Poole Community has a directory for Poole businesses attached where YOUR business can be entered and which is automatically optimised to attract search engine traffic.
In other words, people searching for your business niche will find you easily when they use Google, Yahoo or Bing (formerly MSN) or any other search engine.
It’s currently FREE to enter you business where you can even upload your company logo or any image in .jpg or .gif format.
If you would like a new category for your business, just fill in the ‘Contact’ form on the directory letting me know which category you’d like your ad under and I’ll fix it for you.
Simply ‘Register’, it’s free.
You’ll receive an email with your username and password.
Go back to the directory and click on ‘Post a Classified’.
Sign in with your username and password to place your ad.
Viva! have launched an exciting new marketing system that uses QR codes (Quick Response Codes) over and above the usual use of scanning the code with your smartphone (iPhones etc.) to go to a website, collect business card details or receive a sales message. Marketing Bugle, the parent company behind Viva! Publications have in place a unique QR Code system that captures the email address and name of customers or potential customers as soon as they scan a promotional QR Code, wherever it is displayed. Example QR Code
The Viva! QR system builds a database or subscriber list of all those who scan the code using their smartphone so that any business that uses the Viva! QR system can keep in touch so, when the subscriber is ready to buy, they buy from that business.
Example of use
Viva! QR Code is set up to vend voucher codes or printable vouchers. Let’s say that you run a restaurant, for example, and are offering a free dessert on the current customer’s next visit. The Viva! QR Code is displayed on every menu, point of sale and in the window. As soon as the customer scans the code and presses ‘Send’ on their smartphone, they are on the system and will stay on the system so that the restaurant manager can email them about other or future offers, hence, keeping in touch and letting them know when to come in to take advantage of the offers. The restaurant manager doesn’t have to spend time sending out to his entire list of potential customers, it’s all done automatically by our system. Think about it, every time you have a special offer, you’ll get customers in via the QR Code system. If the restaurant is normally quiet on Wednesday evenings, then why not have a Wednesday offer promoted via the Viva! QR Code system? There’s more to Viva! QR Codes than you think The above will work for any business of course where the subscriber list will grow and grow over the weeks and months. However, to ensure it grows as fast as possible, Viva! QR have linked the system to Facebook so that YOUR pages will have to be ‘Liked’ (promoting your business online big time) and also enabling the end user to ‘Share’ your voucher. The results can be mind-blowing. The average number of ‘Friends’ for each person on Facebook is 117. So, a customer with your voucher can share it with all those friends at the click of a button. All those who scan the shared code are also put onto your customer database so you can build a relationship with them and get them into your restaurant or buy from your shop etc.. Just 10 people sharing will result in 1170 others seeing your QR Code … think about the power of that. Your list is more likely to have 100 people on it so, when they share your voucher, that’s 11,700 others who will also see your QR Code. Remember, once they scan it, they’re on your database. As most people have friends that live local to them, the restaurant manager will be pretty pleased with the resulting busy Wenesday nights, I’d say.
YOU Could Benefit Right Now!
How could YOUR business benefit from having a database of potential customers who scanned your QR code and, therefore, must be interested in what you have to offer. Having a good starting offer and then regular other offers, you will sell more of your products or services than you ever believed possible. The system is great for regular items like restaurants, hairdressers, gyms, pubs, clubs, shops, take-a-ways or anything you can think of.
Benefit even more from Viva! QR Codes
Imagine using your QR Code in ALL your advertising … just a small area in the corner of each advert. This would really enhance your subsriber list building. Place the code on posters, flyers, leaflets, business cards, in the window, stationery, magazines, on your products, by the till, on your name-badge … the ideas are endless. Having a notice above the code stating ‘Scan Me For Free Dessert With Any Meal On Your Next Visit!’ will ensure that those with smartphones (the scanning app is downloadable and free of charge) will scan right away.
What, no ‘phone?
Millions of people now have smartphones and this number is growing on a daily basis. QR codes are popping up eveywhere you look … websites, magazines, on TV, invoices, infantory etc. etc. But Viva! QR uses the code for this unique and original purpose … to bring you more REGULAR repeat customers whenever you want them. However, suppose there is no signal or the customer hasn’t got that type of ‘phone (yet)? Well, under the code is an email address. By the customer sending a blank email with ‘coupon’ in the subject heading, the same thing will happen. They’ll join your subscriber list as soon as they press ‘Send’ on the email. It couldn’t be easier.
