Today marks exactly 5 years from the day that I launched Peculiar PPL. Happy Birthday, Peculiar PPL…you’re finally old enough to go to kindergarten!!

While the brand is called “Peculiar PPL,” the company is called “Peculiar Enterprises, LLC” because the overall mission was always bigger than just creating and selling great products. My vision is to equip and inspire Peculiar people–which are the people who have an unwavering drive to positively affect the world with their unique skills. When these people are empowered, they make a positive change in the world, which benefits everyone.

Here’s a deeper look at the Peculiar Enterprises Strategy as I envisioned it six years ago:

Phase 1: Create a clothing brand to better understand Peculiar people

Peculiar PPL doesn’t seek to be the biggest brand in the world, but I’d like it to be the most important brand in the world. Instead of trying to individually reach all 7+ billion people, I’d like to just appeal to the few million change agents out there. These are the people who move first and then the rest of the world follows. They’re leaders, pioneers, deviants, and independent thinkers. They’re the ones who can massively impact the world in a great way when they’re inspired, motivated, and given the tools and support that they need.

Selling products through Peculiar PPL is my way of reaching trailblazers and understanding their needs via the things that they purchase and their interaction with the brand. A key part of “phase 1” is providing the products that enhance a Peculiar person’s daily life. This is why I started with the # 1 thing that they use every single day of their lives: clothing.

Instead of trying to create the cheapest shirts, I focused on limited edition, high-quality shirts with inspiring messages on them, packaged in a very unique way…like meat at a supermarket. Then I moved onto other products that Peculiar PPL use frequently, like dress shirts, pens, notebooks, bottles, and cell phone cases. The focus of all of these products is to maximize quality, not minimize costs.

The brand is currently still in Phase 1 where I will continue to create more and more products that will appeal to Peculiar people, enhance their work and inspire them to do more great things. As I continue to learn about Peculiar people, we will eventually enter into Phase 2.

Phase 2: Use the learning from Phase 1 to expand Peculiar Enterprises into other areas

The expansion areas include (not in any particular order):
– Transportation: Air travel, Auto travel
– Food: Restaurants, Cafes, Packaged food products
– Business Management: Business consulting, Business finance management, Personal finance management
– Knowledge: Seminars, Lectures, Schools, Content creation
– Media: Book publishing, Music production, Video production
– Real Estate: Interior design, Home construction, Commercial construction
– New Ventures: Venture capital, Business incubator
– Other Services: Concierge, medical center, Car wash, Delivery service

I’ve got a very unique way of approaching each of these areas, and everything is in the service of Peculiar people. For instance, there will be a “Peculiar Air” private jet service for Peculiar people. Also, there will be buildings across the world where Peculiar people will go to do their work and be effective. Those buildings will include offices for people who are working on important projects or for people who are starting their new ventures, restaurants where they can get healthy food options, studios for people to create content, and libraries filled with resources to teach and inspire. Everything will be created with the unique needs of Peculiar people in mind, and will be unlike anything that exists today.

Phase 3: Help others create products and services to reach Peculiar people

Phases 1 and 2 are there to show that Peculiar people can make a massive impact in the world when they are appropriately served. Phase 3 will be to help large brands focus a percentage of their efforts on helping Peculiar people.

Imagine Apple creating a Certified Peculiar iPad, or Tesla releasing a Certified Peculiar Model III, or Google releasing a Certified Peculiar software suite. The intention of the third phase is to take everything that was learned in Phases 1 and 2 of the plan and sharing it with companies who want to meet the needs of the people who positively impact the world. If other companies don’t want to do this, then it’s fine…Peculiar Enterprises will do it ourselves.

———

So that’s a high-level view of the planned future of the company. It won’t be easy because it has never been successfully completed on a large scale, but my life’s mission is to add value to those who multiply value to others, and those people are Peculiar people.

