Give your Advert Extra Exposure!

There is going to be a chance for you (the users) to get that bit more extra exposure for your adverts. Due to the site growing in popularity and the increase of ads being placed on the site, we want to offer the ability for users to gain that bit more extra exposure. You will have four options...

Featured Ads - For £2.80 per week, your advert will get maximum exposure by remaining at the top of listings in the relevant category

Highlighted Ads - Will Cost £1.50 per week, this will give you an orange highlighted ad which will help your advert stand out from the rest.

Bold Ads - For a small fee of 50p, you are able to make your ad text bold. Again this should help your advert stand out (subtle approach).

FREE LISTINGS - free listings still remain! You will still be able to place an advert on the site for free.

We will also be introducing a new browse feature on the latest ads page. This is designed to help the users delve deeper into the site and find exactly what they are looking for.

On the latest ads page and on the search results, every ad listings will have a link to the category in which the advert is placed. This will allow the user to see similar ads and will hopefully (fingers crossed) stop people relisting there ads everyday to get extra exposure. This Browse feature combined with the Enhanced Ads (described above) will help get advertisers the extra exposure that they are seeking. An example of the browse feature is shown below;

I thought this was worth sharing... Make sure you click on the faces!
Click here

After deliberating over this for a while and having feed back from a couple of users I have decided to change the name of the Property Category on Wightbay from 'Houses/Flats/Rooms' to 'Property-Houses/Flats/Rooms'.
http://www.wightbay.com/XCClassifieds/CPViewInCat.asp?ID=464

If you’re stuck for what to buy someone for Christmas...Why not buy them a chance to win a beautiful house on the Isle of Wight!

I think this is a very fun and exciting revolutionary way of selling your house. Imagine owning a house that you got for just £25.
http://www.rafflemybricks.com

There's still time to Do Something Different for BBC Children in Need.

Here's your top ten quick and super easy ways to have fun with Pudsey and help disadvantaged children and young people in the UK:

1. Get your Pudsey Bandana! How will you wear yours? Available at your local ASDA and Boots stores.
2. It's not too late to hold a bake-athon and sell lots of yummy cakes to all your friends. Our recipes are available here
3. Have a sponsored sleepover - who can stay awake the longest? Yawn!
4. Download a penalty box and start charging for all those naughty habits!
5. Get bidding on some fantastic celebrity signed goodies and experiences
6. Sponsored three-legged day using your bandana as the tie!
7. Offer a Christmas gift-wrapping service and donate your earnings.
8. Hold a computer games session and get everyone to donate.
9. Tune in to watch the live show at 7pm on BBC One this Friday!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/

Logo Designs

I have discovered how to change the logo by editing the site html templates...who needs developers??

I am going to be having lots of fun changing the logo designs each Week, Day & Month. So keep your eyes peeled.

Wightbay is leading the way for Isle of Wight websites!

Hitwise is a program which allows the users to observe website traffic. This allows us to compare our traffic (visitors) to other Island based websites. See the graph below I am flabbergasted at how much more traffic we are getting than well established sites like 'Isle of Wight County Press' (iwcp.co.uk).

Interesting stats for businesses that aren’t advertising because of the recession...

I was forwarded this very interesting information that I thought I would share with all the local Island businesses...

Count down to Halloween...

Only 1 week to halloween! Hope you all like the Halloween/Bonfire Night logo?

Here is a great idea for Halloween...Want to play a trick on those, Trick or Treating rascals that call on your house this Halloween? We have the perfect Trick or Treat, treat - Chocolate covered brussel sprouts!
We all know how much children hate to eat their greens, especially brussel sprouts. So this little treat is sure to trick them. Just imagine their little faces when they bite down on these festive goodies! Ad remember, he who laughs last, laughs longest.

