The BIG ON Story by BIG ON LTD

The BIG ON Story – Introduction.. Let me tell you a story...the BIG ON Story... It has a few threads and they draw together from different paths. Here’s how it happened, and where it’s going. It all begins with the internet...

The internet, it’s opportunities and challenges Search and find, a plethora of choice It’s all out there, on the world wide web, everything you need to know, but you need to find it. That’s where search comes in, and where search engines come from. Search phrases are typed into search engines such as Google, and the subject is “googled”. However, like any oracle, the answers are only as good as the questions asked and if you don’t ask the right question, you don’t get the right answer. What you do get every time is a long list of possible websites to visit, and every search returns a lot of information.

Too much information..! Way too much information and very often it’s not so well written or structured. Titles of websites, descriptions of what they offer are often meaningless, or “spammy” – written for search engines, not for human consumption. Paid adverts around the search results are some times better, more organised and focused – thanks to Google’s insistence that they are well written and relate to the search terms being used. It still takes time to wade through the results and find what you want though, and you have to visit the website in each case to find out if it’s what you need. This asks a big question, how do the best sites get to the top of the search returns and how can any business ensure that their website is found on search for their market keywords?

Market focus The answer is that unfortunately they don’t always, but search engines are getting better at ensuring the right ones reach the top. The real answer is always market focus and matching the searcher with what they are looking for. The result has to be seen from both directions and the owners of websites must play their part in ensuring their website is optimised for their market.

The web becomes a 2‐way street It’s a two way street therefore and businesses have to know what people are looking for and be there, in the right place at the right time. It’s not all about publishing information and pushing it out in one direction either. The web is now about interaction, with a dialogue between parties on either side of the fence. Visitors to websites now have the ability to participate and have their say. BIG ON International Ltd © 2010

www.BIGONInternational.com

The emergence of networking Networking is not new, but technology now allows us to network online. Social and business networking are massive and still growing, allowing people to get together, discuss and share ideas and information, to meet new people and expand their sphere of influence – socially and commercially.

Have your say The technology enables us to have our say, to give our opinions and get our message across in an instant. No more letters in the post and rejection by some newspaper editor. The challenge is to do this in an organised way and in a space which makes sense to us.

Choice and Focus There is infinite choice again and with that comes the need for some focus. Information has to be organised around a subject matter, an interest channel or focused on your location, allowing people to search, find and contribute.

Find what you want, Do what you want Search has to lead somewhere and let the seeker do something. That is the ultimate challenge of the internet.

A journey from corporate land We come from a corporate background. We have worked in large organisations with many functional pipes and gates between them. It’s a good grounding and there has always been the chance to work in many different areas, from supplier to customer and many places in between. The multi nationals came to our country many years ago, seeking cost effective manufacturing and a good skills base. They found both. However, good things seldom last and the opportunity to move to a lower cost base is inexorable in this day and age. The writing was on the wall. The time came to leave and the internet was calling. Our business experience and expertise could be well‐used helping companies to get online and take the opportunities offered there. Go where the market is, and more people are going online to find products and services. That was five years ago and it’s only gotten bigger. In that time we have learned our online trade well and know what the challenges and opportunities are, more importantly we know how to meet the market and provide good solutions, good eBusiness solutions for business owners

www.BIGONInternational.com

Business as usual Business online is no different from business offline, it’s about making an offer which your customer accepts. It’s about providing a product or service they want to buy. It’s about meeting them where they are and helping them to find what they want. The challenge of the internet is to get heard above the noise, to get found and let your customer do something. It’s Business as usual, but online. Getting found is the challenge for sure, and we have helped many companies to do just that. There are many ways to get found and many places. Search as we said takes you through the first gate and gets you to the next challenge, which to choose, where to go next...? From a business perspective it’s about advertising on the right platform and being where your target customer goes. From a customer perspective it’s about going somewhere that you can find everything that you need.

The one‐stop shop That’s essentially what’s missing, the one place where it makes sense to go and to be, where community and business can get together. This idea came to us on our journey from corporate land into the internet and that’s essentially what lead us to BIG ON, but there’s more to the story...

Tourism, our joker in the pack The multinationals have left or at very least seriously reduced their presence in our country and we are left with our indigenous industries. Our own experience on the internet, quite independently, had focussed on various home grown industries – like the Oil industry, and with various tourism companies. Tourism is clearly a very large industry, if not our largest, and this is essentially true for many if not all countries. When everything else goes, if it ever came, tourism is what you are left with. Promoting individual tourism companies helped us to focus on the internet search traffic for a vast array of tourism keywords and the search volumes are huge. Our market research and competitive analysis lead us to look at how well the market is served by our tourism service providers and our national tourism authorities. As many tourism professionals will tell you, the story is not a very happy one. There are many good tourism websites, and there are many awful ones, and there are many that no‐one will ever find unless they drive by the property, which defeats the purpose, for someone at home, planning their holiday and searching for say accommodation or an activity in their proposed destination. When they have arrived, if they come at all, it’s probably way too late. Again there are many choices and many travel sites where you can get good information and plan your trip, but there is still a need to focus on location and to bring all the possible alternatives together for the visitor. We don’t believe that exists today, and if our tourism bodies have exclusive listings then the whole story is seldom told. This we truly believe is a missed opportunity. BIG ON International Ltd © 2010

www.BIGONInternational.com

Our vision for tourism is an inclusive one, we want to ensure that every location has all tourism businesses involved, properly presented and promoted, and available to the visitor. Our location focus also extends to our mapping and virtual tour technology, something we have developed to help visitors see our locations as they are, using the very latest web technology to create and present the destination online with relevant information always close at hand. If visitors can really see what a place is like and what it has to offer, to easily review and choose, then do something – plan, select and book their holiday in one place, then they are much more likely to come here than go elsewhere. That’s the essence of our BIG ON model & plan for tourism, inclusive and integrated.

