Archive for the ‘Business’ Category
Thesaurus.com's ad-tastic layout
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
I was just having a look at thesaurus.com to look up some nice alertnative words for a project and I suddenly realised the volume of ad-related content on each page:
- vertical display ad
- horizontal display ad
- MPU1
- MPU2
- Google adsense
- ASK search bar (leading to ads)
- ASK related searches (leading to ads)
Brilliant!
Tags: ask, display, google, MPU, search bar, thesaurus
Posted in Business | 1 Comment »
Auto blogging: tread with caution
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
So I set up WP-o-Matic, a wordpress plugin, which auto blogs using RSS feeds. This has caused degrees of pain around the BView blog however with a little hacking it is becoming useful. In order to share what I did and help stop others from repeating my mistakes here are some tips to auto blogging:
1. Decide why you are auto blogging and what value you intend to create or time you intend to reduce. This is a very powerful tool. Great power, great respons…
2. If you are setting up auto blogging on an existing blog then any subscriber to your generic WP rss feed will receive all of your new posts. This could be an issue if you don’t want your auto blogs to be distributed that way. I have now changed the rss equivalent for the blog to not include the category that auto blogs appear in.
3. Same applies to your home page – I have stopped my auto blog category from appearing on the home page.
4. Using regex and rewrites is almost impossible and you will have to edit the PHP in WP – be prepared
My apologies to anyone who gets our blog feed if they have received multi-updates. I hope that this will not happen again!
Posted in Business | 1 Comment »
BView restaurant booking interface now live
Monday, October 12th, 2009
On Friday we released a great new feature: restaurant booking. OK, there are several restaurant booking services available so what makes our’s so different? Here are some features:
- really simple, really easy to use interface
- no registration required
- we remember your details meaning future bookings only take three clicks
- there is an iPhone-optimised version
Booking interface for web cbrowsers
So this is the view if you are viewing it from FireFox, Chrome or IE on the web….
Mobile browser view
…and this is what you see when you use a mobile browser and in this case on an iPhone.
We think you’ll agree that this is a really useful addition to the voucher search engine. There are currently around 2,000 live restaurant offers available and this number is growing. By our calculations, that makes us the home of the largest number of restaurant offers in the UK. Happy booking!
For any developers using the BView API: the restaurant booking screen is now part of the API and you don’t have to make any changes.
Tags: booking, offers, restaurant
Posted in Announcements, Business, Features | Comments Off
iPhone app
Monday, September 28th, 2009
I am happy to say that the first two iPhone apps using the BView API are now live. First up is Local Sale Finder which is available to download here followed closely by London Offers (built by the good people from Rippll) which is available to download here.
The BView API is free for anyone to use and allows you to use the BView vouchers, sales & offers data base on your own application or website. Go get a key and mash it up to your heart’s content.
Tags: api, geolocation, iphone, vouchers
Posted in Announcements, Business, Product Updates | Comments Off
Vouchers Revisited
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
You might remember back in March BView made it possible for businesses to add vouchers and promotions to their listings. Our voucher directory has been growing ever since and now includes tens of thousands of vouchers, making us the largest single source of vouchers in the UK.
If you’re business isn’t displaying a voucher, you might be missing out.
Why should I add a voucher?
By adding a voucher your business will be included in the BView voucher directory. Businesses from our voucher directory are seen more across the BView site. Businesses with vouchers will have the edge over those without as everyone likes a bargain – it gives the customer one more reason to choose you over a competitor. You’ll also be included in our fortnightly newsletter that gets sent to tens of thousands of BView members
We’ve also been working hard to build distribution partners to get your offers seen by the widest audience possible. Just last month we partnered with Google so that vouchers from BView businesses are displayed as part of the listings on Google Maps. We’re putting the finishing touches to other exciting partnerships too!
What does it cost?
Nothing.
It’s completely free.
Any business on BView can add a voucher as part of their standard profile. Once you’ve claimed your listing just click on the “Add a voucher” link from the menu on the right.
What sort of special offer should I make?
