By Husbands For Husbands: Start-up Heroes

 Here ye! Here ye! Head’s up Gentlemen, Friends of Gentlemen and start-up fans, we’re aiming to double the wisdom shared this week!

This week’s featured guests are none other than the dynamic duo, co-founders of By Husbands For Husbands, Gerry Baron and Steve Worthy. They are here to not only share their story about being a powerful start-up on the rise, but to help men become heroes!

So, whether you are a soon-to-be or are already a husband, someone who would like to send some hero advice to a loved one, or are just plain interested in learning who’s creating some awesome business ideas out there, stay with us this week for our five part interview series with Gerry and Steve. We will learn about their experiences on the start-up journey, their impressive game plan and the wise words they share.

KTY: Welcome Steve and Gerry,

You have a very unique business and bright future in your hands. What incited you to develop your start-up and to embark on the sometimes bumpy startup road?

G & S: We have started numerous businesses.  This concept was born out of necessity by two husbands who needed to get their own romantic lives in shape.  So what better way to enhance a weakness than to deliberately take steps to improve? 

As a result, I (Gerry) created a book of various romantic things to do in the Atlanta area.  This was the genesis of the concept!  I (Gerry) had a lot of guys asking for the book, and approached Steve about creating a business to help husbands enhance their romantic lives with their wives. 

As we researched the marketplace for providers of assistance for husbands looking to romance their wives, we noticed very few.  Those that were in the marketplace were not operated by men.  We felt that if guys could hear ideas about romance from other guys in a safe environment we would have something.  So in early January of this year, we had a series of meetings.  We built and launched our website in three weeks on February 1,2007  - just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Some of our motivations for developing a start-up are:

• The excitement about capitalizing on the opportunity we see to meet a need, fill a void, and provide a service that no one else seems to be addressing effectively, if at all.
• The passion for creating new things.
• The chance to learn and grow personally and professionally.

KTY: Please tell us more about your business, your product and team.

G & S: By Husbands For Husbands is a community for husbands and husbands looking to creatively romance their wives.  In such a community, we provide various services and resources to help them in that endeavor. 

Our weekly Internet radio show, By Husbands For Husbands Talk Radio, is a forum for us to challenge husbands to think differently about the way they interact with their wives and family.  We interview well-known authors, business executives, and community leaders as a way to offer rich content to our listening audience.

Through our blog, By Husband For Husbands Blog, we present thought-provoking views and discuss issues relevant to husbands.

By Husbands For Husbands Video has video content designed to get husbands to consider a new perspective.

We also offer social network environments on Ning and MySpace as another opportunity for our constituents to interact with us and with each other.

Our primary service is Romance Consulting.  We assist husbands in planning and executing romantic date nights and celebrations of their marriage.  Our services include:
 
Membership Packages

• Hero
• Don Juan
• Casanova

À La Carte Services

• Date Night Planning
• Anniversary Planning
• Birthday Planning
• Travel Arrangements

Resources

• Bookstore
• Teleseminars
• Heroes In the Making – Book Series
• CDs
• DVDs
• Apparel

We have been friends for about 3 years.  We are both driven by an entrepreneurial passion and a desire to make an impact.  Through the teaching and growth that we’ve experienced at our church, we’ve realized that sharing our marriage experiences - good and bad - to help other men become more successful in their marriages is something that impacts generations.

KTY:  Those certainly are highly attractive and valuable services. Could you please elaborate on your market potential? How do you attract your audience?

G & S: Our target market is very rich and we look at it from a few perspectives:

Target Market

• Married or soon to be Married Men
• Average years married: 7
• Age: 25-55
• Household Income: $85K
• Occupation: Business Owners, Sales, IT
• Activities: Church, Sports, Reading, Business
• Actively seeking to enhance their marriage romance

Our target market gives us the opportunity to expand into other markets with ease.  We offer rich content that attracts men who admit that they have a need for this type of community.

Market Revenue
Actual target market revenue potential numbers are illusive.  Using an online dating company like eHarmony as a benchmark, they sell online marriage enhancement courses for up to $49 per month.  These courses can generate approximately $250-350 Million annually.  This is completely separate from their dating services.  

In the beginning we built our audience through an E-Mail campaign to our personal databases of about 2,200 men who were friends, family, and business.  Since that time, we have grown virally through our social media and Web 2.0 strategy which is how we met you, Kristina.   Our strategy consists of multiple channels designed to connect to our audience regardless of their preferred way for receiving information.

Our blog has grown in its numbers of views by 550% since we began in March 2007.  This channel is targeted at those in our audience who like to receive information by reading and commenting. 

Our second channel, By Husband For Husbands Talk Radio, is our Internet radio talk show on BlogTalkRadio.com that airs every Tuesday evening @ 9pm ET.  Our online and offline listening audience has grown by 1,000% since we since began in April 2007.  This show is geared towards tackling those subjects that most men find difficult to talk about such as: family, work/life balance, romance, sex, spirituality, fatherhood and authentic manhood.  This channel is for our audience who want to receive information audibly.

Our third channel, By Husbands For Husbands TV, is our video channel on YouTube.  We produce topical 3-5 minute videos covering the same topics we discuss on By Husbands For Husbands Radio.  This channel is for our audience who like to receive visual information.

We even use humor to spread our message through our Poor Jim cartoon series.  Jim is a character much like us who often blows it.

   Come back again during the week to learn more about:

• Tuesday: Their impressive business model, financing experience, and the competition
• Wednesday: The most rewarding and difficult parts of being a start-up and their game plan
• Thursday: Success: theirs and yours!
• Friday: Advice à la Steve and Gerry