|
| |
|
Archive for the ‘Media’ Category
Thursday, July 28th, 2011
Online property is a fiercely competitive space, but one where innovation still seems to move fairly slowly. London-based Zoopla has arguably done a better job of taking a different approach, and since we first profiled the site in August 2008 the firm has acquired Thinkproperty.com from the Guardian Media Group, acquired PropertyFinder from News International and, more recently, acquired houseprices.co.uk.
On top of a new Android app this year, a property archive and partnerships with Archant, AOL and BBC Worldwide, Zoopla’s most recent addition is a new heat map.
Zoopla’s USP is its house price data that contextualises its property searches and makes it noticeably different from the competition – a pretty compelling tool for house hunters and nosey neighbours alike. The heat map re-presents this data in a different way, aggregating property values across the UK and showing average property size, price and number of properties with each view. Given the seemingly endless British appetite for property, it’s likely to find an enthusiastic audience.
Zoopla claims it is seeing faster growth than competitors Findaproperty and Primelocation, with all three outsripping market leading Rightmove. Nielsen figures for May this year put Zoopla at 1.9 million users for the month, up 43.6% from April, while Rightmove saw 12.1% growth.
Posted in Blogposts, Data visualisations, Digital media, guardian.co.uk, House News, Mapping technologies, Media, News, Property, Technology, Technology startups | Comments Closed
Friday, July 15th, 2011
Location, Location, Location presenter, Kirstie Allsopp, made the most of an early lesson to build a successful career
I worked for Country Living magazine as an editorial assistant, the lowest of the low, earning about £12,000 a year. I had a mortgage at a time when interest rates were 15% so I could only afford to buy a pizza and a lipstick once a month when I got paid. They were my treats.
At the end of my four years at NatMags, which published Country Living, I discovered I had made a major mistake with my finances. I had already handed back my annual season ticket for London public transport, so I was paying for the bus in cash one day. The driver asked me where I wanted to go and I said Chelsea Bridge.
He asked me which side of the roundabout I wanted and when I asked why it mattered, he said because one side was zone one and the other was zone two. It was then I realised I’d been paying for two zones to get to work for four years when I only needed to pay for one zone. That’s a round-trip to India. I could have walked a bit further, not paid the extra and gone to India instead.
Another mistake turned out better. It was after the NatMags chairman noticed me when I entered a go-karting competition that was meant for advertising staff only, even though I was in editorial. I came second out of the whole company and the chairman said to me that anyone who could drive like that shouldn’t be in editorial, so he parachuted me into classified advertising.
I moved into classified sales just as the entire advertising market was crashing, I think this was 1994, and it was so tough. I had to make a certain number of calls every day, I couldn’t have long lunches, I had to come in on time – it was a totally different world to editorial. On the surface, it seemed as though I had made a massive mistake. But, actually, I learned more than I ever thought I would. In the first week, although I was unhappy, I told myself I had to stick with it for a year – and the toughness of the job taught me about how to work hard and not give up. This lesson has helped me throughout my career.
So my thing is to say that sometimes your biggest mistakes can lead to your greatest successes. It is totally true that you learn from your mistakes.
Posted in Channel 4, House News, Interviews, Media, Money, Property, Television industry, The Guardian, Work & careers | Comments Closed
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
Quick pitch: Classifieds search engine AdZuna launches today off the back of £300,000 seed funding from Passion Capital and various angel investors. AdZuna runs job ads now and will expand to cars and property, but says it combines social and mobile data. The challenge: competing in a market already packed with traditional businesses trying to digitise their services, as well as newcomers with their eye son the prize of what PriceWaterhouseCoopers predicts will grow from a $35.2bn online display and classified industry this year to $46.2bn by 2014. Worth watching? Look at the backers – Eileen Burbidge and Stefan Glaenzer of Passion, plus Doug Monro’s background at impressive property site Zoopla and co-founder Andrew Hunter, ex-Qype.
adzuna.co.uk
Posted in Blogposts, Digital media, guardian.co.uk, House News, Media, News, Property, Technology, Technology startups | Comments Closed
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
The banter in this sitcom about a painter and decorator and his assistant is quite true to life, finds builder Alan Rowing
I did laugh a few times while watching this sitcom, about a guy called Ollie (played by Will Mellor) who takes over his father’s painting and decorating business. Like me, Ollie drives a white van, though I’ve had lots of different coloured vans over the 40 years I’ve been a builder. The dashboard of his van is covered with litter – food cartons, bits of paper. Mine’s not quite as messy as that, but it’s getting there.
