbble has become more than just a social network to us—it's become our favorite community to engage with and be a part of. Here's what Dave, our lead designer, said,

> Dribbble is the single most important social network for anyone that cares about design. It’s done more to help us build our team and brand than Facebook, Twitter and Instagram combined.

## 2016 Global meetup sponsor

This year we decided to make our "relationship" with Dribbble official by sponsoring [hundreds of meetups](https://dribbble.com/meetups) in cities like Toronto, New Delhi, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City and more.

As an official partner along with [InVision](https://www.invisionapp.com), we're sending meetup kits to cities around the world. The kits include branded Sticker Mule and Dribbble stickers (including our newest product [transfer stickers](https://www.stickermule.com/products/transfer-stickers)), sample stickers, and [Sticker Mule gift cards](https://www.stickermule.com/products/gift-cards).

## Kicking it off

Last month, [we kicked off the partnership](https://dribbble.com/stories/2016/01/26/global-meetup-sponsor-sticker-mule) with what became a Legendary Playoff shot ["Free Custom Stickers for Everyone"](https://dribbble.com/shots/2483034-Free-Custom-Stickers-For-Everyone). The shot was viewed more than 14,000 times, rebounded over 600 and received a record breaking 1,553 likes. Although the deal has ended, we have much more in store for the design and Dribbble community.

## What's next

In addition to sponsoring global meetups, we plan to continue the monthly playoffs we began mid-2015. With a theme and unique prizes for winners, each playoff presents a unique opportunity for Dribbblers to see their design in real life as a sticker or a [button](https://www.stickermule.com/custom-buttons).

[Visit us on Dribbble](https://dribbble.com/stickermule) to see past playoffs, upcoming deals, and new shots!


We're sponsoring Dribbble meetups all over the world with meetup kits, stickers, and more. 

Pour your own beer with iPourIt 

- __About iPourIt:__ iPourIt is a unique patented technology that allows customers to pour their own beer. The system consists of a management workstation, meter, valve, iPourIt board, RFID wristbands and RFID readers. Pubs and their customers can sell and order their beer by the ounce.
- __How they use stickers:__ They use stickers to create custom branded RFID wristbands for their clients. It's been a fast and easy way to make clients happy with extra service and a unique look.
- __Results:__ As the company grows, it has been able to offer its growing client list the ability to make the iPourIt system their own.

iPourIt is a self-serve beer and wine company. They use RFID (radio frequency identification) wristbands and cards to activate beer taps to let the patrons pour their own beer (and then add it to their tab automatically). Today, more than one million ounces of beer go through the system per month at pubs, bars and breweries around the U.S.

Despite the explosive growth of microbreweries and beer gardens across the U.S., beer drinking is still very much a simple activity—and it’s gone unchanged for centuries. 

It’s quite fitting, actually, that the unchanging, monotonous way we drink beer is what inspired Brett Jones to question the very way we all pour and drink beer. In 2011, Brett was at a restaurant for a playoff game that gave him an idea. 

"It took 15 minutes to find out the beer I wanted wasn’t available… then 15 more minutes to get a terrible beer... and finally another 15 more minutes to get the right one."

Out of frustration Brett told his friend, "It’d be nice to be able to pour my own. Why can’t I pour my own?"

The answer to that question was the start of iPourIt — a patented technology that allows customers to pour their own beer.

> It’d be nice to be able to pour my own. Why can’t I pour my own?"

![Pouring beer with custom stickers on RFID wristbands](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/243cabd2bad254a970c7b0388b940fa93e88b536)

And it’s not surprising that his background in technology is providing the solution.That terrible experience at the pub disrupted his twenty year career in I.T. as a software developer on network and system integrations, and sent him headlong. 

Brett spent six months developing the system and took another six months to sign his first client. The technology took another year to develop fully before it became a full fledged company, with a sales staff, etc, etc.

In the early days, each RFID wristband had a screen printed iPourIt logo. Brett and his team soon kept getting feedback from their clients who wanted to have their own logo on the wristbands. 

