Start up Wahooly starts tomorrow ( Tuesday 31st January ) having used Klout to select it’s members. I realise that this is is all about as clear as mud at the moment !

Let’s start with Klout which is a company ( one of a few that are doing this ) that essentially grades your Internet influence. Here is Klout about Klout:

http://klout.com/#/understand

” Klout was founded in 2008 to help you measure and leverage your influence. We believe influence is the ability to drive action. For example, Oprah’s opinion on literature has inspired millions to read titles from her book club. But you don’t have to be Oprah to have influence. You influence your friend when she listens to a song you recommend on Facebook. You influence your coworker when he checks out an article you posted on LinkedIn and shares it with someone else. Social actions like these are a reflection of influence. ”

Klout uses a ” secret algorithm ” to measure people and brand influence.

A few month’s ago this algorithm was ” modified ” and a lot of people’s ” Klout score ” changed ( many for the worse ) generating considerable reaction from Klout ” members “.

A lot of people say ” Who are Klout and what right do they have to rank my influence ? ” I have my own issues with Klout including the fact that they have a lot of technical bugs that impact people’s scores.

Anyway - let’s get on to Wahooly. Wahooly is a start-up that aims to help start-ups by recruiting ” influential ” people to promote start-ups that they wish to support. In return the influencers get equity ( shares ) in the start-up. So, this is like hiring an Internet Marketing Expert ( Social Media Marketer ) and PR person and paying them in equity rather than hard cash.

Will it work ?? We shall see.

To be a member of Wahooly you needed to have a Klout score of 45 or above ( mine was at the time of selection but has fallen slightly since. I have been as high as 67 in the past ).

More on Wahooly’s use of Klout here:

http://www.launch.is/blog/wahooly-uses-klout-to-add-400-influencers-daily-who-earn-equ.html

I am therefore a founder member of Wahooly and a Wahooligan ( as they call it ).

Given that it has been very hard to raise start-up capital in the last few years there have been many new initiatives to help start-ups get going. Equity for influence is just the latest of them. There have, for example , been a whole host of crowd financing ( investing small amounts of money for small amounts of equity ) initiatives.

Obviously Wahooly has a presence on the main social media platforms:

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/wahooly?ref=ts&sk=wall

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wahooligans/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/#!/TeamWahooly

Google +

https://plus.google.com/u/0/105465481469156419624/posts

Linkedin

etc

It is going to be an interesting experiment !!

I recently watched the Twylah video referred to in Jim Connolly’s Marketing Blog here:

http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2011/05/30/get-everybody-talking-about-you-with-this-1-simple-idea/

( See also the video at the end of this blog for more about Twylah )

and aside from what Jim had said and the fact that I agreed with him that Twylah had a great story there were a couple of things that resonated with me:

Internet Monetisation

I noted that Eric Kim, the co-founder of Twylah had been involved in Internet Monetisation ( that’s like ” Show me the money ” in amongst all this Internet stuff ! ) for around 11 years and that he had founded Twylah because there was no obvious monetisation strategy emerging for Twitter. I also noted that he carried around in his head an ” Internet Monetisation Hierarchy ” ( I was going to call it a Pyramid but Pyramids have such bad press in recent years ! ) which went something like - an email address has the highest monetary value ( he actually put a value on a 1000 email addresses being emailed as ranging between $5 and $100 ) and then said that email has a higher value than e.g. a Facebook ” like ” which in turn has a higher value than a Twitter ” follow “.

He said that ” email is STILL the number one mechanism for communicating. People check their email first ( typically ) before checking social media “. A point which I will come back to.

I am sure that Eric has a whole load more ” valuations ” in his head and they range from the obvious like ” the number of visitors to your website ”  and ” the number of transactions through your website and the value of those transactions ” to the less obvious like ” the number of favourites and retweets  on Twitter “.  Everything has a ( micro ? ) value.

Recently I have been using HubSpot’s ( Internet ) Marketing Grader to see how well some companies Internet Marketing ” System ” is working. Since HubSpot is basically trying to see how easily you get found on the Internet, how well you convert visitors into ” leads ” ( which might mean getting their email address and permission to email ) and how well the being found and converting process works it is broadly speaking helping to measure the ” value ” of your Internet Marketing system.

