Helpiammovings Newsletters

September/October 2005         Back to Top

According to the Hometrack October survey of the national housing market, house prices fell for the sixteenth consecutive month as supply continues to exceed demand. The national average house price now stands at £160,700, down from £167,700 in June 2004 and down over 3.5% in the past 12 months.

However the good news is the number of buyers registering with estate agents increased by 2.1% in October meaning there more buyers in the market and a greater level of confidence. The time taken to sell a house has decreased slightly to 8 weeks (Statistics for October 2005) but this is still much higher compared with October 2004 when it took an average of 6.5 weeks to sell a property.

John Wriglesworth from Hometrack commented, "Vendors have been painfully slow in adjusting their asking prices to market clearing levels, and this is prolonging the pain of excess supply in the market. Future house price falls are inevitable over the next few months despite transactions improving. Annual house price deflation this year looks set to be around - 4%. However, 2006 should see a recovery, as rising household incomes should help improve house purchase affordability. Baring interest rate rises or significant jumps in unemployment, a robust, if not exceptional, house prices should resume their upward path before the middle of next year."

Unfortunately, during the month of September, we experienced some server problems and subsequently some problems with our search engines. This coupled with a quiet time for people moving home, we understand that this would not have been good news for you. As with most search engine problems, it was not sometime that could be rectified overnight. All we could do was wait for updates. We are now back on track and actively pushing other avenues of awareness. However, even during this quiet period, our figures were still up from last year.

Press coverage this month was contained in The Independent Magazine 10th-16th September 2005, "Stickie" Magazine September 2005, (a what's on in Herts, Bed, Bucks & Northants) as well as a featured article on moving house for the Women's Institute annual magazine.

Helpiammoving.com has also been nominated for 'Innovation of the Year 2005' & 'Business of the Year 2005' award for the Yorkshire area, winners will be announced at the end of November, so we will keep you posted on how we do.

New additions to the site this month are our 'Tips on selling' courtesy of 'Homestagedmoves' which offers advice on how to make your house more appealing when selling, offering hints and tips and a basic rule guide. If you feel that we are missing any information that you think would be useful to our visitors and your customers then please let us know.

As you know we limit the number of members in each postcode areas to receive the moving quotes. Some areas are now full and others are filling up fast and because of this unfortunately we are having to turn some companies away. If you do want to advertise in extra postcode areas or if you know a good removal company that you work with who might be interested in joining then please tell them to contact us before all postcode areas have gone.

We are preparing for the long winter months ahead and planning fresh ideas for 2006. We will be sure to keep you updated with new links, channels of advertising and press coverage etc.

Please feel free to contact us on 0845 0581106 or email on info@helpiammoving.com if you have any ideas, suggestions or simply just want to chat.

July / August 2005         Back to Top

It's been a very strange couple of months for the moving industry with work being very unpredictable. One week very busy, another very slow. This coupled with huge increases in fuel prices, helping the overall UK rate of inflation rise to 2.3% and the housing market remaining still stagnate in many areas it can be worrying times as January and February draws even closer.

John Wriglesworth, Hometrack's Housing Economist, comments "It is now taking an average of nearly two months to sell a house compared with just over five weeks in August last year, and we are forecasting only 3% inflation over the next year [2006]. While there is still little chance of a crash, another housing boom is unlikely for at least the next three years. Over the short term sluggish but stable is the most likely scenario."

However it is not all bad news. High employment; rising household income and slow interest rates are all positive factors for the housing market. Helpiammoving.com visitors are also continuing to grow with a 150% rise in visitors and moving request forms from last year.

And we have gained even more press coverage! Andrew Scholey recently gave advice on moving and the industry on the BBC One 'It's your money' programme aired on the 24th July 2005. Andrew was also interviewed on Century FM radio on a piece on moving house. We have also had coverage in the 'West Business Insider Magazine' and 'Insider essential guide to Moving' where we wrote a section on office moves. We were also in Red Magazine, August edition on a guide to moving and the Western Mail Newspaper, issue 3rd September 2005, Barnet and Potters Bar Times issue 30th June 2005 and the 'Annual National Federation of Women's Institutes - Woman's World' magazine 2005/2006

The book called "Net Success- Start up Chat Interviews" in which Andrew talks about Helpiammoving.com and how it started has now been published. The book will be available on Amazon in a couple of weeks and distributed by Waterstones, Borders and Barnes and Noble as well as many other book sellers in the next 6-8 weeks

We have also teamed up with Home Professional, in order to offer our visitors even more services. A 'mover' can now use a handy box on some of the pages of our site to find other services e.g. plumbers, electricians, builders etc in the postcode area they are moving to. Our services are also on their site so that their visitors can now find a removal/self storage and van company as well. They also have the option to use our moving request form, giving even more exposure.

