Kidson Talks | The E-commerce Chemist

On Saturday I decided to go to the launch party for Birmingham Girl Geeks.

It was a unique experience as you are immersed  in a room filled with people JUST LIKE YOU.

On my table were business women, photographers working in e-commerce, web designers, social media experts, mobile web designers and even people who had just started at technology companies.

Girl geek meetings are not just for us to let our inner feminist out (men do come too along with their girl geeks) but to understand and provide support, stories and mentoring to each other in a typically male dominated industry.

Denise Jacobs was our first speaker and told a story about her rise to becoming a public speaker, writing a technical book and basically becoming a web diva of extraordinary proportions.

She reminded us to stop beating ourselves up for being female and thinking we can’t progress in this world. She indicated that actually, most of the barriers we feel are self generated and no one will stop us…however male dominated we think the technology industry is.

Us girls of a geek nature also need to shout about what we do. If we are too understated (I suffer from this affliction) and don’t say ‘ Hey, I can do that’ we will never get where we want to be.

We know more than we think we do

Want to feel inspired? Pop over to youtube: http://youtu.be/FTTj7DWABes

Second up was Karen Strunks from the 4am project – She detailed about using social media to promote her photography at 4am from a insomniacs walk about to a global photography project showing our world at this unique time.

This is Karen’s video (shot by me as I was sitting there): http://youtu.be/v1B18U_KgiY and see our world at 4am on flickr!

Our final speaker was Rachel McCollin taking about mobile web and how she got into the industry from working with the environmental agency.

Her video is here:  http://youtu.be/ZzWFCSV365o

So all in all it has inspired me to become more active again, on this blog (and meeting with my fellow girl geeks will give me more content to write again) and also is public speaking. Hey I may even offer to speak at a girl geek event.

IN OTHER NEWS >>>>> (shameless self promotion segment)

A new eBay design offering is hitting the web-o-sphere. A smart phone optimised solution for the SME market with dynamic navigation to die for. Full details will be in the new Tamebay Tools and services guide coming out on the 31st of Jan.

Want a sneak peek of new clients taking advantage of this?

Check out: http://stores.ebay.de/outdoorsportshop24 (still updating hislisting templates), http://stores.ebay.de/HHV-MUSIC (still updating his listing templates) and http://stores.ebay.at/123boerse (who has actually updated his item templates!!)

With a set up fee of 1500 Euros (plus monthly subscription based on volume) this is an ideal solution for eBay sellers.

More info to come of course but if you want to get in touch about this product please contact us via info@widshop.com.

When I decided to volunteer in Japan the most often asked question was WHY?!!

‘You’re so far away?’

I know..

‘Japan is the third largest economy, they can afford it’

Really?

‘Then why?!!?’

Why do we do anything? I could not put my reasons into words, however many times I was asked. I can even now only describe it as a ‘pull of humanity’

I felt the need to help, so I did.

I saved for 6 months to be able to join the volunteer effort, I thank those who donated to my cause but 90% of the funds came from my own pocket. I knew this would be the case so I planned a rough date in November to fly over.

My friend Sheila was key in my effort, without her I would have been stuck as there are no guides to HOW you volunteer.  She is very active in the relief effort, housing volunteers and volunteering herself with various Christian and smaller volunteer groups.

I came to find that the small groups in Ishinomaki are making a big difference to lives.They don’t get the praise, donations and media hype they deserve. They are the hidden diamonds.

I travelled down with a Christian group called Kurume Bible Fellowship (KBF), a Christian group who have gone to Ishinomaki almost every weekend since the disaster. On this trip they were distributing heaters for the coming winter, and working with Samaritans Purse on construction projects.

We left from Hibarigaoka at 10pm the Friday night and arrived in Ishinomaki for about 7am.

As you approach Ishinomaki you see the gradual increase in devastation, like driving into a apocalypse fantasy game on the PS3.

The whole bus was quiet, a few gasps as we passed piles of rusty cars and steel building supports bent over sideways by the force of the water. We stopped at a shrine to pay respects for a short time and to take in the landscape from outside the bus.

This was my reason.

We then had breakfast and delivered some heaters

(image owned by KBF Tohoku Relief Team)

The winters in Japan are harsh and Japanese houses do not have central heating. Heaters are essential for living in the region, and with little money and struggling industry local people are faced with choices. Food or buy a heater?

After this I was dropped off at my destination…the It’s Not Just Mud  madhouse.

Part 2 coming soon!

*If you want to volunteer from the UK and need advice just comment below and I will give it gladly.

Well, hisashiburi desu! (it has been a while in Japanese)

I have had a very busy e-commerce 2011. The economy has taken a bashing but online things are still hotting up! The world is our oyster online with the expansion of social commerce and like many sellers looking out to Europe and beyond is the key to success.

This year as been the year for international expansion for my sellers and myself. Most of my eBay clients are moving into France, Germany and the USA as a minimum. Most are going much further.