> Clients really wanted their own branding.”

It was difficult to make a two-color screen printed logo for most clients and the result was low-resolution at best. iPourIt found that it was better (and saved money) to order blank wristbands and then order custom stickers with each client's logo. More importantly, the quality of each sticker was high-resolution and full color, allowing the team to make the wristbands for any client. Clients then apply a sticker to each wristband once.

"It's a wet environment. And the custom stickers from Sticker Mule hold up great. We have clients that have been using them for almost two years and they still look great."

![Man using RFID bracelet to pour his beer](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/ecc7eb4680d1fba6643f8cc10202d755ba6c6a77)

Sticker Mule’s die cut stickers are made with a thick, durable vinyl with a UV laminate that protects from scratching, water and sunlight.

> Before we made clients use a template, but now we let the client do the work and send it to Sticker Mule."

Five years on, iPourIt Inc. has raised more than $2,000,000, pours over a million ounces every month through its system and has more than 50 clients at pubs, breweries and yard houses around the country.

## 3 reasons iPourIt chooses Sticker Mule

Ordering [custom samples](https://www.stickermule.com/samples) in small numbers of stickers has been helpful to smaller clients or to show a client how their wristbands would appear before installing a system. 

And for larger clients with many taps and customers, [buying in bulk](https://www.stickermule.com/support/can-you-provide-a-discount-for-a-bulk-order) has made it cost-effective to brand their wristbands. 

Sticker Mule's [reorder feature](https://www.stickermule.com/reorder) has also helped larger franchise clients as well. With reorder sharing and a faster turnaround, reordering has made the process of adding more wristbands fast and easy.

Beer drinkers love iPourIt because it describes each brew on a display, makes it easy to pour just a few ounces from each tap, and the ability to later rate and track what was poured. 

![Smart bar tending with an ipourit display system](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/29d1533b68befa97501469db24332b6ffaca944a)

But the clients love it too. Besides being able to brand it themselves, bars, breweries, and restaurants have benefited from the data that iPourIt generates. They can easily see which brews are most popular and use definite metrics to prove what is in or out of season. 

Recently, Brett and the team have developed the ability to allow restaurants and breweries to allow customers to reserve a pint of beer in advance. 

For example, if a restaurant brings in a very rare brew once a year. iPourIt’s client can email their customers that describes the brew and a link to reserve their ounces or pints.

"It’s a big improvement over waiting in line hoping that you’ll get a pint before the keg runs dry. With our system, no one can take their reservation."

At the heart of iPourIt is the answer to Brett’s original question, "Why can’t I do it myself?"

## Do it your way

Want to make your own custom stickers, labels, magnets or buttons? Get started with $10 credit when you create your account. 

With custom samples, multiple design discounts and fast, free shipping, you'll have your own custom products before you know it.

<ButtonCta text="100+ ways to use Sticker Mule" href="https://www.stickermule.com/uses?ref=blog" />

iPourIt is a unique patented technology that allows customers to pour their own beer. They use stickers to create custom branded RFID wristbands. 

Planting the future with GDCC 

- __About Green Dream Clothing Co.:__ A lifestyle brand that plants a tree for every article of clothing sold, Green Dream is "bridging the gap between inner city and country club lifestyles."
- __How they use stickers:__ Stickers are used to promote the brand, be sold online, and for student ambassadors to get the word out on college campuses. Stickers are also used in  packaging and on boxes.
- __Results:__ Stickers have been an easy, cost effective way to do marketing and promote the vision. The stickers have been effective on college campuses (like CU Boulder) and allow millennials to engage with the brand in a meaningful way. 

College graduates often grapple with the seemingly binary decision to either "do good or make cash." A 2014 graduate from Indiana University at Bloomington, Adam Swartz has chosen his own path: doing good by launching a lifestyle brand that is as cool as it is eco-centered.

