Last week, Google introduced some new features in search results that make search more social and tie in with its Google+ social network. This latest change is called Search Plus Your World. The new features will display personal results in the SERPs, mostly from the Google+ network. Search Plus Your World is available to users who are signed in to Google and searching on https://www.google.com in English. The following features will now be integrated into your search results: People, Pages, and Profiles.

Google says it wants to enable its search engine to not only understand content, but also people and relationships, making it more social. Below is a brief description of the three new features.

1. Personal Results: Lets you find information that’s only relevant to you, such as Google+ photos and posts. You will see your own and those shared specifically with you.

2. Profiles in Search: Available in autocomplete and results, this feature enables you to immediately find people you’re interested in.

3. People and Pages: This helps you find people profiles and Google+ pages related to a specific topic, enabling you to follow them with just a few clicks.

These results will contain data from the Google+ network rather than Facebook or Twitter. Google says the reason for this is due to their terms of service with social networks like Facebook and Twitter that do not allow them to crawl those networks deeply. However, Google is open to crawling other networks in the future. Below are some examples of what you can do with the new features.

Personal Results: Say you’re in the market for a big ticket item and want to know what experience others had with various brands. Of course, you can search the web; but who can you trust? That’s why most people prefer to learn what their friends think. Here’s what you can find with Search Plus Your World.

• Google+ posts. You can find relevant Google+ posts from friends talking about the car they just bought, or a home entertainment console. You’ll likely find links shared by your friend talking about their buying experience with various brands.
• Photos. You might find great photos of your friends’ car or some other product right in your search results page. You can also find your own private photos from Google+ and Picasa, based on captions, comments and album titles.

Google+ Profiles in Search: Google states in its blog: “Every day, there are hundreds of millions of searches for people. Sometimes, it’s hard to find the person you’re looking for. Once you do find him or her, there’s no quick way for you to actually interact. Starting today, you’ll have meaningful ways to connect with people instantly, right from the search results.”

When you type the first few letters of a person’s name, Google autocompletes it and displays their own search results page, which includes their Google+ profile page and “other relevant web results.” Once you’ve found the person you’re looking for, you can see every single web result for them, excluding others with the same name.

People & Pages: If you search for a topic like [music] or [soccer], you might see prominent people who frequently discuss this topic on Google+ appearing on the right-hand side of the results page. You can connect with them on Google+, strike up meaningful conversations and discover entire communities in ways that simply weren’t possible before.

Control: You can control your results on Google Plus Your World with a prominent new toggle in the upper right of the SERPs where you can see what your search results look like with or without personal content. By clicking the toggle, users can view search plus your world results or non-personalized results.

Security: Last, but not least, Google says it sets a high bar for Search Plus Your World when it comes to security and privacy by providing SSL encryption. Therefore, when you’re signed in to Google, your search results, including your private content, are protected by the same high standards of encryption as your Gmail messages.

Email marketing has been around since the early days of the Internet and is still one of the most popular and cost-effective ways to reach your wholesale customers and prospects. While some may believe email is strictly a direct response marketing tactic, think again. Email campaigns can extend beyond sales and conversions into branding with customer conversations, feedback and customer engagement.

Once you have permission, you can communicate with your customers about your products and services while giving them the option to unsubscribe if they so wish. That means you can send them coupons, sale notifications and other promotional emails in addition to the transactional emails they receive when buying your products or services. Since email is free, a few examples of keeping in touch with customers are:

• Thank you for your order
• Confirmation of shipment
• Confirmation of receipt
• Information about orders/returns
• Request feedback on products or service
• Customer success stories
• Happy birthday

There are many ways to keep in touch with unobtrusive emails that maintain a good relationship with your customers and remind them that your wholesale company appreciates their business. These email messages provide the opportunity for your customers and prospects to form an opinion of your brand. Well-executed email campaigns that do not solicit sales go a long way toward improving your company’s image.

Another great way to brand your wholesale business is to create a company newsletter that informs on product news, trends and styles. Try to anticipate what your customers want to know and then create that type of content. For instance, clothing, accessories and jewelry wholesalers can research the latest styles and trends each season, publishing information on those topics. Your content might even become so popular that you can sell a few text ads to brand suppliers in your newsletter. Just remember to give customers something they care about so they don’t delete or unsubscribe.

