Te Puke has a new place in cyberspace.
A new website, www.tepukeonline.nz, is about to be launched to offer a collaborative space for businesses, community organisations and the people of the district.
The EPIC Te Puke initiative aims to bring them all into one place online where they can each have their own unique web space, but share other features.
''It's letting people know what Te Puke has to offer,'' says EPIC Te Puke marketing manager Rebecca Larsen.
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Advertise with NZME.The way the website works is a new concept.
''It's called a social commerce platform. In a nutshell, it is a marketplace online where many organisations can share products, services, events, jobs, forums, and more.
''Unlike a traditional website, where you have to drive your own audience to your site, this new collaborative system has features which will help us make the site valuable, interesting and useful.''
It has been a busy start to the year for Rebecca who has been getting the word out to groups and organisations and offering weekly online group training sessions for business owners.
There will also be a list of services on offer, attractions to see and an events guide.
''There has been a demand for this for quite some time - for example, people have wanted a calendar of events in town. The website will have a bunch of events listed in one location that people can search.''
Businesses that are part of the site will be categorised and have their own web space.
''It's a place where we can all share and be together, we can all work in one space and support each other more and from there we can share out to our social media so much easier,'' says Rebecca.
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Advertise with NZME.The website is hosted and developed by Mall Planet.
''We are doing this with a New Zealand company that is working with other townships, so we are following in the footsteps of other towns that have successfully launched this system.
''There are more exciting innovations coming and being developed by this company. They are very progressive and it's exciting to be involved with this team because they are committed and responsive.
''For everyone in Te Puke, it's going to be a really good tool for them to have at their fingertips.''
There is a free directory listing option, and then two paid membership options.
The membership covers hosting and marketing, and also supports the promotions and events managed by EPIC Te Puke.
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Advertise with NZME.''We plan to drive our promotions through the new system, which will help bring website traffic to the site,'' says Rebecca.
The website is due to be launched early next month.
