Meet Edgar (of course, it’s a software program, but I’ll refer to our cute octopus friend as “he”).
He is essentially your best friend for social media management. Not only does he allow you to schedule your posts amongst multiple platforms, but he recycles your content AND categorizes your posts. In this day and age, social media is the best way to keep your following engaged and grow your following. MeetEdgar streamlines that process. And isn’t that what technology is about? – making your life more efficient?
And even more fascinating, meet Laura Roeder, the genius behind Edgar. I was intrigued by the idea and development of this new technology, so she agreed to answer some of my questions. Her idea for MeetEdgar is essentially a summary of series of steps they required at her last company – all the things Edgar does in one fell swoop – divide social updates into categories, plot categories onto a schedule, then re-purpose the same content to post again in different categories.
Although Laura does not consider herself a “techie,” she was teaching herself how to code when she was in junior high. Graphic arts were her first love, and she sees website building as the “natural progression” from there. She noticed how high maintenance it was to continually sort and refresh content for social media. For example – imagine you sometimes post regarding business advice, sometimes about lifestyle, sometimes “coming soon” tidbits. You may set a corresponding schedule to make sure your audience gets a little bit of each every week. You spend your Sunday sorting, scheduling, and creating new content. Laura’s creation of MeetEdgar eliminates this painstaking process, because Edgar does it all for you. And now, you don’t have to make all new content for your lifestyle section, because your business content can be re-purposed with a lifestyle emphasis. Or, your “coming soon” tidbits can be used as your business content.
Convenience-enhancing, right? That was her priority. I wondered what she found to be Edgar’s most convenience-enhancing feature, and she shared that MeetEdgar is the only tool with perpetual content. So this is what’s special about it – it’s geared for the busy people who can only sometimes add more to their queue. Edgar becomes the virtual assistant, sorting and publishing content as you go about your busy day. Comparably, other software requires you to keep a hand in the whole process. This automation is revolutionizing the social media realm (and that’s clear beyond just the concept and into the numbers, as they’ve grown MeetEdgar to $3 million annual revenue in just two years without funding).
The most interesting tidbit of advice from Laura, in my opinion, is that you don’t have to be a software developer to develop software. Yes, you read that right. You can have an idea that requires a degree of software development beyond what you know how to accomplish, and still hire the right people to develop it for you. She specifies that there is a difference between being an entrepreneur and a tech developer – some people, of course, are both – but you are not at a disadvantage if you only excel in one role. Laura describes herself as a “non-technical founder,” but notes that it didn’t stop her from starting her own software company. As an entrepreneur, she had a knack for the marketing and business side of things. That’s just as important as developing the actual software. So, even if you do not consider yourself a “techie,” you could ultimately start your own tech company.
I asked if she had any advice for young girls interested in entrepreneurship – tech oriented or otherwise – and I found her answer very poignant. She advised, “You get a lot of outside advice that might be true, but it doesn’t matter if it isn’t true for you.” Listening to our own inner truth – our tech ideas, even if we don’t have an affinity for tech, or our business ideas, even if we’ve never started a business before – seems to be the secret to creating a successful business.
