| 'The Kiwi Story' FAQ
General
Questions
What
is ‘The Kiwi Story’?
‘The
Kiwi Story’ is a unique New Zealand web directory promoting top quality and
unique New Zealand Businesses. ‘The Kiwi Story’ lists the best of New Zealand
in a range of industries such as technology, arts, marine, fashion and
entertainment. The website is delivered on an innovative multimedia platform
which allows quick access to business listings and rich content such as photos
and video to promote great New Zealand businesses.
What
businesses are listed on ‘The Kiwi Story’?
‘The
Kiwi Story’ currently lists over 250 great New Zealand businesses throughout
New Zealand in a cross section of different industries such as fashion
designers, technology companies, tourism attractions, entertainment venues and
many more.
‘The
Kiwi Story’ has many high profile New Zealand businesses listed such as world
class accommodation venues such as
The George and
Mollies, Award winning tourism attractions such as
Monarch Wildlife Cruises and
famous NZ brands such as the
ecostore and
Barkers. No international brands are listed and a focus is on products
and services that are distinctly New Zealand which cannot be easily replicated
internationally.
Who
runs ‘The Kiwi Story’?
‘The
Kiwi Story’ is run by a small group of proud Kiwis with a variety of
backgrounds from marketing, graphics design, software development and
journalism. ‘The Kiwi Story’ was founded by Chee Pang a New Zealand born web
entrepreneur based in Auckland who observed that many award winning local NZ
businesses lacked mainstream exposure and there was no website in NZ which was
totally reflective of New Zealand. By creating ‘The Kiwi Story’ Chee hopes to
bring together the best of New Zealand all in one place and make it easily
accessible to New Zealanders and the international community.
Prior
to starting ‘The Kiwi Story’ Chee worked as a senior IT consultant and software
developer at several top NZ and global technology companies such as Datacom,
Unisys and Cap Gemini and has worked on a wide range of projects involving high
profile clients such as Vodafone, Microsoft, Works Infrastructure, Coca Cola
Amatil and North Shore City Council.
When
was 'The Kiwi Story' launched?
‘The
Kiwi Story’ was launched in April 2008 at the
Small Business Expo in Auckland. A major public launch was done to the
New Zealand public in November 2008 which consisted of a nationwide competition
called Show Off NZ
which gave the chance for any New Zealander to bring a special guest from
overseas to “Show Off New Zealand” to them. The competition was won by Diana
Mason from Auckland who's special guest Jason Elin from Tennessee, United
States came to New Zealand in March 2009.
What
are the future growth plans for the website?
The goal
of 'The Kiwi Story' website is to provide a single place to find great New
Zealand businesses and make this process as easy as possible. We continually
make heavily investments into improving our web capability and search engine
optimisation (SEO) in order to improve the visibilty of our listed businesses.
In addition to our directory we also have a strong base of business
resources for the NZ business community. Through our
NZ Business Hub we have an extensive repository of NZ business
articles featuring real local case studies and distribute a
popular monthly e-newsletter to our listed businesses containly NZ business
news, events, marketing tips and the latest developments on 'The Kiwi Story'.
If you have any feedback with the website we would love to hear from you please
email us your thoughts.
Business
Subscription Questions
How
is the website promoted?
‘The Kiwi Story’ is actively
promoted through a variety of media and advertising channels including:
·
Radio
advertising on More FM and
Kiwi FM radio stations
·
Conducting
New Zealand wide
competitions to the NZ Public
·
Web
banner advertising on top local and global websites such as
GetNZMade.net and
Facebook
·
Supporting
top local NZ events such as the NZ Health
Awards and the Small Business Expo
·
Press
Releases issued to major news sites such as
Scoop
·
Running
New Zealand-wide email marketing campaigns
·
Listed
on many major New Zealand/Australasia/Global web directories and linked from a
wide range of top NZ business websites
·
Promoted
on global social media platforms such as
Facebook, YouTube,
Twitter and
Flickr
Is
my business eligible to join?
To
join ‘The Kiwi Story’ you must have a New Zealand business or a business
founded by New Zealanders. Additionally your business must not be of distinct
international origin. For example a restaurant serving foreign cuisine such as
Italian or Japanese that has no association with New Zealand other than being
operated in New Zealand will not be eligible to join.
If
you have any questions on your eligibility please
contact us and supply your website address (if available) and we will
be happy to discuss the criteria with you.
I
have a New Zealand business but I am based overseas am I still eligible to
join?
Yes
so long as you meet the criteria above. We have a location category for
businesses located outside of New Zealand and you will need to specify your
international contact details to ensure you are contactable.
Why
should we join ‘The Kiwi Story’ and how is it different to other web
directories?
In
order to drive more customers to your website and promote your
products/services it is important to list your website on a web directory.
Listing on ‘The Kiwi Story’ offers you the following key benefits many of which
go over and beyond standard web directories:
·
You receive a dedicated full web page for your business which you can fill with
all your business contact details, photos, video and a large amount of text
(1000 words)
·
Your listing can be updated at anytime 24/7 through a easy to use content
management screen
·
Your business is featured alongside many of New Zealand’s top companies.
·
Your listing will be easily accessible on our website as the user only takes
two-clicks from our home page.
·
Your business listing will be fully optimised to be found on Search Engines
·
Your business listing contains a valued web link to your website thus
increasing your Search engine ranking of your website
Many
NZ directories are volume based thus any business can be listed. The key
problem with this is your listing is likely to be nested deep within the
directory and visitors have no way in differentiating “quality” e.g. a top NZ
fashion designer may be placed alongside a low end fashion importer. Because
‘The Kiwi Story’ is a paid and selective directory, listings are of a very high
standard (over 95% of listings feature high quality photos and contain well
written detailed business descriptions), businesses listed are often top in
their local industry and are owned by passionate New Zealanders offering top
quality products and services.
What
are the benefits received of businesses already listed on 'The Kiwi Story'?
Businesses
across 'The Kiwi Story' directory have received a range of benefits
on listing on 'The Kiwi Story'. In terms of customer referrals examples
include: top unique restaurants (e.g.
Revive Vegetarian Cafe) and top accommodation venues (e.g.
Mollies) have received referral customers through 'The Kiwi
Story'. Eileen
Leung an up and coming artist was found through 'The Kiwi
Story' and invited to exhibit her work at several presitigous exhibitions.
Thunderpants a top NZ fashion brand have received enquires
for their products from the UK. Further many of the listed businesses are
receiving high exposure through Google with their business listing often
occuring on the first 3 pages of Google results for a variety of search
phrases. Many entertainment venues, services and attractions such as
Spookers,
151 Corporate Health Club,
David Clark Spa and
Island Escape are consistently highly viewed through keyword
searches.
Who
is the target audience of ‘The Kiwi Story’?
‘The
Kiwi Story’ is targeted at 18 – 50 year old educated New Zealanders, tourists
and New Migrants with high disposable incomes. Thus we have designed the
website, graphics, features and content to target this group.
How
much does it cost to join?
There
are a range of packages available which determine
the level of exposure your business will receive on ‘The Kiwi Story’. Packages
start from $99 per year and all businesses will receive a dedicated page for
their business, link to their website and be accessible with only 2-clicks from
the home page.
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