The Ideal Autumn Home Show has come around again and we are offering 20 pairs of free tickets for the show at Earls Court on the 7th - 16th October 2005. So get your customers or office staff to log on to our site and simply fill out our competition form for a chance to win. Entries must be in by Midnight on Monday the 3rd of October 2005.

Once again please feel free to contact us on 0845 0581106 or email on info@helpiammoving.com if you have any ideas, suggestions or simply just want to chat.

May / June 2005         Back to Top

The property market is still stagnant according to the Nationwide with house prices dipping again in June by 0.2%. Over the last three months house price growth has been 'almost horizontal' says the Nationwide. Their report also noted a cooling in house purchase approvals, 96,000 in May, 20 percent lower than at the same time last year. Nationwide estimates that they will remain at roughly this level throughout the summer.

Interestingly as well HomeTrack (an independent survey of house prices and market trends for England & Wales) state that the actual selling time of a house has increased to 7.6 weeks in June, whereas 12 months ago houses were taking just 4.2 weeks to sell. This they say is down to an oversupply of properties leaving buyers with greater choice.

However it is not all doom and gloom, Hometrack state "with a general expectation of lower interest rates before the end of the year, confidence should be boosted and ensure prices stabilise. So even though it seems like a very long winter and the market has cooled for the summer, Autumn should bring more confidence.

Here at Helpiammoving.com we have been busy writing information on a new office move advice section which will include advice, checklists, F.A.Q's and hopefully this should be up and running by the end of the month. This will be followed by another press release to push this section and advertising in targeted magazines to let the public know that we can now offer this service. We have already written an article on this for North West Business Insider, a monthly business magazine which should go to print in August.

We are slowly getting more presence for our overseas section and have been advertising in several overseas magazines and websites as well as exchanging links etc with appropriate and beneficial websites. An overseas press release will be going out by the end of the month and will hopefully generate more interest and awareness of this section.

Features that have now gone to print are our Jet2go in-flight magazine and several local newspaper articles. Andrew will also be in a book called "Net Success" and we will let you know when this is available.

Our new packing box service is doing well and we hope to bring you our affiliate programme and discount offers in the next month or so. We apologies for the delay but have been busier than expected. Regarding discounts we are currently working with British Airways, Virgin and KLM and Britannia to offer their employees the use of our moving quote request form as well as a discount voucher scheme on packing box kits. We plan to also work with a number of large organisation and ideally would like to make the idea of using Helpiammoving.com more appealing. Therefore if you can offer any of our visitors a discount please let us know and we will include this on your listing as well as mention this to the organisations we are dealing with.

Discovery TV is looking to do a documentary on a removal company and want to highlight and show this industry in a positive light. They are looking for a company that have a real character amongst their midst's, so if you are that company please contact Mel @ Twofour Productions on 01752 727400 for a friendly chat.

In the next month or so we will be adding our office moves section as well as sending out another press release on the overseas section. We also have a couple of exciting new developments we are working on and hope to bring you more news on this in the next couple of newsletters. We are also working with a couple of journalist on a online survey for the general public to find out how they view the industry, what matters to them when moving house and why they are relocating. The results of this pole will be in our September/October issue. Please let us know if there are any questions you would particularly like to ask and we will try to incorporate them into the survey for you. We need to raise the profile of the industry and make the general public more aware of what a move actually involves.

Once again please feel free to contact us on 0845 0581106 if you have any ideas, suggestions or simply just want to call for a chat.

March / April 2005         Back to Top

March and April has been a relatively slow couple of months for people moving house, even though the numbers of visitors to Helpiammoving.com and moving request forms have doubled since this time last year. According to the leading estate agency Haart, prices dipped ahead of the election as buyers have decided to sit tight. In fact, prices in March fell by 3% while reductions on asking prices rose to nearly 5%. Election uncertainty has made homebuyers reluctant to commit themselves to a property transaction.

Separately, economic forecast group Capital Economics said that the housing market had "softened" during the past three months, fewer properties are being sold as "buyers are no longer willing or able, to meet asking prices and sellers are reluctant to lower their expectations."

However the months at the beginning of the year are normally volatile and Nationwide Building Society say they expect to see a rise in house price approvals after the election, and once sellers become more realistic about their asking prices and buyers see a continuing flat trend of house price growth

In March we sent out another press release, aimed at giving handy tips for house moves for spring movers as well as raising the awareness of Helpiammoving.com. The target was mainly local newspapers, the Blackpool Gazette, Norwich Advertiser, Norfolk Gazette are just a few who ran the article. Andrew Scholey (founder of Helpiammoving.com) also did another radio talk show on 5th March 2005 for BBC Leicestershire in which he gave advice on moving house as well as talked about the website.