All you will need is a bag of brussel sprouts, some milk chocolate cooking chocolate, some greaseproof paper and some Hundreds and Thousands to decorate (Optional)


First take the brussel sprouts and prepare them as if you were going to cook them by taking off all the outer leaves. Give them a wash and pat them dry. If they are wet the chocolate won’t cover properly.
Now take the chocolate and break up into chunks and put them in a microwavable bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Take out and stir. Return back to the microwave for 30 seconds if needed. Be careful not to microwave too much because it burn the chocolate and spoils it.


If you don’t have a microwave, don’t worry. Break the chocolate up into a heat proof bowl and stand in a saucepan of boiling water on the hob. You need to make sure that the pan doesn’t boil dry, and that no water splashes out of the pan and into your chocolate, else it will spoil. Remember to keep stirring your chocolate.
When the chocolate is melted, add the brussel sprouts and give them a good mix to ensure that all the brussel sprouts are evenly covered and no green leaves are showing.


Then carefully lift each brussel sprout out with a spoon and leave it on a sheet of greaseproof paper. When you have all the chocolate covered brussel sprouts out of the mixture, use a tea spoon to drizzle chocolate over each brussel to ensure coverage and use up the left over melted chocolate.


If you would like to decorate the brussel sprouts sprinkle some Hundreds and Thousands over them whilst the chocolate is still warm. They will stay in place when the chocolate sets.


Place the chocolate treats in the fridge to harden for about 30 minutes. Divide into little goodie bags ready for the Halloween trick or treaters, wont they be surprised? Please do expect to have your garden covered in half bitten chocolate covered brussel sprouts, however, that all adds to the amusement!

I have been told to look ahead and start planning for Christmas. I was shocked to see Christmas decorations for sale in shops etc. It hasn't even been Halloween yet! I am sure the build up for Christmas is getting earlier and earlier this year. However I have learnt in the advertising world you have to start preparing early. For the last couple of days I have been preparing The Wightbay Christmas Newsletter. This will be sent to all 25,000 users. It will incorporate Discounts, Offers, and Games, Gift ideas, Wightbay News, Competitions and more. It will be the Wightbay user's Guide to Christmas.

If you are a local business that believes you would benefit from being included on this Newsletter please don't hesitate to call Paul on 0845 121 0219

Design a T-shirt Competition!

The Wightbay Spreadshirt shop is now open!

To celebrate I have decided to launch a competition! Be in with a chance of Winning an I-pod Shuffle... Design your very own t-shirt and send me a screen shot of your creation. The best design wins! Every entry will receive a Wightbay T-shirt!

http://wightbay.spreadshirt.net/-/-/Shop/

Send all entries to jodie.oliver@wightbay.com

Closing date 31/10/08

Click above to see photographic evidence of the Wightbay Team competing in the Wight Challenge!

New Member to the Wightbay Team...

We have a brand new member to our team....Paul Bowden - Paul will be taking on the role of Wightbay Account Manager. His role is providing support and info to local Island businesses, providing them with the opportunity to utilise the site to benefit their individual businesses. If you are a business and want to find out more about online advertising...

Paul is the man to call – 0845 121 0219

We completed the Wight Challenge...It was extremely painful but great fun..... Click on the image to the right to see the final results. We managed to get 4th fastest run. 19th on the cycle, 13th on the canoe putting us in 9th position over all.

We raised a total of £187 for Dreams come true Charity.

The Wight Challenge is tomorrow....!

Lawrence the Wightbay Salesman has handed in his resignation. He has left Wightbay to complete the second part of his diving instructors qualification in the Caribbean. So it leaves only me….

Get yourself a free Wightbay T-shirt!

Wightbay has entered a team (which includes myself) into the Wight Challenge. We are doing this to raise money for the charity -Dreams Come True.

Please reach into your pockets and donate money to a very worthy cause. As a thank you we will give you a Wightbay T-shirt.

http://www.justgiving.com/wightbay

Important!!

Unfortunately due to the recent bad weather The Wave FM/ Wightbay Fun day is to be postponed until early next summer. This will give us (the organisers) the opportunity to create a bigger and better event.

