Dear Readers,
Thanks for being there to support me as I launched the company of my dreams - SavvyAuntie.com!
Happy Holidays!
XOXO,
Auntie Melanie
Twitter.com/savvyauntie
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Happy Holidays Facebook Friends and Fans!
Happy Holidays to the Savvy Auntie Facebook Friends and Fans!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
FOX-y Auntie
Dear Readers,
I appeared on my third segment of the Fox News Strategy Room today. The show is online-only at FoxNews.com/strategyroom daily from 9-6PM EST. I have been on the Lite Lunch nel from noon-1PM. It's kind of like The View, but we're nicer to each other. Really.
What's great about this show is that while I appear as Founder of Savvy Auntie - and often get to tell the viewers what it's all about - it's frankly just a wonderful experience learning how these segments function. We talk about pop-culture stuff - like celebrities we love to hate (I chose the entire cast of The Hills) and famous autographs we cherish (Jaclyn Smith from Charlie's Angels - which spurred a whole Charlie's angel spoof for about 15 seconds of air time). I love the banter and energy in the room. Plus - I'm meeting fantastic people which is one of the best parts.
And the best part of all? Realizing that all this exposure is coming just 5 months after the launch of SavvyAuntie.com. It truly humbles me that so quickly after introducing the Savvy Auntie brand to the world, that I create enough interest in my persona to be asked to repeatedly appear on this show. And on The 10! Show on NBC. And more to come...
The Savvy Auntie brand will grow into books, video and other media extentions. In the meantime, I am having the time of my life. I wonder what took me so long to take life into my own hands?! If I can create this type of success in 5 months... imagine what I can do going forward?!
No worries if you can't imagine it. I've been dreaming about this for years and I see it all coming true. Day by day. Lite Lunch hour by Lite Lunch hour....
If you're thinking about starting your own company...even while you keep your day job and start small...just imagine. Envision. See your dreams come true.
And work really, really hard. Be nice to everyone. And it will all fall into place.
Imagine that.
XOXO,
Auntie Melanie
PS - That's me, third from the right, this past Monday.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Great Press
Dear Readers,
I've been getting some great press lately. And I don't have a PR agency supporting my PR efforts, so I am very fortunate. Some have asked how I am doing it. Well, it's good to have a strong product, and a season twist (gift giving) as well as a first break on TV.
I had a PR agency helping me launch the site back in July, and they did land me a few great 'gigs,' like my initial NBC's The 10! Show and a Better.TV appearance that I recorded last week (and will appear on 12.23.08). I've managed to "up-sell" the NBC 10! Show (local 11AM show in Philadelphia) a few times and have done several Gift segments there, which are fantastic (although a bit of a schlep from NYC).
The first 10! Show appearance helped get me a great opportunity to be a Contributing Editor to Toy Wishes Magazine. This wonderful role has enabled me to have air time on WCBS in NYC and on Fox New Strategy Room just last week (a streaming online news show) and there may be more appearances before the end of the year! Thanks again, Gareb!
Of all my appearances, the Fox News Strategy Room was perhaps the most fun. I didn't have to bring a series of toys and gifts to showcase... it was just me talking on panel with smart people. We talked about the Golden Globes, Jennifer Aniston's recent 'naked' photos in GQ and toys. It was so much fun! And the best part? They asked me back again right after the show! So catch me here http://www.foxnews.com/strategyroom/ tomorrow (Monday, December 15th) at noon-1PM EST.
There is no doubt that I am very lucky. But to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson: "The harder I work, the luckier I am." I'll be writing a post soon about how the best way to achieve success is often to work hard. Very hard. Boy do I know it.
XOXO,
Auntie Melanie
PS - Check out my Top 10 Savvy Holiday Gifts of the Season! http://www.savvyauntie.com/link/top10holiday08
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Over the Moon
Dear Readers,
My last post - on how I am managing the milestone of talking to investors - drove a lot of emails and comments. All very positive, supportive and helpful. So thank you. I've since gotten better educated, more interest from potential investors, and a greater sense of confidence around the whole milestone.
In the meantime, I still struggle as a female entrepreneur in a male-analytical dominated world.
My friend, Patricia Handschiegel, a woman entrepreneur who never seems to sleep, is doing a series in the Huffington Post, where she is a regular contributor, on The New Power Girls. She recently asked me to weigh in on how "instinct" plays a role in my company. Naturally, there is often a difference between how men and women start and manage their entrepreneurial ventures. Women, by nature, are often more instinctual (and less analytical) than men.
And we live in a Man's business world.
It's no surprise that the original computer spreadsheet, upon which the ubiquitous Microsoft Excel is based, was developed by men. It's no surprise that the golf course is the cliche networking activity. Most CEOs are men. Most investors are men. Most people in technology - the industry in which my business is based - are men. There are fewer women entrepreneurs than men entrepreneurs.
And that's because, in my humble opinion, the cost/benefit analysis of an entrepreneurial venture is often calculated within a spreadsheet. And most women don't live in spreadsheets.