We have also been busy writing articles for 'mortgage adviser' magazine, jet2go in-flight magazine, WI magazine and will let you know when these go to print. In May 'En route magazine' will be having an article on the technology and the benefits to the removal industry; we have contributed to this so please look out for the article.

Our new packing box service also launched at the end of April. www.helpineedboxes.co.uk This is a new service and we will be adding more items and packages to our site as the service grows. The site has been designed to be simple to use, easy to navigate and quick. Our affiliate and discount scheme will be available in the next couple of months and we will keep you posted on this.

Regarding the 'moving request forms', just a gentle reminder, if you cannot quote for work for a period of time or if you are too busy with work loads, please let us know so that we can forward on the quote requests to other removal companies. The quotes are only forwarded to five removal companies so it is really important visitors to Helpiammoving receive a good choice to choose from. Please also don't forget to just send a simple email to the 'mover' letting them know that unfortunately you are full booked on these days.

A couple of removal companies have also asked if we could give some email templates on how to quote for jobs etc. We will be emailing some options/guidance in the next couple of weeks which hopefully will make your life easier. Remember the first contact you have with the 'mover' is very important as it will give them an overall impression of your company.

Our current plans for the next couple of months are to add advice for diy/mini movers including van hire etc. This section will give advice pointing out factors to consider when going down this route for example completion times, legal restrictions, hidden costs, regulations etc. We will also be adding Southern Ireland and the Channel Islands to our search map for our visitors.

Once again please feel free to contact us on 0845 0581106 or email on info (at) helpiammoving.com if you have any ideas, suggestions or simply just want to call for a chat.

January / February 2005         Back to Top

Best wishes for the New Year from Helpiammoving.com and what a start it has been for our moving quotes. Up 110% on last year! We realise the market has been unusually quiet for January and February so this is extra good news for us. Spring is on its way, although with the snow outside you wouldn't think it.

We are looking forward to a record-breaking year. Our press coverage has continued with articles in "Inspirations" January 2005 issue and "Home" magazines February 2005. We were also website of the week on Radio Splash fm on the 24/01/2005 and the BBC has also linked to us from their website. A new press release about the removal industry is about to be sent out in time for spring to hopefully gain some more column inches. If you know of any local magazines or websites that you feel we should be featured in then we would love to hear from you.

Helpiammoving's advice site has also grown this year, with a new advice area containing information on security when moving. The Home Office has kindly supplied this information for us. Did you know you are 50 per cent more likely to be burgled, just before and just after moving house so let your customers know that they can get advice on crime prevention, changing locks etc on our site. We have also expanded our 'moving cat section' with the help of the Feline Advisory Bureau.

Our overseas section is also now up and running, providing advice on moving abroad, guides, comment questions, useful contacts, lists of overseas removal companies, moving request form, glossary as well as a currency converter, translator, links to customs websites and world time. If you would like to advertise in this section then please call us on 0845 0581106 or email sales (at) helpiammoving.com or feel free to contact us if you have any suggestions on how we can expand or improve this section.

Our current plans for the next month or so are to launch our packaging box service; we will let you know about affiliate programmes. We are also working with more Estate Agents and press to obtain more coverage. We also hope to expand our self-storage and self-drive section.

Some of you may have already received a couple of feedback emails regarding recent moves you have done. If a customer allows us to contact them after their move, then we will send them a quick email to find out how the move went, and how they found the moving quote request form as well as the Helpiammoving.com site. We ask the mover to rate the service and include questions like punctuality, helpfulness, value for money and overall performance. This is rated on a scale of 1-5, 1 being poorer and 5 being excellent, this is then emailed back to us. If we do get a feedback email for your company then we will forward it on to you along with our moving quote reference. Please note that the response rate is for feedback is currently around 10%. As you are probably aware, customers tend to offer feedback more often when the service is poor rather than good, which is a real pity, but at the end of the day, we all know how important feedback is and how it can help develop a business.

Thank you to everyone who has sent in testimonials for the thumbs up icon on the search result pages. If you would like to get a 'Helpiammoving Thumbs Up' icon on your listing then please send any photocopies of letters, cards, thank you notes, emails etc to us and we will do the rest free of charge. You can update this as many times as you like. The idea is that when the thumbs up icon is clicked on it will open a new window to show a scanned version of your testimonials supplied.

We have also teamed up with the Evening Standard to offer 25 pairs of tickets to visit the 'Homes and Property Show' at Islington on the 8th -10th April 2005, so why not tell your customers about this so they can have the chance to win.

Helpiammoving.com is here for you and built not only for the mover but also the removal industry. If you have any comments, ideas, feedback or simply want us to add or feature your company in a certain press page or website then please let us know.

