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Are you saving money in Dubai? Where to take a one-year old for fun? Which restaurants are open in the Palm Jumeirah? These are just examples of hundreds of online discussions raised on local social networking websites. Women expatriates, away from their immediate support networks, seem to take refugee in online socialising.
But since the number of such websites remains modest, the existing ones seem to be gaining popularity, which is good news for their developers.
After all, while starting a social website fills the gap for sisterhood, it can also be a profitable business.
Mothers, who want to work part-time too have enough time for family, are being creative in ways of generating revenues as well.
Jane Drury, creator of ExpatWoman.com, an online magazine and information site for women, says almost all of the social network sites' revenues come from advertising sales while the rest comes from sponsorship of events that the team arranges.
Drury is a mother of three boys aged 14, 12 and 9. She used to be a management accountant with Unilever for ten years, working in London and Milan before she took time out to be a full-time mum. She launched a website in 2000, and she sounds like a professional when its comes to marketing. "When we put together an event for a client, we will include event sponsorship and give away things we know women like," Drury tells Gulf News. Over the years, the website's ad revenues have also grown by offering more space with side banners.
In the US, the number of websites targeting women has recorded the highest growing category only after politics, according to Comcast.
Growing category
No regional data are available though, which makes it tougher for advertisers.
Yasmeen Bazian, an online media planner with Starcom, a member of Publicis Group, says that she tries to look for niche websites to target women for certain brands and clients, but there is actually a lack of women-specialised websites. "There are a few that we use but if you measure their performance, they don't really perform that well."
The same goes for other Gulf countries. Although there are online social communities, discussion groups and bloggers in Saudi Arabia, she says they haven't tapped into that community yet. "We have no idea in terms of advertising and marketing, on how well they would perform, even if we decided to use them."
But there is definitely an interest in the web medium.
"Online medium is interactive, engaging and measurable. We can get tangible campaign results in terms of exposure and measure how well a campaign did by counting click-through rates, unlike traditional media where you can't really tell if the user has seen your message," Bazian says. "Online can engage users more than any other media."
"It is the newest medium to be introduced in this region. A lot of advertisers still believe in traditional media."
Marketing
Drury says the big thing about marketing to women is word of mouth. "Women talk." They are the information gatherers, they shortlist destinations for travel, they are buying their own cars and choosing decorators for the house. "There is a typical model here, where men are at work and women are making those decisions," she says.
Drury says that marketing to women is strong but there are not many websites for women, and the marketing is not always executed in the best way. "There are some blunt instruments out there in terms of marketing. Women centric sites, while an obvious way of reaching women, there aren't many of them out there at the moment in the region," she adds.
There are no other western women focused sites that are commercial, other than chat boards, which are not the same, as the content might not associate with your clients. If you are putting forward a site for marketing purposes, you have to make sure the image is appropriate to your clients," she says.
Sara Fisher, one of three women who have set up www.kid-eternity.com as an online retail business, says, "Women are influenced to some degree by what other women are saying about their experiences, and there's a trust factor that isn't there when a business is advertised by traditional means."
Fisher, who has a background in web development and design, decided after the birth of her first child, Maya, to work part-time job that doesn't interfere with motherhood.
The site receives 100-250 unique visits per day, with very large spikes 1-2 days after Fischer sends an opt-in eDM (electronic direct mail or more commonly known as a e-mail newsletter). The spike sometimes doubles site visits. She believes that local social sites can be "extremely powerful mediums."
She adds that 27 per cent of traffic to her website comes from banner advertising on a local community website, while 13 per cent of traffic on her website comes from social networking websites where someone might mention the products offered by her company, and the word spreads.
Though running a social website business might seem like an easy venture, with minimum requirements for a start up capital, while being fun, it actually needs dedication and patience.
"Many websites come and go in a year. It's a lot of work. People put in a lot of hard work for the first year and when the site is still not generating enough revenue in the second year, they drop out of the worldwide web," Drury says.
The difficulty lies in the initial period of growth, as not all sites will capture an appreciative audience. "For an online sales site or a membership fee site, it is easier as there is an opportunity of income from day one," she says.
Drury adds her web services have followed a "pretty typical small business model." The first two years were spent in service building with no income. In the third year it proved to break even in costs and revenues, and finally in the fourth year we generated one person's salary.
"We had a steady growth in income and profit from the fifth year onwards," Drury said.
Drury says that though the hit rate on the website has increased tremendously over the years, it takes time to build it up. The site now doubles its profit every year and has been doing so for the past three years.
She said the website has proved to be very successful. "We are constantly developing new rivers and services. Some will work while others won't."
Having tried a website for expat men, the organisers dropped it within a year. "Stick to what we know best. We understand expat women," Drury said.
DubaiBabies.com
Jenny Haddad, launched the site 18 months ago. A recent mother herself, she noticed the difficulty in having baby gifts delivered to her friends in the hospital and the lack of online courier options.
The site has evolved from a gift basket to a shopping site since then. The products are also available at a kiosk in Mercato Mall, and Haddad has plans to open up a full store by the end of the year.
Haddad says they deliver their products across the country and she hopes to cross the UAE border and into more Gulf countries.
"I know how difficult it can be to go shopping with a pushchair when you have a newborn. I can understand the needs of new mothers; I've been there myself. I talk to other mothers as well for their feedback to provide them with what they need," she said when asked about the ability of being successful at women centric websites. "There's a lot more opportunities and scope for women now than there was a few years ago. Many women are here because of their husbands, and trying to prove they can do something," Haddad says.
Legal issues
But even starting up a website may prove challenging, especially when it requires importing products from around the world. "There are a lot of intricacies involved in setting up a business in Dubai, and is definitely not easy in dealing with legal issues," she says.
"You need to understand the law in the UAE, and that holds back a lot of the women from venturing out in the business."
However, from her own experience, she says that women businesses are picking up in Dubai, perhaps more than in other emirates.
DiaryDubai.com
DiaryDubai.com, launched last month, is an online calendar of event for the media industry.
Emma Scanlan, 27, who started the website told Gulf News, "It creates an industry where there is a single source for everyone to collaborate and share information."
Scanlan, with seven years in experience in PR, came to Dubai early in 2007. She started the website with a local entrepreneur as she spotted the need for companies to avoid event clashes and maximise media attendance.
"Companies in Dubai, because of the emerging market in event in PR, have been planning events with blind optimism, without collaboration," says Scanlan, adding that there was no sense of industry associate or a comprehensive source.
"With companies sometimes spending a minimum of $1,000 on events, optimum results are the objective," she said.
Her site currently has about 50 members who subscriber for the services at a fee starting from Dh2,500 biannually.
Scanlan says that because the service is online, it is more accessible. "Internet usage is at a growth rate of about 67 per cent annually and 55 per cent of the population uses the internet especially in the PR industry who surf for all event-related research," she added.
The PR industry is growing by 20 per cent per year approximately and there are over 700 event companies in Dubai, she says.
"We're trying to tap into that market and there is room for growth," she adds.
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