On Launching a New Business

It's only 8:04 a.m. on a Monday morning and though the work day is barely begun for most, I feel like I would at day's end. That feeling comes from a experiencing a sense of accomplishment. Today marks the launch of SmartCollegeVisit, a blog site I created to help families of the college-bound access resources to help plan their college visits.

What you see today on the site is the beginning--what you will see over time is the development of a blog into a robust site. How will that happen? With a strong work ethic, good ideas, good friends, good contacts, a well-thought out marketing plan, and a great social media public relations strategy.

Leading that great social media launch is Anne Giles Clelland, founder of Handshake Media, publisher of Handshake 2.0. If you know me or are familiar with my work as a writer, then you may have read my articles on Handshake 2.0 and you may know Anne as a writer, an editor, and publisher. What you may not know is just how darn smart and creative she is. Even after working on her team as a writer, I have been blown away by the ideas she presented to get my new business of to a great start. 

Anne wrote about this in a post titled Watch This! Then, Watch Out! on her personal blog. In that post, she used a photo from an underwater photo shoot my daughter and I went on at her request.

Anne is a competitive triathlete (she swims, bikes, and runs on purpose) so requesting an underwater photo shoot was a natural for her. My daughter took the photo below using the Olympus Stylus Tough camera on loan to me by Olympus (@getolympus). This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite photos taken during my first year as a freelancer.

I feel good. A business begins with an idea. A handshake puts it on the winning path.

I invite you to follow that path by visiting SmartCollegeVisit often and by reading the First College Visit series on Handshake 2.0.

Comments

[Amy Africa]

You should figure out how much you want to sell for because SmartCollegeVisit is a killer concept and an even better execution. Congratulations Kelly!

[Z. Kelly Queijo]

Amy, thanks for the support and encouragement! Blacksburg's not Silicon Valley, but when it comes to companies who "get" higher ed and technology, we've got some of the best new services out there (Koofers, BecomeAlum, and Campus Carriers to name a few). I'm happy to be in their company and who knows, maybe your prediction will come true someday, but for now, I'll keep working to make the transition from launch to success for SmartCollegeVisit happen.