The Thanet Star

I'm giving away Ł50 in resources

Written by Matt B · first published 18/02/2008

In a recent post entitled "The Future of Thanet" in "The Big Blog" Adem raises some interesting questions. Prime among them is what can we actually do about the decline Thanet is facing.

"Most of the local blogs or the newspaper articles I read point towards an area in steep decline but surely there is something we can do? On face value it appears that there is nothing we can do, but that is me being pessemistic, and just because the council are happy for the towns to die doesn’t mean that we should be."
"The Future of Thanet", Adem, 14th February 2008

I mentioned in the comments something I have said before - we bloggers hold a lot of power (by which I mean influence) if only we allowed ourselves to discover how to use it. The only person I can be sure to influence is myself. This is true for everyone.

So rather than moan about the state of the area I intend to take action and this is what I prose to do

I can choose to vote with my feet (as can anyone else). I can choose to avoid Westwood cross if comparable services exist elsewhere. There is, actually, nothing special about Westwood Cross anyway and the truth is that it hold no appeal for me beyond the fact my bank forces me to travel there rather than a more convenient location.

This is not because I think centres like Westwood Cross are inherently bad but that I think our town centres are important and my preference is towards shops I can walk to. It seems to me that the full impact was not considered and I seem to recall that the council assured us that the town centres would not suffer. This has not been the case from where I am viewing things.

Ł50 of Free Resources

I can also vote with this blog and it's resources. I am going to dedicate a total of Ł25 of advertising to other Thanet Bloggers. To get hold of that a blog writer need only to write quality and positive review of an independent business that is located in what's left of our town centres. I will double your share if you manage to include an interview with the owner.

To claim simply email me an image and the URL you would like to have it linked to and I will set you up with your free advertising set to deliver a steady stream of impressions over the course of a week or so. You can claim additional advertising impressions for additional reviews.

I will further match this with a fund of Ł25 for additional advertising for the business in question if the business emails or messages me with a 125 square image and a URL they would like it pointed at.

To go with this I am going to offer 20% extra on any purchase of advertising to any Thanet based SME (Small or Medium sized Enterprise) and I'll knock Ł100 off any web consultancy work too. This is providing they are not based in the source of the drainage on the town centres (Westwood Cross).

Why do this?

Because I believe in Thanet and I also believe that unless we business owners not only start to think out side our tiny boxes but start to consider the social impact of our businesses Thanet has little to hope for. We can not afford to wait for Sandy Ezekial, Frank Thorley or anyone else to take action but we must find the action we can take ourselves first.

I am aware that I have not exactly been able to offer billions but it is slightly less that needs to be found to solve the decay of Thanet. What will you offer?

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Public Comments

adem wrote:

I was thinking to myself that it would be great to have a directory of independent shops around Thanet listing what was on offer. This way there would be no excuses as to why people don't shop locally.

Of course I'm a hypocrite as I usually end up shopping at Tesco because it's 'easier' but I'm starting to think more about where my food and goods come from both in respect to the survival of local businesses and also from an ethical viewpoint too.

I'll let you know how I'm coming along.

Also.... were you thinking of setting something up with these reviews? I was thinking about this and had a few ideas for settign up another blog, but in relation to your other post about guest blogging and I didn't want to tread on your toes. Let me know.

18/02/2008 15:02:14

Matt B wrote:

I'm fairly certain that there is enough space within the Thanet niche for innovation and plenty more blogs. My hope is to inspire some of that innovation - if I can do that I will have done well.

I'll drop you an email with my plans in more depth and we can see if our ideas mesh well enough to cooperate at some level.

18/02/2008 22:03:44

Kirstylyn wrote:

Adem's idea of an independent shop list is fantastic! I am moving back to Thanet after my stint in Canterbury and it would be great to have that list and I also think it would help those, like me, who also sell handmade items and to give those some promotion. When I finally get up and running I want to sell jewellery and I would like to sell as much of it locally as possible..

23/02/2008 10:01:34

Matt B wrote:

It looks like we have ourselves a good idea. I've written to Adem (via email) about some of my ideas. I'm hoping to have working code for them in a few weeks which should result in us all being able to work together on such a list.

23/02/2008 11:26:22

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