In today’s world, 20-somethings are on the lookout for non-traditional ways to make money and do something different than the typical nine to five. Corporations are constantly searching for innovative ways to promote their products. One clever young man came up with a plan for business people and members of Generation Y to help one another.

Jason Sadler, 26, a 2005 graduate of the University of North Florida and current resident of Ponte Verde Beach, FL, came up with an ingenious way to earn money and help companies out with their marketing. He created the I Wear Your Shirt project.

Every day in 2009 he wears a different company’s t-shirt. No matter where he’s going, whether it’s to a wedding or a bar with his friends, he’ll be wearing a t-shirt.

The companies pay him a dollar amount equivalent to the day of the year. So, Ustream.tv, the company that bought January 1st, paid $1, and 503 Motoring paid $365 for December 31st. If he sells out every day, he will earn $66,795.

In an interview with T-Shirt Magazine, Sadler says he was thinking of ways to earn more money, when he realized, “I wear shirts every day of my life.”

According a The New York Times story, he was inspired by the Million Dollar Homepage, a successful project where a British man, Alex Tew, sold one million pixels on a web site for $1 each, to try out the same idea with t-shirts.

The efforts have clearly paid off. To date, he’s sold all but 11 days. I Wear Your Shirt has received impressive press coverage. Major media outlets, like The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and the Guardian, as well as the local Jacksonville press, have picked up the story of his ingenuity.

Principal of Philadelphia’s p4mv Marketing, Christian Shea, offers his take on the project: “This is absolutely a clever concept.” Coming up with original ideas is what marketing today is all about.

Sadler uses his social media knowledge to build attention for the project. He blogs and posts daily photos, videos, and updates on Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube. So far, 11,403 people are following him on Twitter, and he has 1,535 Facebook friends. He even has a daily web show, streamed live on Ustream.tv every day at 3 PM. All together, Sadler estimates that he spends 10-12 hours a day on both his web company and promotional efforts for I Wear Your Shirt.

Shea adds that this is the first time he’s seen this combo of personal advertising and Internet marketing used as a tactic. He’s curious to see if Sadler can keep up the momentum if he chooses to repeat the project.

Sadler’s promotional savvy comes from his previous experiences. As a co-owner and chief marketing officer of the web design company Thought & Theory, he’s very familiar with guerrilla marketing tactics. Being his own boss makes it easy to wear t-shirts to work. His marketing experience has also given him a vast network of contacts, so he also spreads the word about the project by word of mouth.

Like Sadler has said, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.”