This really depends on your business. Percentage discounts are always popular, but you might prefer to offer a free gift, or 2 for 1 deal. Mail order companies find that free delivery is always a winner, and if none if these suit you, then you could try a free quote or initial consultation.
How do I add a voucher?
If you haven’t already, then start by claiming your business on BView.
Once you’ve done this just login and follow the “Add a voucher” link displayed in the green box on the right hand side of your profile. It should be straight forward from there!
If you’ve got any suggestions, feedback or voucher success stories then please share them below in the comments.
Tags: Business, discount, google, maps, promotion, special offers, vouchers
Posted in Business, General | Comments Off
The Positives from the Negative
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
One topic that comes up quite often when speaking to business owners on BView is the impact a poor review could have on their businesses reputation. They shouldn’t be so worried though. This article tells how the odd negative review of a business can make a potential customer trust those other perfect scores that little bit more – it makes feedback seem balanced, and obvious that the business has nothing to hide.
In my experience, any time I seek out a new business to work with I’ll seek out those few negative comments, not so I can find out what could go wrong, but more importantly, so that I can get an idea of how the company responded when things turned bad.
Earlier in the year when a reviewer complained that our offer of a Google Adwords voucher for new business members was “rubbish” for existing advertisers we took the time to address their concerns, and hopefully made the promotion a little clearer for everyone. Another great example of how important negative feedback is to can be seen in Louisa E’s comments. We worked hard to address each of the issues she raised about the site and are confident BView is better because of it!
BView knows how important it is to give business owners an opportunity to put their side of the story across and explain what went wrong and how they’ve set about resolving problems or complaints raised by reviewers. Through BView, businesses can add a response to any review left for their business, and this is a valuable way of showing how important customer satisfaction is to your company. If you’re looking for some more examples when a bad review ended up making the business look good, read this.
Potential customers will understand that no business gets it right every time for every customer and will be encouraged to see a businesses working hard to recognise where they’ve made mistakes and what they’ve done to correct them – and to make sure it doesn’t happen again!
Don’t forget that all feedback will have a positive impact on your businesses SEO (it’s visibility to search engines) so if you haven’t already, invite a few of your customers to review you on BView.
Tags: bad reviews, customer satisfaction, negative comments, negative reviews, reputation, seo
Posted in Business, Findings | 3 Comments »
Steigenberger Nile Palace or Costa Del Back Garden, holidays in 2009.
Friday, May 1st, 2009
As the elusive British summertime begins its months long game of hide and seek, many of us begin to think of holidays and jetting off to sundrenched beaches and a brief escape from the rat race. In times of financial instability a holiday could be more than some can manage. For some, perhaps the annual break will be closer to home this year.
I was vaguely considering that I could begin to plan a holiday and musing over destinations when I began to think of the practicalities. My passport is out of date and my children don’t have one at all yet. There, in under 10 seconds is a cost of £164. £72 for my own passport and £46 for each of my children. I just don’t need that headache right now. I don’t need to leave the country.
So, my thoughts returned to good old Blighty.
Now, I’ve travelled the U.K fairly extensively, in caravans, tents, guest houses, hotels and friends homes. I’ve even stayed at a substantial number of English Heritage sites. I have children who think Dora The Explorer has the most exciting life and I love the idea of something new, so, wandering around the internet I found wigwams at Humble Bee Farm.
A lovely homey looking wooden building with real beds starting from £15.00 per person per night and just £8.00 for children. So, £31 per night and no great risk from weather conditions. There’s even a secure lock on the door, which might give me some peace of mind about midnight excursions by the gruesome twosome.
Or what about a Cocoon at Nostell Priory Park at £24.50 per night? A small building which looks like a rigid tent and again guaranteeing you won’t be blown away in the middle of the night. No escapees and the dubious pleasure of cooking outside every night, just like real camping. It also means I don’t have to get up close and personal with nature, I can scurry back to the more-tangible-than-canvas-relative-safety of a plastic house. I’m warming to the idea.