It looks at your website, your blogs and your social networks and how one element provides support to the other elements.

Included within the HubSpot Marketing Grade is your Klout Score  ( arguably, a valuation of your Internet presence ) and offers you incentives based on your Klout score e.g. a £50 credit to AirBnB .

Twylah is another piece of the Internet Marketing ecosystem jigsaw - automatically converting your Tweets to what looks something like a blog page ( Mine is here ) and also analysing the effectiveness of your Tweets in achieving micro-value via follows, favourites, retweets etc etc.

2 of HubSpot’s favourite elements are ( or can be )  included within a Twylah page - an email sign up and/or another ” Call to Action ” ( e.g. Click here and buy and download  Lady GaGa’s latest single ).

The Importance of email

As Eric says ( and many people agree with him ) email is still very important.

This blog

Email Marketing is down but not out !

is spot-on. There are challenges with email marketing but it is probably the highest value item that you can attain and therefore it is your OBJECTIVE to get it !!

Platforms

I am constantly reminded of the value of ” platform websites ” . This blog is on Wordpress which is becoming hugely powerful. ( It has an Alexa ranking of 18th in the world ).  N.B. HubSpot’s Alexa ranking is 691 and Twylah’s 14,504.

Ecademy.com ( Alexa 9,377 ) was one of the first sites where I noticed the effect of ” Platform Power ” some 10 years ago.

Content posted on these websites becomes very visible to search engines like Google and ranks highly. ( I highly recommend Wordpress and HubSpot based websites !! ) Over time Twylah will also become very powerful ( it’s Alexa ranking grew 35% over the last 3 months ).

So, in summary keep in mind platforms and the Monetisation Hierarchy and keep trying to get those email addresses and use them !!

Another great video about Twylah  below

http://foundville.com/2012/01/09/twylah-interview/

Well I do - but then again I don’t - according to the applications that tell you who has the most Twitter followers in e.g. Lichfield or Birmingham or London or the World  -  like Twitter Elite

http://tweet.grader.com/location/?Location=lichfield%2Cstaffs%2CUK

and Twitaholic

http://twitaholic.com/top100/followers/bylocation/Lichfield,+Staffordshire,+West/

I do, in that if you look here

http://tweet.grader.com/@cwindley

I have a Tweet Grade of 97.4 and ( currently ) 2,278 followers but I don’t appear on the list ( at the time of writing ) produced by Tweet Grader in the first link that I detailed above.  Philip John has that honour currently. (  philipjohn )

Out of interest the person who has the most followers in Birmingham

http://tweet.grader.com/location/?Location=birmingham%2CUK

is an 18 year old Economics student called Aluna Sagita Gutawa with over 1.1 Million followers !!!! ( How ?? Why ?? )

Philip and I have never met ( to my knowledge ) but he and I do have a common interest in Wordpress blogs it seems. ( Where I am writing this ).

Does it matter ????

Well actually the number of followers ( like e.g. the number of Facebook likes or the number of email addresses ) does actually have a monetary value, small though it may be. ( For example I recently heard the co-founder of U.S. based start-up Twylah talk about a dollar value for the number of email addresses something was emailed to ).

What does matter is visibility on the Internet and being found on the Internet via search engines like Google.

Tweets are also being turned into website pages that can attract ” traffic ” ( visitors and users ) and rank on Google. Here is my Twylah page for example:

http://www.twylah.com/cwindley

( Twylah is in beta at the moment so you have to request a Twylah page )

If you don’t think being a Tweep is very interesting then you might find being a ” Twyp ” of more value

You might not think very much of Lady GaGa either but she is a ” Twyp ”

http://www.twylah.com/ladygaga

along with a whole host of other celebrities

http://www.twylah.com/featured.

GaGa’s ephemeral Tweets have been turned into a much longer lasting web page ( with the invitation to download her music ).

Translated into something that might interest the average Lichfieldian ?? well it’s another way of getting ( global ) visibility for your Lichfield based business.

Connecting with and communicating with people is important and so is being found.

