West Coast Bureau Chief, StyleHive.com
www.stylehive.com, http://mystylediary.stylehive.com, www.dailypatricia.com

Patricia Handschiegel will be speaking at Ladies Who Launch LIVE in Los Angeles, taking place on May 31. Click for more info.

I used to think I was down with the online shopping scene, but apparently, I’ve been retailing it old school: (1) Go to fashion Web site. (2) Buy something. (3) Check e-mail. Fortunately, I saw the error of my Web shopping ways after chatting with the eternally hip Patricia Handschiegel, the founder and now West Coast Bureau Chief of the social media company StyleDiary, which she sold to Stylehive.com in November 2007, three years after creating it.

StyleHive.com draws 2 million unique visitors and gets 7 million page views per month, reaching women from 18-40 who are predominantly high income and urban shoppers. The site is filled with fabulous finds, from fashion to furniture. The common denominator? Style rules.

Within StyleHive is StyleDiary, where you can discover the latest fashion trends and see members’ photos of themselves in their top fashion finds. Their entries include comments on what they like and where to buy it. You can even create a style diary of your own.

By pairing experience with instinct, Patricia found just the right buyer and launched the career of a lifetime.

What we learned from Patricia: “Little tiny steps make you an entrepreneur. Once you take them, things will start opening up. You don’t always need to have everything in place and perfectly set up to take action.”

Trendspotting: Think Two Products Ahead

“The site was launched in August 2004, so social networks weren’t anything anyone was talking about. I got the most fashion inspiration from people I saw on the street, so I made a magazine online about what people were wearing. That’s how the concept was born. I encouraged people to send pictures and I would take pictures of my friends. I think part of being an entrepreneur is to go by your instincts.”

Be Your Audience

“I came out of that online community. I was my user. I was my audience. I was the girl that was out talking about marketing fashion on the Internet. It evolved from there.”

An Ear for Fashion

“One thing that’s wonderful about the Web is that there’s a lot of conversation happening and you can get your ear on the rail. I saw a lot of magazines that weren’t telling people what to do. Ballet flats are all the rage, but will they make your ankles look thick? There are all these intricate things about putting clothes on. StyleDiary came from things that I thought girls would be interested in and what I as a girl was interested in.”

A Mix-and-Match Partnership

“I found a technology partner—a talented engineer. We’re so different, but our skills are complementary. One day we were talking and the idea of a community [for StyleDiary]. Shortly after that, MySpace was bought, and then suddenly everyone understood [the social media concept], so it ended up being a really good time to be doing something in that space.”

Being in the Black Is the New Beige

“I come from the school of doing it as cheaply as you can and seeing how things go. There’s a lot of free brand-building you can do on a blog while you’re getting your ducks in a row.”

Business Plan or Seat-of-the-Pants Execution?

“I never needed to write anything down because I really understood exactly what I thought it should look like, but when you’re going to get financing, that’s a different story. I had to do both. As a founder, I went by what I believed should be possible and where I knew the market was tracking.”

Work It, Girl: Strutting the Media Catwalk

“After the site started taking off, I subscribed to ProfNet. You can find journalists who are looking for sources. I tried to do as many interviews as I could and made an effort to evangelize the site.”

Networking With the Girls: They’re Not Just Shopping Partners Anymore

“The best thing women can do is network. Women entrepreneurs are different. There’s a loyalty between us … an honest bond. When you’re dealing with the balance of having to grocery shop or take care of an ailing grandparent or whatever is part of a woman’s life, it helps to have girls around you who get it.”

Market Knowledge Is Trés Chic

“I tried to up the profile of the brand and myself as an executive in every possible way. I read BusinessWeek for two years solid, mining for contacts. I tried to connect with the right people and let them know that StyleDiary was there. I tried to make relationships with them and see what opportunities could be there.”

A Pattern for Success

“When you go into a market, the best thing you can do is start rattling all the doors. I started raising that awareness in Silicon Valley. I tried to do speaking engagements. In 2006, I met Michael Carrier, CEO of StyleHive—we sat on a panel about social networking. We stayed in touch. Over a year’s time it made sense to potentially merge with them.”

Finding Just the Right Fit

“I wasn’t trying to sell it, I was trying to be valuable to the audience and to stay stable. I knew that StyleDiary would have the best chance if it had capital and if it got purchased. I love StyleHive’s mindset, how they understand women’s media and where their heads are.”

Driving Traffic: The Scoop

“I believe in good old-fashioned community development and brand-building efforts for this. Online, that can mean being part of conversations through non-commercial commenting on other blogs (business, fashion, etc.) in the category, and just including your URL in the signature (most blog sites allow comments this way), which I did quite often; or having pages on other social networks. But I think it’s very important to also go out to local events in your town and share information or business cards, recruiting members if it’s a social network, etc. In addition to this, you can do linkbacks and search engine optimization. Don’t be afraid to contact media outlets you’d like to get your site into if you can’t afford a PR firm. Today, you can find a lot of those contacts online, like on WSJ.com. It’s a lot of work, but it can also really work!”

Top Three Page-View Increasers

“1. Build brand and personality presence/awareness (as noted above).
2. Search engine optimization.
3. Build a community.”

Page Views Plus Unique Visitors—Why So Important?

“It’s the way that site size and audience value is measured. Initially, sites were almost entirely judged by page views alone. In the past year or so, it was page views and uniques, with the expectation that top sites would always have really high numbers regardless of being mainstream or niche. Today, there’s a lot deeper understanding of various elements of traffic. People talk about session times and repeat visitors, and are starting to have different expectations in terms of value. Numbers for niche sites aren’t always going to match those of big, mainstream players. I believe this will help smaller and niche sites in the future.”

Overnight Success? Walk a Mile in Her Jimmy Choos

“Nothing prepares you for entrepreneurship. There’s a misconception that it happens easily. This is blood, sweat, and tears. You will get to a point where you say, ‘What was I thinking?’ Every aspect of it challenges everything that you are. And it’s okay. You’re going to recover.”

The Next Big Thing

“I’m very committed to StyleHive. I want to develop ideas, work with women, and inspire them. I can’t tell you everything, but one thing I can tell you—I’m only getting started.”

This Featured Lady was profiled by Sandra Sellani, a member of the Orange County, CA, Incubator and an author and brand consultant.