You can monitor the opens, clicks, traffic, blog comments, etc., to see what resonates with your readers. When it comes to frequency, there is no hard and fast rule. Publish as often as you can provide valuable content. A suggested frequency is once a month, but if you can’t, publish quarterly. Be consistent and announce the frequency ahead of time. If you publish industry news regularly like we do at TopTenWholesale, you might want to send your newsletter out every two weeks.

Yet another great idea is to create a members’ club offering exclusive discounts or promotions to your email list subscribers. You can make them feel special by creating unique offers that make customers feel appreciated and part of an exclusive club.

Lastly, don’t forget to continually solicit new email addresses wherever you can. You can solicit email subscriptions to your newsletter through different media: in your email sig, on social media, on your website or on your business card. Make it easy for customers to subscribe. Once they give you their address, you have the opportunity to communicate directly with potential and existing buyers. That’s the beauty of email marketing – so take full advantage of it to build your wholesale brand.

Shopping by smartphone has grown significantly over the past year, and that means general merchandise vendors can take advantage of creating compelling mobile emails for their subscribers. The tips below can help B2B marketers put together mobile emails designed specifically for smartphones that can help boost conversions.

In May 2011, the Nielsen Company reported 38 percent of U.S. mobile phone owners use smartphones, and usage is up from 29.7 percent in October 2010. Another study done by ExactTarget in May 2011 indicates most smartphone subscribers take advantage of the phone’s email capabilities:

• 53% check email several times a day
• 29% check email throughout the day
• 66% check at least once a day

Furthermore, email was found to be the most effective conversion tool, as 55 percent of respondents took action based on emails received on their smartphones. The survey also found other communication methods were not as effective:

• 41% took action based on text messages
• 35% took action based on Facebook recommendations
• 32% took action based on shopping apps

Despite the above consumer preferences, not many B2B marketers have created mobile marketing campaigns for their email audience. Most of them are challenged by the constraints of the small mobile touch screen. However, they are not exploiting the unique opportunities available from the anytime-anywhere access of mobile subscribers. Below are some tips to help B2B marketers create mobile emails for a growing mobile audience.

Understand Your Smartphone Audience. Mobile emails are naturally suited to some audiences but not others. Estimate what portion of your audience reads your emails on a mobile device by tracking pertinent data. To realize ROI, you need to weigh the value of that portion of your audience. Also note the portion of your smartphone users that are repeat buyers, which account for the majority of a firm’s revenue. If so, then the straight percentage of users may not be your only criteria. You must consider the total value of that population to your business.

Plan Your Mobile Email Campaign. Even if very few of your subscribers currently access email with smartphones, the growth trend indicates this will change.

• Look at the content, purpose and goal of your messages. Some emails will be very useful for people on the go, such as daily coupon deals that don’t require printing.

• Review mobile design principles. Many times, you can use the same version of your emails for both desktop and mobile. However, you must ensure your message will render well on both smartphones and desktops.

• You don’t need to create separate versions for different types of smartphones. Find a common denominator and deliver a version that works across all devices.

Expand Your Mobile Email List. Few marketers use mobile capture to grow their lists. Expanding your email strategy to use mobile allows you to expand your email list to a smartphone audience. Whether you are a restaurant, retail store or entertainment venue, people respond to a call-to-action when they are at a specific location interacting with the brand. Smartphones let you exploit that.

Adjust Layout for the Small Screen. Your goal is to simplify usability. You don’t want to make your smartphone subscribers zoom in or scroll to read your text. You also don’t want them struggling to get to your landing page because their finger can’t hit the right link. Below are a few things you can do to make things easier for mobile subscribers:

• Use a single column of text. While 320 pixels are often recommended, 450-500 can also be used with good results.
• Increase font size, usually 16-18 pixels for body text, and 21 or 22 for headlines.
• Leave enough space around buttons and links for a finger to tap them without hitting the wrong one.

It’s important to apply design principles and create compelling content to get conversions. If your mobile email is compelling enough to engage a reader, then the landing page or point of sale must also be easy for a user to read and use. Test your mobile emails on as many mobile devices as possible before sending to your audience.