Contract and Civil Litigation Experts, Pegasus Legal LDP, are topping the Google search rankings for Consumer Law Expert searches aided by Birmingham news collection service My Birmingham News

http://www.mybirminghamnews.co.uk/tag/midlands/

A blog posted here

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2012/01/17/consumer-law-experts-in-birmingham-midlands/

was picked up by My Birmingham News within hours of it being posted and both the M & A Rainmaker and My Birmingham News posts were ranking high in Google searches within 24 Hours.

Both posts demonstrate the power of Wordpress based websites in achieving high rankings for users.

Pegasus LDP is a young and innovative legal organisation which complements high technology methods of marketing.

Building on the foundation of the Wordpress post higher rankings were achieved by utilising social networks like Linkedin, Google +, Facebook, Twitter and digg to feed into and support the Wordpress posts.

This advanced marketing technique utilises the 3 main drivers of high ranking websites

- On page SEO

- Relevant Content creation

- Links

added together with perceptive keyword selection in order to get the attention of relevant searchers.

For further information on Pegasus LDP go here:

Contact Ms O’Connor and Pegasus LDP here

http://www.pegasusllp.co.uk/contact-us.php

Mattioli Woods

Are one of the UK’s leading providers of pension consultancy and wealth management services, advising over 4,000 clients throughout the UK and with funds under trusteeship in excess of £2.8 billion. By building long-term client relationships, thier aim is to provide trusted advice, high service standards and personalised delivery.

They provide integrated services for individuals, embracing pension consultancy, with a strong specialism in self-invested personal pension schemes and small self-administered pension schemes; personal investment and estate planning. For corporate clients, they provide a comprehensive range of employee benefits services. Principle services include:

• Self-invested personal pension schemes (SIPP)
• Small self-administered schemes (SSAS)
• Employee Benefits
• Personal Wealth Management

In the last 20 years, they have grown dynamically year-on-year and became a public company following a listing on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in November 2005. Founded on a strong culture of client care,  core services are targeted towards controlling directors, professional persons, owner-managed businesses and small to medium-sized PLCs.

The key difference between Mattioli Woods and many of our larger competitors is our hands-on, tailored approach. There is a genuine focus on providing the highest level of personal advice and maintaining close relationships with all clients, which has led to high levels of satisfaction, retention and referrals.

About

Introducing Mattioli Woods

Mattioli Woods is one of the UK’s leading providers of pension consultancy and wealth management services. They employ over 250 staff through Leicester, London, Aberdeen and Glasgow offices, administer over 2,900 SIPP schemes and 1,400 SSAS schemes and hold over £2.8 billion of assets under advice and administration.

By building long term client relationships, the aim is to provide trusted advice, high service standards and personalised delivery. They provide integrated wealth management services, incorporating pension consultancy with a strong focus on self-investment and employee benefits. Our wealth management services embrace pensions and personal investment, coupled with estate planning.

Principal functions, include:

• Self-invested personal pension schemes (SIPP)
• Small self-administered schemes (SSAS)
• Employee Benefits
• Personal Wealth Management

They provide  clients with an all-embracing and holistic approach designed to develop a clear strategy for clients’ financial plans, supported by sound investment and taxation initiatives. Clients want to be confident in the advice  given and for strategies to be administered quickly and efficiently, regular updates and review meetings are central to our communication process, to give reassurance.

Pension planning and clients’ wider wealth management issues cannot be developed effectively in isolation, particularly when there are so many competing demands on our clients’ income. They proudly claim to be a leader in the field of self-invested personal pensions and small self-administered schemes, and such arrangements are often central to  clients’ pension strategy. They take full account of the wider opportunities, including ISAs and other forms of personal investment; taxation and trust planning; and work with  clients to develop a balanced financial plan.

If you are looking for consumer law experts in Birmingham, Midlands, U.K. then I highly recommend that you contact Pegasus Legal LDP and in particular ask to speak to Ms Portia O’Connor who was the first barrister to become a partner in a Legal Disciplinary Practice. For more details see

http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/revealed-the-first-barrister-partner

Ms O’Connor took HSBC Bank plc versus Brophy to the Court of Appeal

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2011/67.html

Pegasus LDP are a firm of mainly Barristers with some Solicitors.