Join us now
By getting in now and setting up your Viva! QR Code account, you’ll be beating your competitors to the most amazing system ever created for getting more paying customers through your door. Other advertising mediums may be falling but mobile ‘phone advertising is GROWING FAST every single day. Getting in today means you’ll have a head start on everyone else who still use expensive conventional vouchers or those ‘other’ vouchers that give a free product (normally a meal) but then you never see the customer again because you can’t keep in touch.
How do I get an account?
Call Martyn on 01202 620998 or 07710 904 558 to book a free consultation. email: VivaQR@vivapoole.co.uk
The next issue of Viva! Magazine is February 2012 where the deadline for all contributions and advertisements will be 12th January 2012.
Testing on Viva! Radio is going well. We have a regular slot on Monday evenings 7pm with extra programmes, featuring your radio commercials of course, in place for Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Boxing day is a Monday so we’re live on air from 7pm to 10pm.
The station runs 24/7 with music and continues to play Viva! advertisements.
Our next programme is Monday 19th at 7pm.
I have started running music competitions to test reaction where it does increase listener interaction even though there is no hard prize … they just enjoy taking part.
We give a free 30 second commercial to anyone who has an advertisement booking in the magazine that is for 4 months or longer. Do get in touch to feature your business. 01202 620998 email: admin@vivapoole.com
Christine Haile has written three books which are now downloadable on the Internet from Amazon Kindle (the electronic book reader) and available in hard copy from December 2011. Molly’s Daughters is a historical novel that gives some insight into surgery before anaesthetics. An early review comment is; Brilliant! Absolutely loved this book. Plenty of historical fact with a great story line. I would definitely recommend anyone who was a fan of Catherine Cookson to read this book. A Shadow of Lavender where a young woman is transported from today to the year 1800 to live the life of her ancestor, but is she really …..? This second comment was also left at Amazon’s website; What a page-turner, a not to be put down historical novel. The writer has used actual events and places to balance a story that at times I wondered if it were true. Lancaster must be a very fascinating city. Another impossible to put down tale from Christine Haile. And newly released is November Remember; There is a saying:- June too soon, October all over… November remember. A hurricane almost ruins the love of Laura and Christopher on the beautiful island of St Lucia. All three books are available for Electronic Download from Amazon.co.uk. Visit: www.ChristineHaile.com where you can click on the links to the book download page. The books can be purchased in hardback or electronically for your Kindle book reader.
Every household in Poole can benefit from the garden waste collection service from outside their home with residents receiving a 30% discount if they sign up before 31 March 2012.
People who register and pay for the green bin collection service before 31 March 2012 will reduce their payment for the first year to only £21.70 for each green bin ordered rather than the standard charge of £31.
Residents who have not had the green bin service will be guaranteed to have their collections start at the beginning of March 2012 provided they sign up for the service by 31 December 2011. People who miss that deadline have until 31 March 2012 to benefit from the 30% discount but will not see the service start until June 2012.
The fortnightly service will run from the beginning of March 2012 to the end of November, an extension of two months to the current service.
Payment lines opened on 1 December and residents can pay for the service online at boroughofpoole.com/apply/garden-waste or contact 261700. More than 500 residents have already signed up since lines opened.
Residents with an Access to Leisure and Learning (ATL&L) card will receive an on going 50% discount on the regular £31 annual charge, making the cost £15.50 for the first bin ordered per household. Additional bins will be charged at £21.70 before 31 March.
Cllr Xena Dion, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: "This is a very popular service and I would encourage people to sign up by 31 December to ensure they receive collections from the beginning of March. People in areas with small gardens or who generally do not generate a large amount of garden waste could consider sharing a bin with neighbours. The most carbon neutral or environmentally friendly option, of course, is to compost at home."
Those currently with a green bin will benefit from collection from the beginning of March but will need to have paid by 31 March in order to continue with the service for the rest of the year. From March 2012, garden waste will no longer be accepted in large black refuse bins. If you choose not to take advantage of the service you can compost at home, use the Mobile Recycling Points or Household Waste Recycling Centre.