Adjust Content for the Mobile Environment. People reading email on their smartphones are likely to be in the midst of other activities. Email can be filling a gap while they wait in line or when they take a break from their main activity. Take this context into consideration when creating content.

Tighten the focus and the copy in your mobile emails. Don’t try to accomplish too much in one email; stick to one idea, concept or offer. Crisp writing is always desirable, and it is mandatory when addressing a mobile audience. Convey only what is essential. Keep messages short, succinct and appropriate for the small screen.

The subject line and ‘from’ field are very important. Since mobile email apps don’t allow a preview, the subject line and the ‘from’ field must get a reader’s attention with a total of 60 characters.

Succinctness is important in the subject line. Your first 35 characters are those that show up across most mobile devices. The key to the ‘from’ field is don’t get it wrong. You want it to meet your subscriber’s expectations. Some companies send emails from a specific person so the ‘from’ field doesn’t show the company name, only the person’s name. However, if it’s not familiar to your audience, it can work against you.

In closing, smartphone shoppers have grown exponentially over the past year, and general merchandise vendors can take advantage of creating compelling mobile emails for their subscribers. B2B marketers can follow the above tips to put together mobile emails designed specifically for smartphones to help boost conversions.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project just came out with a mini-study stating that 83 percent of all American adults own a cell phone. Of these, 42 percent own a smartphone. That translates into 35 percent of all adults owning smartphones.

You can imagine what this means for online merchants and retailers in terms of their paid search and SEO programs. Since smartphones have a small screen, only the top ad positions will be seen for paid and organic listings. That means these merchants need to get their websites optimized for mobile in time for the holiday season.

When reviewing stats of the last two years’ mobile shopping patterns, Google found a statistic they describe as a “double-peak” on mobile devices. The first mobile query peak occurred around “Black Friday,” and the second one occurred the “last weekend before Christmas.”

Google found that mobile queries increased from 2009 to 2010 in much the same pattern, and they predict there will be greater volume this year, following the same double-peak pattern described above.

Google and other researchers have found that people doing searches for products and store locations on mobile phones are more likely than others without these devices to go into the store and make a purchase.

We reported research recently on the TopTenWholesale Blog indicating that consumers browse on their smartphones; however, when it comes to making a purchase, they use their tablets rather than smartphones because of the larger display with more detailed product information.

According to data from a 2011 AdMob survey, 65 percent of respondents said they used their smartphones to find a business, and then made a purchase at the store in person. There is plenty of data that backs up the theory that people use their mobiles to search and they buy in the store.

Getting back to the upcoming holiday season, AdMob research found that both smartphone and tablet users intend to start their shopping on mobile devices before Thanksgiving this year.

Using the above information, retailers can get ready for all the people who will do the better part of their holiday shopping on mobile devices, smartphones and tablets. Tablet users have been found to be more engaged and to spend more than any other type of online shoppers.

Online retailers and merchants must optimize their websites for smartphones and tablets using HTML5 and creating apps and landing pages. When it comes to paid search, Google made an important announcement that the phone numbers in paid search ads will now be clickable. Clicks on a phone number in your ads will be charged at the same rate as a click to your website. For more details, you can read the announcement on the Google blog.

For all retailers and online merchants that still do not have an optimized mobile presence: there is still time to get this done before the holidays.

 Forum Publishing has been connecting wholesalers and retailers with their trade magazines and directories since 1981. As a result, the organizers of the New York Value Merchandise Expo will be honoring their dedication and service to the industry during their September trade show at the Javits Convention Center in New York City.

Martin Stevens, CEO of Forum Publishing, shared with us the significance of this award. “Our company started in 1981, long before the computer and even the fax machine, to help flea market vendors and independent store owners source merchandise to grow their businesses. We have come a long way since our humble beginnings, and it is humbling to be recognized for our efforts over the last three decades,” said Stevens.

The ceremony will be taking place at 5pm September 11th, and there is an open invitation to all in the industry to join in. The event will take place at the Registration Area at the end of the show.