They are the first LDP in the UK.

In the last couple of days the news has emerged that Ireland won the race to get Twitter to site it’s European Headquarters there. Unsurprisingly this news emerged on Twitter itself - apparently after a concerted effort by Irish Tweeps  to persuade Twitter to come to the land of the Celtic Tiger.

It was interesting timing for me because a U.S. based Hi Tech company had just asked me for my opinion on where to base it’s European Headquarters and I was also reading this article here about some ” tinkering ” that the U.K. government is planning with start-up investment incentives.

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/09/25/for-better-or-worse-the-uk-plans-big-changes-for-startup-investment/

I am sure that IDA Ireland would have been delighted to know that my recommendation was to look closer at Ireland. I don’t have any real connection with Ireland other than the fact that I love Ireland and the Irish people - well doesn’t everyone ???

As a former Royal Navy officer in the 80’s Ireland was sort of ” off limits ” to me - especially Northern Ireland - but when I left the Navy and joined the Hi Tech world ( e.g. Memorex and then Fibernet ) the magic of Ireland started to pull me.

Memorex had strong representation in Ireland and of course the Irish Memorex salespeople were ” memorable ” !! Fibernet also did a lot of business  in Ireland ( customers included Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank ) and M.D. Charles was always being ” led astray ” by the Irish - they delighted in trying to get him to miss his plane by having ” one more Guinness “.

Guinness is of course just one reason why you have to go to Ireland.

For me there followed about 3 ” Stay on a farm ” tours with the children with so many highlights it’s difficult to remember them all - being in a country pub when a  céilidh erupted; the visit to Bunratty Castle; the visit to the Irish National Stud; the visit to the Jamieson’s Distillery. An Irish wedding in Cork. A corporate event with the U.K. Sales Director of 3Com. The occasion that I took the whole of Voyager Networks staff to Dublin to celebrate the sale of Voyager. Staying in the Shelbourne Hotel when ” The Monkees ” walked in !

This is the problem with Ireland - it’s just too much fun !!!

In fairness the Irish really have their act together at a time when the U.S. Hi Tech industry is awash with venture capital investment and many U.S. firms are looking for a base for their European Operations.

According to IDA Ireland Ireland is becoming the Internet Capital of Europe

http://www.idaireland.com/news-media/videos/index.xml

and I am not going to argue with them. Even if all the tinkerings with the Enterprise Investment Scheme in the U.K. happen

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/09/25/for-better-or-worse-the-uk-plans-big-changes-for-startup-investment/

the issue is more about which country has it’s act together in terms of the whole package : Country Brand & Likability Factor, Financial Incentives, Communications infrastructure  etc etc

When I was asked my opinion on where to base I said Ireland off the top of my head. I also asked a friend of mine who has a business helping U.S. companies to establish themselves in Europe - he said the U.K. I also Googled the question and came across a Linkedin answer with a lot of recommendations for Ireland. Just trying to get back to that Linkedin answer I found this:

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/international/internationalization-localization/INT_INZ/7476-1213

Reid Hoffman of Linkedin asks Linkedin where best to place Linkedin’s proposed European H.Q. !!

The answer voted best to this question summarised as follows:

” My final choices as a potential company moving there? Luxembourg, Ireland, Switzerland. “

Linkedin eventually went to ………………………. Ireland !!

http://www.idaireland.com/news-media/press-releases/linkedin-establishment-of/

and note this:

Kevin Eyres, managing director of LinkedIn Europe commented, “We now have more than 14 million members in Europe and 60 million worldwide. As our membership continues to grow quickly, this is the right time for us to establish an international headquarters. Being based in Dublin gives us access to a highly skilled workforce and enables us to coordinate our business growth across Europe and beyond to deliver the best possible service to our members.”

But also see this ( hot off the press ) in respect of Tax:

http://www.joe.ie/news-politics/current-affairs/irish-move-to-save-twitter-53-per-cent-in-tax-0016130-1

and I quote

” That, in effect, represents a saving of €140,000 – or 53 per cent – from situating its European office in Dublin rather than London.