Borough of Poole is introducing a chargeable collection service due to significant reductions in Government funding for local services unfortunately we cannot afford to extend the garden waste service to all residents without introducing a charge for collections.
Poole is celebrating following winning a prestigious international safety award for its weekly motorcycle event Dream Machines, sponsored by Coles Miller.
Presented by HRH Prince Michael of Kent at a glittering ceremony at The Savoy Hotel in London, the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award was given to Dorset Police, Poole Tourism and the Volunteer Marshals.
Coles Miller Dream Machines is the largest regular weekly motorcycle meet in the South and takes place every Tuesday evening from April to September on Poole Quay against the backdrop of Europe’s largest natural harbour. Celebrating its official 10th birthday this year, up to 2000 bikes regularly attend to socialise and compete for the bike of the night competition. The final Tuesday in September is the biggest night of the season where the 26 Bike of the Night winners compete for the prestigious Bike of the Year competition.
Working in partnership with event organisers Poole Tourism, Dorset Police’s Bike Safe Team use the event to work directly with bikers who attend over the 26 weeks of the Dream Machines season to spread road safety messages.
Chris Smith, Dorset Police, said: “Having been involved with the event for the past 7 years we have worked tirelessly in partnership with the event team and marshals to reduce the number of biking accidents linked to it. We have had significant success in changing the attitudes of riders attending the event and I believe this has resulted in the number of bike accidents falling year on year. I hope we can build on this major award and make this an event known for its excellent safety record.”
Anne Simpson, Poole Tourism Events Manager, said: “From a regular local meet, Dream Machines has grown in popularity each and every year. Bikers have really taken the event to their hearts, not only local riders but those from across the South who come to be part of the event each week. A huge part of this is down to the volunteer marshals, enthusiastic local bikers who help to make the event so successful.”
Chief Marshal Kerry Pope, said; “The biking community is a really strong network and the people involved take the time and trouble to help each other out. Coles Miller Dream Machines is owned by the Bikers and is a real part of that community. Bikers working with the Police have been really successful in getting across messages on driving carefully and not taking risks. The information is all the more powerful, particularly as many Bikers have been or know someone affected by an accident.”
Adrian Cormack, Partner at Coles Miller Solicitors LLP, said: “We are delighted that Coles Miller Dream Machines is proving to be an effective way to convey very important road safety messages directly to the riders and this is one of the reasons why we sponsor this fantastic event. Dream Machines is a great weekly summer attraction for hundreds of bike enthusiasts, visitors to the area and the local community and we are very pleased to be involved.”
COMPETITION; Win Design Time with Tasty Marketing celebrating their 4th birthday: Page 5 Viva! Radio is coming along nicely: Page 6 Christine Haile 3 Books on Amazon: Page 7 Restaurant review; The Acorn: Page 8 Junction Sports Centre: Page 10 Tom Scott; Memories of old Poole: Page 12 Prestigious Award; Local Business: Page 13 Children’s Page : Page 14 Puzzle Page; Crossword & Sudoku: Page 15 Julie Says!; Top Notch / Cover Story: Page 16 Business Briefing; Why Do Bookkeeping? By Ann Walton: Page 18 NEW! Spotlight ON! DanceZone: Page 20 On The Beat; Safe Cycling, Safe at Christmas: Page 21 Puzzle solutions: Page 22 Bruce Grant-Braham; Gone West: Page 23 Community & What’s on in Poole: Pages 24 & 25 The Pink Directory; Get Listed: Page 26 The Courtyard Centre, Lytchett: Page 27
The December edition of Viva! Magazine will be with us next Monday and distribution will follow immediately. We have some great articles and a number of new advertisers, too.
I’d like to welcome everyone on board and also remind anyone booking advertisements in the Viva! Poole magazine that you are entitled to a FREE 30 second advertisement on our Internet radio show as well.
My aim is to create as many ways as possible to bring in responses to the local businesses who are marketing with Viva!, so what better than in hard copy colour, glossy magazines, the Internet AND Online Radio.
It’s Tonight!
Every Monday at 7pm you can hear my radio programme which is live from Poole, Dorset. As you may already know, we are currently testing things before launching Viva! Radio in all it’s glory, so Radio Rotherhithe has kindly offered me to use their broadcasting bandwidth during this time.