With a slick logo, cool tees and strapback hats, the style of Green Dream speaks for itself. Beneath the look, the upstart brand and vision is far bigger: a greener future.

![Green Dream clothing company uses custom stickers to promote their brand](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/573bb2a740d99914e37f34d36b061585a07bda27)

When I chat with Adam on the phone for the first time to talk about how he uses stickers in his business, it's clear that he's passionate about that vision — and he's rooted it in thoughtful intentionality.

"My generation is interested in causes that matter — we're into a better environment. It's not an afterthought or an added bonus— we all care about the environment deeply from the start."

For every article of clothing (or pack of stickers) sold a tree is planted. Green Dream partnered with Plant-it 2020, a nonprofit foundation that performs worldwide tree-planting and more, to make it happen. "It's easy to latch onto the GDCC brand ‘cause there is a genuine interest in a sustainable future."

![How to use stickers to promote your brand in public](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/88d002e8570b9945ac7c156cecd9d11b9f8a7c60)

On the business side, Adam is getting the word out about Green Dream using branded custom stickers.

> It's a cheaper way to do marketing and promote the message.

After graduating, he moved from Indiana to the eco-friendly and all around great city of Boulder home of CU Boulder -- Colorado's largest college campus.  He's found college students to be great ambassadors for the brand and spreading the message. 

> Students know the stickers — they've seen them around.

Adam's student ambassadors or his "The Street Team" carry stickers with them around campus at all times. "It's a cheaper way to do marketing and promote the message." They'll give away free stickers to students who proudly stick them on their [laptop](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/laptop-stickers), [phone](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/phone-stickers), or [cars](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/car-stickers) — anywhere that is seen every day by others. 

"The street team always gets great feedback. Students know the stickers — they've seen them around. When someone says, ‘Ah, I love that sticker' an ambassador can give them one right then and there."

The stickers vary from pure marketing to promoting green messages ("Plant Trees") to inspirational words ("Good Vibes Only" and "Dream Louder").

Every sticker features Green Dream's memorable logo, an upside down umbrella — which is full of its own meaning, "Unlike an umbrella that blocks out rain, wind, or hail, our umbrella is flipped upside down allowing for these experiences and thoughts to fall in and help shape who we are, what we dream of, and where we dream of going."

Beyond the street team and word of mouth marketing, Adam's logo stickers are an important part of the customer experience. In keeping with his eco-centric and sustainable mission, old boxes are reused and given a new look with die cut stickers fixed on the outside. And after they've opened their box, inside they'll find a Plant Trees sticker Adam used to secure the tissue wrapping paper. 

![Use stickers to to close wrapping paper](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/b1fcc7e0be73894542e439c183173069ca24ffd5)

After that package is received, the stickers frequently are spotted on social media, on street signs around the country. 

"Friends are always sending me pictures whether it be from London or my old college campus. The support is real."

Stickers have also been a [product in and of themselves](http://www.greendreamcloco.com/shop-1/stickers). Every sticker pack sold also plants a tree — and seeds for the brand to continue to grow.

There are countless ways to promote your own clothing company, product, or brand using stickers. Check out more ways Sticker Mule can help your business grow.

<ButtonCta text="100+ ways to use Sticker Mule" href="https://www.stickermule.com/uses" />

How to use custom stickers to do good, promote a greener future, and grow a clothing business. 

El Cambio grabs attention with circle stickers 

* __About El Cambio:__ El Cambio Trading Co. is a sustainable clothing company, whose mission is to promote art, charity and sustainability through fashion. 
* __How they use stickers:__ They used stickers to get the word out about the company before formally launching a new website and brand.  
* __Results:__ Within a few months, Alex turned his Etsy store into a known brand with a social media presence.

> I always carry our logo stickers around with me."

What is the best way to start a clothing company? 

For two college students, the answer is simple; do it while studying, traveling the world, with a partner that you’ve never met in person, and with a mission that goes beyond the clothing.