I think my kids will love camping and it’s an adventure I want them to enjoy, though I worry about them getting out of the tent in the middle of the night in the same manner as they wander around the house eating chocolate in the wee small hours.
Still, I checked out the prices and venues. I remember staying in a lovely place in St Austell, Cornwall a few years ago and their prices for a tent are a very reasonable £4 – £9 per night depending on the season. However, prices vary around the country and during peak season. One site I found mentioned a £20 minimum fee per night during the peak season. You’ll often find money off vouchers in the back of The Camping and Caravanning Guide, available from CCC, Blacks and other similar shops.
Most of my childhood holidays were spent in touring caravans in Great Yarmouth and Skegness, or in static caravans in Cornwall, again, I’d quite like my daughters to enjoy that experience so I checked back to the sites we used when I was small. Vauxhall in Great Yarmouth would be around £418 for a week at the end of June in a dinky little 3 berth static caravan. The same week in Widemouth Caravan Park would be £322.00 as an online booking price.
I had romantic dreams of a cottage in the Lake District one year, all open fires and long country walks ending at cosy country pubs. The prices quoted were in the region of £350.00 minimum per week, for two people, in November! Unimpressed I quickly found a late winter sun deal in Majorca with Thomson for less and we skipped off to laze by the quiet beaches instead of the open hearth.
However a B&B begins at £60.00 per night and a weekend break might be just the thing.
I’ve never been entranced with hotels. They’ve always been associated with work related stays for me, though I confess, as a mental mum of two rampant children, I rather like the idea of no cooking and no cleaning up. Still, a brief search shows I could get a short dated booking for £42.50 in a 4 star hotel in Devon and share. I certainly couldn’t leave my little darlings in a room of their own…despite being far too young, remember the chocolate escapades I mentioned? Imagine a whole hotel full of adventure in the middle of the night. It would be Macauley Culkin Home Alone Part 4, The End!
So many people say that by the time you’ve finished, it’s just as cheap to fly elsewhere for a holiday. Perhaps the answer lies with Lastminute.com . The cheapest holiday I can find there is for £450.00 flying from Luton to Costa Brava and I’d still have to get the passports, bringing the total back up to over £600.00 without travel at either end, or insurance, or spending money. But the lure of no cooking and cleaning is strong. I could even write a blog to enter the 99% off competition and win the chance to have my holiday for just £4.50! No, I’d aim for the luxury of the Steigenberger Nile Palace in Luxor, Egypt. A snip at £489.00 per person. Still, that would be one paid for, a mere £4.89 from my pocket.
Maybe there is more to be said for Costa Del Back Garden. I think I’ll leave it a little while longer and bag a last minute deal, crossing my fingers for extra savings with vouchers on BView.
Tags: BView, camping, caravans, competition, holidays, hotels, vouchers
Posted in Business, Competitions, Features, Findings, General | 1 Comment »
Discount night out
Friday, April 3rd, 2009
Luxuries, in all forms, have been the first casualties of the recession. People are tightening their belts, new car sales have dropped through the floor and property sales joined them. Non essentials seem to be all so yesterday dahling! We’ve almost begun a revival of ‘make do and mend’, the popular quote of wartime Britain. However, the beacons which remain strong, if not stronger, are restaurants and cinemas.
Zagat Survey tells us that here in the UK, eating out is still de riguer even though the cost of eating out has risen by 3.7% in the last year. The financial climate has not yet stolen our gastronomic freedom. This might be helped in part by the proliferation of discount vouchers available. BView has been part of the rise and rise of the discount voucher, with the Pizza Express voucher having over 1600 downloads alone. Many retailers, restaurants amongst others, have their own coupons, codes or downloadable vouchers available via links on the BView site. You can find 2 for 1 offers at ASK , Strada , Cafe rouge , Zizzi and many more .
Those vouchers can be the decider and assist in putting diners behinds on restaurant seats at quieter times, introducing new clientele and encouraging greater spend, after all, we are more likely to spend on desserts and drinks if our main course is free or half price.
