Welcome to our very first blog post.  A month or so I wrote a background story for our Facebook page on how Bawte became Bawte.  So I figure it may be a good place to start our blog. Stay tuned for more posts as I will update our development progress as we get closer to launching.

Let's start with the name Bawte.  It is pronounced exactly like the word 'bought'.

It’s not Bawty or Bawté, as we are not playing off a word that means indecent and we are not French.  We do, however, originate from a city whose name is French in origin (Des Moines, IA).  But that is not the point.  It is Bawte (‘bought’) and for good reason.

The concept originated when my wife bought a big keyboard for my 9 year old to practice piano on.  While it was not as big of a purchase as a piano, it was still pretty substantial.  As I was rummaging through the packaging I noticed the product registration card and begin to look at it.  It must have touched my fingertips for less than one second before I let it drop back into the box from which it came.

As it hit the bottom of the box I thought that I really should fill that out for all sorts of obvious reasons, but I just didn't want to go through the effort.  And I certainly didn't want to have to pay postage on top of effort (Do you know anyone who has postcard stamps anymore?).  I knew that if I held on to the product registration card it would sit on the kitchen counter till it got used as scrap paper or got thrown away.  I began to wonder why brands even bother with those things???

As the thought lingered, my experience with mobile technology bubbled to the surface.  I then thought, "If I had my smartphone with me and they put a code on the card, I could just scan the card."

One major drawback there, I'd still have to enter my info through some clunky web form and that also assumes I have a code reader on my phone.  As my mind raced, I quickly rationalized that if I had an app on my phone that was specifically designed for this purpose and I could connect my Facebook and Twitter accounts (which already has my name, phone, email, address, etc.) then I’d use that in a heartbeat!

As I continued to set up this keyboard, I further realized that the brands of the products that were purchased would surely love a mention from their actual customers via Facebook, Twitter, Google +, etc. And that is totally doable with a simple push of a button.  And not just any mention, but a mention where the brand is tagged.  That then goes right to the brand’s page.  And what better time for a 'Like' or a 'Follow' than right after you buy a product?  All through Bawte.

In looking at my social feeds I noticed that friends and followers often share where they have been, what they are doing, what they watch on TV or listen to via Internet radio.  And they do this because there are cool services that facilitate this.  Bawte enables this new area of sharing.

And it's not sharing just for sharing sake.  Brands and even retailers can get really creative and incentivize their customers.  The platform would allow for custom badging, points, promotions, limited offers, sweepstakes and much more.

So we did it.  In late 2011 we started the company and began development.  We look to go live in April 2012.

Well, that's Bawte.  We think it is pretty cool and we hope you do to.

For more info, post to our page or send us a message on Twitter (@Bawte), Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bawte or send us an email at info@Bawte.com. Orrrrr now that we have a blog, respond to our blog!