Readers Survey and other things

Hi folks

Thank you to everyone who has responded to the readers survey I sent out on Thursday - I really appreciate all the feedback you've given me so far and it is great to see what you are liking and not enjoying so much. It's definitely going to help make your experience much better and I hope that over time, I will bring you more information and activities through the website that you will enjoy.

The reason for the survey was to gather your thoughts and opinions on the site. There have been a number of results that have surprised me, and I will be working on these over the next couple-few months.

It's interesting that some comments that have been made have related to users not knowing there are products available for sale through the site. Why I find that interesting is because almost without fail, our products have been highlighted in each newsletter that has been sent out. But obviously this tells me that I need to take a different approach. Another interesting situation that has come through is the question "Do you read our newsletters" to which a number of people replied "No".

I must also reply to some respondents who mentioned that there were "too many compulsory questions" that the reason I made them compulsory was because this is the kind of information I need to gather to make the website better for you.

Although I totally understand that there are people who are sensitive when it comes to more personal information, I must emphasise that the answers that have been provided are strictly for statistical purposes only and will not be shared with or sold to any other person or organisation.

Thank you to those who have been so kind as to complete the survey, and it has been a pleasure being able to read your thoughts. I truly appreciate the reply from some of you who said how great it was to have the opportunity to provide feedback as well - that means a lot to me.

I'm hoping to do a lot with the website in the future and I look forward to sharing my developments with you.

Another newsletter is heading into inboxes tomorrow afternoon. I am looking to change how newsletters are handled after tomorrow's newsletter on based on your feedback too - keep an eye out for the next one!

Purrs and woofs

Rochelle

Welcome Kris Mein to The Pet Hub!

I am very pleased to announce that Kris Mein is The Pet Hub's new Business Development Manager. Kris came across the position through his fiancee, Kelly O'Neill, one of the experts on our Ask An Expert panel.

Kris has the experience and skills perfectly suited to the role, as well as a passion for pets and keeping them happy and healthy. Kris and Kelly are the overworked slaves to two dogs; Saxon, an 11 year old SPCA special, and Sizzle, a miniature dachshund.

Please join me in welcoming Kris to the site, it's very exciting having him on board! To read more about Kris, click here.

If you are interested in advertising on The Pet Hub, please email Kris at advertising@thepethub.co.nz

Purrs and woofs
Rochelle

Almost ready to announce the new BDM!

I'm just about ready to announce the new Business Development Manager for the website, which is very exciting. I'm not going to give any clues just yet though, so you'll have to wait to see who it is. I'm very excited about this person as I think they'll be a perfect fit.

In the meantime, check out the What's New page for the latest information and have a read of the latest editorial which has some new information about what's been happening behind the scenes with The Pet Hub.

The aim of the game is to make the site more interactive, so you'll probably see me posting heaps more via this blog, Twitter, Facebook and eventually, through the forum once I have sourced a better forum system for visitors to engage with.

Keep warm,
Purrs and woofs
Rochelle

Techno-philes

It takes a bit of getting used to, working out how to utilise Facebook, Twitter and also adding comments sections to the website. I'm in the process of doing all this (Facebook's not so bad!) - if you're on FB, Twitter or have a Google account, look us up and add us to your favourites.

Soon I will be sending out a new enewsletter and creating a quick questionnaire for our website visitors so that I can learn how you guys like to receive information, what you use and how you use it etc so that I can find out more about you, to ensure The Pet Hub brings you the information you want to know about.

Purrs and woofs
Rochelle

We're looking ...

I've just posted a job ad on Trademe Jobs for a Business Development Manager. Basically the reason why is to ensure the continued running of The Pet Hub website, as we can't function on sunshine and fresh air as I mentioned previously, much as we would love to pay our invoices with these good things.


If you know of anyone who can spare a little time each week to helping us build our amazing website, which is getting more wonderful to be a part of every day, and who can perhaps survive on fresh air and sunshine themselves for a little while to begin with, let them (and us) know! By the way, it won't be that long - and the right person will certainly be earning an income before either of the directors do!


There are so many places we want to go with the site but we just need an income to be able to do it, so all your help and support is appreciated more than we can ever show or express to you.


The more people who know about the website, the better, so please, please, please tell your friends and family to visit, and join our Pet Club!


Sincerest thanks,
Rochelle

News from the back end

We've got a newsletter heading out tomorrow and I apologise that it's a little bigger and fatter than previous newsletters - I guess this comes with not having sent one for a month! It's a very exciting time for us though, and a little daunting too. We're still learning new tricks when it comes to Google's tools - for example our Pet Events calendar is now updated via our Google calendar account. Our aim with this is to include as many pet and animal related events throughout New Zealand as possible, to give everyone a chance to see what's happening.


And recently I found that our website developers were only too happy to help us provide online shopping to our visitors, which is a huge achievement! We are very excited to have had orders come through already.


As much as we'd like to live on fresh air and sunshine, we also need to be able to sustain the website financially, so we are making plans to begin monetising the website. You will eventually notice some more advertisements throughout the site as we bring advertisers on board, and changes as we develop how we sell advertising spaces on the site.


Much of the changes coming up for us in the future are, as mentioned, exciting and daunting at the same time - and we're still learning a lot of skills to improve the site. We hope you continue to visit and give us feedback on what you do and don't like.


Rochelle

It's been a while ...

Hi folks,

Profuse apologies about the lack of posts in recent months. Our 'to-do' lists have become longer than a piece of string and unfortunately the blogs - both this and Four Legs Good - have taken a bit of a back seat.

Please bear with us as we get some priorities sorted - of course our first priority is to continue to create an awesome website for people to visit, and we will continue this as best we can. But another top priority is to make it profitable as well, and this is part of what we're working on behind the scenes.

We'll keep updating readers through short blog postings, Facebook and Twitter updates as well as through our newsletter - which we've decided to produce on a monthly basis due to time constraints.

We really appreciate your support to date and hope that we can continue to create an awesome website that visitors really enjoy visiting. Don't be shy to contact us with any feedback you have as well, it's invaluable to us. And remember to keep sending in your pet photos and stories!

Purrs and woofs
Rochelle and Francesca