Brandie Ahlgren

Seattle, WA (USA)
Role(s):
Founder/Owner/Principal

CityDog Magazine

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Location: Seattle
Industry: Media
Year Founded: 2005
Number Employees: 1-10 people
Description: Launched in 2005, Seattle-based CityDog Magazine is the definitive dog lovers’ magazine about life and living with dogs in the West. Over the last five years, CityDog Magazine has expanded to include distribution throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and northern California, with 30% growth in revenue year over year. Utilizing her expertise in marketing and public relations, founder Brandie Ahlgren created a niche publication from the ground up, ultimately reaching thousands of loyal readers. To capitalize on this brand loyalty, CityDog 2.0 is the logical next phase of the business, creating a national online presence with an already established base of readers, advertisers, writers and photographers for instant traffic, revenue and content. CityDog 2.0 will be the go-to place where dog lovers find community, entertainment and relevant information through a combination of online magazine, business directory, events calendar, shopping and social networking; a place where visitors to the site can read articles, search for (and review) businesses by category and neighborhood, find local events, meet fellow dog lovers and shop for unique dog products. Each site is hyper local, with relevant content about life and living with dogs in the city. What sets CityDog apart from other dog-centric websites is its hyper local content: What to do, where to go and what to buy in your city with your dog. Content is managed by the Seattle office, but driven by local editors and individual users. Initial launch will include Seattle, Portland and San Francisco, with Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Vancouver, B.C. to follow within the first year, ultimately reaching millions of dog lovers through the website as well as via mobile phone. Each city will have its own stand-alone site, with editorial and photography generated by local contributors and users. However, the look of each site will be the same, developing a national brand that attracts national advertisers as well as local and regional advertisers. What also sets CityDog apart is its mobility. In conjunction with the website(s), CityDog will feature a custom mobile application that users can access while on the road. As part of Phase I, we are looking to raise seed capital of $100,000 to ensure three rollout cities by June 2010 and ten cities by December 2010. Year two will see the addition of at least ten more cities, with 30 to 40 cities by the end of year three. To date, CityDog has raised $45,000 and web development has been initiated, with Seattle launching in approximately three weeks. We are happy to provide a copy of the business plan upon request and signing of a non-disclosure agreement.