In actual fact, though, Twitter will probably save much more than that, if they’re clever enough to deploy tactics which exploit tax loopholes all over the globe.

It was revealed last year that accounting practices known as a Double Irish and a Dutch Sandwich - owing to similarly favourable tax conditions in the Netherlands - helped Google to reduce its tax bill by €2.2bn.

The 12 per cent Irish corporation tax rate which has contributed to the relocation of so many big companies to these shores has raised the heckles of the likes of France and Germany, who are adamant that Ireland should agree to a more uniform Europe-wide tax rate as a payback for the bailout provided by the (financial terrorists) good folk at the EU, ECB and IMF.”

and the point is that you need to have ALL your ” ducks in a row ” if you are going to win the ” which country am I going to base my European Headquarters in ” game.

If London wants to win in this game it had better put the sort of effort behind it that won the Olympics for 2012.

The Irish brand and the “ Double Irish and a Dutch Sandwich “ is going prove difficult to beat !!!

btw The Celtic Tiger awakening is not just about Internet companies the same is going on in the movie industry and healthcare sectors

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0923/1224304573989.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8049212/The-hi-tech-miracle-rescuing-Ireland-from-a-banking-crisis.html

ESM Solutions’ experience in both the education and public sectors has led to the development of interconnected suites of products that can accommodate the most complicated sourcing and procurement processes: eSchoolMall for School Districts and Mercury Commerce for Colleges & Universities, State & Local Governments, Commercial Companies and Buying Co-ops.

Within our suites we offer products for purchasing, bidding, warehouse management, payment and more. These products can be used individually or combined seamlessly for a customizable solution to make your entire procurement process as efficient as possible.

Join the 8,000+ vendors in our Vendor Directory so buyers can find your business when they’re publishing bids, quotes, RFPs and other sourcing events. Our Hosted Catalogs allow you to upload your products and services, which buyers access right through easyPurchase™. We can also “punch out” to your company website. These Dynamic Link catalogs allow users to go directly to your site without an additional login, shop in a separate browser window, then electronically return their shopping cart to easyPurchase with the click of a button. Connecting to buyers has never been easier.

How it works:

• Register as a Vendor (takes just a few minutes)
• Receive e-mail notifications of new sourcing opportunities
• Log in to the vendor site to view bids, quotes and projects
• Respond to free sourcing events for “no fee” bids or access an unlimited number of events for an annual fee

ESM Solutions has sponsored research into Best Practices in Electronic Procurement, the use of Procurement Process Automation to save time and money. Our research shows that the goal of Procurement Process Automation is to overcome the six “Points of Pain” that traditional systems (including those that incorporate online shopping) inflict upon their users. These “Points of Pain” relentlessly and inexorably deplete funds, resources, energy and morale. These factors can prevent an organization from truly achieving the promise of electronic procurement solutions.

1. Transaction Costs — It’s estimated that labor-intensive, paper-excessive procurement processes can cost organizations more than $100 per order in time and resources—a figure that’s often higher than what the ordered item costs!
2. Wasted Effort — Paper-based requisition, purchase and approval processes cause redundancy of effort, promote errors, and inevitably result in costly, frustrating delays.
3. Inefficient Management — Because they lack real-time data, administrators have no way of accurately budgeting and auditing their resources. Nor can they implement an effective overall purchasing strategy.
4. Lost Savings Opportunities — Traditional procurement environments are a breeding ground for “maverick” or “rogue” buying which, according to one study, can account for a 30 to 45 percent increase in overall procurement costs. The purchase of unnecessary or non-contract items outside of standard business rules occurs routinely, undermining whatever efforts have been taken to save money through volume discounts, preferred vendor lists, and vendor bidding. It’s also difficult for organizations to leverage standard operating procedures for contract utilization and manual warehouse inventory, because it’s not clearly visible, is never fully exploited, nor can it be easily adjusted to meet the organization’s needs.
5. Misallocation of Resources — The costs are impossible to quantify, but no one doubts that the time and energy employees spend procuring supplies would ideally be better spent with on productive business. In our study, author Max McKeown defines the goal of procurement automation with almost the same words we might use to define business goals. The goal, he says, “allows people to grow strong and independent in pursuit of the fulfillment that comes from serving other people.”
6. Depletion of Energy and Morale — Bogged down by paperwork, requisitioners, administrators and business managers who find themselves performing redundant, distracting and potentially demoralizing work can eventually fall prey to resignation characterized by lack of vitality, even apathy.

