Suggestions for Geekzone...

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euanandrews

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Topic # 12157 1-Mar-2007 23:40

May I suggest some improvements for the Geekzone website to Freitasm and any others concerned....

I've been a big fan of the site, for the local talent and info provided within, but may I point out what does not seem to gel with that flavour is the use of some foreign services....

1) The WiFi Hotspot Finder....great little tool, but in the drop down menu, there is no option for finding New Zealand hotspots, would that not be an obvious use to New Zealand users of a New Zealand tech site?

2) Product advertisments including
   A) Price Graber
   B) Amazon
   C) Software Store
These 2 stores and the Price Graber search are all international stores, mostly American to what I can see, and poses obvious problems...
   1) All the prices are in US dollars....it would be nice for a NZ site to advertise products for sale in NZ dollars
   2) Availability....to what I read, some of these sites/business's dont ship certain products overseas
   3) Costs....the option of putting in your ZIP code to obtain the Price+Shipping+Tax....is a usable feature in US states only
   4) Warranty/service....a problem with purchasing internationally, can be lacking, time consuming, costly and frustrating

Know I know these are revenue earning to run the site, make profit etc, and fair enough, rightly so...but wouldnt it be better to use local suppliers/retailers, advertised in New Zealand dollars and backed up with local service and warrantys covered by New Zealand law?

Maybe going into partnership with a site like Pricespy, Geekzone earning their penny by advertising for Pricespy, product displayed in a simular format as to their current site, by lowest price, reviews etc....Pricespy earning their penny by doing reviews on signed up retailers and making their products/business's searchable and found in their results, served up in Geekzone...

May be all unrealistic but it would be nice to see local supplied product in NZ dollars.
Just a thought.

bradstewart

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Reply # 62519 1-Mar-2007 23:56

Heres something I bet you didn't know, a huge majority of visitors are American... Hence the american adverts.

freitasm

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Reply # 62521 2-Mar-2007 00:04

Some good stuff there, and rightly so... But here's my take...

1.New Zealand is under "South Pacific". Don't ask me why. But the tool is quite cool and is handy.

2.Price Grabber, Amazon are U.S. based, right but Brad Stewart is correct. The number of U.S.-based visitors to Geekzone is way larger than the New Zealand contingent. As for the Geekzone Software store, it's in U.S. dollars, but what other New Zealand-based option do you have to purchase software for Windows Mobile, Symbian and Palm? That's right, none. Consider that the Geekzone Software Store is handled by Handango and software downloads are valid anywhere in the world, it's a good revenue for us.

3.Local suppliers and retailers? Are you joking? Do you know what I was told by Dick Smith when I launched Geekzone and asked if they had any plans for affiliate links? They said "we don't have an affiliate program and don't plan to have. But if you link to our site even if you don't receive any revenue share it will be great for the quality of your site". I can only think they were joking. They get links and sell, and we get nothing? No thanks.

I tried local companies. They are very short sighted. Really. They don't get the "tubes".

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euanandrews

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Reply # 62534 2-Mar-2007 01:02

More Americans than New Zealanders?...really, thats interesting. no obviously that I did not know.
And as for the New Zealand suppliers, yeah I figured that woulda been the case, shame.
Our retailers to small and not yet tech savy.
Kudos to Dick Smiths!

When did you ask local retailers?, you asked Dick Smiths when ya started out, so had not proven your site at that time...
But now Geekzone rates top in NZ tech sites and somewhere top overall does it not?
With the proven user/member base now using your site, maybe its time to repitch to these retailers as your site is now far more marketable?

freitasm

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Reply # 62535 2-Mar-2007 01:11

TheBartender: Kudos to Dick Smiths!

What? They are the ones that wanted links from us for free without giving anything in return.

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freitasm

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Reply # 62537 2-Mar-2007 01:16

TheBartender: When did you ask local retailers?, you asked Dick Smiths when ya started out, so had not proven your site at that time...

But now Geekzone rates top in NZ tech sites and somewhere top overall does it not?

Yes, Geekzone is rating well. The thing left a sour taste. Like when you try to get a home loan from Bank A and the manager says "No, sorry". Then you get the home loan on Bank B. When you go back to Bank A to get the money out of the account to pay the deposit Bank A says "Oh, you can do with us".

That's "risk management": someone else accepted the risk, so it should be ok. But you don't want to be the first. That's how it felt. Why should people expect help only they have succeeded? Why not expect help when they are starting? Wrong mentality. The taste is so bad that somethings are not easily forgotten...

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TinyTim

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Reply # 62549 2-Mar-2007 08:28

freitasm: ...Brad Stewart is correct. The number of U.S.-based visitors to Geekzone is way larger than the New Zealand contingent.

Out of curiosity, what do all these US visitors do on the site? From what I can see the forums are the busiest part of the site and they certainly don't post there.

freitasm

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Reply # 62550 2-Mar-2007 08:33

The forums are only part of our traffic. The New Zealand user group comes to the forums, but they tend to ignore the news section much. Also, there are a lot of lurkers around. Sometimes you see someone posting for the first time, but registered six months or a year before.

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rodhudson

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Reply # 62564 2-Mar-2007 12:05

Hi. Sorry to 'butt in', but I'm not sure where else to ask this question.

I'm trying to post a reply to one of two topics that I initiated [ as the emails say !], but every time I hit the 'Post' button, there are about 5 seconds delay, after which I'm told "I'm sorry....but your post does not have the correct opening and closing.." Or words to that effect.

I'm not doing anything different from 12 previous postings, so what's happening here ?

Does anybody know ?

Thanks in advance for any info on how to get round this problem for me !!

bradstewart

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Reply # 62565 2-Mar-2007 12:08

This is because you have mismatched quote tags. You need to have matching opening and closing ones. Every [ quote] needs a [/ quote] (without the spaces)

rodhudson

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Reply # 62566 2-Mar-2007 12:12

Thanks Brad.

I'll try again......

euanandrews

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Reply # 62577 2-Mar-2007 13:49

freitasm:
TheBartender: Kudos to Dick Smiths!

What? They are the ones that wanted links from us for free without giving anything in return.

Yeah I was being sacastic there....
Stink on Dick Smiths