Property – the final piece of the jigsaw Buying and selling property, residential and commercial, has moved online too, and again it’s about quality of information and finding what you need. It’s about connecting buyer and seller. Property is also about lifestyle, our houses are our homes, and we don’t just buy or sell a house, we live there. There is a need for a good place to meet and talk about property, to find products and services associated with our property – whether it’s buying, selling, decorating, furnishing or improving. Virtual tours work very well for property too, both inside and out, and it’s also good to see exactly where it is. Location is important in this market too, as are the local amenities. It helps to see the property in its setting and be able to go back and revisit it as many times as we like. The internet is a great place to do this, open 24x7. A property one‐stop shop with all local businesses included, with the latest property listings, with property forums and the ability to network around property, to buy and sell property online, that’s the vision we have for BIG ON Property.

BIG ON, Putting it all together We came up with the name for our concept and our collection of ideas – it’s called BIG ON. What does it mean and where did it come from?

The BIG ON Brand, it does what it says on the tin BIG ON is a brand, it symbolises our focus on and passion about a place, or a topic of interest, it tells us that we associate with our place or interest, and we associate with others who do the same. We are BIG ON together. We are BIG ON Scotland, BIG ON Glasgow, BIG ON Edinburgh, or BIG ON all these locations. You can be BIG ON your location too. It can be where you stay, where you came from or where you want to go. We can be BIG ON Health, BIG ON Football, BIG ON any subject we like, so can you. So, what are you BIG ON...?

www.BIGONInternational.com

Back to One‐stop shop and focus Our BIG ON focus is primarily around location and creating a location based portal, a one‐stop shop for everyone to get together, residents, businesses and visitors alike. If everything is in the one place then it should be easier to find, so clear navigation is required. That’s where our BIG 4 and channel structure come in, coupled with our desire to make the internet a less confusing place. Let’s keep it simple.

The BIG 4 The BIG 4 are; Community, Business, Tourism & Property. Kind of makes sense doesn’t it...? Community is all about us, and everything we do. Business is business and as we said it’s about meeting the market, that’s you and me again, whichever side of the fence we are on. Tourism is our biggest industry, and it needs better focus and promotion. Property..? that’s surely important to us all, and a vibrant property market is a sign of prosperity. Under these BIG4, we have an extensive range of channels related to all the things that interest us.

The Heart of the matter ‐ Inclusive Business Directory and our eBusiness Roadmap At the centre of every BIG ON location portal there’s a fully inclusive business directory. It contains all the businesses in that area. If a business is missing, or a new business begins then it will be added, free of charge. Every business will have the chance to vet and correct their listing and to enhance and feature it too. We have maps and driving directions and the ability to rate and review each business. We offer business an easy entry to the internet and a roadmap of eBusiness services to help them market to their customers and grow their business. This is good for community and business alike. We offer blogs, websites, e‐commerce stores, a wide range of internet marketing tools and services; newsletters, offers & promotions, virtual tours, 3D Walls, active online brochures and more. We help businesses to get found via search engine optimisation and paid search marketing on search and other high traffic marketplaces.

All the things We can do.... BIG ON is a meeting place, a place to network, have your say, find out about the location and all the things that you can do there. It’s a place to participate and have fun, a place that you can make your own, find what you want and do what you want. Find a business, a product a service, and a store in every channel for safe & secure online shopping.

But wait, there’s more.. It doesn’t stop there, in fact this is only the beginning. We see BIG ON as a Global Community, a network of locations. If we can be BIG ON Glasgow, why can’t we be BIG ON London, BIG ON New York, BIG ON Bangkok.

www.BIGONInternational.com

All of these locations have a community, they have businesses, they have tourism and they have property, and imagine what it would be like to know that you could go to the BIG ON Portal in any country, any city or town, even down to small local communities and have the ability to find what you want and do what you want online. It’s a grand vision, but how will we make it happen..?

The BIG ON Franchise ‐ BIG ON Business In A Box, Batteries included That’s surprisingly easy! We have developed a BIG ON Licence Franchise model which allows local community owners to invest in BIG ON and build a portal for their location. We will work with Joint Venture partners in each geographic location to find local owners and to help them build, launch and grow their BIG ON portal, with ongoing local support. Why batteries included..? well, that’s because, unlike other internet franchises, our BIG ON Licence comes loaded with features, out of the box. It has pre‐populated channels and content, business directory, news feeds, advertising and sponsors all included, ensuring that it is immediately useful to the community and also capable of generating revenue for the franchise owner straight away. Our global community is sure to grow and for business owners world‐wide BIG ON provides the perfect platform and opportunity for local, multi‐location or global promotion of their business via our eBusiness services, Advertising and Sponsorships. BIG ON, Find what you want & Do what you want, online, in your location and elsewhere. That is the BIG ON Story, so far.... Find out more at www.BIGONGlasgow.com, our very first BIG ON Portal, or visit our BIG ON International website, www.BIGONInternational.com Contact us at info@BIGON.com for more information, or call direct on UK 0141 332 9005.