I indulged in the same way at Old Orleans this week. The neighbouring cinema were in cahoots, printing ticket stubs with a 2 for 1 offer at the restaurant. I was meeting a friend for a midweek girly night out and we decided, based on the ticket stub to eat out first. We each ate a delicious main meal and a dessert with happy hour cocktails (all in the name of research of course ) and considered ourselves well fed at low cost, the total bill was £27.00.
Technically we each saved £5.50, splitting the reduced cost in half. Not an enormous saving but enough to encourage us to eat dessert and indulge with the fancy drinks, increasing what would otherwise have been a £17.00 bill by £10.00. Genius marketing indeed.
In comparison to Zagats figures of an average meal out in London running a bill of £40.55 per person, £13.50 each was quite the money saving deal.
Content in our meal we did not indulge further in snacks at Cineworld, though I doubt they missed our custom as they have also seen a rise in profit across the country.
I asked them about their business in relation to recession and found that; “From a local perspective, since the start of 2009 we have seen a 9.11% increase in admissions over last years figures, a real ‘bums on seats’ increase of 37,942 people and a total amount of admissions so far this year of 386,951, which is staggering!
Those figures are in part attributed to the releases of Bolt 3D and My Bloody Valentine 3D and the Unlimited card, allowing the cinema goer unlimited viewing for a fixed monthly price, again convincing the customer of value for money. This falls in line with the national figures for Cineworld showing revenue up 4.8% to £298.9m and box office up 6.4% at £197.5m. A very strong position for 2008’s figures in relation to 2007 which saw the continued rise of house prices and the national boom.
As an Unlimited card holder, paying £11.50 per month and using it at least twice per month, then using the discount voucher at Old Orleans, my girly night of a meal with dessert and drinks and a showing of Marley & Me totalled less than £20. I feel I’ve had a lovely night out and without great or unjustified cost.
A two act night of fun reprised across the country for everyone to enjoy, bring your own friends for maximum appreciation.
Tags: cheap night out, cinema, discount, eat out, night out, restauraunt, save money, voucher
Posted in Business, General | 1 Comment »
The consumer trap
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
Everyone likes the idea of something for nothing, however, where loyalty cards are concerned, the phrase ‘It’s too good to be true’ may hit the nail on the head.
Loyalty cards came into common use in the mid 1990’s, a stroke of marketing genius which saw supermarket giants market shares entirely unbalanced and a terrifying customer retention. This galvanised the opposing chains into action and in just two years loyalty cards were rife.
Tesco and Sainsbury battled head to head, Safeway briefly stepped in but retreated to no mans land, later being aquired by Wm Morrisons and Boots stomped all over the concept. Each promising their own advantages, each touting their perks as discounts and bonuses for loyalty and for each promise we sold our souls, arming them with ways to make us spend more money, allowing them lead us into temptation with extra points and lower prices.
Now the face of shopping may have changed forever. Each of us has given the much needed market research data about our habits, if we live alone or are on a diet if we eat meat or live on convenience foods. In fact, they’ll know what you’ve been up to if you buy a pregnancy test and what the result was if you start buying nappies. Then they’ll target you, with coupons and extra points vouchers, tempting you to buy more expensive brands than you usually might, or to wean your baby on a more expensive food, which if your child likes, you’ll buy more often and they’ll reap the reward on the profit. Genius!
Our shopping habits are hoarded on computers and sometimes sold to others for greater market power and we agree to that.
Generally the power lies very much with the shop. The card holder is targeted and tormented, given incentives and persuasions to buy what the store needs to shift or to move the customer up a brand level.
It’s rare that these cards will offer enough to the user to warrant the sale of information but there just a few which make it worthwhile if you don’t mind your preferred toilet paper type being bandied around.
Tesco have a catalogue of offers to choose from, other than simply cashing the coupons instore against your groceries. In the catalogue, your coupons are worth 4x as much, so £5 of coupons gives you £20 of treats in the catalogue.
