The goWholesale Blog

Social Shopping Sites Bring More Opportunity to Small Businesses

March 31st, 2008

Interesting thing isn’t it? How the internet has completely replaced the need to leave your house to buy things. Shopping malls were once the great meccas of consumerism. What a shame….What’s that you say? They still are? Oh….how is that possible? The internet has EVERYTHING and you don’t even have to get off your duff to get it!

Sarcasm aside, in spite of the incredible convenience the internet affords, people are still flocking to malls around the world to find what they are looking for. So why is that? I thought the internet was supposed to make things easier?

The reason for this according to a recent Inc.com article, is that while shopping can be done individually, it is largely a social activity. We rely on recommendations from our friends and family to locate sources for certain products we may be interested in because we trust these people to give us good leads. In the internet world, all we’ve had to rely on are the search results Google and the like produce for us which, as we savvy internet users have come to find out, is based primarily on variables that do not have the consumer in mind, often producing the most prominent (read “well known”) sites first.

We’re in luck though. Smart entrepreneurs have recognized this and are doing something about it. For the first time, we are starting to see websites dedicated to tailoring the online shopping experience directly towards the consumer. Sites such as ThisNext, Shoposphere and Kaboodle are what is called “social shopping” sites. And here’s what they do:

Features recommendations by friends and like-minded shoppers
Gives authority users based on quality recommendations
Display a wider array of smaller (and arguably cooler) brands/businesses

As a small business marketer here’s how and why you can use these sites to grow your business:

It’s zero cost if you do it right. For example, on ThisNext, if you fill out a “Shopcast” including one of your products, it will likely generate interest and click throughs to your website.
Again, done correctly, you could also end up forming a mini army of volunteer brand evangelists. Word of mouth is still a very valuable marketing tool. The same applies for the internet.
You will see not only a rise in web traffic but also in sales. Topo Ranch, a t-shirt company, stated that after posting their original Shopcast, their “daily Web traffic has increased by almost a third and sales have risen 165 percent.” The numbers don’t lie.

Just remember to be a responsible member of these communities. Many of them self police anyway but you cannot approach it from a strict marketing standpoint. Don’t be intrusive and abuse the system. Merely develop good relationships and allow it to work for you.

Posted in E-Commerce and E-Business, Generating More Sales, Marketing Your Business | No Comments »

The Online Shoppers Cometh - Are You Ready(eth?)

March 26th, 2008

Well friends, it’s finally happened. People are now officially computer savvy. Or at least according to a 2007 Forrester Research report almost 75% of us have learned how to successfully shop online and the the number of late comers to the internet party continues to dwindle each year. That’s great news for online businesses! But it’s also a bit of a double edged sword.

These findings indicate that more and more people are getting familiar with navigating the internet and therefore learning how different websites hinder or facilitate their online shopping experiences. And guess what that means? It means that on the whole, people’s expectations are much higher–and growing alongside their experience.

So what does this mean for you? Well, quite simply it means that your emphasis on getting customers to your site should now be shifting to retaining customers. People are now quite comfortable with turning to the internet to get whatever products they need so you know that the traffic is there. You must now “wow” these customers with your quality of service and streamlined shopping experience. If customers think, even for a split second, that it’s too difficult to find what they’re looking for on your site, they’ll be out of there faster than you can blink.

So do yourself a favor and invest a little time and money into making your website stellar! Visit our Ecommerce and Ebusines Articles for more advice, tips and info!

Posted in E-Commerce and E-Business | No Comments »

10 Ways to Avoid Judge Judy…besides changing the channel.

March 24th, 2008

It ranks right up there with getting your wisdom teeth pulled or surviving the first anniversary of your 29th birthday (for those who haven’t had their coffee yet, that would be your 30th birthday-the horror!). And yet, much like getting your wisdom teeth out (probably inevitable) and turning 30 (definitely inevitable), if you run a business, odds are you’ll eventually have to deal with the unpleasantness known as a lawsuit.

