Interview with Kyra Williams of TheGoodDeal.co.uk about Classified Ads

Interview with Kyra Williams of TheGoodDeal.co.uk about Classified Ads

Online classified ads are very popular nowadays. Everybody uses them to look for a flat to rent, to sell a second-hand car or to find a new job. They might all look the same, but they are not!

How can a classifieds website be different? We talked about this with Kyra Williams of www.thegooddeal.co.uk  , the new classified ads website powered by the Padawan Group, an international company with over 20 similar sites all over the world.

Kyra, Tell us the story behind your classified ads site.

The creation of the Padawan classifieds sites was brought to life after the CEO’s Alexandre and Mathias online hunt to find the rarest Star Wars figurines, to add to their noteworthy collection proved to be getting more and more difficult. Throughout the years the dynamic duo, had managed to locate and secure their prized possessions, but as you can imagine, after years of collecting they soon exhausted all of their usual connections.

Turning to online classified seemed like the next best thing, however the online hunt proved to be more frustrating than anything as most of the sites they frequented had the items incorrectly categorized or not categorized at all. Just when they would find something that piqued their interest from one seller, they would quickly be let down as there was no way to view or filter all of the seller’s items at once.

The simple lack of organisation and accessibility seemed to be a trend on classified sites, one which Alexandre and Mathias both decided needed to be changed. With that notion in mind, the revolution of the classified market begun. To this very day Alexandre and Mathias along with the rest of the Padawan Family are still dedicated to providing a high quality, innovative customer-centric solution platform that continues to stand out in the crowded market place.

How do you promote this customer-centric platform to new users?

In order for us to effectively promote our platform, we like to think like a consumer. Every step we take is carried out with our users in mind. So the most important factor for us is having something worthwhile to promote. After all, actions speak louder than words. We have really started embracing the power behind social media to gain exposure. Social media has become a valuable time investment for us as it allows us maintain a direct channel with our customers. We also blog regularly, upload multimedia to YouTube and we never hesitate to publish a press release once we reach a milestone. Lastly, we invest a lot of resources to SEO activities.

What sets you apart from other popular classified sites?

One word: Passion. We’re extremely passionate about putting our customers at all the heart of our activities. When it comes down to it, they are as much of Padawan as we are. Without them there is no us. We’ve designed our online propositions with their needs in mind so we can improve their online shopping experiences.

There have been lots of reports of online scammers, using platforms like this. How do you prevent online scams?

First and foremost, we do not take online security lightly. All of our ads are manually reviewed before they are published. If somehow a suspicious ad manages to slip through the cracks, we have the option for users to flag the ad, which will then bring it to our attention so we can then make an informed decision to remove the ad or not. We also post safety tips on both our website and blog site. We can’t stress enough that users need to remain vigilant when online and should never complete a transaction outside of our website and under no circumstance should users give out their personal details.  We also encourage users to use our social media integration, which allows users to share their ads with their own networks of friends and family. It’s generally easier and safer to sell to people that you already know.

What are your future plans for 2015 and beyond?

For the foreseeable future we plan to continue growing and expanding our Padawan family. We are want to become a household name and will continue working towards achieving that goal. We really are here to shake up the market and would love for you to join us on this journey. The more the merrier!

Easy advertising for charity events

Easy advertising for charity events

If you’re running a Christmas event, fund-raiser or charity event, finding ways to advertise are crucial. There are plenty of tried and tested methods and it can depend on the type of event as to how much advertising you’ll need to do. If it’s a one-off event there are some easy advertising tricks, while for groups and organisations who run regular events, there are some secrets to making the most of your advertising material.

The paparazzi

The local media will be important for promotion and can act as a free source of advertising for local events. Any good cause that benefits the local community will be of interest to local journalists and broadcasters. Even the smallest publication is likely to be hungry for content, so don’t think that you’ll be turned away! You can create a press release but it pays to make a call to the editor in question. Old fashioned phone calls tend to get attention better than emails, with which editors are often swamped; focus on the local angle and why the story needs telling.

Easy advertising options

Flyers and banners are two of the oldest known advertising tools. Despite the fact that most things seem to have gone online these days, local events (charity or otherwise) are still best advertised with real, solid advertising. Banner producers can be sourced nationally or locally and banners can be reused, if you avoid specific dates on the banner itself. The phrase, “see website for details” can be substituted, meaning you can reuse the banner for another similar event. You can use flyers to target busy places using volunteers – markets, malls and other shopping areas are good places to get maximum exposure in your community.

Talking of websites

Don’t forget the wonders of the world wide web. If your organisation has a website, set up a specific blog to advertise your event (or ask for volunteers), tweet about the event, add details to Facebook; it all helps to get the word out! You can even record a video and post it on YouTube.

Corporate sponsors

Offer advertising for local businesses at your event in return for sponsorship. Companies which are supporting you will be glad of the free advertising on your website (keep it off banners though if you want to reuse them!). As well as sponsorship, you can ask them to distribute flyers with their own promotional material in their offices or retail spaces.

The Evolution of Hot or Not

Starting a website with one idea and then changing It over time is usually a lose-lose situation. Many time when a website does this, it loses all it’s original fans and has a hard time gathering new fans. This is not the case with Hot or Not.

Hot or Not was originally a photo rating website. People would upload their photos and readers who visited the blog could rate the hotness of each photo. Real people submitted read photos. It was organic and fun. Your rating would quickly show up and you could see how other people voted.

Over time Hot or Not became a bona fide dating MeetMe. Not only could you still rank the photos but also click yes or no if you wanted to meet the person. There is also an online app and the ability to sign in via Facebook. The app is free and available for both IPhones and Android phones. Use this link to download the app:  http://www.tryhotornot.com

Not only can you find out how hot you are but you can also meet the people who think you are hot. It’s a simple yet effective way for people to connect. It is simple and quick to sign up. You are not filling out a questioner that takes 3 days to complete and it works. With the Facebook integration on your phone you can quickly catch up on who you would like to know better and find out who has been looking at you too. You can chat with them online or offline. You can make your own choices, the website does not interfere and choose who you can date or have access to. It’s all between the two people involved. Which is the whole point! Bringing people together is the purpose of Meetme. It’s all easy and fun.

Check out the Hot or Not new app in a familiar area, FACEBOOK!
https://www.facebook.com/TryHotOrNot

And to make your dating life even more fun, you could win $1,000 in their sweepstakes here http://www.apptism.com/sweepstakes

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