ExpatWoman's Jane Drury talks to Richard Dean

Last week Jane talked to Richard Dean about the ExpatWoman’s recording breaking August  with 135 000 unique visitors!

Listen to what Jane had to say on Dubai Eye 103.8

ExpatWoman is growing

Last month we had some fantastic stats with an all time high of 135 000 unique visitors to the site.  This differs from past years where we've seen a dip during July and August. It must be a mix of people staying in Dubai for summer and the swell of newcomers arriving have contributed to the up swing.  Our unique user, first time visit ratio which usually averages at 23%, shot up to 30% in July and August, and the mailing list has swollen to over 20,000!!!!!

Daily Quiz proves an instant success !

We launched the ExpatWoman Daily Quiz in March with little fanfare or ceremony and had over 1000 entries during March.  Thanks to Dubai Creek Golf Club for sponsoring the first monthly prize of Dinner for 6. Zuma had offered a family brunch as a prize for the April Daily Quiz and in May, some lucky winner will be taking a party to the Meydan brunch.

We have moved !

After several years of managing in one very small office we've finally moved and have space for the whole team to be in there at the same time as swinging several cats (no offense, Feline Friends).  We're still in Dubai Media City, but have left Building 8 for Building 10, (which is of course nowhere near - a car drive away from - Building 8), more commonly known as the BBC World Building, behind Fitness First & Du.

We're on the 1st floor in Office 115.  Same phone number.

And I think we will now be there for some time ;-)

Pottery Barn opens in Mirdif City Centre

..... and the ExpatWoman crowd go wild ! Pottery Barn launched their new store this month with a comprehensive campaign across online, print, and radio. 

Taking a Round the Site package of banners for the month, the launch of the new store was soon picked up by forum users with several threads developing including "I want to live in the Pottery Barn House "  ;-)   The banners are linked to the Pottery Barn catalogue and readers were soon chatting about furniture and designs on different pages.  Of course it helps that the store clearly stocks a good range of quality products.

Those familiar with the brand were delighted to hear its in town, and those who were not, were intrigued ; a trip to Mirdif to see what all the fuss is about was a first for many this week. 

Google Pottery Barn Dubai, the no. 1 link is to a June 2009 press release, there by virtue of longevity. No. 2 is very clearly ExpatWoman.com with several March 2010 links detailed to different threads and editorial posted.

It is a great example of the value of social media and how marketing spend can be exponentially magnified by the power of word of mouse....

YOU! March issue

The March issue of YOU! magazine has been distributed in schools, at ExpatWoman events & in salons, spas & clinics.

This was our first issue since Lynn Marsh, Graphic Designer, has joined the team and we've had great feedback from readers who love the new look.  We're always impressed that people take the trouble to write. This mail came from a young fan :

Hi there,

Just to let you know I really enjoyed reading the magazine issue 5, it seems to get better and better! I like the variety and the fact that you see Dubai in context with a before and after! I especially like the ex-expats section and of course Tom Baker's thoughtful and well written column (btw does he have a blog? It would be great to follow).

I also like your discussion board on expatwoman.com but can men join up??!

Anyway keep it up

Best regards

Duncan

Sadly, no Duncan... we keep the forum women-only.  But we have passed the comments on to Tom who is studying military history in Cardiff, and may be interested to seed his journalistic career with an ex-expat-kid blog.

ExpatWoman hosts another great Ford event

How many light plastic balls could you chip into the boot of a Ford Lincoln on a breezy spring day? The competitive spirit burns bright at ExpatWoman events....
http://www.youtube.com/user/fordmiddleast#p/u/0/BhqXS-Jc0gU

Trending Stats for www.ExpatWoman.com

Check out Alexa......    Traffic stats for ExpatWoman just getting better & better :

See 3 month & 1 month tracking for trends in page views, reach and time on site

Check vs other local sites for comparative data.

ExpatWoman attracts a niche readership of, not surprisingly, expatriate women.

ExpatWoman launches Ticket Sales

ExpatWoman Dubai hosts 7 weekly coffee mornings, ExpatMums&Tots and ExpatBumps&Babes groups, across Dubai.  Each group attract 30 - 60 women each week, being a mixture of newcomers and regulars who are happy to help sharing knowledge and advise.
Each month ExpatWoman also hosts 4 - 6 additional events catering to a wide range of interests, tickets being sold through the network of coffee mornings. Numbers attending these additional events range for 40 - 400.
As an additional service to our readers, ExpatWoman has launched a ticket sales service for selected third party events, starting with Macbeth, by Shakespeare4Kids. 
We host weekly events at venues across town - Festival City, Mercato, Mall of the Emirates, Ibn Battuta Mall and Dubai Marina.  It is an obvious extension to the services we provide, just giving our readers additional places to pick up tickets to their favourite concerts and shows. 