Your best defense is a good offense and you can create a good offense by taking some preventative steps to reduce the risk of being threatened with a lawsuit according to a presentation covered by the Beaufort Gazette recently:

• Rule No. 1: Incorporate. Going alone often provides poor asset protection and poor tax benefits. Have an attorney or accountant review corporate records once a year.

• Rule No. 2: Know the law. Ignorance is no defense, and in fact it’s a good way to get sued. Small-business owners should particularly focus on employment and tax laws. Good record-keeping and proactive tax planning are key.

• Rule No. 3: Maintain adequate insurance. Conducts an “insurance physical” every few years. Business owners should be aware that it’s possible to be over-insured. Employment-practices liability insurance can help businesses respond to claims of employment discrimination.

• Rule No. 4: Manage fairly and wisely. Business owners should beware of falsified résumés, have detailed job descriptions, tackle poor performance early and consistently enforce policies.

• Rule No. 5: Prohibit harassment. A 2007 Texas case indicates “some male supervisors are still truly clueless.” Case in point:

A male director of nursing was accused of quizzing female employees about their sex lives two to three times a week in front of other employees, including asking them if they took men home the previous night. When the women asked him to stop, he threatened to fire them.

At trial, he admitted he was questioning the women this way because he thought that if they had a lot of sexual activity the night before, it would affect their work performance because they would be tired — that’s what he said. I can’t believe this case even went to trial. The jury awarded each woman $7,500.

• Rule No. 6: Catch and correct wage and hour violations. Failure to pay overtime is “the new food for plaintiffs’ attorneys.” Since 2003, federal court filings involving wage actions have surpassed employment discrimination cases, and settlements have reached into the tens of millions of dollars.

• Rule No. 7: Be careful with independent contractors. Conduct regular reviews of independent contractor classifications and careful consideration of how much control business owners have over contractors.

• Rule No. 8: Watch out for workers’ compensation claims. Adequate training and maintaining a drug-free workplace can prevent accidents. If they do occur, immediately reporting claims and having a return to work commitment helps. Signs of possible fraud include claims by a disgruntled or new employee, an employee on leave who is difficult to contact, or accidents to which there are no witnesses.

• Rule No. 9: Hire an attorney. Interview several before making a selection, and hold regular meetings to compare case progress with budget constraints and requiring authorization for expenses exceeding $200.

• Rule No. 10: Document, document, document. Keep tax-related records for at least eight years, employee records for the term of employment, plus five years, and shred papers before disposal.

SmallBusinessNewz.com also has prepared this short video clip with a few more tips the keep you “out of the the dog house.”

Posted in Finance and Accounting | No Comments »

10 Totally Free Blogging (among other things) Guides…Totally!

March 21st, 2008

There’s no question anymore as to whether or not blogging is beneficial to businesses–it IS. Wait. Allow me to rephrase…GOOD blogging is beneficial to businesses. If you run your blog poorly, it becomes a waste of your time as well as the time of your readers (dare I say customers?) and no one likes to be inconvenienced, especially not consumers. I know, I know…nothing you don’t already know.

Well, if you have decided not to pursue blogging due to time, money and/or resource constraints then I suppose you needn’t read on. But if you do run a company blog and are looking to make it worth your while, by all means, check out these 10 completely free guides to building a better blog courtesy chrisg.com:

1. The Blogger’s Guide to SEO - Written by Aaron Wall of SEOBook, learn how to optimize your blog.

2. Remarkablogger’s How to Start A Business Blog - 12 Step Business Blogging eBook

3. “Attention Age”- Web 2.0 Marketing by Rich Schefren

4. Forget Everything You Know About Making Money Online - Brian Clark’s free ebook shows you how to forget everything you know about making money … and start making some.

5. Blog Profits Blueprint - ebook about how to make money with a blog.

6. SEO Benefits of Press Releases - optimizing your web page with good content.

7. Authority Black Book - Social Media Marketing ebook.

8. Deep Secrets of Successful Blogging - Chitika’s ebook…also links to the BlogBash ebook.

9. Keyword Research for Bloggers - the title says it all!

10. The 4 Phases of Internet Marketing - This report provides you an overview of all the tactics you should be looking at building into your internet marketing strategy.

