Firstsearch Home Page

How to inject an extra million dollars into the Wanganui economy each year Quite simple really, don't send it out of town and overseas. In other words keep the money in the city for the benefit of the Wanganui economy Introduction The Wanganui referendum 09 had as one of the proposals: "Should a small levy be imposed upon businesses and households for the purpose of promoting Wanganui nationally - as a residence and a place to visit?" The voting paper further explained: "Wanganui residents know that the city is a great place to live and work - but we need to tell the rest of New Zealand. We need to attract more people to live and work here and combat our declining population . . ." The referendum proposal designates that the levy would be used for advertising purposes The point of this article is not to discuss the merits or non merits of the above proposal but to use it as a reference as to how we got to the current position and what can be done about it. The pool of money to be raised by way of levy is not great and a greater amount can be raised and used to benefit the city if we change our way of thinking As the saying goes; you cannot expect a different result if you keep on doing things the same way Advertising is not a dirty word; advertising is a necessity whether you are in business or a member of the public. Everyone is advertising in some way; by the way they dress, talk and act, and in the case of a business, advertising usually involves a monetary cost In the first part "Times are a changing" I will address this cost factor and how a million dollars a year can remain in the Wanganui economy and in the second part "Another USP" how keeping this money can give Wanganui another unique selling point and give the city a positive profile Times are a changing We live in changing times, possibly times that are witness to the greatest sociological changes in our history. Sometimes because we are part of them we take them for granted without realizing that they have impacted upon us and our city We are all aware of our history of how Wanganui developed many years ago because of the port and the industry that supported it. All part of what was termed world wide as the industrial age and because of this industrial age a mass media arose to advise the populations of the goods and services available Quite rightly businesses used these media but times change: the introduction of the Internet forty years ago, the creation of the Web in 1990, then the web browser and latterly the rise of the on-line social media networks have rendered one form of advertising prone to obsolescence This being the advertising in the back of the telephone book, commonly called the Yellow Pages The rise in usage of online where the public increasingly visits to find information has coincided with the decline in the public using the back of the telephone book. And each year the trends become more pronounced And in this statement is the million dollar answer. Why spend money advertising in a publication with declining patronage Telecom New Zealand knew many years ago it would be selling the telephone book directories, they were aware of the changing times, and they were following the actions of other Telecommunication companies overseas who had already sold their directories, knowing the declining usage Prior to the sale of the Yellow pages to an overseas entity, Telecom mounted an extensive advertising campaign to improve sale ability At the beginning of the TV commercial were the words, 15 years ago . . when that person started business . . The words "15 years ago" were barely audible but they were there 15 years ago the Web did not exist, but now it is increasingly and extensively used by the public to search for business information But the campaign worked and business people subscribed. The Yellow Pages were then sold. Why was it sold to an overseas entity, the overseas people took a gamble on the lack of awareness of the NZ business community and so the money goes out of the town and overseas Having said all this, if you wish to advertise in the Yellow Pages directory, just list your business name and contact details. That's what people would go there for, not fancy fonts and pretty pictures or a bigger ad is better Think of the money that can be saved. And that is the million dollars that could remain in the Wanganui economy Have a look in the back of a telephone book, work out the cost of each advertisement, they are in hundreds of dollars, add it up, and it presently goes out of town and overseas each year Another USP It is generally accepted that New Zealand businesses do not use the Web to their full advantage. The majority of NZ websites do not meet the needs or requirements of the customer. And when it comes to the Social Media people in business are generally lost, but it doesn't have to be that way What if Wanganui businesses used the Internet for what it was designed as, a channel for communication. To advise the public both local and from out of town of the local business offerings and attractions in Wanganui What if Wanganui businesses built websites that followed the policies and guidelines of the search engines which the public use to find information. Websites built with properly constructed Title and Meta Description Tags so the search engines can index the sites and so convey the information to the people searching. These people being both local and from out of town What if they participated in the changes that are happening in this Internet Age? What if Wanganui business people were to the fore-front ahead of the other towns and cities? Would this not engender an interest from out of town people and businesses, as in, we have to go there, as Wanganui is wired and aware. The business people, the leaders are looking to the future People follow winners. Do you want to be first Wanganui is great place to live and work, it had a unique selling point when it was ranked the 5th largest city in New Zealand but times change. The world changes The Internet, the Web, the Social Media has changed and will continue to change how people interact and find information Placing advertisements in directories or portals will not attract people nor build your business or grow your city The public want detailed full information direct from the people in the business The participation of business people in the Internet Age may give us the new USP we need Yes it will cost, it will require time and effort, but going forward is better than waiting to fade away The money, well you have a million dollars to play with, providing you are interested An extra million dollars saved each year and injected into the Wanganui economy could just be what we need The future is on-line. People are on-line, let's go get them How First a time line: The paper "As we may think" setting out the need and reason for a new communication system 1945, the Internet 1969, the Web 1990, the first commercially produced browser 1995. Each building on the past achievements, pointing a way forward, and now what is termed the Social Media, people using the Social Networks to find out, not only what is happening or going on, but also to obtain knowledge of what a business has to offer. The early social networks were probably of more interest for and up to the 20 year of age bracket but the later social networks span generations. It is therefore little wonder that overseas, Chamber of Commerce members, Governments and Governmental bodies and companies large and small are tapping into this new way of reaching people Twitter is showing how it can be done. It is not as uninformed commentators say, a place where people tweet about what they had for lunch or whether it is raining, you don't have to follow these people, you only follow what is of interest to you. And people follow businesses, what they have for sale, the new arrivals, all the things a person or persons normally do in the physical world when they decide what to buy or consider what shop to visit, except they do it on-line. Sign up to Twitter, it is very easy, follow a few people to get the feel of it, you may not get it at first, many don't, but stay with it, it is a different but successful way of reaching your clients. Send a few tweets, direct the clients to your website, where you have more information, or tweet directing them to your business. It is advertising in real time. Locally: Need some assistance, or more information, just contact me People are on-line, let's go get them and build a city. Contact Firstsearch

Join www.twitter.com