ICC: For those of us who are new to Clutch, when did you launch and what was your inspiration for creating the site?

Dede: I started Clutch in 2002 after I graduated from college and I was going through a difficult time in my life. I couldn’t find a job and my best friend passed away… my father. One day, my best friend at the time let me come over his place at Michigan State Village Apartments, and as I sat on his couch I began to look through his magazine collection. As I flipped through the pages, I was like “where are my sistas… I am going to burn down this apartment!” My tough love friend said: “Stop complaining man! If you don’t like it, stop supporting it and start one.” At first I wanted to curse him out or start crying — at that time, those were the only two emotions I was capable of expressing. But after his sarcastic comment I started to smile, and said, “I will.” For the first time in months I saw hope and light in my life. It took two years to put my plan into action.

At first I was focused on becoming a print publication, but I saw other start-ups that didn’t make it five months in the publishing business and I already knew that the print advertising game was no joke. A couple of years later I moved back to Atlanta and some of my friends started asking if I was ever going to relaunch Clutch. Honestly, I had always wanted to but I went through so much during the initial launch I was kind of scared . . . but I got over it and here we are!

ICC: As the magazine’s Founder and Editorial/Creative Director, what professional experiences prepared you to for this endeavor?

Dede: I am a past integrated marketing professional, so I can say all the tactics and things I learned while working in Corporate America has definitely help me with Clutch. Honestly, I am still trying and learning the ins and outs of running Clutch online. But, I have some great mentors/advisers who are social media enthusiasts that make sure I stay on the right path.

ICC: What were some of the obstacles you had to overcome to successfully launch and maintain your vision?

Dede: I planned for a long time before I entered into the online game, so I really didn’t have too many because of that. My number one piece of advice for anyone who wants to start a business on and offline is to plan for at least a year. In that year, save up, learn as much as you can and plan your arrival. As far as maintaining, there are always obstacles, the key is to deal with them intelligently and stay focused and on plan.

 

 

 

 

 

ICC: Tell us about how you built your team and the roles they play.

Dede: Starting off, my team was all my friends. We are a unique group. [LOL] So, I knew we would be fresh and our content would be different than the norm. As far as building, we celebrate individuality so anyone coming to the table with new ideas and creativity we adore. So, anybody with Clutch and future additions to our little family has to be an individual and not follow the pack.

The roles – we don’t take ourselves seriously and don’t really have roles per se. Our business end is tight, but we don’t fall into titles, cause when you do for emerging companies, it can cause some issues. We all know what we have to do and we just do it. So, we just all do what we love and live.

ICC: Your content is both diverse and relevant, attracting a wide cross section of visitors. How many “Clutchettes” are visiting your site each month and what is their demographic profile?

Dede: Our target is AA women 18-40. We range based on who we are featuring, but our internal and Google Analytics numbers state that we range in 72K-83K unique visitors per month and constantly increasing – thank God.

ICC: You have a very interactive relationship with your readers that allows for a constant exchange of ideas and feedback, what are a few of their reasons for visiting the site?

Dede: Thanks! – We definitely try. That is one of the reasons why we decided to become an online magazine only because we wanted to have that relationship with our readers. As far as their reasoning, I can’t really speak for them, but I hope it’s because of our content and vibe. Also, I think it’s because we are them. We are pretty much the same age range of our readers so we are able to connect with them. In most cases we are going through the same things as they are and we have a lot of the same likes and desires.

ICC: You recently launched the Clutch Blog Network, the first specifically for African American women. What will readers experience when they visit the network?

Dede: The network offers African American women content that was written especially for them. They can expect to truly see themselves in the text, images and feel of the network. The Clutch network was built to give our demo a place where they can see themselves as well as highlight new and emerging brands, people and designers since there are so many of us out there who can not get into mainstream print publications for whatever reason. We want to be the realm of new and budding.

 

ICC: What’s next for Clutch…any new projects brewing?

Dede: Yes! One of our goals is be more international, so we will be creating more content for our international readership. We will be launching 2-3 more blogs in 2009 focusing on more niche content for African American women. We are currently planning for the launch of a network for African American men for late 2009. Also, we will be doing more offline events, we love to party – so we are all waiting for that to pop off.