SavvyAuntie.com Has Launched!

Dear Readers, 

Have you heard the news? SavvyAuntie.com has launched in Beta, which means while they site is basically looking good, there are some outstanding issue we are resolving in this phase.

The last couple of days since the launch on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 1PM EST, have been overwhelming. In fact, I don't think I ever really understood what "overwhelmed" meant until that first afternoon and the day that followed.

Within an hour after launch, two of the largest and most prestigious technology and social media blogs posted very positive reviews of the site. Thanks evermore to TechCrunch and Mashable for their unbelievable support of our Beta launch.

Then yesterday, not one, but two articles were published in the Huffington Post about the site. I love the interview that Eric Kuhn of HuffPo did with me. It really enabled me to share my message about Savvy Auntie and what it's all about to his loyal fans. 

And the bloggers I have met on Twitter and other social media platforms came through for me too, proudly sharing the launch as they celebrated it with incredibly supportive posts.

The news of the launch was also covered in various other online news sources (too many to mention here) and I have not seen one negative review yet. (phew!)

Plus, great news is coming in from traditional media as well. Hopefully Savvy Aunties around the nation will hear about the site from their most trusted media sources. (Let's hope!)

And then there are the Aunties themselves, who have written in thanking us for recognizing their value in the family (and dare I say clout). It is incredibly empowering to hear from them.

The Beta Testers are hard at work completing the surveys that help us improve the site for our users. And the technology team is hard at work at the fixes. Thank God for Dave Finkelstein!  Dave worked tirelessly day and night and night and day and holiday weekend and everything in between to get the site up and running on time. Every last minute "emergency" that seemed impossible to fix in the time that remained, Dave found a solution for! And on launch day, at 12:54PM, as we were gearing up to launch at 1:00PM sharp, we found an issue on the homepage of all places! At first, it looked like one that could only be resolved with a complete site update, which we did not have time to do (and was much too risky to do at that point anyway). At 12:56 Dave had the solution. At 12:59  he stopped the fix to launch the site at 1:00PM sharp. At 1:01PM the issue was resolved. That's dedication. That's Dave Finkelstein.  Dear Reader, please clap for Dave. He's my hero.

And now, believe it or not, advertisers are emailing in asking how they can support the site. They recognize the power of the Savvy Auntie as a consumer, and want my help to engage them.

Finally, the second day after launch culminated in a party I had with friends and colleagues in Manhattan (that's a pic of me and my hero Dave from last night). It was overwhelming to see how many people came out in support of me and the launch of Savvy Auntie. Wow. Thank you all!

I must get back to work. There's so much more to do. But I'll be back soon to share more with you as soon as I answer a few hundred more emails....

XOXO,

Auntie Melanie

New Beginnings.

Dear Readers,

If you have been following my journey... of how a former beauty and interactive marketing executive set out on her magic carpet ride... and started her own company to create community around Aunt-hood, then this will come as no surprise to you...

On the eve of the launch of the beta version of SavvyAuntie.com, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for everyone and anyone who has been there over the last year to advise me, guide me, support me, encourage me and praise me. You all have brought me to where I am today: an Auntrepreneur about to see her dream come true.

On the eve of the launch of http://www.savvyauntie.com, I humbly take a step back and say: "Thank you."

I hope you know how much you mean to me, Dear Readers. This is our moment. And it's all just about to begin......

XOXO,

Auntie Melanie

Savvy Auntie Beta is Launching!

Dear Readers,

I have to take a break from talking about the past to bring you up to date with Savvy Auntie. There's big news to share!  Beta.SavvyAuntie.com launches on Wednesday, July 9th!

So after a year of dreaming, imagining, deciding, designing, writing, building, connecting.... the site launch is imminent.  Which is why I haven't been posting much lately. I've been all consumed with the Beta launch.

I'll post about the launch on Wednesday... but already I have significant online media interested in publishing posts and stories about it. And top-shelf print and broadcast media is showing tremendous interest as well. This bodes well for the launch and building traffic, which is a huge challenge when launching a site. If a tree falls.... will the Aunties hear it?

I have to tell you that I am practically floating on air... sure there's a bug here, a brand new issue there, and a whole lot of last minute details to work on. But all-in-all, thanks to the tireless efforts of Dave Finkelstein, CEO of Quarksoft, my technology team, my 'little dream come true' will be born at some point on Wednesday.  

I feel like a Proud Auntie already :-)

Looking forward to 'seeing' you on Wednesday!