Alex began selling his hand drawn designs and tanks through an Etsy store. After selling out of all of the designs, he decided to make it into a company. Through a friend, he found Sami and asked her to help with his social media presence and to create an online shop.

Without investors or startup cash, they were looking for a way to grab attention for the new company. He wanted to start right away without paying for a large advertising campaign.

![how ElCambio turned its Etsy store into a brand](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/42218b2c426bb52b53256567556c210cf25ea767)

## Getting the word out (without going broke)

Alex and Sami realized that the answer was staring them right in the face. The best way to get the word out was to make it easy for their friends, family, and even strangers to connect with the brand and tell others about it.

They wanted something that was easy to give out, inexpensive, and could be seen by lots of new people.

> It was our version of a business card! We'd hand them out to friends, people we met, anyone that asked about the design.

After designing a new logo from scratch, Alex and Sami put their logo on circle stickers.

Before launching the new website, they were handing out El Cambio Trading Company stickers, placing them around the world, and giving them to friends.

"We ordered our stickers from Sticker Mule before we ever bought business cards," says Sami. "In fact, it was our version of a business card! We’d hand them out to friends, people we met, anyone that asked about the design."

People loved the stickers and started spreading the word by snapping pictures of the stickers and tagging it with #ECTC. Soon, the stickers were showing up all over social media with photos of the stickers on [water bottles](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/water-bottle-labels), [laptops](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/laptop-stickers), lightposts, and more.

Each sticker, photo, mention, and hashtag helped Alex and Sami launch their new clothing company.

## Generating conversations and sales

With word spreading, El Cambio started selling their unique tanks online through their new website.

To drive referrals and sales, each order gets a few stickers inside the box. El Cambio also uses their stickers as tape to get all of the packaging together. From the wrapping of the tank, to the outside of the package, their message goes everywhere the packaging goes. The stickers added the benefit of giving people confidence in El Cambio as an established company. 

> The reality is you only wear a shirt once in awhile but if you put a sticker on something you use every day it gets in front of more people and generates conversations.

Although giving away something free helps spread word about your business, it can be tough to give away the actual product for free.

Handing out stickers with a logo is a great way to leave customers (and future customers) with something of value without breaking the bank. "I always carry our [logo stickers](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/logo-stickers) around with me," says Sami. "They are in my bag right now! When people ask what I do, I simply grab one and say, 'Here’s a sticker, check it out!'"

## A global idea localized

These two college students launched their clothing company. But, it is much more than cool designs on tank tops, El Cambio Trading Company is a sustainable clothing company whose mission is to promote art, charity, and sustainability through fashion.

Started by Alex Kinczel in 2014 , each El Cambio design represents a different international charity and has been inspired by Alex’s years traveling the globe with his school LIU Global. 10% of the profit from each sale is donated to the charity represented by the design. “We believe that businesses have the responsibility not to exploit, but to give back to the earth and those who we work with,” says Alex.

Currently, Alex and Sami sell their tanks online, but they’ve found success selling the shirts on the ground as well at festivals and markets.

Anyone that stops by gets a free sample of their logo as a sticker or button. Giving visitors something to take with them is an easy way to help someone who is interested but not ready to buy right away. They ask visitors to take the sticker, put it on something they own, and then tell people about it if they ask.

## What's next

As the business grows and graduation looms, Alex and Sami plan to keep using stickers to grow and grab more attention as they look into growing their business into brick-and-mortar spaces and other online stores.

Their plan is to sell new designs as stickers and to use them in a photo contest to generate more interest through word of mouth and social media.

There are countless ways to promote your own clothing company, product, or brand using stickers. Check out more ways Sticker Mule can help you grab attention.

<ButtonCta text="100+ ways to use Sticker Mule" href="https://www.stickermule.com/uses?ref=blog" />

Within a few months Alex turned his Etsy store into a known brand with a social media presence using circle stickers.

Posts by Tyler Vawser

Dribbble global meetup sponsor

Pour your own beer with iPourIt

Planting the future with GDCC

El Cambio grabs attention with circle stickers