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8 min 4 sec

Texas Designer Creates “Flags For Good”

It’s election day in the U.S.! In this story: a designer and long-time flag enthusiast uses his passion to create “flags for good,” advancing a message of positive change.
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What It's About

With a passion for activism, this designer lets his hustle flag fly.

Words of Wisdom

Michael has some unconventional advice when it comes to branding. For his business, he says being less formal with his audience is key. “Have a brand voice that is natural for you to personify. We are very un-professional I guess in our social, emails, etc. because that is who I am. I ended and email recently with "Fuck 2020, Michael and Cassie.” For us, our audience appreciates it because they probably feel the same. But we also end all of our in-product messaging with "Now go do something epic, Michael and Cassie" because we want to empower as well. People crave authenticity and brands they can engage with on a deeper level.”

Fun Fact

There is only one flag in the world for a country that does not have four sides! This flag belongs to Nepal, and the red flag with blue borders is adorned with a white sun and moon. It is shaped like two pennants stacked on top of each other.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1403

Michael Green loves flags. He grew up admiring them, and that passion only grew stronger as he got older. As an adult he started his career as a graphic designer, he realized that flags are a type of branding element. The simple shapes and colors evoke strong emotions in people, and they can be representative of a shared sense of identity.

In 2019, Michael decided to put all of his knowledge about flags into a TEDx talk. He wanted to make people think deeper about flags. Not only that, but he wanted to show how flags can create unity, like the pride flags regularly flown in the LGBTQ community.

The TEDx talk went over well, and a few months later the larger TED entity reached out to him asking to feature his talk on their site. This was a big deal, since only about 1% of TEDx talks are ever featured by the main TED. They also asked if he wanted to include a call to action for them to link to at the end of the talk.

The request couldn’t have come at a better time. Infuriated by the death of George Floyd, Michael had been wanting to do something to further the Black Lives Matter movement. When TED reached out, it was the push he needed to start his own flag business centered around causes he believed in.

Michael had to work fast to get things ready before his talk was featured. The tight timing might have caused someone else to wave a white flag in surrender, but he was determined. For nearly a week he only slept from 4am to 8am, spending the rest of his time applying for tax certificates, jumping through legal hurdles, and trying to figure out how to actually start a business. It would be called Flags for Good.

And it didn’t take long for orders to come in. The exposure from the TED talk was great for sales. Beyond that, Michael spent some money into running Google Ads to spread the word.

He also said that the timing of the launch was ideal. People are actively searching for protest flags right now, so his product has been well received. He has also seen big spikes in sales in response to other current events. For example, he released a flag when Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg passed away and many people bought it to honor her memory.

While Michael is excited for the future, he says that he would be happy if he went out of business tomorrow. Ultimately, he hopes that one day people won’t need to rally around his flags. Until then, hell continue promoting causes he believes in.

 
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Quote of the Day
"Have a brand voice that is natural for you to personify. We are very un-professional I guess in our social, emails, etc. because that is who we are."
—Michael Green #SideHustleSchool

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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau