Saving Tenerife!

With the new directory finding its way onto every desk and telephone table, the new residents scheme is in full view of all Tenerife residents. You can now make savings across the island with our advertisers, and save upto 20% on some products and services. On the front of the new Business Pages Directory, you will find a cut out savings card. You will need to register this card to claim your unique residents number, and write it on the front of the card. Then keep the card safe, and wherever you see the BP Tenerife logo you can save. Most members of the directory will offer you a saving when you show them the card, or quote your unique number from Bptenerife.com, but you must mention you are a card holder before a given quote or fixed price.

Times are still tough across the island, and after spending my time on foot delivering the directories, I can see one out of three businesses has closed its doors. Thats a shocking statistic, but its reality. Has it slowed down, or is there worse to come, we will just have to wait and see. Nobody can predict the future, but we can help you to save money, and help our advertisers to gain business with our new scheme. Make sure you are signed up from the homepage or register your card by calling 902 881 061. The Business Pages Tenerife call centre will register your savings card over the phone.

For further information about Bptenerife.com or Business Pages Tenerife contact info@bptenerife.com

Carrefour or Care for?

I visited a store on Saturday, with the intention of purchasing a Wii console for my son. The store is usually great value, but this time I realized why shopping online is now taking huge steps, and traditional stores are closing down.
Let's start with the store, my son is fluent Spanish and knew exactly what he wanted, but me, having not researched the product entirely was in the hands of the store attendant.
We headed straight to the console counter, my sons money burning a hole in his pocket as usual. I have three children, and they seem to get good value for money out of their video games. But there is always a fight over controllers and turns etc, so I try to stick with two or three player games for them. That was my first question to the store attendant, I hadn´t looked at the Nintendo games before, and needed to know where it stated players, he pointed to the completely wrong area, and I was left to work this out for myself. We managed, but compared to an Internet store, I would have this information in front of me immediately. We picked up the console and needed to know how many controllers, I again grabbed a store assistant, who pointed out that it came with one. Now inside a Wii package is more than just a controller, you also need a motion sensor, I know, I was confused also. But the store assistant didn't tell me this, I found this out when I returned to my home, and reviewed it on the Internet.
So we plodded through, trying to select a game, but we couldn´t even take it out of the plastic security box to look at the manual, to check players or to research our product, and when we asked the store assistant, he didn't really know either. The point I'm trying to make here is simple, If I had been buying on the Internet, all this information would have been at hand, I would have found videos to check the graphics, reviews on the game play, information on what would be best for my childrens age group. All in front of me, when I asked Google, the best in store assistant in the world.
The most disappointing thing about our shopping trip was the store assistant advised us completely wrong, and going back to the motion senor, without it, you cannot play the two player games he had shown us, we could not play any two player games, because with out it, the second controller we purchased may as well prop the door open.
This is where Internet shopping is taking giant steps, Its time we started to learn from the Internet shopping experience, if we want our stores to survive. We need knowledge at the raise of a hand or the push of a button. I want a store assistant who can help, not who can check my 20 for a dud. You need your products to be thoroughly understood, your services to be above excellent, and your employees to be experienced in what you are selling.
The down fall with shopping online is the time factor, but If we learn to become patient and purchase in advance we will save money, save time, and mostly get what we want.

Christmas is coming but wheres the goose?

As Christmas begins to touch the Tenerife doormat, what can we expect for it to hold businesses in Tenerife. Such dramatic events continue to unfold around the globe, with financial affairs making top news headlines everyday. Even our favorite high street store Woolworths, we all know so well seems to be closing its doors. Retail in the UK on the high street is at its lowest ever at a time where people always spend freely and worry about the future and debt, after the new year. But that at present is not an option, and we can only brace ourselves further for what the financial affairs of the world keep throwing in our faces.
Continuing in business at such a difficult time can be very hard. But there is one industry that will thrive through this global recession, and you are starring right into it at this very moment in time.
The internet sees no fall in retail only boom. With many more people smelling the coffee and understanding how many overheads can be lost, and sales gained reverting to online strategies. It doesn't have to be expensive to start your online business. Simple store packages can be set up and have your products online with in a few hours. Connecting them directly with the giants of the web like Ebay, and Google. Your target audience is already defined and your marketing directed to the people who are looking for your products. Never has there been an easier way to place the right advertising in the right places. But competition is fierce, and finding the right product to sell, is more the mammoth task than actually selling it.
You can work from home, your garage or spare room becomes your office, and stock room. If you are cute enough you can even buy your stock as it sells, being paid in advance via internet banking systems such as pay pal, and escrow.
If all this is so easy, why isn't everybody doing it, a question you may ask. But when sitting down to the PC for the first time all becomes apparent.
Operating the sales side of your business, online, doesn't need a competent computer operative, but it dose need the correct set up, and software to start you off.
Business Pages Tenerife offer complete set up and consultations for your new business idea. Don't sit back and hope it will be OK, the future is about survival, and relying on the sole trade in Tenerife, will only crush your business, and prevent your growth. There is a whole world out there, staring into the same screen as you are now. Be part of that audience, get your products and services marketed to the world, and survive through the difficult times.
There is a goose this Christmas, it may not be edible, but its out there in cyberspace , and the survivors are all carving it up.