Big apologies from myself at Wightbay + Wave FM & Island Speedway.

Here is a quick sketch of the Fun Day Map...

http://dating.wightbay.com
The Wightbay dating vistor levels has seen a massive increase in the last week. We recieve over 3,300 visits per week. We now have over 1,400 registered users. The site just keeps growing. I am thinking of maybe holding a Speed-dating evening each month. It would be held one evening of every month at wave 105 Smallbrook Stadium in Ryde. Where there would be grub, bar, music and of course the speed-dating. What is the best day of the week to hold such an event? What are your thoughts and ideas?

1st draft of the Programme for the Wave FM/ Wightbay Fun Day (on the 5th Oct).

Only 39 days to go before the Wight Challenge. I have been cycling, running and even got a canoe out on a pond. I feel extremely tired. Can you actually run your self unfit? Just walking up the stairs leaves me out of breath.

I am slightly concerned as the time is getting nearer but I still haven't raised enough money. I would be so thankful if you could donate a pound or two http://www.justgiving.com/wightbay

We will be joining forces with Wave 105.2FM and Speedway to present the Islanders with a free fun packed day.

We will be offering local businesses the opportunity to take part and rent a pitch in our Wightbay Market Place or a chance to appear in the event programme.

There will also be an all day Car boot sale where Wightbay users have the chance to sell there items face-to-face. It will cost £5 per car. Book now before its too late!

Amongst the Car booters and the Wightbay Market Place there will be a mixture of activities including a five-a-side football tournament, music provided by Wave FM, competitions, goodies, raffles, Island Speedway and more!

Someone is selling an air guitar on Wightbay for £50

http://www.wightbay.com/XCClassifieds/CPViewItem.asp?ID=353578

I would like to thank Paul Tattersal for all his hard work over the past three months. He has now left the Wightbay Team. Its now just the two of us from now on....Lawrence and Myself.

Wightbay was on IOW Radio and ITV.

ITV Script...

Link: An animal charity's criticising owners of a website for allowing the public on the Isle of Wight to sell kittens online. The RSPCA say some people are charging up to three hundred pounds for pedigree felines that have few health checks and frequently fall ill. The owners refute the claims saying they're providing a valuable public service. Dave Russell reports.

Script:
It's a scene that will tug the heartstrings of any animal lover in the south.

These kittens at the RSPCA all need homes, but unlike these animals there's many more being advertised for sale on a website aimed at people living on the Isle of Wight.

When we checked, Wightbay.com they had four pages of kittens for sale with prices averaging between fifty and a three hundred pounds per animal. RSPCA inspectors say they believe some of these people are selling animals that are ill, and are profiting from their misery.

@"We don't sell animals here, people adopt them from us, yes there is an adoption fee but we have after care, we have after home visits and I think it's profiting from animals which is a real moral issue that they should ask themselves, should it continue what sort of checks have they got in place to make sure these people are legitimate and how many times have these people advertised on their website."

Advertising animals for sale in local papers is fairly normal, but when we checked the weekly paper we could only find a handful. We contacted Wightbay which is run by the Friday Holdings group of Companies on the mainland.

in a statement they said :
"We closely monitor every advert that's placed and have systems to allow us spot potential animal traders. We also give the community the opportunity to report inappropriate adverts. We have also helped one animal charity re-home over 400 cats and kittens free of charge.
PTC
@"Well they may look cute now but these cats like any other will grow up, at least these will be guaranteed a good home. Whether the same can said of those on the internet is a different matter."
@"There's no come back, they don't know where the cat's come from they don't know if the kitten's healthy and the people that are selling them most of the time are genuinely not concerned of any come backs at all they just want the money for the animal."
Dave Russell on the Isle of Wight for Meridian News.

New invention...

We have a banner on Wightbay, advertising something that I have never come across before...

With an amazing "WOW" factor you'll turn heads in the sizzling sun wearing the totally self supporting, stringless and strapless Solkini™. Absolutely no glues or gels are needed because it moulds to the shape of your body. http://www.solkini.com/.

