Archive for Hire Things

Get the Right Photographer for Your Wedding

May 4, 2010 · Filed under Hire Things, Weddings · Tagged ,

A good wedding photographer should have the ability to really capture mood and emotion with their photographs even with excitement and distractions of the day going on around them.

Choose a photographer who is within your budget and whose quality and style of photography is consistent with your tastes.

Meet up and discuss the types of pictures they will be taking, how many and let them know exactly what you want.

Book and pay deposit early so you don’t miss out on the photographer of your choice.

Top tip! It’s a great idea to have as many photos as possible taken before the ceremony when every one is still fresh.

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Q & A with Hire Things CEO Iona Elwood-Smith

January 6, 2010 · Filed under hire and rental businesses, Hire Things · Tagged , , , , ,

Iona

I recently did an interview with the fabulous Charlotte Squires editor of Happyzine.

It was great fun and I hope gives some insights into Hire Things as well as the opportunity to meet me as a person!

There are questions such as where our inspiration came from, challenges we face,  our grand vision for Hire Things as well as how I juggle life as a mother of three as well as being CEO of a high growth company!

Check it out here – its a great article.

Let me know what you think or if you have any other questions for me.

Always happy to hear from you.

Iona

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Cut CO2 Emmissions – Hire don’t Buy

December 7, 2009 · Filed under climate change, Hire Things, Hiring or renting in instead of buying, sustainability · Tagged , , , , ,

A recent report put out on climate change has called for a fifth of all household spending to be converted to hiring and renting. The report along with current trends of consumers questioning their spending is great news for New Zealand’s Hire Things who are ideally placed to take advantage of this new consciousness.

Commissioned by the British government the Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap) says that overcoming our obsession with owning goods could be a “secret weapon” in meeting climate change targets.

“This is the first piece of research which shows the significant impact to the economy and the environment resource efficiency has” said Liz Goodwin, WRAP CEO.

The report identifies £143 billion of annual expenditure on goods that could have been used for longer instead of throwing them away early and buying new products. Using items for their full lifespan could save British consumers £47 billion a year.

By Sharing seldom used products with a number of people, the productivity of the product will be increased and the consumption of natural resources in the production stage reduced

Hiring instead of buying would cut emissions by about 2 per cent, of CO2 a year, through a fall in manufacturing and lower consumption of raw materials.

The research has important messages on the reduction of ownership of goods and getting lifetime optimization from our purchases.

“Why would anyone want to own that many things anyway? We need to have the confidence that we can get things when we need them but we don’t need to have them sitting beside us every day.” Said Liz Goodwin, WRAP CEO

What’s exciting for New Zealand is that we can take immediate action. Hire Things, already well established in the online hiring space is growing rapidly in consumer to consumer hiring. Hiring to and from each other within a community makes it easy to hire products you need with out having to buy them. Not everyone in the street needs to own a lawnmower, trailer or a tent. By sharing resources in this way you get much higher value from the things you own and purchases can be better quality, getting their lifetime use before becoming landfill.

Hire Things already has 8000+ members making a difference not just to their own wallets but to the environment and the economy too.

The WRAP report

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October 2009 supplier’s update

October 18, 2009 · Filed under hire and rental businesses, Hire Things

You can read our latest update here.

In this issue

  • New Things (Iona takes top job!)
  • Some great numbers (traffic and business just keeps on growing)
  • Your storefronts now improved (category browsing in Hire Things supplier storefront)
  • The daily shuffle! Get your listings in the top results! (get your listings to the top!)
  • Tell us your Story (stories, quotes, testimonials, we wanna hear 🙂
    • October 2009 Suppliers' Update

    October 2009 Suppliers' Update

    You can subscribe or unsubscribe to our newsletters and updates here

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    Make over your Home for Summer or for Sale!

    September 4, 2009 · Filed under DIY and Projects, Hire Things · Tagged , , , , , ,

    clutterclearing

    With spring arriving it’s a great time to have a clear out, shake off winter and set the scene for enjoying a glorious summer.

    Whether your selling your home or it’s just in need of a makeover, home stylists can add real value to your property and your lifestyle.

    Clutter can be depressing and overwhelming. Many people get stressed out over how to store all their stuff! One of the obvious solutions is to get rid of the clutter!

