Down here at Sex, Life, & Hannah headquarters we have been celebrating since 09.09.09. Celebrating, because a very big milestone has been reached. After much research, deliberation, and hard work, SLH 2.0 is open for business. I want to thank everybody that has been involved; from the people that shared their opinions about what they wanted out of our website, to the people behind the scenes, designing and programming. I also want to describe the features of SLH 2.0, and share how we plan to give you the ultimate Sex, Life, & Hannah experience.
This project really started last summer. You see, when I initially launched the Sex, Life, & Hannah website in 2007, I realized within six months that the way people used websites was changing rapidly, social networking was the buzz word, and you had to break down the computer screen barrier and involve people in your product if you wanted to build a loyal community around your brand. Having pretty pictures and a newsletter just wasn’t enough anymore.
As a first step, we decided to conduct a focus group. We rounded up 20 people in our target market, sat them down at Mexicali on Ventura Blvd, fed them, provided beverages (and a little booze), and got the conversation going. We got our focus group to open up about things like: favorite websites, leisure activities, books, navigation, design, membership access; basically, what our website needed to offer to draw in people. We also sent out a survey that summer. It was more of the same, what do you guys do in your leisure time? What makes you choose a book over a movie? What websites do you visit most and why? We wanted to learn more about our existing customers and potential customers so that we could provide a better product.
Aside from learning more about you, our customers, I also began learning more about website design; not from a programming perspective, but from an e-commerce perspective. If my website was to offer more, engage people more, what did it need to look like? I went to seminars, talked to as many web “experts” as I could find, scoured web articles, subscribed to several e-marketing and e-trend newsletters, and took a business incubator to hone in on the details and stay focused. It has been quite the journey to say the least.
A year later, we are celebrating all that hard work with SLH 2.0. As with every website, there is no such thing as “done”. We’ve created the skeleton, the backbones, the platform, but we will continue to evolve as necessary to suit your needs. And we are still working out some bugs…
Our blog is a way for us to keep you informed on a more consistent basis, but it also serves as a gateway for us to branch out into other articles; juicy details about the Sex, Life, & Hannah book series, and other fun lifestyle things like dating and sex advice, going out in L.A., fashion, music, and anything else that you tell us you are interested in or we feel works with our brand. I hope to bring on some guest bloggers by the end of this year, and really get this part of the website rolling.
We now have an online advertising space. Nobody likes a site cluttered with ads, so we decided one space would be perfect. It allows our sponsors to support us and keeps in line with our goal of including a little bit of advertising in all our products. Get in touch with me if you want to advertise, and I’ll give you the complete scoop.
The podcasts, photos, and videos, will give you extra options for enjoying our books, and staying up to date and in touch. That’s why we also have Twitter and MySpace, and a Facebook Fan page…is just around the corner. We realize that everyone is a little different when it comes to how they spend their leisure time, and where they want to access their favorite brands, so we want to give you as many options as possible. The Think Tank, what can I say? Just tell us what you think:)
The digital age is upon us, so we also realize that not everyone prefers print books. Some of you want instant gratification, which is why we now have a Sex, Life, & Hannah Book Club. The premise is simple: you pay us $8.99 for a lifetime membership (that’s right, LIFETIME), and we give you access to all the books—electronically. This doesn’t mean we’ll never print another Sex, Life, & Hannah book; but, for now, becoming a SLH Book Club member will give you the fastest access to our fun little series about dating in L.A.
Oh yeah, we also have something called Hannah Grooves. A song that’s timely, relevant, and has helped shape the book series. Why? Well, as the author of Sex, Life, & Hannah I can assure you I never write without a soundtrack. Music helps paint my scenes, shape my characters, and motivates my storylines. Because it’s so pivotal, I want to share what I am listening to with you as I continue to write these stories.
Welcome to SLH 2.0. Your portal to Hannah. www.sexlifeandhannah.com
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