Hi Everyone! I'm Kate and I'm relatively new to the site so I thought I'd introduce myself. Thanks to holisticlocal for giving me this opportunity, keep up the good work! It's really great that people working in the same field can talk to each other like this.

I joined the site because last year I left the teaching profession ( v. pressured and tiring) to follow my heart and work in the green sector. Several months later ....after lots of laughter..... and tears.....evenings in front of the computer....a wiped database.... and lots of emails and phone calls I finally launched my website 'GreenFinder' The site consists of online directory of green and ethical products and services so that people can find info, companies or services which are environmentally friendly.

I really felt that people could benefit from this kind of site as I'm passionate about sustainability being accessible to all and felt that many people couldn't always find the eco or earth friendly option. If you are interested in green issues and generally living in harmony with the earth please take a look at the site. Any feedback would be welcomed (negative, positive and constructive criticism too)

I'm now in the process of adding a 'health and beauty' section to the site and would love to hear from anyone who offers natural/organic or environmentally friendly beauty and health treatments particularly those who have an environmental policy running through their organisation.

Best Wishes
Kate
www.greenfinder.co.uk

Last edited: 15-01-2007 09:49:49 PM

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Hi Kate

Great to see you in the forum, thanks for your introduction!

I've just had a good look through your site and probably the most useful feedback I can give you is to create proper titles for all your pages.

At the moment most of your titles say "Greenfinder : Companies"

I would make sure that you put each of your category names in the title of your page.

This is to improve your search engine optimisation which is needed in order to get better rankings in Google. Google considers title tags to be one of the most important elements of a page and if they don't accurately describe the content on your page, then it would be extremely unlikely you'll get a decent search rankings in Google and other major search engines.

So every page should have it's own unique title that describes the content on the page.

It would probably do you the world of good to research the subject of Search Engine Optimisation. I haven't read it myself yet, but I've heard this book is well worth reading - http://www.seobook.com/buy-now.shtml

There's also tons of free information on his Blog at http://www.seobook.com/

Another thing I would do is to give people an incentive for signing up to your newsletter. Or if not an incentive, at least make it clear what kind of information and benefits they will receive from your reading newsletter. People usually want to know just what it is they're signing up for!

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Hi Kate,

And welcome to the site. I hope you become a regular contributor to the forum as well as it is obvoius that you have a passion and are follwoing it through with your site. Its good for people to have a passion, and if you don;t, its good ot be in contact with people who do!

All the best with the site, I'll be keeping an eye on it!

Peace

Asif

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Thanks for those comments Andy and Asif. They are really helpful, just what I was looking for.

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Hi Kate

Ive just visited your site and its a great idea...and not too soon.
How do you envisage it growing?. I like the local touch that it has .I wish you all the best.

John ps ..I've signed up to your newsletter

Last edited: 16-01-2007 01:34:44 AM

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Hi John,
Nice to meet you!

Thanks for the positive comments, much appreciated. You asked me how I would envision GreenFinder growing, well eventually I would like many more companies on the site so that people wherever they are from can find their local vegetable box scheme, find their local green group or organic salon. At the moment we provide lots of info but the database needs to grow so that everyone is able to find what they are looking for.


Kate

Last edited: 17-01-2007 09:12:37 AM

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You could certainly give away the Natural Living Guide as incentive....

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Hi Kate,

I've enjoyed purusing your website; it is a lovely idea to serve as a resource center to your clients, as well, a benefit to local business owners.

Because I'm in the Health & Beauty with You in Mind business, I noted your inquiry of help in your website's Health & Beauty section. An Australian skin care company, Simplicite, may have a distributor in the U.K. I'm a U.S. distributor, which isn't relative to your needs. You could contact them and inquire if there is a U.K. stockist.

I'm very meticulous over ingredients, and Simplicite has a lovely, clean and fresh product range.

I hope for you every success with your venture.
Anne

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Hi Anne,
Thanks for that info. I will try and find out if there is a U.K distributor.
So glad you enjoyed browsing the site.

Kate
GreenFinder

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Hi Kate, Just joined Holistic local and looked up your wesite - really good and interesting. I'm a massage/aromatherapist and saw you are developing health and beauty side, would be interested to know more. I offer treatments from a health clinic in Richmond and from June in London NW2 - treatments include pregnacy massage and Reiki. Wishing you good luck with your business, Warm wishes Julie

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Hi Kate,

Thank you for sharing Had checked out your website before... seems like it is expanding. I am sure it would be great to see even more links and resources on there.

Great work!

Warmly
Trinity

p.s. Personal recommendation for ethical/fair trade and organic clothing is www.gossypium.co.uk

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Thanks for the continued feedback. It is really useful.

I 've recently started attending different events to promote the website and green living which has been great fun. It's also an excellent way for small businesses to network and grow and can recommend it to anyone who is new to running their own business.

Kate

Last edited: 22-05-2007 08:56:19 AM

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