References:
Retailers Forum Magazine – www.RetailersForum.com
Value Merchandise Expo – www.vpexpo.com
Javits Convention Center – www.JavitsCenter.com

As most of you know, running an AdWords campaign can be very competitive depending on the popularity of your keywords. It can also be very confusing for small business owners (SMBs). Wouldn’t it be nice to have a tool where you could compare your campaigns to your competitors or find out what’s wrong if yours aren’t performing? There’s a new free tool that does just that and can also tell you how to improve your campaigns. This is a review of the AdWords Performance Grader, which lets you audit your PPC accounts to improve your campaign performance.

This tool is easy to use and provides the same kind of account analysis you might get from a consultant or agency. It gives you actionable insights and competitive intelligence with instant reports.

The AdWords performance tool grades your account against thousands of other AdWords accounts in the same spending range. For instance, if your monthly spend is $500, then it compares your account with other advertisers spending between $10 and $600 per month. That way, you can compare your account performance with that of other advertisers in the same spending category. It compares advertisers in different industries at the same spending level because comparing big and small spenders within the same industry is not fruitful.

Say your business falls in a competitive industry using the keyword “insurance,” where big advertisers like Geico and Progressive spend millions monthly on AdWords, whereas local insurance agents spend as little as $50 per month. Even though the large and small advertisers are in the same industry, it’s not fair to compare their performance because the big advertisers have a huge budget plus dedicated personnel and technology that ensure every possible advantage. That’s why the grading tool compares advertisers from different industries with the same average monthly spend on AdWords.

Grading Tool Key Metrics. As you know, different advertisers have different objectives such as lead generation, direct response, branding, or a combination of objectives. Additionally, advertisers employ different tactics for AdWords success. So there are many different opinions as to what the most important key performance metrics should be for an AdWords campaign. Therefore, the grading tool is set up to compare the same key metrics that Google deems important, which are:

• Quality Score
• Use of negative keywords
• Impression share
• Click-through rate
• Long-tail keyword optimization
• Account activity
• Ad text optimization
• Landing page optimization

Grading Calculations. The tool assigns your campaigns a comparative grade for each of the above metrics. For example, in the Quality Score category, it calculates your account’s average Quality Score and then compares your score against other advertisers in your spending range. If you have the highest Quality Score in the group, you get 100%. A score of 51% means that you’ve doing better than over half of the other accounts in your spending range for that metric. Your overall account score is based on how you did in all of the different categories compared to the other accounts in your spending range.

Your Account Data. The company claims it doesn’t save your AdWords account credentials. In order to analyze your account performance, it must download several AdWords reports. The grader stores some aggregated statistics about your account, like your average Quality Score, in order to make the relative rankings accurate. However, that information is not shared, sold or used for any purpose other than for providing your relative score.

In conclusion, the AdWords Performance Grader is free and can help SMBs fine tune their AdWords campaigns for better performance. What’s not to like?

With 87 percent wireless penetration in the United States, wholesalers and retailers can both gain by using mobile marketing to reach their customers and prospects. SMS (short message service) is one of the most effective mobile marketing channels in the advertising realm. That’s because of its simplicity, widespread adoption and extensive reach. All cell phones can receive SMS, which means you can reach 5 billion subscribers worldwide – a great way for wholesale and retail merchants to reach their target market.

ABI Research estimated consumers worldwide will send over 7 trillion SMS messages in 2011. According to Nielsen Mobile, the average consumer sends 600 messages per month and uses less than 200 voice minutes. On top of that, 22.7 percent of the U.S. population uses wireless rather than landline phones. When you look at the fact that over 90 percent of text messages are opened and read, versus less than 40 percent of email solicitation messages read, you can see that mobile marketing is a great opportunity.

Wholesalers and retailers can use SMS in the following ways:

• Reach customers who don’t have smartphones
• Reach your customers for retention and loyalty programs
• Acquire new customers
• Drive sales through coupons and discounts

Here’s how SMS campaigns work. Mobile subscribers use a Common Short Code (a 5 or 6 digit carrier-approved number) to send SMS messages in order to receive promotions, alerts and other content on their devices. This enables them to access mobile applications and participate in various activities such as: customer feedback, voting and polling, news and offer alerts, contests, surveys, games, couponing, direct marketing and mobile commerce. Short code campaigns are rapidly growing in popularity because of their simplicity and easy access to consumers. Mobile coupons, incidentally, get a 10 to 20 percent higher conversion rate than print coupons.

