Hi everyone,

It's been an interesting week with press and different types of feedback for WOMOW.

Good businesses deserve attention
Some of you may have heard Paul and I on ABC Radio 774 where we talked about what it was like to be back home from Everest and starting WOMOW.  We received some terrific feedback about this - it seems that we're not the only ones excited about the potential for putting word of mouth information onto the web.

A couple of small businesses contacted us after that interview and told us how most of their new customers come from customer referrals.  Brad helped them set up a free profile on WOMOW and they've started talking to their customers and asking them to rate them on WOMOW.  So now they're accelerating their word of mouth and hopefully they'll start getting some new customers this way too. 

News Objectivity
For those of you looking out for us in last week's Leader Newspaper, we have to tell you that the article on WOMOW now looks like it won't be published.  Yes, the journalist interviewed us and yes, the photographer came out and took some photos of Brad and I, but this week I received a call from a senior member of New Limited's Online division.  They told me about a new venture that they've started that they beleive is similar to WOMOW - it's called Nook.  But the interesting thing is that even though their journalist thought that WOMOW was newsworthy, they've decided not to run the story becuase they now regard it as competition to this venture.  Oh well, hopefully WOMOW can practise what it preaches and spread through word-of-mouth (or email).

WOMOW Ratings
Other than all that, it's been a great week for WOMOW. Momentum seems to be slowly building and we're getting more hits, more new members and more ratings every day.  Our Borders $20 Voucher promotion appears to be going really well and lots more people are rating their favourite and least favourite businesses. 

It's a dangerous position for me to be in though because I keep reading all these reviews and thinking - I'll have to try that place, actually I do need to buy some of those, wow - I didn't know you could buy that there!  There was a rating done for an Australian artist that a member buys from on eBay.  I had a look at her work and it looks great.  Plus, there's a whole lot of other artists that also seem to sell great paintings at very reasonable prices.  I'd never even thought to even look there.  And another one was done for a place that sells genuine Ugg boots.  I've been meaning to get some of these for ages and now I know a place not too far away that has a great range.  See what I mean by dangerous?

A Selection of this Week's Ratings
Rating for Moka Gigi (a cafe in Brunswick) by moonshae
"This place is tiny. Squeezed between a chip shop and an internet place, Moka Gigi is worth finding though. The customers seem to all be regulars, smiling and chatting happily with the owner who is making coffees at a rapid pace. Great coffee, great Fraus hot chocolate, wonderfully warming breakfasts and a chance to have your own local where people really will remember your name."
(I like this one because it seems to be such a small business that would otherwise be impossible to find.)

Rating for Aquabore Service Centre (a mechanic in Mount Waverley) by Denise
"This place was recommended to me by a friend and I have been using them since. Chris is approachable and helpful. He gave me honest information and when I had a particular problem with the car he always delivered what he promised (ie. Calling and giving me a quote before going ahead, and giving me options - and not always the most expensive one!)"
(Who doesn't need an honest mechanic?)

Rating for Minotaur (a collectables shop in Melbourne)
"Went in looking for a few specific graphic novels. I browsed the shelves for a bit before I asked the guy behind the counter. He told me they had what I was looking for, but only narrowed it down to two possible shelves that were in vaguely alphabetical order. Looked again, but still didn't find what I was looking for. Asked for more help, and the guy did walk over to the shelves but didn't look long before telling me what I was looking for could be anywhere in the store or could have been stolen. Minotaur has a lot of stuff that you can't find anywhere else, but with really bad service and high prices, it might be better to look online."
(Shows how important service is - and the attitude!)

All the best,
Fiona