The Wightbay Account Managers are above. Lawrence on the right and Paul on the Left.

I would like to thank Al from Re-Cycle-d who has sponsored us a very generous sum and has moved us up 10% closer to our target. http://www.re-cycle-d.co.uk/

Below is a video advert of the challenge we will be taking on...

We are joining forces with another website... brown book. We are entering two teams. We will be the official wightbay team. Whilst they will be racing on behalf of brown book.

Today I design us a co-branded running vest. I have left a nice big space for us to pin our team number.

We are targeted to raise £200 for charity. So any donations are much appreciated. http://www.justgiving.com/wightbay

Today I have entered a Wightbay Team into The Wight Challenge. The Wight Challenge is on the 20th September 2008. It involves a 20 mile cycle followed by a 8 mile run, finishing with 3 mile open canoeing. I have recruited the best people I know to join me in this challenge.

Team Members:

Kate Kidger 24 years of age. Kate is a hard core tri-athlete. She is one of the best in Britian (in her age group) winning many a race this year.

Joe Kidger 28 years of age. Joe has represented England in the Common Wealth Games. Now he has excepted the challenge to represent Wightbay in The Wight Challenge.



The only problem we have here is that I am the third member of the team. This means a lot of training from now until the 20th of September. Wish me luck!

Word of Mouth...

Wightbay Car boot Sale! We have had an idea to hold a Wightbay Car boot sale one Sunday in September. You will be able to sell all those unwanted goods that you just can't seem to shake. I plan for it to be more than just a car boot sale by having games, drinks, competitions and more.

Wightbay dating now has games and videos...

I have had a very stressful week! I have been very busy with many things going on. The one thing that has stressed me out the most is finding that Trade advertisers are not choosing trade from the drop down options when placing an advert. This then defeats the whole filtering system I have developed in order for the user to be able to filter between private and trade.

I am disappointed as we provide this service completely free and the majority of traders are not following the site rules. I have had no option but to inform my moderator to delete adverts that aren't complying with the site rules. You will have 24 hours which will give you the chance to edit your adverts and list as trade, failure to do so will result in complete removal from the site.

Wightbay over takes Isle of Wight County Press...

Google has provided users with a cool new feature which enables anyone to look at any website and compare visitor levels brought to the website via google.

In this graph I have chosen iwcp.co.uk & wightbay.com. You can pick or choose any site and find out excellent information.

However the graph doesn't show direct traffic!

I had a bit of a disaster today with regards to the order of car stickers. I was really please to see the order of car stickers on my desk this morning. I ran over to a window to try them out, but to my great disappointment, I found when I stuck the car sticker onto the glass, a dark grey smudge appeared on the sticker preventing anyone seeing the design. So I am now looking for another company which creates car stickers.

I came across a site http://www.brownbook.net/. I love the concept it’s like a Wikipedia of the directory world you can add, edit and place reviews about any type of business. The power is in our hands! I can now warn others about my terrible car stickers. I was also thinking that maybe we could look into having a brownbook type directory just for the Isle of Wight.

Can any one recommend an Isle of Wight Printer?

I am really pleased with the intial interest Wightbay Dating has recieved in the last two days. I hope this site will give users the chance to meet new people. My favourtie comment from some one's profile is... 'so,i take my little-butterfly of friendship from my pocket,and blow it to the wind..........'

The BIG Launch!

Wightbay Dating - Wightbay dating is a free online meeting place for people to chat, find or meet friends or maybe even find love!

Win a free T-shirt - The first 100 users to register and upload a profile description on Wightbay Dating receives a free t-shirt! So log on now and Register for free!

A new idea to get you (the user) more apart of Wightbay. You read what’s going on behind the site on the blog, what about actually seeing what goes on through a web cam. We have moved about and cleaned up. I even brought a plant. Now all I need is a web cam!

I have been looking into developing enhanced listings on Wightbay. There would be four options...