Setting Up an SMS Campaign. There are three types of SMS campaigns you can use: text blasting (bulk messaging), keyword response and smart texting.

Text blasting/bulk messaging involves a single message is sent to a group of users. Systems that offer bulk messaging functionality usually have an address book that stores names and phone numbers to create groups of recipients.

In most countries, it’s illegal to send unsolicited text messages. Therefore, it’s important to create and maintain your list of phone numbers to text with care, knowing who has opted in and that they may later opt out. This is important because most people will not tolerate unauthorized use of their phone number. Service providers have tools to help you manage opt-outs, and some stand-alone software has default opt-out rules.

Keyword response involves an automated reply sent to all incoming messages containing a specific keyword. For example, if you requested a response that requires texting the words “I accept” to a mobile phone number, the response would be “Thanks for texting! You’ve accepted our free trial. We’ll send you the software in 24 hours.” This is a good way to gain leads for future sales, but you must follow up on every message.

Smart texting is an advanced form of keyword response where an incoming text message triggers a complex interaction that could involve requesting further information from the user. For example, you might ask a consumer to text the word “Report” to describe the report they want among many offered. It could be something like “Report SEO for Retailers.” The response could be, “Thanks for requesting the report SEO for Retailers! Do you want it sent electronically or postal mail? If so send address by return.” The report could then be sent as requested.

Commercial Service Providers. There are many commercial providers that offer bulk SMS services. Some offer international service with local numbers (in the case of incoming SMS) to many countries, while others cover a specific country. Message costs vary, and sometimes there is also a monthly subscription cost. Commercial providers can provide a simple setup in addition to other services such as free web-based or desktop management tools; a technical helpline is often provided at no cost.

Conclusion. Mobile marketing and SMS are very attractive promotional channels for many reasons. SMS mobile marketing is particularly effective because these brief messages can deliver personal, immediate and actionable content to a targeted audience that has opted to receive such messages. Additionally, research indicates mobile coupons get a 10 to 20 percent higher conversion rate than print coupons. Lastly, there is significantly less clutter in the SMS channel from too many brands using it at this point.

As wholesalers and general merchandise suppliers know, word of mouth is a powerful thing. When buyers have a choice to make, they like to turn to their friends and colleagues because they trust the people they know. On the web, word of mouth has become “word of click.” Similar to the Facebook “like” button, Google +1 provides suggestions from friends and colleagues by showing recommendations online in the form of +1s in the SERPs. It’s faster and simpler than getting the good word in conversations around the water cooler. Soon, Google +1 will also be seen on Google AdWords ads.

With the +1 button, Google made it easier for people to get recommendations in the SERPs from the people they know while they’re actually searching. We first wrote about that in “Wholesalers Benefit with Google +1 on Product Pages.” With a single click, the +1 button lets Google users recommend the content they like on the web to their friends when it’s most useful − on the SERPs (if they’re signed in).

In the coming weeks, Google will provide +1 buttons users can click to recommend Google AdWords ads. Just think how much more powerful your ads can become in search results. You don’t need to make any changes to your account to take advantage of Google +1 on ads. The final landing page URL of your ads can also appear on the Google profile of any user who +1’s your ad.

Here’s How the +1 Button Works on Ads
Inside Google AdWords shows the following example for a hypothetical hotel in Madrid. The example says Brian had a lovely stay at this hotel and then started researching accommodations for his next trip to Spain. If Brian searched on Google while signed into his Google account, he would see the Grand Hotel’s ad and presumably click the +1 button on the ad to recommend it to his contacts.

Subsequently when Brian’s friend Kate plans her trip to Spain and signs in to her Google account, she inputs a query and also sees the Grand Hotel ad – plus the personalized annotation that Brian +1’d it. Presumably, Brian’s recommendation of this hotel helps Kate decide where to stay in Spain.

So that’s how the +1 button works. Think of it as a way for fans of your business to recommend the products you offer for all their friends and contacts to see. Google believes +1 can help you get more qualified traffic from your ads because searchers will be exposed to more personal, relevant ads. You can also add the +1 button to your website to give your customers the opportunity to +1 your site after having visited.