November / December 2004         Back to Top

Firstly we would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. We hope that 2005 will continue moving on up. We have continued with the press coverage and have featured again in December's issue of Web User under a section called "Bright Spark, we salute another innovative online business". Here Andrew Scholey, founder of Helpiammoving.com was interviewed about the company and the idea behind the website. We have also featured in the Scotsman on Sunday the 28th November 2004 and Inspirations Home Magazine, January 2005 issue which went on sale in December 2004. We will continue to push the appearance in the media this year as we have found that it brings in a better quality visitor that is moving to complete the online moving quote forms. If you have any local magazines or websites that you feel we should be featured in then we would love to hear from you.

In the next couple of months we are planning to expand our Overseas Section, giving advice on moving abroad along with checklists, useful contact numbers i.e. Visa, embassy, as well as other quirky extras for our visitors like currency converter, time zones, translator and general information on each country. This is a new section so if you have any ideas, suggestions or there are things that you feel we have missed out then please let us know and we would be happy to add anything you feel is relevant.

We will soon be launching a packing box service for our visitors and ultimately for the members of Helpiammoving.com. We will be able to offer two options to members either an affiliation programme where any visitor who buys boxes from us which are recommended by you, we will give you a percentage fee. Second option would be for us to send the boxes out to your clients on your behalf and then for the client to be billed directly by yourself. We will send information out when we are fully up and running.

It has been brought to our attention that there are sales people calling up companies telling them that their website name i.e. www.help-removals.co.uk is about to be bought as a .org or .net by someone else and they have to offer it to you the company who has the .co.uk or .com name first, before they can sell this on. They will tell you that they can only hold the name until the close of the day and recommend you purchase the name at an over the top price. None of this is true and you are free as is anyone else to purchase any name when and how you would like. Don't be pressured into buying a name similar to the one you already have. On this note there are also companies offering wwwhelp-removals.co.uk for sale all they have done is place the www at the beginning of the domain name so if you own www.help-removals.co.uk they will be also selling wwwhelp-removals.co.uk which is in fact www.wwwhelp-removals.co.uk and probably not a lot of use to any one. If you are ever unsure about any issues regarding websites or domain names then please feel free to call us on 0845 0581106 or use the live chat system on the trade page of Helpiammoving.com

We will be adding a new system soon to our listing facility on our search page. Here if you send us feedback that you have received from your customers, we will add it to our site so visitors can read them. If you send three forms of references which we can check out then you will get a 'Helpiammoving Thumbs Up' icon on your listing that when clicked on opens up a window to show a scanned version of the testimonial. Please do send in any photocopies of letters, cards, thank you notes, emails etc so we can add them for you free of charge. You can also update this as many times as you like.

At the end of January we will be teaming up with the Daily Mail Ideal Home Show to offer our visitors the chance to win 10 free pairs of tickets. Why not tell your customers about this so they can also have the chance to win.

Please remember, Helpiammoving.com is here for you and built around your ideas. Our aim is to continually update and improve the site so any feedback or suggestions you have would be more than welcome.

September/ October 2004         Back to Top

This month has been a very busy month for media coverage but a little slower with regards to moving quotes and people moving house. Firstly we had coverage on UK Style TV where Andrew (Founder of Helpiammoving.com) was on the 'First Time Buyers' programme giving advice about packing up your home, and the moving industry in general. Secondly we had a large article in the Yorkshire Post for our Northern folk and in the Evening Standard for our Southerners. Andrew was also a guest on the LBC Radio, Daisy Sampson Talk Show talking about the site, the moving industry and offering advice and helpful tips.

We have been working quite heavily with the media, so that not only are they aware of us and the service that we offer but also the public are more aware, that having a removal company is a necessity not a luxury. It is also our job to take away the hassle of advertising/ press releases so you are freer to do the important part of actually moving people. We have also worked closely with www.handbag.com this month and have put together a section on moving house for their visitors, which can be found under their Home & Property Channel. This section went live on the 22nd October 2004
http://www.handbag.com/home/buyingandselling/stressfreemoving/

Our trade section is also expanding online and we have included information about joining helpiammoving.com, an online application form and the ability to pay via paypal, and monthly surveys on areas which we feel we may include on our site if they are useful to you i.e. part load or something which may be of use to any journalist who is writing a piece on the removal industry.

Still to come is our Property News and Latest industry trends to keep you up to date with new services and ideas. Our feedback section is particularly important as the whole site is built around feedback from not only people moving house but also from you the removal and storage companies. If there is anything you feel we can improve on or would like to see on our site or any ideas then please take 2 minutes to email us. We can make things even better from feedback.

Helpiammoving.com has also recently won another award - the Gold Award from the 'World Wide Web Awards'. www.worldwidewebawards.net. We were awarded the Gold Award for "displaying, excellent design and layout of the website, user friendly navigation and quality content for visitors. Your site is a wonderful contribution to the internet community."

Anyway we would like to welcome all our new members this month, and say a little hello to our loyal customers. Thank you for all your support and let's keep on moving.