Project Champion – All implementations require an executive level individual to help drive the cultural changes that are inherent with any software deployment. The champion needs to be able to articulate the importance of the project and communicate their full commitment in getting the applications rolled out to the entire organization and removing any barriers to changing outdated procedures.

Buy-in from Purchasing Department – The purchasing department will own the applications from a system administration perspective as well as being subject matter experts to the end user population. They need to understand their roles and responsibilities and be committed to removing obstacles to the process and helping to promote the process change. If they do not buy in, the project can stall and become burdensome because nothing is being accomplished.

Client Resources (Priorities & Focus) – Even though our applications can be deployed within 6-8 weeks, the participation of the purchasing department is critical and cannot be completed within that timeframe if they are not able to focus on the project activities. Many of the activities are minimal, but if management does not make it a high priority with other duties, the schedule will slip.

IT Participation - Even though the software is a hosted solution owned by the purchasing department, IT will be needed to during the interface installation, testing and production monitoring phases. Our interface will be tested with the GL partner, but each customer has specific technology requirements that will need to be reviewed to support the interface connection and network communication policies (ie. Firewall and DB settings)

Train-the-trainer model - Our professional services methodology allows for us to deploy our solutions quickly. We empower the purchasing department (as owners) to be responsible for basic administration functions. We will educate them on the application so they can duplicate the training to the rest of the organization.

Leverage Application Functionality – In order for us to deploy our applications quickly, we highly recommend reviewing/changing existing processes to utilize system functionality rather than trying to customize the application.

Phased Project implementation – Implementations are designed to be rolled out in phases to allow for the purchasing department to understand the application and potential impact on the organization. Phase I can include a single department and should be one that is close for handling initial support questions.

Seven Milestones – Each project is unique due to client business processes; however, deploying ESM Solutions’ customized solution can be broken down into seven basic steps:

• System training
• Data Import
• ERP Integration (if applicable)
• Vendor Enablement
• Testing and Configuration Changes
• User Training
• Go Live (Phase I)

Customer Care covers support for your e-Procurement solutions, support for your suppliers, 7×24 solution access requiring only a web browser and Internet access and maintenance that ensures no-upgrade access to the latest features and problem-free solutions.
Email us or call us at 1-877-969-7246.

Recently I needed to get a high value watch which had been sold via eBay urgently delivered to a location in Germany.

Although it is not their typical business area Eurgent Ecspress have a proven track record for performance and reliability as express freight forwarders within the time critical logistics environment and they sorted this delivery for me without problem.

As a small independent they feel that thier operation can give a more personalised response at all levels. Staff are available at any stage, day or night, during the transit of any consignment.

NEED TO SEND EXPRESS FREIGHT TO EUROPE ??

Their operational team have over ninety years experience in all aspects as express freight forwarders for transport throughout the UK and Europe. This, they feel, gives them a distinct advantage in solving the many problems that can arise in today’s turbulent logistical market

Eurgent Ecspress freight forwarders are the preferred suppliers to many multinational companies in the UK and European community, where they have built an excellent reputation for client confidentiality.

If you have an Eurgent Express Delivery requirement in Europe give them a call:

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Eurgent Ecspress have been supplying Europe’s leading forwarders and transporters with cost effective solutions for the movement of time-critical consignments for over 11 years - over 95% of their clients are from within the freight industry - and their network of partners offer the assistance to make your consignment their top priority.
Their extensive database of agents ensure that no enquiry is without a solution. And their comprehensive network allows them to consider all cross-european destinations. Eurgent can supply all modes of transport - whether it be a small van to an air-charter option - and every solution will be considered to meet the transit time required .

No !! - I don’t charter private jets every day but I had a couple of experiences with chartering private airplanes and helicopters and flying in small aircraft that got me interested in this area.

