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