With an avid interest in online media, Kimberley Stone decided to combine her passion for fashion with her studies in “new age marketing.” The 27-year-old launched POSHGLAM.com in 2005 as an effort to increase networking opportunities in the fashion industry and influence the market.
Stone says 30% of her website’s traffic comes from social networking sites.
Though she’s mum on revenue figures, she says POSHGLAM does have multiple sources of revenue streams including advertising dollars, integrated marketing opportunities, and providing interim public relations for luxury brands–among others.
With 131,000 unique visitors, POSHGLAM’s growth has been steady, and Stone is aiming to take the website to the next level with backing from venture capitalists. Check out what this business-savvy entrepreneur has to say about social media and securing venture capital funding.
How have you leveraged social media to build your brand? How did you develop a strategy?
The core components of the brand must always be kept in mind, and nothing one does as a marketer should compromise the principles that are the essence of why the brand exists. Thanks to online measuring tools like compete.com, we are able to benchmark the site against our competitors and do a true situational analysis. But it’s important to keep your own analytical records via your private home-based server as well. A lot of online tools are still working toward accuracy and can’t be relied upon.
- We use Facebook for sharing articles and replicating our market through connective friends. forwp-incontent-ad2">
- We use Twitter for micro-messaging and building awareness via hashtags and linkbacks.
- We also use news feeds for those who love to feed our site into Google Reader or any other feed service.
Explain the pros and cons of social media partnerships?
Social media, simply put, is about being social. If a company can’t get along with other properties or people online, they might as well get out of the business. Partnering with other sites to share the market is a great strategy for site promotion, loyalty, and business longevity.
You use geo-targeting advertising. Why is this an advantage?
It enables us to pinpoint a demographic based on zip code and target consumers in the area for localized content and advertisements. It comes in handy with the international properties for POSHGLAM, including POSHGLAM.co.uk, POSHGLAM.fr, and POSHGLAM.it.
Venture capitalists are vying to invest in POSHGLAM. What was your strategy?
Venture capitalists have to be courted; you can’t just harass your way into their Rolodex. You have to have the right marketing materials for them to take you seriously. It’s important to let the right people know you are raising funds and to surround yourself with a great support system. It’s important for investors and peers to know your drive and ambition and to exude professionalism at all times. Most importantly, when an investor interviews you, they are not necessarily looking for reasons to invest but, rather, reasons not to. It’s important to rid your business plan of investor ‘red flags’.
What advice would you give to online upstarts looking to attract investors?
We built a strong board of advisors. It’s always attractive to investors to have experienced wisdom on your side. Know your business like the back of your hand and know your competition even better. It’s important to stay aware of the evolution of your business plan–it’s a progression, not a project. It’s something that should be restructured every time the SWOT analysis changes. I have approximately eight business plans depending on who I am pitching, and I tweak them according to who is interested in seeing it and why.