To stay ahead of the game as always, I am looking into the Asian markets. Strong currency in these countries suddenly makes buying stuff from Europe side cheap and boy is it TRENDY!

While I was in Japan (business and volunteering) I saw that the union jack was EVERYWHERE on clothing, accessories in shops and on the people walking past. It was very surreal.

Language is no longer a barrier. Improvements in translation engines have made things easier.

For a year or two I have bought from Rakuten and Yahoo Auctions Japan (though a shopping service) and each time it gets a bit easier. For instance Japanese sellers are more interested in international trade, probably due to economic conditions in their own countries and better support networks.

So as my clients are expanding in to Europe, Australia and America in the next few years, I will get ready for the expansion east by building relationships, language skills, cultural/business skills and finding sensible solutions.

Oh yeah, and prepare for Widshops…oh yes….eBay design mark deux….

and a picture from my volunteering in Ishinomaki!

Fixing a shrine gate in Onasaki

Onasaki – Rebuilding houses, reflooring, clearing out garbage and putting a shrine gate back up.

Place was completely flooded – government is not restoring electricity and water.

On the way in we passed the shrine at Okawa Elementary School, the team had worked on the clearance of the area so stopped to pay resepect and see the progress – it was completely destroyed, killing 75 of 108 students and 10 of 13 teachers and staff. The teachers and students were evacuating from the school and were swept away by the tsunami while crossing a nearby river bridge.

You could see the part of the bridge ripped out by the tsunami still in the river.

I have been away for a while. I have been super busy with making sure business are top of their class when it comes to e-commerce….helping them branching out into mobile and social commerce. (as well as develop the basics like eBay/Website)

Social and mobile have changed how I shop. I am normally one of the first on the shopping cart bandwagon as I shop ALL THE TIME and it is one of my favourite pastimes.

Mobile Commerce and the wrath of the eBay iphone app

This revelation has killed my bank balance, eBay has infected my life even more than before – in bed, on the train and even waiting for food as a restaurant the iphone sneaks its way out and I can check eBay. It has some needs, like being able to search a sellers items or more ‘ebay shop’ functionality but it does relieve me of quite a few pounds. I also only shop on amazon via mobile now.

However, if there is no app I am probably not going to buy from you on my mobile. Even the ‘mobile friendly’ versions of e-stores annoy me (but normally I don’t check because they are not the norm yet) and I quite often, switch back to the full site if I can. These smartphone friendly versions have a long way to go before they reach ‘app’ status.

Evils of social commerce

You have to have a facebook page now, if you don’t I forget you exist. Sorry.

Recently we (as in createyourtemplate – disclaimer, I’m pluggin’) designed a facebook page for one of our eBay clients passion4italianfashion and instigated an idea of a weekly competition which involved tagging to get maximum exposure. The account started with around 41 likes and has now grown to over 850 likes with around 80 entries to their competition each week. This page will continue to grow and create brand awareness, keep them in-touch with their customers and grow sales.

Another interesting facebook marketing campaign was spearheaded by a friends company. I love Illamasqua makeup and they did a ‘social sacrifice‘ campaign which in effect you killed all your pictures and you had a set of professional pictures to replace them with Illamasqua makeup-y goodness. As a subscriber to their facebook page I get to know when they are doing promotions as it is an expensive brand so I wait for deals

So, as for shopping habits I have fallen right into mobile and social commerce like a stone. However, quite a few of the people (small/medium businesses) I speak too still don’t think it is anything to worry about or use to their advantage. The managing directors who use sites like Facebook, Groupon or have a smart phone always see differently. They see how they and their families spend money and want a slice of it!

So, get a website, make it social and make it mobile (with an app if you can). Don’t forget the power of social marketing if your demographic fits.

On a side note, I am volunteering in Japan (Ishinomaki) next month and staying with a friend who connects the international kimono community through her facebook page. She has kept us all updated about the real situation and stories from the first shake to her last trip.

Say?nara! Ganbatte!

Well, take a look: iokei.com and help me with my MISSION!

Well, I have finally done it. A way to chart my fundraising progress, blog about the trip and thank everyone who donates. Sometimes you wonder what happens to money you donate to disaster relief funds, I know I do. However , this is a rare opportunity to directly donate money so I, a human who can individually chart the experience can volunteer to help with the mass clean up needed in Japan.

The trip will cost roughly £1200 and I am fundraising 50% of this cost and fronting the other 50% myself. Any extra donated to the cause will be used to directly benefit the people in evacuation centres that I meet and help on this trip.

Yes, Japan is a major power in the world but this disaster was more powerful. It will take years and volunteers are declining as time goes on. The media has forgotten the plight of the people in affected areas as it so often does when other news takes over.

So please help me on my journey and make a difference to real people in this very real situation. Maybe you are thinking of doing this yourself? Please let me know.

I plan to go to Japan late November, in the quiet period at work. I am using my own holiday leave for this trip, if your stuck for a trip away how about joining me?

Donate if you can

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*paypal button fixed!