Any advertisers who have already submitted their advertising script can hear their commercials both live on my programme and throughout the week as the station transmits 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Power
Although only in testing stages, Internet Radio is proving a very powerful way of getting your message out. To hear our output, do log on tonight to: http://www.vivaradio.co.uk
See you tonight, Wishing you all the best in business,
LOCAL people struggling with overwhelming personal debt are set to get free help from an acclaimed charity opening a new centre in Poole.
Growing debt counselling charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) is opening 37 new church-based debt centres around the UK this month (October) including one in Poole Christian Fellowship, Lagland St, Poole.
The opening will mean that Poole people will be able to enjoy the debt help already offered by neighbouring centres in Southampton and Gillingham.
It is rare good news for people who are coping with inflation at a 20-year high combined with job losses or frozen incomes putting further pressures on financial commitments that were once easily met.
Poole’s new centre manager Richard Miles said: “Members of our congregation were becoming more and more concerned about people in our community finding it really tough to keep their heads above water. Among them there are those already at crisis point, not eating or sleeping properly with the stress of being hounded for money they don’t have. The Bible speaks very clearly about looking after the poor and in 2011 this is what it looks like and we refuse to let them go under.
“We know it’s the hardest thing in the world to ask for help but we want people to know that however bad a situation can look, there is a tried and tested way out and it starts with putting the kettle on, taking a deep breath and then ringing our helpline 0800 328 0006 to speak to someone who really cares.”
CAP offers people a uniquely in-depth, caring service to people with spiralling personal debt.
Every client is booked in for a visit from the local centre manager in their own home; all the bills and outstanding mail from creditors are removed and responded to by CAP’s Bradford head office. Then the household is supported and encouraged to combat the isolation many clients say they feel as they tried to cope alone.
The charity’s award-winning service has been described as “unsurpassed” by TV’s Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis and “staggering” by HRH Prince Charles when he recently visited a centre in Peckham, London.
CAP’s CEO Matt Barlow said: “It is our experience that given the right level of support people can and do pay off what they owe. Every day we celebrate people becoming debt free and we are looking forward to some of these coming from Poole in the coming months and years.”
The charity has 190 centres around the UK currently supporting £71m of secondary debts for its clients regardless of income, age, gender, background or faith. Poole Christian Fellowship, in partnership with Poole Vineyard Church, are running the Centre in Poole, and are open for business now.
To find out more visit www.capuk.org or for help call 0800 328 0006
Ashley Blinds fabric collections have won the Home Decoration Retailers Association (HDRA) for the Best Blinds Collection 2011. The HDRA holds its annual awards to recognise excellence in the home decor industry and the Roller and Vertical collections used by Ashley Blinds triumphed after impressing the judges with their bold and innovative approach.
It is a very special achievement to win this accolade as the HDRA does not invite award submissions and instead goes into the market place to search for the very best collections in the industry.
Michael Weedon from HDRA said: “There is a purity about our awards because they are voted for by our members”. He went on to say of the collections used by Ashley Blinds that their “approach to consult their customers before developing the collection really has, quite clearly, shone through.
This award typifies Ashley Blind’s commitment to search every market place for the best products for their customers. Martin Jardine, owner of Ashley Blinds, said: “it is our job to find the best for our customers. We know the market and the products and our customers rely on us to find them the very best products at the keenest prices. It also falls upon us to ensure that the products we supply are fitted to the highest possible standards and that our customers receive on going support.”
It may be this attitude that has seen their satisfied customers numbers rise to over 12,000 installations throughout Dorset this year. It is perhaps a reflection of their business ethos, to help their customers without seeking any industry recognition, that they have never had any local honours or awards. Martin Jardine commented; “we have never applied for any awards nor do we have any memberships of bodies where you can join just by paying. The HDRA recognition is to me the highest accolade anyone could receive. It wasn’t asked for. There were no entry forms. Quite simply the HDRA did their research and made an award for what they found to be the best. It would be nice to receive some local recognition for being the fastest growing blinds company in Dorset but that’s for someone else to recognise. We aren’t chasing any titles”.
So, if you would like the best choice of fabrics as chosen by the HDRA, installed by a company who only concentrates on looking after their customers then you will have to call them as they don’t cold call anyone.
You can get them on 01202 661920 or on any of the local numbers in your local press.
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