'Free Ad' - Everyone will still have the option to have a free standard listing

'Top Ads' - Top ads remain at the top of the standard listings in the relevant category for 7 days this would cost around £5.

'Highlighted Ads' - Stand out from the rest as they will have a coloured background for 7 days this will cost around £2

'Bold Ads' - Charge for the bolding of the title. This would be around £1

I wanted to provide a service that will allow the users to enhance their listing for a quick sale. This will hopefully prevent the users from listing multiple ads in the chance to get extra exposure. What do you think?

Yesterday I spoke to Laura from the Island Speedway. I have arranged a meeting and we are going to discuss ways we could work together to support each other and help our businesses to grow.

I am thankful for the opportunity to work with local island businesses. I believe it is important to provide support and opportunities within the island community.

In the last couple of days I have been putting together a new dating platform to incorporate into Wightbay.

Instead of personals ads, I have decided to go with the idea of a dating/social section to the site. This was advice I have received from the present Wightbay users.

Wightbay Dating will be completely free to join. It’s going to be a place where you are able to meet new people find friendship and maybe even love!

Launch date: 13th June 2008

We have a Winner for the 'Wightbay Recycling Competition'!

Congratulations to chrish!

http://www.wightbay.com/XCClassifieds/CPViewItem.asp

You have won a paper thin wallet...and a wacky Wightbay T-shirt.

Thank you to everyone who joined in, you will all be receiving a wacky wightbay t-shirt for your efforts.

Ladies - Wightbay Hoodies £20 Pigment dyed hoodie with shorter body cut. Single jersey inside hood, antique metal rivets for hood cord. Herringbone tape inside back neck. Deep rib side panels, cuffs and bottom hem. Thumbholes in cuffs, roo pocket, twin needle seams. External hanging loop. vintage wash.

Size Chest (to fit)S - 8/10 M - 12 L - 14/16

Mens - Wightbay Hoodies £20 Pigment dyed hooded sweatshirt, herringbone tape inside back neck. Deep rib side panels, cuffs and bottom hem. Thumbholes in cuffs. Internal locker patch with button hole label for ease of removal. Roo pocket, twin needle seams.

Size Chest (to fit)S - 36/38" M - 38/40" L - 41/43" XL - 44/46"

Exclusive to Isle of Wight residents only

Price includes postage and packaging

To make a purchase send me your order via email: jodie.oliver@wightbay.com

Something to make you laugh...

Someone is actually selling a pile of rubble for £50

Earn yourself a wightbay t-shirt...send me a link to an advert that will make people laugh or, just strange and bizarre! If the advert gets mentioned on the blog you will receive a t-shirt in the post.

http://www.wightbay.com/XCClassifieds/CPViewItem.asp?ID=247911

Thursday is the best day of the week!

This morning I woke up at 5:00am, I couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to get up and go. I went to the bakers as I usually do but I was disappointed to see they weren't open at 5:50. So I decided to head into work. I got to work at 7:00am ready for a hard days work. It is now 2:00pm and I am feeling really really tired. What has happened to my body clock?

Any how, I am very excited as the order, of Wightbay t-shirts are due to be delivered tomorrow morning! I have listened to the comments on the t-shirt designs on a previous post, and hope you will all be pleased.

Thanks to all of you who are taking part in the national recycling week. Some one has even posted up their pet for recycling and now in the draw for the paper thin wallet. http://www.wightbay.com/XCClassifieds/CPViewItem.asp?ID=247672 I think this deserves a Wightbay T-shirt!

We have a New Member to the Wightbay Team... Lawrence Murphy!

Lawrence will be teaming up with Paul as a Sales Executive. He will be answering all questions regarding banner sales and stock listings on Wightbay. Along with Paul, he will be approaching businesses who he thinks will benefit from the brand awareness that Wightbay offers. He then manages all the Isle of Wight business accounts and insures they get the maximum exposure and relevant placement for their company.