Recently I found that 2 of my friends were involved in this area:

Jay Deragon with https://www.socialflights.com/

and Thomas Power with http://ejone.net/

although both of these are combining business networking with private jet charter.

http://www.jetsplanes.net/private-jet-charter/

A few years ago some friends and I chartered a jet ( actually a turbo-prop on the way out and a 737 -  I think - on the way back ) to go skiing in Switzerland & France and we flew from Coventry airport to Geneva airport  and back.

I remember that the turbo-prop was actually owned ( leased ? ) by a motor racing personality ( can’t remember which one for the moment ) - don’t know who owned the 737.

A friend of a friend ( both of whom came skiing with us ) had arranged these flights ( one was an event organiser )

http://www.infobarrel.com/Corporate_Private_Jet_Travel_Options

When we were flying we had time and the opportunity to visit the cockpits and talk to the pilots and crew. Some of the conversation was about the fact that there were planes, pilots and crews ” sat around ” all over the world.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/recession/3401080/The-budget-airline-graveyard.html

The planes need to be chartered in order to provide a return on their owners investment and the pilots need flying hours and trips because that’s what they like to do and because more experience means a better job. Pilots and crews spend a lot of time on ” stand by “.

There seems to be an opportunity here - albeit a fairly complicated one:

There are people who want to fly from A to B who are prepared to pay a certain amount for the flight and there are planes, pilots and crews available.

I am not professing to be an aviation expert but a bit of Googling around gives you a sense of what is going on in the industry.

The last few years ( say 2008 on ) have been very difficult for the whole industry. Many airlines have laid people off ( pilots, crew and ground crew ) and some have gone bust.

The future appears somewhat rosier and the demand for pilots and crews is increasing, particularly in the Middle East, India and China.

http://www.tourismandaviation.com/news-11167–_Gulf_carriers_expansion_plans_buffeted_amid_scramble_to_recruit_enough_qualified_pilots_

although I thought this was an interesting summary from a pilot on a forum

http://www.frihost.com/forums/vt-69486.html

” I currently fly a small aircraft for a corporation. The market right now is terrible. Major airlines can pay the bucks, but the glory days of aviation are over. It is very difficult to get hired at a major airline. There are many other flying jobs than just airlines, though. Corporate, aerial mapping, ag, freight, charter, air ambulance, ect.

It will cost you around $40-50,000 to get your private through commercial ratings. Traditionally, you build flight hours by becoming a flight instructor. Instructors don’t make very much money. After you build enough hours, you try to get hired by a freight operator or a as a first officer with a regional airline. First year regional FO salaries range anywhere from $14,000 to $20,000 per year.

Aviation is a very unstable way to make a living. When the economy is bad, oil prices are high, or there is a terrorist attack, aviation is the first thing to feel it. Right now there are thousands of pilots on furlough from airlines.

Don’t get into aviation for the money. You will be dissapointed. Do it because you really like to do it. Don’t believe any of the nonsense you see in flight school advertisements about pilot shortages. There will never be a pilot shortage because there will always be pilots willing to work for next to nothing.

This is only a brief summary. I am writing this to let people know what they are really getting into before they decide to spend the time, effort, and money on becoming a commercial pilot. It is not as glamorous as most people think it is. ”

http://globalexpressair.com/roster.html

It would appear then that there is going to be a high demand for planes, pilots and crews in 2012 and beyond and you actually wonder where all of these trained people are going to come from ??

Right at the moment it would seem that there is plenty of spare capacity in all the areas.

Aside from social flights and ejone there are other companies matching plane and crew capacity to customer demand e.g.

http://www.charterjets.com/

Most people ( potential customers ) probably don’t even think about private charter believing it to be way out of their price range.

Actually there are some situations where chartering a whole airplane can be very cost effective - not to mention much more convenient and luxurious. ( We drove our cars to Coventry airport, parked close to the runway and then waited a short time in the lounge before boarding the plane and personalised crew service ).

Making people aware that they can buy competitively priced individual seats on private jets is a bit of a challenge but I believe that it will become much more common for people to fly by private jet using the likes of social flights and ejone.