    Lorraine from Housedressings says ‘if in doubt chuck it out!’ and offers  a few hot tips to get you started

    * Kids gear (tricycles, skateboards, roller skates) stored in the garage for sentimental reasons – even though the kids are off at university
    * Kitchen appliances purchased on impulse and which are rarely used (bread makers, juicers, grinders, and blenders are typical items taking up valuable space)
    * Paper – old newspapers, magazines, paper backs, Time and Reader’s Digest magazines and National Geographic’s
    * The two drawers of plastic containers – lids without containers and containers without lids!
    * Gym gear – used for three weeks and then abandoned
    * Clothes you haven’t worn in over a year
    * That ‘interesting’ vase that Aunty Myrtle gave you
    * Any item that you don’t really love

    We have several Home Stagers who can help you with simple, inexpensive improvements that can be made within your budget. Rhonda from first Impressions offers a great DIY home staging package full of tips and advice to use yourself.

    first impressionsHome Staging has become hugely popular when selling homes, making sure you have the best presentation to secure the best possible price.

    Essentially, home staging is selling a lifestyle by helping prospective purchasers visualise what it would be like for them to live in the space. Home Stagers  use home design techniques to their full effect, bringing out the best in a property.

    Contact Lorraine , Rhonda and any of our Home Stagers for great ideas and their current special offers.

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    Make money from your things – without having to sell them!

    August 12, 2009 · Filed under hire and rental businesses, Hire Things, Hiring or renting in instead of buying · Tagged , , , , ,

    You no longer have to sell the things you own to make money out of them!

    Now you can make extra dollars and keep your stuff by hiring out your things online.

    Many of us have “things” sitting round waiting to be used. Hiring them out in your community gives you some extra income, saves someone else having to buy one, keeps the cash in your local area and is great for the environment. Benefits all around.

    You can hire out pretty much any thing you own – tools, sports equipment, kitchen equipment, baby gear, toys, camping gear, clothes, a spare room etc etc.

    things to hire

    Sam listed his camera gear a few months ago and has already made over $200 just form hiring out things he wasn’t using all the time.

    Rhonda is a mum who has had over 160 hire transactions

    Here’s an example of what you could hire out.

    $10 Drill             $40 Tent                  $10 Sander            $15 Hedge trimmer

    $30 Trailer         $90 Roof Box            $10 Toys                 $40 water blaster

    $20 Bikes            $30 Baby gear           $30 Camera          $20 Sewing machine

    Hiring out a few things like this and you could start making  money every month – easy extra income!

    Start listing on www.hirethings.co.nz today and  make  some extra $$.

    Tell your neighbors/friends/colleagues so they can list stuff you might want to hire!

    Happy listing!

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    Fun Kids Party Idea

    June 30, 2009 · Filed under Events Functions and Parties, Hire Things · Tagged , ,

    curious

    If you’re wondering what to do for your child’s party this year – check this out!

    New to Hire Things are these Amazing Big Characters. Large life like character costumes you can hire for the day and set the theme for your party.

    dilly-the-dinosaurpete-the-pirate-bear

    Costumes come with free party theme ideas like this one

    Dilly Dinosaur:  draw big dinosaur footprints with chalk. Or hide little plastic dinosaurs in the sandpit so the kids can dig for dinosaurs. Gather the children into a group, get them to chant for the character “Dilly the Dinosaur… Dilly the Dinosaur!”Dilly the Dinosaur arrives and greets everyone with a wave, shakes hands, cuddles. Dilly the Dinosaur can lead a marching parade and play games.  There are  game suggestions and also the “Dino Pokey.” You could also educate the children about dinosaurs and make it a fun way of learning.

    yellow-spongepink-hearts-beardogexplorer-girl

    The costumes are made to fit an adult between 5’4″ – 6’1″.  All you need is a volunteer!!

    Not just for kids parties these characters are great for promotions and events for  instant attention, smiles, fun, laughter and happiness!
    For any age!

    BIRTHDAY PARTIES, MAINLY MUSIC, DAYCARE, KINDY, CLUBS, LIBRARIES, SCHOOLS, EDUCATIONAL, SHOPS, GRAND OPENINGS, CAR DEALERSHIPS, PROMOTIONS, COMPANY EVENTS, TRADE SHOWS, RESTAURANTS, HOSPITAL VISITS, RETIREMENT HOMES, FUNDRAISING, CHARITIES

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    The Hire Things team

    July 16, 2008 · Filed under Hire Things

    Darryl, our lead developer, had been with the team for 1 year today (Happy 1st birthday Darryl!!).  

    The core team went out to lunch to celebrate, and this is us just after we came back (all happy after a good feed!!).

    The core Hire Things team

    The core Hire Things team - Peter, Shoaib, Iona, & Darryl

    Iona Elwood-Smith is our sales and marketing manager, Darryl Hamilton is our lead developer, Shoaib Ali is our web developer and Peter Torr Smtih is the founder and CEO. 