It is National Recycle Week 2nd-8th June, 2008

My idea was to get the Wightbay users involved and thinking Green for the National Recycle Week.

My aim is to encourage the users to have a spring clean. 'One mans rubbish is another mans treasure!' I have set up a competition to increase the islands recycling.

The Prize is An amazing wallet that is lightweight, strong, long-lasting, and super-thin. Disguised as an folded sheet of newspaper, the wallet is so slim that you might mistake it for just that.

It feels like paper but is actually made of thousands of long plastic fibres creating a surface that is both lightweight and durable yet super-thin and tear resistant. Environmentally friendly the wallet is made from 25% post-consumer recycled content.

This is my desk I would describe it as the Wightbay creative thinking space!

It's been one of those days. Everything started going wrong from the moment I woke up. I got into the office this morning only to find that I can't receive incoming emails. All day I have been firing out emails and not having any replies. The office IT guys are looking into the problem...

Everyone has gone home, tumble weed across the office floor, the IT guys are no where to be seen and I am still not receiving any emails.

I managed to design the car sticker….

On Bank Holiday Monday I woke up to stormy winds and torrential rains. I had second thoughts about taking part in the village fun run. The thought of the organisers and marshals standing in the rain spurred me on to dust off my running shoes. I turned up on the day and to my jaw dropping surprise I finished the run in 4th position over all and 1st lady.

So I was reading the Isle of Wight County Press this morning there was a 3 page spread on 'Walk the Wight' 26.5 miles. I also read that some crazy people ran the hilly course.

Today village fun run, next year the, Width of the Wight.

People Behind Wightbay

I wanted to introduce the WightBay Team. We only have three people actively working on Wightbay…

Firstly we have the Moderator, the man on the island. Tony (Chris to his friends) is the person behind the user name 'Admin'. He has lived on the island for 10 years and always been involved in local business. Tony has the job of monitoring your ads. He has the taxing job of removing duplicate adverts, cleaning up your accounts and deleting closed and sold ads. He has also been actively answering your questions in the forums. He has many ideas on how to improve the usability for the Wightbay users. His aim is to make Wightbay the best site for the islanders.

Secondly we have Paul our Sales Executive. He has been answering all questions regarding banner sales on Wightbay. He also approaches businesses who he thinks will benefit from the brand awareness that Wightbay offers. He then manages all the Isle of Wight business accounts and insures they get the maximum exposure and relevant placement for their company.

Finally there’s me, Jodie! I have the job of raising awareness for the site, improving its usability and orchestrating new developments & ideas. My aim is to make Wightbay an essential part of the Island community. I also advice our customer service team on answering all your questions, ideas and complaints.

Hot topic - Car Adverts

I understand your frustration of seeing car ad after car ad in the latest ads. I have thought of a solution for this problem. We could carry across the filter functionality we have on every other category (see below). It will allow users to filter 'Trade' or 'Private' ads in the Latest Ads.

Please leave your ideas and comments.

After my comments yesterday regarding FREECYCLE etc. I noticed this post on another blog, it's extracted from a conversation about freecycle.org...

It is pretty depressing going to the tip and seeing what is being thrown away to landfill. I think that the idea behind Freecycle is excellent. It’s just the way that they force you to get a Yahoo email address and mess you about that’s wrong.Recently I rediscovered “Wightbay” and bought an excellent child seat for the car and sold a washing machine within a few hours. That really is recycling! http://wighteye.wordpress.com/2007/06/08/goingpalegreen/

Count Down to the Big Green Picnic - 24th -25th May

Taking place over the weekend of 24/25 May, the Big Green Picnic aims to inspire the Island’s population to embrace the idea of sustainable living in order to reduce our carbon emissions and help save the planet, man....http://ventnorblog.com/big-green-picnic

Save the landfill - One man's trash is another man's treasure.Take part...Place an advert in the Wightbay FREECYCLE section.
http://www.wightbay.com/XCClassifieds/CPViewInCat.asp?ID=440