Hey Rob.
Glad you liked the suggestions.
If you're starting out with a great plan, but minimal cash, just try to get as close to delivering and communicating the brand experience as you possibly can, with whatever resources you can muster.
Sorry. Corporate-speak. Let me try that again.
Do what you can to be surprising and fun and kind and respectful and generous (or whatever you took from the suggestions above) because those are the things that people will then associate with the Patriot brand. Make them feel good when they remember you. They'll tell their friends and family about the experience.
If I was scripting/directing the All Airborne Convention video, I would suggest you treat it like you're on an urgent mission, working your way through the convention, to thank as many veterans as you can, as quickly as you can. Walk fast enough (camera tagging along) to be a little out of breath when you find each new veteran.
Introduce yourself, and have a friendly, real conversation:
"Hello sir, my name is Rob and this is my partner Jim, and we're on a little mission here today, to say thanks to every veteran we can find, and to give them one of these Patriot T-Shirts that we made. We're videotaping everything and putting it on the internet for all of America to see. Is that OK with you? Great, well thank you, sincerely, for your service to our country. It's people like you who make this the greatest country on earth... and it's an honor to meet you. What's your name, and how did you serve? Is there anything you would like to say to your fellow Americans, or to the rest of the world? Now, we want to give you one of these Patriot t-shirts. Which one do you like best? What size do you wear?".
Have fun with it. If you want a terrific example/inspiration, watch the way
Rick Mercer interviews people. Watch how he sets up each video too. Shots of the the place, an introduction for the viewers, interviews.
Before you move on, ask the vets if they have email, and if they want you to email them a link to the video. I can almost guaranty that they'll share that link with friends and family... who may also share it with their friends and family.
If your videos make people feel good when they watch, if the story touches them personally, if it makes them laugh, or moves them to tears... they will want to share the experience with their friends. That's how things "go viral".
Edit conversations down to short clips. Use a naming convention like "Corporal Wm. Smith, Patriot" to name each video. End each video with a still that shows the Patriot logo, website address and "Thank a veteran today". Make (and keep) a commitment to yourself you edit and post one video per week. The more you do it, the better (and faster) you will get. When you're done, put together a 3-minute-long "best of" video. Call it "All Airborne Convention Patriots".
Put up a simple website using Wordpress. Home says "Thank a veteran today", features the shirt(s) - buy now - and the current video. Have an about page that tells the Patriot story. Have a contact page. Have a blog. Use the blog to post every time you've uploaded a video to youtube. Make it easy for visitors to share your content Set up the blog to update your Patriot page on Facebook, your Patriot twitter status, your Patriot linkedin status. SEO keywords should be obvious (american, patriot, tshirts, veterans, memorial day, gifts, airborne, convention, etc), but learn about how to research "long tail" search phrases too.
How much money did any of that cost you? Not much. Domain registration and web hosting. So what's stopping you now? Don't say "time" unless you have better, more valuable ways to spend your time. Which you might. What do I know?
Earmark 10-20% of sales revenue for marketing (including samples).
If you're getting lots of traffic (and hopefully Patriot shirt sales), then you'll know you are onto something. Do another convention. Do a Legion. Go where veterans go, when they go there. Or host a party for local veterans. Stay creative, and have fun!
Good luck!