The banter between Ollie and his assistant, Darren, is quite true to life: we do like to have a laugh, and we’ve all got nicknames, though I couldn’t possibly divulge what mine is. But I’m not sure I’d take that level of lip off anyone I work with. The fact that Ollie’s living in his father’s shadow feels quite real, though. I work with my son, and I do always check up on what he’s doing.
In the second episode, a turf war develops between Ollie and some other builders. I have seen that sort of thing happen. I once worked in the north of England, doing shop-fitting, and it was pretty clear that they weren’t that keen on us southerners. There’s also quite a clash in London between British builders and those coming over from eastern Europe.
In one of the houses Ollie’s working in, a couple starts having sex while he’s there. I’ve had that happen a few times – you just have to pretend you can’t hear them. And I’ve also met quite a few old ladies just as eccentric as Irene, the woman Darren takes out from the old people’s home for a ride in the van. One 80-year-old woman I worked for was a complete alcoholic, and another had Alzheimer’s and would sometimes walk into the room stark naked. That wasn’t at all funny, though – just sad.
It is good to see a programme that shows a white van man as more than just someone who cuts you up on the road. I don’t think of myself, or other builders, as white van men, though – I tend to use that term for courier drivers, or people in hire cars. They’re the ones you want to watch out for.
White Van Man is on BBC3 on Tuesdays at 10pm.
Posted in BBC, Comment, Culture, Home improvements, House News, Media, Property, Television, Television & radio, The Guardian | Comments Closed
|
|
|
|
|
|
,Property+(Money+-+UK+consumer),Media,Digital+media,Technology&c5=Digital+Media,Media+Weekly,Property+Mortgages+and+Interest+Rates,Corporate+IT&c6=Jemima+Kiss&c7=11-Jul-13&c8=1606328&c9=Article&c10=Blogpost,News&c11=Media&c13=Elevator+Pitch+(Media+series)&c25=PDA+blog&c30=content&h2=GU/Media/Technology+startups){kind=small}
Builder Alan Rowing on White Van Man
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011The banter in this sitcom about a painter and decorator and his assistant is quite true to life, finds builder Alan Rowing
I did laugh a few times while watching this sitcom, about a guy called Ollie (played by Will Mellor) who takes over his father’s painting and decorating business. Like me, Ollie drives a white van, though I’ve had lots of different coloured vans over the 40 years I’ve been a builder. The dashboard of his van is covered with litter – food cartons, bits of paper. Mine’s not quite as messy as that, but it’s getting there.
The banter between Ollie and his assistant, Darren, is quite true to life: we do like to have a laugh, and we’ve all got nicknames, though I couldn’t possibly divulge what mine is. But I’m not sure I’d take that level of lip off anyone I work with. The fact that Ollie’s living in his father’s shadow feels quite real, though. I work with my son, and I do always check up on what he’s doing.
In the second episode, a turf war develops between Ollie and some other builders. I have seen that sort of thing happen. I once worked in the north of England, doing shop-fitting, and it was pretty clear that they weren’t that keen on us southerners. There’s also quite a clash in London between British builders and those coming over from eastern Europe.
In one of the houses Ollie’s working in, a couple starts having sex while he’s there. I’ve had that happen a few times – you just have to pretend you can’t hear them. And I’ve also met quite a few old ladies just as eccentric as Irene, the woman Darren takes out from the old people’s home for a ride in the van. One 80-year-old woman I worked for was a complete alcoholic, and another had Alzheimer’s and would sometimes walk into the room stark naked. That wasn’t at all funny, though – just sad.
It is good to see a programme that shows a white van man as more than just someone who cuts you up on the road. I don’t think of myself, or other builders, as white van men, though – I tend to use that term for courier drivers, or people in hire cars. They’re the ones you want to watch out for.
White Van Man is on BBC3 on Tuesdays at 10pm.
Posted in BBC, Comment, Culture, Home improvements, House News, Media, Property, Television, Television & radio, The Guardian | Comments Closed