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Digital Ministry
Digital Ministry

• DIGITAL PEOPLE - KATIE MAY, JACKIE MAXTED AND JENENE FREER
  <p><img class="left" src="images/blogs/614_4942cd1342b73.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="189" />I really like working in a market with a strong competitor.  It makes you work harder and smarter and opens up the category.  While at Essential Baby, Katie May from Kidspot gave me that opportunity.  (I secretly would have loved to have continued that battle!)  Katie shares her story on how she started, her challenges and tips for aspiring web publishers.</p><p>Jenene Freer is one of those Kiwi’s we’ll claim as an Aussie the minute she may decide to cross the ditch. Starting her own site - www.nzgirl.co.nz - at 21, it is now one of the largest women's magazine sites in the Asia Pacific.  She now runs Flossie Media Group, which offers advertisers a range of opportunities across an increasing network of quality women's sites.</p><p> </p><p><table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 410pt; border-collapse: collapse; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="547"><tbody><tr style="height: 15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes;"><td style="padding-right: 0.75pt; padding-left: 0.75pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; width: 410pt; padding-top: 0.75pt; height: 15pt; background-color: transparent; border: #f0f0f0;" width="547" valign="bottom"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Jackie Maxted, started Beauty Directory in 1999. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She recalls the early days when Beauty Editors had to 'reserve internet time' to access the site and how this members only 'industry' environment evolved into the successful offshoot consumer site Beauty Heaven.</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 60pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="padding-right: 0.75pt; padding-left: 0.75pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; width: 410pt; padding-top: 0.75pt; height: 60pt; background-color: transparent; border: #f0f0f0;" width="547" valign="bottom"></td></tr></tbody></table> Thanks to our 3 wonderful Digital People.  Congratulations to you and your teams on everything you have, and continue, to achieve.  It is truly a case of 'watch this space' for each of these successful businesses.<br /><br />Know anyone you would like to see profiled on Digital People (or have any other comments)?  Please email me at <a href="http://mce_host/denise@consultds.com.au">denise@consultds.com.au</a><br /><br />We will start Digital People again in mid Jan.  Thanks to everyone who has been profiled this year and to those who have given their comments, appreciation and support. <br /><br />Merry Christmas to you and yours.  Here’s to 2009 - fasten your seatbelts – it’s going to be a bumpy ride!</p><p><br /><strong><br /></strong><img class="left" src="images/blogs/614_4942cd134ab4e.jpg" alt="Jackie Maxted" width="150" height="201" /><strong>Your Name: Jackie Maxted</strong><br /><br />Your Business and launch date:  <a title="Beauty Heaven" href="http://beautyheaven.com.au/">Beautyheaven.com.au</a> and <a title="Beauty Directory" href="http://beautydirectory.com.au/">Beautydirectory.com.au</a> - Launched 1999.<br /><br /><strong>Number of Staff: </strong> 14<br /><br /><strong>Tell us about your business? </strong><br /><br />We publish two websites – a ‘members-only’ news and research facility for the beauty and media industry (beautydirectory.com,au) and www.beautyheaven.com.au – where 80,000 visitors come for their beauty fix every month.<br /><br />Following a successful career in PR including running my own agency, I saw an opportunity to develop a new PR resource.   The idea for a contacts directory for the beauty media quickly turned into an online proposition. This made perfect sense - using a database model created the opportunity to update daily and keep everything relevant for today.  beautydirectory was launched in late 1999, initially to a few believers (most of whom have remained loyal customers through the nine years) We initially had some issues with accessibility to the internet.  While all the beauty journalists loved the concept of a 24/7 resource at the tip of their fingertips, the reality was that many of the big publishing groups only allowed internet for the privileged few (namely Editor or above) so time had to be ‘booked in’ to use the facility! The landscape has clearly changed enormously.  Now our website is a members-only facility – it has a database of almost 600 beauty brands with 18,000 products.  The site is free for media members  - beauty brands pay annual fees for access and to have their brands listed.<br /><br />Beautyheaven.com.au was launched in 2005 as a test, and then the fully developed site followed in October 2007.  It’s different from all other beauty sites because of its highly engaged audience.  While we update the site with beauty news daily, we also have constant interaction from our members – the beauty-loving public who want to share their expertise.   Our site is all about having beauty conversations – between members, the beauty companies and us too.<br /><strong><br />What is your title and what role do you actually fulfil?</strong><br /><br />My title is Managing Director – my role is to make sure the business is on track for forecasted growth and development.  In this industry that is changing so quickly I am also responsible for recognizing digital trends and knowing where and how to respond.  It’s also about building a great team of happy and fulfilled people who have balanced lives.<br /><br />How does your business generate revenue and what is the structure you operate under to achieve this?<br /><br />Our business model is two-fold – a combination of annual fees for beauty brands to ‘list’ – on both or either of the websites.  We also sell promotional plans to engage an online audience through a combination of straightforward digital advertising and integrated content.<br /><br /><strong>What have been the turning points in the life of your business?</strong><br /><br />The boom of internet usage – it was always going to happen but we were in the right place at the right time! I should also say that while there have been turning points to help us along, the business success is all about determination and focus.<br /><br /><strong>Can you share any key learnings or tips for aspiring website publishers?</strong><br /><br />Don’t expect audiences to grow overnight (unless you have a significant SEM budget!) – so I guess that means have lots of patience! Focus on quality of content and have some expertise in Search Engine Optimisation (wither buy it in or learn yourself)  and traffic will find you.  Before you start, make sure that there is an audience who is interested in what you have to offer and don’t give up easily. <br /><br /><strong>What do you think are some future opportunities and challenges for the digital industry?</strong><br /><br />I think the opportunities are enormous – the online world is enormous and this is only going to get bigger.  One of the key challenges is the quality of content around – it&a