Less Spending, More Coupons, This Holiday Season

Less Spending, More Coupons, This Holiday Season

According to a Harris Interactive survey for RetailMeNot.com, 45% of US online adults plan to spend less money on gifts this holiday season than last because of the state of the economy, while one in five plan to spend significantly less. 89% of online adults think coupons are a great way to save money, and 35% of those who will be spending less money on gifts this holiday season will use coupons, the study found.
Among the other shopping strategies for spending less money on holiday gifts, according to online adults who will be spending less money this holiday season:
2008 Holiday Shopping Strategies
Expectation % of Shoppers
Purchase fewer gifts 83%
Buy less expensive gifts 63
Shop at discount stores 44
Shop Online 37
Use coupons 35
Make gifts 22
Shop during Black Friday sales 19
Source: Harris Interactive, October 2008
According to the study, 80% will purchase fewer gifts this year by buying gifts for fewer people (46%), buying a smaller amount of gifts for the same number of people (43%), or making some gifts instead of purchasing them (22%). Additionally:
• Those who shop online are expecting to either to find better deals (32%) and/or to save money on gas (24%)
• 29% will shop early to avoid impulse buys
• 12% will wait until the last minute to get more discounts
Of the 83% of online adults who are willing to make online purchases, 71% say the most popular items are books followed by music and electronics
What Online Shoppers Are Planning to Buy
Purchase % of Shoppers
Books 71%
Music 62
Electronics 55
Clothing 51
Travel 50
Office supplies 39
Health & Beauty 34
Source: Harris Interactive, October 2008
85% of online shoppers use tools or websites to find good deals online. 56% of online shoppers use search engines to find bargains. In addition, they have found other ways to save:
Online Tools for Finding "Good Deals"
Tool % Shoppers Using
Price comparison websites 32%
Online coupon websites 25
Online advertisements 23
Bargain tracking websites 12
Shopping-themed social networks 5
Source: Harris Interactive, October 2008
Guy King, cofounder of online coupon website RetailMeNot.com, concludes that "... consumers are becoming more strategic in the way they look for deals... coupon use, in particular, is on the rise and more consumers are realizing tremendous savings... In addition... online tools are creating new channels for retailers to reach budget-conscious shoppers... "

Online Savings for your Business

In the economic crisis we are all presently facing, the opportunities to save money in your business are very scarce.

Business Pages Tenerife are always looking for ways we can help small businesses avoid extra charges on the services they need.

We are now developing our IT Department further, to cope with the demand for our Network Services and Internet Solutions.

As the credit crunch takes a firm grip on the high street, we are seeing many companies pull back from owning locals and offices, viewing the web as a more favourable place to promote and do business. The overheads are lower, and you are able to communicate with a much larger audience.

Getting your website and marketing right, can offer high, attractive returns.

We provide a wide range of network solutions to suite any existing online business and provide impartial advice to businesses who want to create a website and an online business presence.

We offer an unrivalled web hosting solution for new and existing websites, providing both Microsoft Windows Web Servers to support ASP/.NET based web sites and Linux Web Servers through the highest quality, fastest data centres in the world.

Our Web Hosting & Monthly Support packages start from only 60 euros per month. We have a 9-5 help desk with live support technicians who can remotely connect to your workstations and fix any problems that may have occurred.

We can extend our live support service to deal with your PC problems remotely, our qualified technicians are capable of fixing problems on all major operating systems.

We also have a competent SEO/SMO team that can take care of your promotion and visibility on the web. Finding your site is vitally important if you want it to work for you, and bring you sales.

Our Web Server Administrators will transfer your existing website to our web servers free of charge, and install your systems promptly and securely, with email and web support.

Our Web Designers and Computer Programmers can also update, enhance or rebuild your website to today’s specifications enabling the most up to date browser compatibility.

We can assist your company in all areas of Information & Communication Technology to save you time and money, please contact us directly or call our helpdesk on 902 881 061.

To appear professional on the web, you need the support of a professional company!

Ever Heard the term "I don't think people use the internet in Spain?" read on...

I found this very interesting article that might help people to understand how wrong they are about the whole internet usage in Spain.

More than 30 per cent of Spanish grandparents spend up to three hours a day chatting to family on the internet, according to a study by Microsoft.

The study, based on 30 billion conversations between 240 million users of Windows Instant Messenger worldwide, claims the tool is used by 46 per cent of Spanish adults.

The study also shows that 25 per cent of people who communicate over the internet have almost abandoned email in favour of instant messaging.

Seventy per cent of young people claim to be responsible for teaching the Silver Surfer generation how to operate the tool and 88 per cent of those surveyed said they used the internet to keep in touch with close family.

Spain has 13 million Windows Messenger users, making the Microsoft programme the most popular in the country and the highest uptake in Europe among the over-45s.