Fantastic Competitions on ExpatWoman.com this month

As well as launching our great new Week Day Quiz, this month we have some great prizes to give away from our sponsored competitions.
See Dubai Competitions for chances to win :
AED300 voucher from Hairworks
Beautiful Pearl & Diamond Ring worth AED1800 from Diana Jewellery
One of 4 AED300 vouchers from Medzo Italian Restaurant
AED400 voucher for Silkor Hair Removal
5 mini facials & 30 minute massage worth AED430 from Beauty Within
& the last chance to win two tickets to see the fabulous Paolo Nutini at the Irish Village

Dubai Media Karting Challenge - Feb 28th

We're being kind of nurtured at the MKC.  I mean, a seven lap handicap was a really good prop for several rounds of this the second evening of three.  For one brief moment of glory we were at the top of the table.... Look! Here's the proof ;-)

Its a fun night out. We're already pondering on our next sporting challenge after this one.  I suggested white collar boxing but they just didn't go for it. Go figure.... maybe ten pin bowling then.


One more karting night to survive first.  March 28th for the last big push!

March 2010 - ExpatWoman welcomes annual & campaign sponsors

March Issue
We welcome new to the site this month : White Palace Curtains, Mark Wilkinson Kitchens, Sacla, Arabian Pacific, Sante Fe Relocations, Mushrif Equestrian Centre, Dickinson Boarding Schools, Tempur, and renewing sponsors : Just Wills, Prosperity, Clorox, Repton, UOWD, Al Rustom. New agency campaigns included Talise Spa & A Taste of Canada.

March 1st - ExpatWoman.com New Updates & Stats

It may have been a short month but that didn't hold us back; over 10 million hits registered by 94,000 unique visitors and our Alexa ranking rapidly rising. There are so many developments coming through its impossible to see where exactly the big drivers are kicking in. Across the board we continue to improve the site. New this month we are rolling out the new look for the Beauty section, photos are now on Classifieds, and CVs can be loaded through Job Ads. We launched a new Fashion feature section , a Week Day Quiz which will encourage daily participation and Dubai Deals; a page to pull together all our advertorial clients' promotional offers for readers.

Over the next two months we will be continuing to work on SEO and new features coming through include the property search engine, a restaurant booking service, celebrations online, new look what's on & horoscopes.

Watch this space !

March issue of YOU! magazine

The March issue of YOU! magazine has gone to press and will be in schools and at ExpatWoman events from March 7th.  Key themes for this issue are Mothers' Day, Easter, Race Day Fashion & 25 Top Tips for Women Running in this region, as well as our usual focus on community issues and celebrating the achievements of students at the many schools and colleges with which we partner.

We are delighted to welcome new advertising sponsors for YOU! magazine: Active Summer Camps, Dickinson British School Consulting, Goddess Clip In Hair, Mark Wilkinson Kitchens, Stageability, UK Travel Boutique and Unravel English.

This quarterly magazine has a circulation of 24,000 copies reaching over 100,000 expatriates.

ExpatWoman Classified Ads

** NEW **

Add a photo of items wanted & for sale to ExpatWoman Classified Ads

Ads stay online for 14 days before being automatically taken down.  Items are fast moving.  Its a simple, effective & free service, open to both site members and non-members.

Feature sections : Baby Items, Household Items, Cars/4*4s, Electronics, Childrens Toys, Furniture, Sports Equipment, Tickets, as well as Pets Free to a Good Home & Maids/Gardeners/Drivers Available & Wanted

Dubai Classified Ads, Abu Dhabi Classifieds & Qatar Classifieds

Welcome to the Expat Web Services Blog

We are a team of 14 constantly working to improve our range of services offered through the website, www.ExpatWoman.com, ExpatWoman events and our print magazine, YOU!

There's a steady stream of good news to share but we're busy, busy, busy and just not getting round to shouting about all the great stuff coming through. We manage some brilliant PR for clients and completely neglect ourselves, but no more.....

This blog is for us to share site, event & magazine updates; any information of interest to Marketing, Media & HR teams. Tune in and follow us as our site and services continue to grow.