WOMOW a finalist in the 2010 MyBusiness Awards

WOMOW.com.au has been announced as one of the top 3 Start-Up businesses in the 2010 MyBusiness Action Coach Awards.

Thanks for your support and keep your fingers crossed for us!

WOMOW Video: How to Turbo Charge your Word-Of-Mouth Marketing

Watch this to see how you can ramp up the word-of-mouth for your business, manage your online reputation, and win more customers.

Put your word-of-mouth on steroids and let your customers become your best marketing tool yet...

WOMOW stands for Word Of Mouth On the Web. It helps businesses get found on the web and promote themselves with word-of-mouth. Did you know that most people trust consumer recommendations over ALL other forms of advertising and marketing and also that customers that read reviews are much more likely to purchase? Check out the video to see exactly how this can work for your business.

WOMOW outperforms Yellow Pages, a hairdresser tells

Natasha Varga, owner of hairdressing salon Green Butterfly, was surprised and thrilled to find that some of her customers had entered glowing reviews on WOMOW.com.au. "That was the first time I'd heard about it - when I received an email saying my business had been reviewed. I later joined the Happy Customers Program and I haven't looked back." "The majority of our new clients now come from WOMOW - way more than Yellow Pages. Plus, they're coming from all over Melbourne, not just our local area. I particularly like it how they come with a level of trust and positive expectations - it sets our relationship off to a great start and makes it easy to keep the good vibes going! Almost all of the customers we get from WOMOW will re-book straight away and most go on to become regulars so it's having a big impact on our business."

When joining though, Natasha says she was still a bit skeptical, "To be honest, I was very surprised that WOMOW would work so well for us as I'd heard that women were less trusting of the internet, but our experience here has proven that to be wrong. There are heaps of women (and men) searching the internet and finding us on WOMOW every week! Lots of our clients tell us they use WOMOW for everything now."

"We love it when we get a new review - I'll print it out and stick it up in our back room. We're particularly chuffed if someone mentions one of us by name!"

When asked what their secret is behind providing great service, Natasha says that "we haven't got any particular secrets (I wish we did!). We just try to be honest, give as much of ourselves as we can, and enjoy what we do. I think this genuine care rubs off on customers. Plus, it's much easier to provide great service when we have such great customers!"

"Since joining WOMOW's Happy Customers Program we're almost always booked out a few weeks ahead. For any businesses that wants to promote themselves with word-of-mouth but hasn't yet joined WOMOW, I'd highly recommend it. It's excellent value and it has changed our business for the better!"

New start-up, Miss Eyelash, is off to a flying start with instant word-of-mouth

Not long ago, Emma Vosti decided to treat herself to getting eyelash extensions for a special occasion. She looked fabulous and was overwhelmed by the positive comments she received from friends and family. Fast forward just a few months and Emma now runs "Miss Eyelash" - a thriving business built almost entirely on word-of-mouth with the help of WOMOW's Happy Customers Program. Emma says; "WOMOW has been awesome for me. I've already got 90 clients - and almost all have come directly or indirectly through WOMOW".

Upon opening up about 3 months ago, Emma says she "tried some other online directories (some of which are quite expensive), and I also tried advertising in some local magazines and newspapers. But the fact is that over 90% of my customers come to me after reading the reviews on WOMOW."

But Miss Eyelash is not a hobby business as Emma says; "I'm very serious about what I do. This is what pays my mortgage, puts food on the table and sends my children to school. I love being able to make other people look and feel fabulous, but I've spent the time training and I'm now focused on building a great reputation and long-term relationships with my clients."

"I'm definitely getting lots of people finding me online as my WOMOW listing comes up quite high in Google searches. Word-of-mouth is really important for a business like this because a lot of people have had bad experiences where the lashes have been applied poorly, or just an average experience that really hasn't looked that great - so people are looking online for recommendations. It's quite a niche market but because I focus only on eyelash extensions, I do them a lot quicker, and the quality is very high. I also put in up to 70 lashes per eye whereas most salons do only 30-50."

"I'm loving this business as I'm meeting ace people all the time and helping them look fantastic. With WOMOW it's been very easy to build up a bank of positive reviews and I certainly feel like I'm getting great value from being part of the Happy Customers Program. I also love the fact that I can click a button and get more flyers sent to me. I've even met a like-minded business through WOMOW and I now operate from their premises on a regular basis, which is helping me service my growing client base."

"It's very rewarding seeing customers' feedback online and I'm looking forward to building long relationships with my clients."