Do you find these helpful? Let me know so I can either keep trying to find similar resources or move on to different ones. Also feel free too add your suggestions to the list!

Posted in E-Commerce and E-Business | 1 Comment »

New My Account Launch!

March 20th, 2008

Great news for goWholesale advertisers - we’ve launched some major account upgrades, which will not only make your goWholesale campaigns easier to manage, but also provide you with additional features to help you get the most from advertising on goWholesale!

Ad Groups streamline your campaigns and make it easier to manage your bids and ads.
Daily budgeting gives you tighter control over your campaign spend.
The new Keyword Insertion Tool helps to improve the quality of your ad copy and make it more compelling to buyers by automatically inserting your keywords into your ads.
Ad Scheduling lets you decide the times or days you want to display your ads.

There are 3 ways for you to learn more about these upgrades:

Check out our Help Center for a list of FAQs to give you a better understanding of new account features and tools.
Take a quick Flash tour of your new account.
Call us! An account representative will be happy to walk you through your account and show you everything it has to offer.

This is a beta launch, and we want to know what you think - suggestions, comments, bugs - so we’ve created a special Advertiser Feedback Form specifically for your…well, feedback.

Want to talk to a live person? Just give us a call at 877-566-4849 and select option 2. You can also email us at support@gowholesale.com.

Posted in Announcements, Campaign Optimization Tips | No Comments »

The Counterfeit Crisis

March 18th, 2008

There is quite a lengthy article on the Modern Distribution Management website that explores one of the biggest problems the wholesale/retail industry faces — counterfeiting. It sites statistics such as “The Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau estimates counterfeiting accounts for 5 percent to 7 percent of world trade” and “most counterfeit goods (close to 95 percent) can be traced back to China, according to a report from the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition.”

While counterfeiting is not a new trade by any means, what IS new is how the development of e-commerce has aided in its proliferation. “The Internet has made it possible for people to represent themselves more readily to more people in a professional manner that makes it look like they are legitimate.” So what is the industry doing to counteract this widespread (and growing) problem?

Well, there have been many associations; national government policies; and international agreements that were formed as part of the World Trade Organization. Individually, companies can create agreements with “authorized distributors” as well as pursue legal action upon catching any counterfeiters.

What are you doing to protect yourself from fakes?

Posted in E-Commerce and E-Business | No Comments »

There’s a Pot of Gold at the End of the Legal Rainbow

March 17th, 2008

The Regulatory Flexibility Act was passed in 1980 but continues to prove that it is a valuable piece of legislation for small businesses over 2 decades later. The act is designed to make federal agencies evaluate how their regulations will impact smaller businesses and then look into how to make it easier on them economically and still comply with the regulation.

The Small Business Administration recently released a report on how the RFA did in 2007. The results showed that it has “realized $2.6 billion in first-year cost savings and $285 million in annually recurring savings.” How’s that for good news?!

For those of you who believe that the corporate world has our government wrapped around their big fat fingers, well, just remember that there is always a segment of the government devoted to making sure that small businesses survive and thrive.

And there, my friends, is your pot of gold.

(If you’d like to read the whole report, click here)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Posted in In the News | No Comments »

Snazz Up Your E-Marketing with E-Brochures

March 13th, 2008

There’s a new marketing tactic businesses are using and finding great success with. E-brochures are exactly what you think they are, with the same format, information and purpose but there are a bundle of advantages to using the online version in addition to the live one you probably already utilize. Entrepreneur.com sums them up below:

Cost effectiveness–No more guessing numbers for your print run, then winding up with too few or too many brochures. The cost of an e-brochure is fixed, whether you send out one or one million of them. Fees are based on the number of pages and any extra “bells and whistles” like video or audio. What’s more, digital distribution means you omit postage costs.

Interactivity–This can greatly boost the overall impact of your message by engaging your audience. Viewers can turn the interactive pages, view video or listen to audio with a simple click of their mouse. Better yet, they can immediately place orders or request more information by clicking on embedded links.