XOXO,

Auntie Melanie 

The Savvy Auntie Brand Experience.

Dear Readers,

Have you ever heard of "Brand Experience?"

The brand experience is like being embraced in an experience completely, so that anything outside of that experience feels like an interruption and removes you from enjoying the experience. Another way to visualize it is like when you are in a theater, watching a movie, and you are so engrossed in the experience that when the guy behind you kicks your chair, the experience has been diminished. It's an awful feeling because it takes you away from the moment. And the more he kicks your chair, the more frustrated you become.

On the web, brand experiences are integral to the success of your site. If the user's experience is interrupted because the flow of the site causes interruptions, then the brand experience is compromised.  If your users get lost, can't get back to where they were, or are shifted to an outside link without understanding why, your brand experience has lost value.

So working on the flow of a Website, and creating what are called wire-frames to visually demonstrate flow, helps those designing the website optimize the brand experience for your users.

In the next few days, Savvy Auntie will launch in Beta format. This means that while we have done everything we can to assure a positive brand experience for our users, it's really only through the experience of many people having never seen the site before, and testing it out, that truly enables us to gauge success and design solutions and improvements. That's what Beta testing is.

Over the course of the last few months, Savvy Auntie has invited Aunties to nominate themselves to be Beta testers for this very reason. These Aunties will receive a special invitation to experience SavvyAuntie.com and provide feedback to us so we can fix any issues they experience as quickly as possible.

I'll be honest. I really am not happy about the fact that there is any possibility that there may be a negative brand experience with the Beta testers or anyone else who visits the site. It bothers me because, like inviting guests over for a dinner party, I want everyone to have a great time and enjoy everything I have prepared for them.

Nevertheless, there may be technical issues, broken links, flow issues or even, God forbid, a typo. But the great thing about the Savvy Auntie Community as I have experienced it so far, is that if anything does hurt the experience, they will let me know. Gently.

So when the site launches in Beta, please be patient with any bad experiences that may occur. I hope that there aren't any, of course. But we won't know until we test it out.

The thing about brand experiences is that they are much larger than the product, service or website the brand supports. Hopefully the brand experience you have received before we launch, Dear Reader, is enough to embrace you when we launch.

We are launching in Beta soon, and I cannot thank you enough for your continued support. We're working day and night to launch the best possible brand experience we can.

If you are an Auntie and would like to be included in the Beta Test - please nominate yourself at www.savvyauntie.com and tell me that you read this blog.

Thanks again, and we'll see you at the live Beta site soon!

XOXO,

Auntie Melanie

PS - That's Dana and I over at Syrup, the creative agency, working on website flow back on October 11, 2007.

Lucky Auntie

Dear Readers,

Many of you are asking when SavvyAuntie.com is launching. I don't blame you. I have been telling my networks on Facebook and Twitter, not to mention friends and family, that the site is launching very soon.

And I promise you this: It IS launching very soon.

But here's a great lesson to learn about Entrepreneurship. As much as you envision and plan and work hard, some things are just out of your control. Plain out of your control.

The truth is, sometimes the good stuff is out of your control as well. Good luck and bad luck have one thing in common: it's all luck. So while the site is taking longer than expected to launch, I would not have changed a thing. I am very lucky to be in the position I am in with so many people believing in me and the site. So very lucky.

The people I am working with, the creative agency Syrup and Quarksoft, the technology team, all believe in me, in Savvy Auntie, and in doing the best possible job they can for my success. I have now hired Megan Licursi Marketing Communications to manage my PR efforts and Megan and her colleague Kristi believe in me. I am very fortunate to be working with these dedicated and incredibly talented teams.

And then there are all the amazing people I have met in my online and offline social networks who have been spreading the word about Savvy Auntie. Had I launched a few months ago as first hoped, I would never have had time to cultivate these incredibly valuable and valued relationships. Without a doubt, these relationships are integral to the success of my company, if only because these people believe in me.

I promise you that I am launching very soon. In the meantime, if you would like to sign up as a Beta Tester, please visit http://www.savvyauntie.com and put the words: "I read your blog" in the message area. You may also refer your Auntie friends to the site as well. All Aunts are welcome, including ABRs (Aunts by Relation) ABCs (Aunts by Choice) Mommy Aunties, Godmothers, Great Aunts, etc.

So as much as I would like to tell you that I am launching Savvy Auntie tomorrow, I can't do that. But I'm ok with it - if only because I am just so fortunate that you even care to ask.

XOXO,
Auntie Melanie