Innovation was never born out of a spreadsheet. You simply can't calculate the risk of innovation because by definition, it's never been done before. So we look at market size, growth potential, and then throw in ebitdas and three ways to 'project' the future and take the one in the middle. And we expect major success based on calculated projections.
When looking at a valuation for my company, I asked a male friend helping me flesh some things out this (fair) question: "How can I possibly responsibly project what will happen? Aren't projections basically a guessing game?" Yes," he texted back immediately, "But no one can guess as well as you."
I don't like guessing. I like envisioning. I like setting tough goals and meeting them. For example, my plan was to look for a literary agent for my children's book two months after I launched SavvyAuntie.com. Thanks to Chris Webb, a Twitter friend, I found my agents two weeks after I followed up on my plan.
When I worked in the non-profit world 12 years ago, I planned to increase participation in a program that I believed - with a some major re-branding - could increase 1000x fold. Sure, I had a plan. And I set a budget. And I hired help. Still, no one believed we would make it. No one was as determined as I. But I had envisioned the success. For me it was no longer a business goal; it was reality. I don't shoot for the moon. I live on the moon and wait for everything to catch up. And we increased participation by 998%.
My boy-genius friend, Eric Kuhn, said recently: "I start at the top and work my way up." That's why he's a genius.
The truth is, business plans worry me. Not a day goes by that something doesn't change everything. Some of those things I control. Some I don't. What never waivers is the end-goal. Not matter how rocky the waters - I know what I am sailing towards.
But I know that I can't fight it. As a business owner seeking investor support, I need to speak in analytics. My new and incredibly helpful friend, Rich Caccappolo, sent me the "10 Slides every entrepreneur should have." I am going to do that now.
In the end, I live in Man's world. But that's okay because there are lots of Power Girls shooting for the moon.
See you there, girls. And yes, there will be martinis. Savvy Auntinies to be precise.
XOXO,
Auntie Melanie
My last post - on how I am managing the milestone of talking to investors - drove a lot of emails and comments. All very positive, supportive and helpful. So thank you. I've since gotten better educated, more interest from potential investors, and a greater sense of confidence around the whole milestone.
In the meantime, I still struggle as a female entrepreneur in a male-analytical dominated world.
My friend, Patricia Handschiegel, a woman entrepreneur who never seems to sleep, is doing a series in the Huffington Post, where she is a regular contributor, on The New Power Girls. She recently asked me to weigh in on how "instinct" plays a role in my company. Naturally, there is often a difference between how men and women start and manage their entrepreneurial ventures. Women, by nature, are often more instinctual (and less analytical) than men.
And we live in a Man's business world.
It's no surprise that the original computer spreadsheet, upon which the ubiquitous Microsoft Excel is based, was developed by men. It's no surprise that the golf course is the cliche networking activity. Most CEOs are men. Most investors are men. Most people in technology - the industry in which my business is based - are men. There are fewer women entrepreneurs than men entrepreneurs.
And that's because, in my humble opinion, the cost/benefit analysis of an entrepreneurial venture is often calculated within a spreadsheet. And most women don't live in spreadsheets.
Innovation was never born out of a spreadsheet. You simply can't calculate the risk of innovation because by definition, it's never been done before. So we look at market size, growth potential, and then throw in ebitdas and three ways to 'project' the future and take the one in the middle. And we expect major success based on calculated projections.
When looking at a valuation for my company, I asked a male friend helping me flesh some things out this (fair) question: "How can I possibly responsibly project what will happen? Aren't projections basically a guessing game?" Yes," he texted back immediately, "But no one can guess as well as you."
I don't like guessing. I like envisioning. I like setting tough goals and meeting them. For example, my plan was to look for a literary agent for my children's book two months after I launched SavvyAuntie.com. Thanks to Chris Webb, a Twitter friend, I found my agents two weeks after I followed up on my plan.
When I worked in the non-profit world 12 years ago, I planned to increase participation in a program that I believed - with a some major re-branding - could increase 1000x fold. Sure, I had a plan. And I set a budget. And I hired help. Still, no one believed we would make it. No one was as determined as I. But I had envisioned the success. For me it was no longer a business goal; it was reality. I don't shoot for the moon. I live on the moon and wait for everything to catch up. And we increased participation by 998%.
My boy-genius friend, Eric Kuhn, said recently: "I start at the top and work my way up." That's why he's a genius.
The truth is, business plans worry me. Not a day goes by that something doesn't change everything. Some of those things I control. Some I don't. What never waivers is the end-goal. Not matter how rocky the waters - I know what I am sailing towards.
But I know that I can't fight it. As a business owner seeking investor support, I need to speak in analytics. My new and incredibly helpful friend, Rich Caccappolo, sent me the "10 Slides every entrepreneur should have." I am going to do that now.
In the end, I live in Man's world. But that's okay because there are lots of Power Girls shooting for the moon.
See you there, girls. And yes, there will be martinis. Savvy Auntinies to be precise.
XOXO,
Auntie Melanie
Friday, December 5, 2008
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