Customer Service Sins: 5 (surprising) things that piss customers off

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>> Please click here to read this article <<

Our Customers Don't Talk about our services but we still benefit from Word-of-Mouth

Melissa Whalen runs an interesting business that's thriving - yet no-one talks about it! Jeune provides a mobile cosmetic medicine service, providing their injectable treatments and hair removal services at beauty therapists salons across Victoria. And yes, amongst other treatments, that means Botox, dermal fillers and IPL.

Think you don't know anyone that uses Botox? Melissa says that's probably not true as it's actually a lot more common than most people think. The thing is that most people don't like talking about the cosmetic medicine treatments they use. Which could be a bit of a problem for a business that relies on word-of-mouth for referrals!

Melissa says that "most people find us either by doing online research, or by discussing their needs with a trusted professional. Our business model of working through beauty therapists captures the second group, and WOMOW helps us capture the people that are Googling around looking for services and recommendations online."

She says that their main focus is on providing a great service that people will be happy with, and the word-of-mouth virtually looks after itself. "We particularly focus on giving people a very honest opinion of what we can achieve. If their expectations are realistic, then we're very confident that we'll end up with a very happy client. In some cases, people actually need fewer treatments or get a better result than we'd quoted - which of course delights them."

It's a simple strategy but one that certainly seems to be working as a scan of some of Jeune's customer reviews makes it clear how much people trust in their services. In a relatively short time, Jeune has built up an incredibly loyal client base - some of whom have moved interstate and even come back to Jeune for their treatments! "Our prices are reasonable and we offer a consistent and reliable service - extremely important when you're dealing with something as personal and sensitive as cosmetic medicines."

"Sometimes we'll get a 70 year old with a very limited budget asking to look young again. While we could offer some help, they're not going to be happy with the outcome - so we'll tell them they'd get a better result by using their money to buy a new outfit! We'd rather turn a customer away than have someone less than overjoyed with our service."

You can see customer reviews for Jeune's services here: www.womow.com.au/biz/Jeune-North-Melbourne/

Proactive word-of-mouth - is it possible?

Yes, it's true - just as some people are natural athletes, some businesses seem to generate lots of positive attention because of their product or market. But in reality, these people and businesses are very few and far between. For the most part, like great athletes, great businesses WORK REALLY HARD to get positive word-of-mouth. (Think the hype surrounding every new Apple product release is accidental? Nope! That's a well-oiled PR machine working it's bum off.)

Great businesses don't sit around waiting for people to start talking about them. They ask their customers for referrals, request online reviews, keep top-of-mind with customers through interesting and relevant ticklers, and above all, they do everything in their power to provide every customer with the best experience possible.

Sounds too much like hard work? Of course it's easier to provide mediocre service, never bother keeping in touch with customers, and sit around blaming the state of the economy for the lack in enquiries - much easier! But that's not the road to a successful business that's buzzing. It does take a bit of effort and thought - but it's also worth it's weight in gold. Why? Because...

1. People don't believe your advertising anymore
   That's right, we've become a cynical bunch and we all know how marketing works. We won't take anything at face value anymore. Advertising is still great for building awareness but it's really tricky to build trust, preference or a real connection with advertising alone.
   
   
2. Word-of-mouth is now permanent, searchable and pervasive
   While we might not chat to our neighbours as much as in times gone by, the internet actually makes word-of-mouth much more powerful because the comments, reviews and mentions that your business gets today, can be found by people searching next week, but also next year. They can also be seen by people nearby, and people anywhere in the world looking for a business in your location (which is great for web businesses or those that service people that travel). Most importantly, thanks to the magic of search, your feedback is seen mostly by people that are actually looking for a service just like yours. People that value good quality and good service, and in some cases, will pay extra for it.
   
   
3. You might need to call on your positive reputation one day
   No matter how good a business you run, one day you'll get some negative feedback online. Warranted or not, someone will put a ridiculously bad comment up on Facebook, Twitter, their blog, or some other online forum. If that's the only feedback about your business on the web, it's going to look really bad - whenever someone searches for your business, that's all they'll find. But if you've already built up a great bank of positive feedback, one negative comment is almost irrelevant (of course, you should still address it, but on it's own it's unlikely to do any real damage).
   

Some business owners are hesitant to ask customers for reviews or mentions online, but ironically, most people actually think more highly of businesses that ask for feedback and feel flattered to be singled out. If they're happy with the service they've experienced and feel that you've gone out of your way for them, most are more than happy to return the favour. In fact, they'll probably be a happier customer, just because of the fact that you've asked them for honest feedback (seems weird but you'll see for yourself).

Word-of-mouth is the most powerful form of marketing there is and if you're passionate about creating buzz for your business, you need to get this working. So don't be shy and don't be lazy, hand your customers a MEGAPHONE and start building up your online reputation!