    Our new marketing & community coordinator, Trish

    Our new marketing & community coordinator, Trish

    STOP PRESS!!  Recently joined… Trish Veugelaers as our marketing and community coordinator…

    It takes a lot to put together a business like Hire Things, and to keep in going and growing.  Thankfully we have a number of other talented and helpful people that contribute part time, or have contributed in the past, to make Hire Things what it is today. 

    Part-time contributors:
    Paul Gold (Auric Solutions), Tim Philips (RND group), Lulu Pachuau (analysis and interaction design), Ken & Rebecca Hope (infographics and graphics). Nik Wakelin (CodeToCustomer).  Liora Saad.

    Advisors:
    Michael Elwood-Smith, Melissa Clark-Reynolds, Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone)

    Past contributors:
    Nahum Wild. Paul Flewelling. Eddie Would. Gaëtan De Brucker. Ken Foncé. Elicia Gold. Phil Dinius.

    (I’ve probably omitted someone, sorry, let me know if I have).

    Plus we have a number of friends and family shareholders that have put their trust (and money) with us, and our co-director of the company, Letizia who helps us keep an eye on things legal and organisational.

    If you think you have something to offer the Hire Things, whether that be skills, time, money, or other resources, and would like to be part of our growing online business success, drop us a line on contact@hirethings.com

    Cheers.

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    Mohawk Media / Radio NZ Virtual World site of the week!

    May 22, 2008 · Filed under Hire Things, Hiring or renting in instead of buying, Technology

    I’m an avid Radio New Zealand National Radio listener, and recently have started tuning in to watch Oliver Drivers great new digital TV channel ALT TV.  Both are great commentaries on what’s going on in New Zealand society, and the wider world.

    Helen & Chelfyn Baxter are actively involved in sharing techno goodness on both media channels (Virtual World on Afternoons with Jim Mora, producing & hosting ‘the g33k show‘ coming to ALT TV), and run MohawkMedia.co.nz, highlighting good design, trends in social media, online collaboration, and music, to name a few.  They have a combined 30 years experience in TV, Radio, and Online media, so certainly have proven they keep up with the play on what’s hot, what’s new, and what’s going down!!

    So it’s a great compliment to us all here to be named by them as their “Site of the Week” this week, both on their Radio NZ Virtual World show, and on their own site. 

    You can hear the show online for a while at http://www.radionz.co.nz/__data/assets/audio_item/0015/1523004/aft-20080521-1510-Virtual_World-wmbr.asx or download it at http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/aft/aft-20080521-1510-Virtual_World-048.mp3 (The “Site of the week” is the 2 minutes from 20:29 through to 22:28).

     Site of the week on Radio New Zealand\'s Virtual World show

    Site of the week on social media website MohawkMedia

     

    We started Hire Things for all sorts of reasons… but a core part of that is people working together, using things, to make great events and projects happen, without having to own everything. We think encouraging people to hire instead of buying everything is just part of our contribution to a more sustainable world 🙂

    We’re a small team with big plans, so getting noticed and commented on by bloggers and media all helps us keep moving forward bit by bit.

    Thanks, and welcome to listeners and readers 🙂

    Peter & the team

     

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    Request a quote, or a booking… it’s up to you!

    May 18, 2008 · Filed under Hire Things

    Some of you will have already noticed or used our our cool new “Request Quote” facility.

    We have separated our booking and quote buttons to give more flexibility to our users… so you can now request an obligation-free quote on the things you need to use, and then after receiving the quote response you can chose to accept the quote and make a firm booking, or decline it, or request a bit more inforation.

    Planning events and projects isn’t always straight forward and generally you need to hire-in a variety of things.  With the new “request quote” facility, you can ask for a firmer quote than the estimates shown on the website, and by explaining in the quote request what event or project you are trying to make happen, the hire supplier may well be able to quote you on a number of other things that will help you out, and offer you discounts or specials.

    Now you can find who’s got what you need, when you need it, and ask for a quote without having to commit to a firm booking first.  Of course if you see what you need and you want to get it organised straight away, just go ahead and “Make Booking”. 

    With the “Make Booking” process, customers place a request with dates, and if the hire supplier confirms the pricing and availability, the booking is confirmed and set to go ahead.

    With the “Request Quote” process, customers place a similar request, but the hire supplier has to respond to the customer either confirming the estimate on the website is correct, or with a more accurate price.  It is then up to the customer to accept the quote before the booking is confirmed.

    my hire-ins

    So for customers…

    – Send out quote requests for things you need.

    – Get back quotes indicating availability, pricing, and other ways the hire supplier can help you out.

    – Accept the quotes and offers that work for you.

    – Sit back and Relax knowing you have booked-in the things you need for a great event, project, or adventure!!

    So let us know what you think

    Love it, hate it, want to know more?

    Send me an email

    I’d love to hear from you.

    Iona.

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