Customization options–E-brochures let you to target your messages to specific audiences, increasing the likelihood they’ll buy from you. Such market segmentation is much harder with printed collateral.

Easy to update and edit–You can quickly and efficiently customize your message, target your market and adapt to changes in the marketplace without re-printing a single page. Nor do you need to reprint your brochure if your offerings or price points change. Updating your e-brochure “template” is a simple and affordable editing job.

Unlimited distribution–The ability to e-mail your brochure means you can immediately and affordably respond to requests for information from anyone at any time. In fact you can instantly send your brochure to prospects around the globe and create a viral effect–one potential customer can forward it to other potential customers, which in turn can forward it to more customers and so on, at no cost to you.

Access to additional information–Your audience can quickly browse through content, zoom in on items, and print pages, all from the convenience of their home or office. You can also include a homepage link for customers who want to learn more about your business.

Tracking–With traditional printed materials, it is extremely difficult to track your ROI. Not so with e-brochures. You can track how many times your e-brochure is downloaded as well as how many orders you received from its distribution.

Environmentally friendly–Obviously, no trees are involved in the creation of an e-brochure. You won’t need any storage boxes to house extra brochures, either.

Makes your company look smart and innovative–Having an e-brochure gives the distinct impression that you’re ahead of the curve and well-positioned for the future. Customers like to do business with savvy companies who literally think outside the box.

Those are a lot of good reasons to give e-brochures a shot

Posted in Marketing Your Business | No Comments »

Small Business Assessment Tools

March 12th, 2008

The Small Business Administration is a great resource for small businesses as I’m sure you know. But with all that information, it can be a bit difficult (if not simply time consuming!) to wade through it all.

Here are a few tools that the site offers that will help you analyze where your business currently stands in terms of being prepared to start a business as well as whether you are qualified for the 8(a) Business Development Program.

These tools have only been available for 3 months now and already the SBA says over 125,000 people have used them. Hopefully you will find them helpful as well!

Posted in Small Business Resources | No Comments »

Credit Card Fair Fee Act

March 11th, 2008

For years now, consumers have enjoyed the benefits of being able to use their Visas, Mastercards, American Expresses, etc. practically anywhere there are things to buy. Consumers sign up for credit cards to pay off other credit cards and with the ease and accessibility of online shopping, the credit industry is booming.

What consumers don’t know (or didn’t) is that the cozy relationship between merchants and credit card companies, isn’t really all that cozy. Up until now, credit card companies have imposed what is called an “interchange” fee on merchants every time a consumer uses a credit or debit card to make a purchase. These fees are calculated independently by the credit card companies and are effectively hidden from the consumer who also ends up paying the fees in the form of product mark ups. The average cost per household is $350 a year. The total amount of interchange fees Visa and Mastercard collected in 2007? $42 billion.

Well, now congress is involved and things are looking up for merchants and consumers alike. Last week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich. introduced the Credit Card Fair Fee Act. This proposed legislation according to the National Retail Federation website (who is, in fact, leading the campaign for the approval of this legislation):

“The Conyers bill would require credit card systems possessing “substantial market power” to negotiate with merchants to reach a voluntary agreement on credit card terms and conditions. If an agreement cannot be reached, both sides would be required to submit to binding arbitration by a three-judge panel appointed by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission.

The arbitration proceedings would take place with a limited 60-day discovery period and other statutory deadlines, and the judges would be required to apply a market standard reflecting a perfectly competitive system where neither side had market power. Terms and conditions set by the panel would be in effect for three years, at which time the process would repeat itself. Both sides would receive limited immunity from antitrust laws in order to participate in the process.

The legislation requires that terms and conditions set under the process be available to any merchant regardless of size, industry or location. Individual merchants or groups of merchants would remain free to negotiate voluntary arrangements with credit card companies and their banks.”

The legislation is coming about in response to a hearing in July 2007 where the NRF argued that the credit card interchange fees violate antitrust laws. If it goes through, consumers and businesses alike could see an impact on how much money they save. Stay tuned…

Posted in Finance and Accounting, In the News | No Comments »

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