Three Things You Must Have for A Successful Start Up.

Dear Readers,

I'm fortunate in that in a relatively short period of time, I've managed to gain some great momentum for my company. And more than ever, I've been receiving emails, Twitter direct messages, Facebook messages, texts and IMs from friends and acquaintances, friends of friends, friends of acquaintances, some virtual and some IRL, all asking me how I "did it."

Naturally, it's a challenge for me to respond to everyone the way I'd like to - which is to give them my undivided attention and support - but I just can't. It's becoming more than I can handle. So I thought I would just simply put my secret recipe here. Of course, as with every recipe, the final outcome is in the hands of the chef. Nevertheless, this is my three-pronged approach for success:

Strong Product. Powerful Niche. Social Influence.

As you know from my story, I invested my life savings into SavvyAuntie.com - the product. All of our constituents (consumers, advertisers, media, etc) are human, and they all either 'get it' immediately, or they don't. I believe you only have one chance to make a good first impression. Don't blow it with a product that's not great. You may never get a second chance.

It worked for me. Twenty-three minutes after I launched, I received an email from the digital media buyers for Hasbro. They wanted in. An hour later, Sephora contacted me. And so on.

So product, product product. It can't be good. It's got to be great.

There's no point to a great product, if no one wants to experience it. You need a powerful niche. PANKs - Professional Aunts No Kids - is a segment I carved out of the population of American women that I feel are under-served, untapped, and incredibly powerful.

Know who you are talking to, or they won't listen.

Finally, there's social influence. I realized shortly after I launched that people were interested in my voice and any value I might be able to add. With close to 8000 Followers on Twitter, a regular 'gig' on Fox News, representing brands online and on TV, and introducing sponsored conversations people enjoy being a part of, my influence is a great asset to my company.

By the way, social influence was never a part of my original plan. The social media platforms that have really become invaluable to me (Twitter, Facebook, this Blog), enabled me to realize my passion for connecting with people and being part of online communities, was something that could actually help grow my brand reach. Timing is everything. I started my company as these tools we taking off. It's not too late for you. But go build your voice online. Add value. Create influence.

My advice to anyone thinking about starting a company: Make sure you invest in the development and design of your product, identify a niche that people "get" and use your own social influence to leverage greater reach.

Of course, none of this works without a lot of hard work and determination. So be prepared to work harder than you have ever worked in your life. And be prepared to be happier than you've ever been.

XOXO,
Auntie Melanie

I'm in Love. It's Not What You Think.

Dear Readers,

I love marketing books. Love. Like the feeling you get on a date when a very attractive person sits across from you, smiles back at you, and says with his eyes: "It's ok, I like you too." It's the kind of love that makes your heart pitter-patter and your brain dance the happy dance. Yup. I love marketing books. And for this love, there is no cure.

I love marketing books because they not only teach me, they embrace me. They enable me to live the best possible business life I can live. When I apply the thought-leadership in the books I study, I become more successful. I read them as a non-profit marketer (thank you Philip Kotler!), as an internet marketer, as a beauty executive, and now as an Auntrepreneur. I owe so much of my success to the men and women who have shared their knowledge with me through their books.

Still, I don't fall in love easily. Not every so-called "marketing book" is going to win my heart. But the courtship is fun. When I browse the new business books section at my local Barnes and Noble, my heart races for the opportunity of a new discovery. I want to find a new lover - one I want to take to bed with me and read by the soft light of my night table lamp. I want to find a book that impresses me with its intelligence, one that promises a better business life, one that I truly believe will love me back by making me giggle, inviting me to the next chapter and yes, making me feel that the world is full of opportunity.

And so I go to my bookstore....walk through the cool entrance way.... up the escalator....to the right... in nervous anticipation of what's to come. I gaze optimistically at the shelves - first at the front-facing newbies that BN, my matchmaker, has imagined I might like the most. Then, I lovingly touch the spines of the other books on the shelf... some old loves, some I have flirted with but never committed to.... and some begging for my attention. I enjoy the feeling of my hands on the cool glossy hardcover books with stunning typography etched out on the spine: "The New Rules of Marketing and PR," "Word of Mouth Marketing," and my latest love, "Groundswell."

I never fall out of love either. Classics live on, even as times change. Yesterday, a Twitter friend asked for guidance on some marketing books he could read to help him with a business idea. I Twittered back a listing of Al Ries classics. How can you call yourself a marketer and never have read one of Al Ries' books? Read them all! And then read these by Seth Godin. And then, if you want to be a true revolutionary marketer, meet my friend Guy Kawasaki.

My love affair with marketing books is a little one sided, after all. These guys talk talk talk and I listen listen listen. Sure, now that some of these books have blogs connected with them, I can comment here and there. But really, this has been a one-sided romance.

Until now. You see, I am now "social media friends" (or friends 2.0) with many of these authors. David Meerman Scott, whose "New Rules of Marketing and PR" I actually read twice, is someone I Follow on Twitter. Andy Sernovitz, whose "Word of Mouth Marketing" book is tabbed and bookmarked all over, is someone I Follow on Twitter. I Follow Seth Godin too, of course. And the Groundswell co-authors - Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff -and I have had some back and forth on Twitter following my sincere praise of their first book together (read: I hope there are more to come). But my strongest relationship is with Guy Kawasaki. All of these authors are major successes. And Guy.... Guy is a guru. And he connects with me! I am his reader. I have turned the pages of his books, read his blogs, followed his career, and he talks to me!

Recently, Guy Kawasaki launched a website called Alltop.com where he centralizes what he believes to be the best blogs on the Web, and categorizes them so that people searching for topics of interest can discover the perfect blog for them. I am proud - and deeply honored - that Guy has added my blog to Alltop.com in the "startups" section.

By featuring my blog and my startup on Alltop.com, Guy Kawasaki, in his own way, sits across from me, smiles at me, and says with his eyes: "It's ok. I like you too."

Now you know why I swoon.

XOXO,
Auntie Melanie