To celebrate the 5 years of Peculiar PPL (and to reward those who have read this far into this post), I’m announcing two things today:

1) A $5 credit on PeculiarPPL.com, with free shipping.
Every customer can get $5 off each purchase with free shipping on PeculiarPPL.com for the next 5 days (through March 24th) by using the code 5ive. You can use the credit to buy something for $5, or you can buy the t-shirt or bottle that you’ve always wanted. Either way, each person can use the coupon once, so have fun with it and tell all of your friends…you can even buy something and ship it directly to them and seem like the best, most thoughtful friend ever!

2) Launch of the Peculiar PPL Ambassador program
The ambassador program was created to get feedback on future products and to reward those who spread the word about the brand. You can visit TeamPeculiar.com to read all about the program and apply.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the brand along the way! It has been an exciting five years and I’m looking forward to an exciting, Peculiar future. If you want to stay tuned-in to the developments, Like us on Facebook, Add us on Instagram, and Follow us on Twitter!

I love when people surprise me with unexpected gifts and I’m sure that a number of other people do too. So, I’m using my brand, Peculiar PPL, spread the holiday cheer and provide gifts to the masses via an official surprise gifts initiative. Here’s a video of me explaining “A Very Peculiar Surprise,” which is only open for one more week!

Sign up for a Peculiar surprise on PeculiarPPL.com because Santa Claus is not real.

In third grade, my dad peddled my overpriced school candy catalog to everyone we knew because I wanted the grand sales prize—a telescope that could see outer space. For those two months in 1993, everyone was a target of our high-pressure sales tactic for us to get that telescope. For some reason, I felt that I had to see Saturn with that telescope and if I didn’t, I’d die of a broken heart and crushed dreams.

After family, friends, neighbors, and family-friends’ neighbors purchased at least $20 worth of the overpriced, low-quality chocolates, we finally had enough points to get the highly-coveted telescope. I was bursting with excitement! All of my childhood dreams could finally come true! With this beloved telescope, I would finally be able to see Saturn, Mars, and ET! However, when the telescope finally arrived, it was packaged in a flimsy box that measured 10 inches on its longest side. Although I was only 8 years old, I knew that we had been bamboozled without even opening the box!

The telescope was about 1/8th the size of its appearance in the catalog. It looked like it cost about 25 Zambian Kwachas to make, and what it lacked in quality, it lacked even more in functionality. When I set it up to look into our next door neighbor’s window, I could barely see her middle finger as she waved it to me while yelling. I was 8, so I assumed she was saying hi. I didn’t wave back because I was too busy holding the $4 telescope together.

The telescope incident happened in 1993, but sadly in 2014 I see even more cases of misleading product advertising, poor packaging, and unmerited overcharging. Just last year, I spent over $100 on a watch that looked like it was crafted out of high quality materials, but when I got it, it didn’t even last a week before it started to scratch and fray right in front of my eyes.

My solution to this growing issue is “Certified Peculiar.” This new service tests products against strict benchmarks and puts a seal of approval on the products that meet the standards of excellence for Peculiar people. This will make it easier to find high-quality, dependable products, and it will ensure that more money is put towards companies that purpose to make quality products.

The Certified Peculiar program is launching today with an insulated water bottle. It is a vacuum-insulated drink canister that keeps hot drinks hot for 12 hours and cold drinks cold for a full day. Not only is it Certified Peculiar, but it is sold by Peculiar PPL with a 61 day money back guarantee if you decide that you hate it after 60 days. Personally speaking, this bottle is hands-down the best and most attractive drink canister that I’ve ever used in my life.

If you want this amazing bottle in your life, it is available for pre-order on www.PeculiarPPL.com for $30, and beginning mid-September, it will be for sale for $35.

The Certified Peculiar program is quickly ramping-up between now and the end of the year, and soon it will be the most coveted product certification ever! This is all part of my goal of making a positive impact on the world by serving and enabling Peculiar people! Too bad something like this wasn’t available in 1993, because then I could’ve saved myself from the massive disappointment of not seeing Saturn and having my childhood dreams crushed before my innocent little eyes!

Buy Certified Peculiar products at www.certifiedpeculiar.com, otherwise your childhood dreams will be crushed!

I am now the owner of the “Peculiar PPL” trademark in the United States! This is one step in the right direction and one tiny piece of the Peculiar Enterprises strategy. Very exciting journey ahead!