I thought I had managed well to get breakdown cover for two people on two vehicles using my coupons, until I read on MoneySavingExpert.com about those who had new cars as a result of super clever offers shopping. Changing their eating habits to suit whatever maximised their points and taking the resulting coupons to the car chain involved, driving away with brand new vehicles and with less than two years grocery shopping. Every penny recouped in a car.
Tesco hold a significant 32% market share (compared to 16% each for Sainsburys and Asda), the exchange for the brand new cars which slipped off the forecourts via Clubcard vouchers, until the supplier Motorpoint, ceased their cooperative with Tesco in 2008.
Still, with record profits in the region of 2.8 billion this time last year and the strongest loyalty card legacy, I doubt it made much of a dent.
Boots have a whole legion of shoppers who sniff out the bargains and how best to spend on each item, maximising coupon returns and discounts. A recent example was the 97p sachet of Pantene conditioner, which yielded a 100 point return on the Boots Advantage card, a profit of 3p. By purchasing ten Pantene sachets, I could achieve a return of 1,000 Boots points to make my originally intended purchase, technically getting the sachets free of charge and a 30p profit. In a further manoeuvre of super savvy shopping, if those purchases were broken into groups of £5 or slightly more, a coupon was given out which entitled the bearer to £5.00 off Boots own No.7 products.
If you had originally intended to buy a pack of No.7 face wipes (5.50) and a bottle of No.7 cellulite body lotion(£5.00) you would ultimately transfer £9.70 into 1,000 points on your card, spend a further 50p and leave with £20.50 of products.
The loyalty card could prove to be more useful than it was intended with such detailed knowledge of offers and loopholes, turning the previously unrewarding cards back into the two way street we were originally led to believe they were.
Tags: discount, find a deal, loyalty card, money saving, shopping, special offers
Posted in Business, Findings, General | Comments Off
An introduction to online discount vouchers
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
The recession is really starting to bite: high street stores with never ending sales, reports of shoppers “downshifting” in their weekly shopping and consumers becoming more conscious of how they spend their hard earned cash. It’s getting harder for businesses not just to attract new customers but to keep the ones they already have. When multi-millionaire Wayne Rooney is looking for 50% off his night out it’s clear that thrifty, shrewd spending is becoming the norm and it’s going to take more than a few extra reward points to persuade people to part with their money.
Some retailers may look upon discount vouchers and special offers as a sign of “bargain” outlets, increasingly though it is becoming a more accepted way of attracting business. The web is playing an important role in this self promotion as it levels the playing field and allows smaller, independent businesses to compete equally with the nationwide chains. An added benefit with online vouchers is how easily they can be shared between one satisfied customer and their network of friends, family and colleagues. Whether it’s via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter or in conversation creating a voucher in a way that encourages it to be shared can only have a positive affect on your businesses online reputation.
What can your business do to attract new custom?
Increasingly savvy consumers are looking online to find the best deals and biggest savings. BView’s new discount voucher search engine brings this money saving mentality into the local area by helping businesses to publicise their latest money off deals, sales and special offers directly to potential consumers – be it locally or nationally.
As a business looking to test the waters of online promotions it’s important to know that not all offers are created equal. There are a number of different types of promotion you can offer depending on your business goals. Choosing the right type of promotion for your customers is vital for it to work for you.
Trying to attract new customers? “10% off your first order!”
Rewarding customer loyalty? “15% off of your renewal!”
Rewarding customers for spending more? “£5 off a £50 spend!”
Need an extra edge? “Free delivery!”
Seasonal lines coming to an end? “Buy one get one free!”
Once you’ve decided on the offer that’s best for you and your customers it’s important to think about any restrictions or limitations you need to place on the offer. When will the voucher expire? Can a customer use it more than once? Does it exclude certain items? While it’s never a good thing to be too restrictive, it’s critical to make the terms of the offer clear up front as you don’t want your potential customers to feel like they’ve been cheated out of a deal.
The BView blog will be monitoring what offers work in different sectors, what key trends are occurring and speculating on what the future holds in the online voucher area and the local voucher area.
Tags: credit crunch, money saving, recession, shopping, voucher
Posted in Announcements, Business, Findings | 1 Comment »