Wholesalers can get more information about how +1 for ads works at the AdWords Help Center. Wholesalers can get complete information and watch a video about adding the +1 button to their website at Google Webmaster Central.

Google just introduced a new tool that can help wholesalers and general merchandise suppliers with reputation management, adding another social layer to its search services. The tool is called Me on the Web and allows anyone with a Google account to monitor their personal information on the web by creating email alerts that are delivered as soon as the information is found by the Google search bot.

Me on the Web is now a part of the Google dashboard, appearing under account information. Here, you can set up search alerts for your data very quickly without having to go to the alerts setup section. Alerts can be set up for your name, email address and other information, like a web address. From the dashboard, you can also click links for information on How to manage your online identity, How to remove unwanted content and About Me on the Web.

The post on Google’s Public Policy blog says Me on the Web is supposed to help users manage what others say about them online. It also indicated this new service supports three types of data use: unidentified, pseudonymous and identified, with each mode having its own particular user benefits (quotes below from Google’s Public Policy Blog).

“Unidentified. Sometimes you want to use the web without having your online activity tied to your identity, or even a pseudonym—for example, when you’re researching a medical condition or searching for that perfect gift for a special someone. When you’re not logged into your Google Account (or if you never signed up for one), that’s how you’ll be using our services. While we need to keep information like IP addresses and cookies to provide the service, we don’t link that information to an individual account when you are logged out.

“Pseudonymous. Using a pseudonym has been one of the great benefits of the Internet, because it has enabled people to express themselves freely—they may be in physical danger, looking for help, or have a condition they don’t want people to know about. People in these circumstances may need a consistent identity, but one that is not linked to their offline self. You can use pseudonyms to upload videos in YouTube or post to Blogger.

“Identified. There are many times you want to share information with people and have them know who you really are. Some products such as Google Checkout rely on this type of identity assurance and require that you identify yourself to use the service. There may be other times when it’s more desirable to be identified than not, for example if you want to be part of a community action project you may ask, “How do I know these other people I see online really are community members?”

Me on the Web uses the existing Google Alerts service that sends emails to users whenever their requested search query is found by the Google bot. However, you can request Me on the Web alerts directly from the Google Dashboard, which is much easier than requesting an alert.

Google cautions that users should know what mode they’re in when using Me on the Web and other Google services. They recently updated the top navigation bar (upper right hand corner) in many Google services, indicating to users whether they are signed in or signed out.

While Google doesn’t specifically mention it, Me on the Web can also be used to fight against online vigilantism, where a person or a community attempts to expose individuals or malign their reputation. We’ve seen some recent examples of this in politics and in other personal attacks – some genuine and some non-genuine with devastating effects.

Even though Me on the Web concerns privacy, Google says it is not another privacy setting, it simply is a way of providing “the freedom to be who you want to be.” The tool is particularly timely, since privacy issues are a political hot potato. Currently, legislators are considering new laws to protect users in view of the many Internet privacy invasions that have spread online, like the recent furor over implementation of Facebook’s photo recognition technology.

We gave wholesalers and general merchandise suppliers a heads up about Google +1 in April, and now the Google Blog is offering +1 buttons that can be placed on any web page via a short code snippet. While the code and button is supported in over 40 languages, the +1 activity is only showing on English-language search results on Google.com at the moment. Eventually, Google plans to expand +1 globally.

Google is rolling out the +1 button for English-language search results on Google.com. If you want to be able to +1 search results and search ads sooner, you can opt in through Google’s experimental search site. However, you must be signed into your Google Account to see recommendations from your friends and contacts in Google search.

Google +1 buttons across the web will make it easy for you to recommend content to your friends and business colleagues. Google believes this will make search results more helpful and relevant.

Add +1 to Your Web Pages
You can get the +1 button code and learn all about implementation on Google’s +1 webmaster site. Here’s how you or your webmaster can add +1 to your pages to help your site stand out. Remember, +1 buttons let users recommend content to others on Google search results.

You can also watch a video to learn more about the +1 button and the advanced options. Note that if you install the button on your site right away, it might only show up when you and your visitors are both logged in to your respective Google accounts. But that is only temporary, and eventually, the buttons should be visible to all whether logged in or not.

As you have probably noticed, the +1 idea is similar to the Facebook Like button. The Like button has become the defacto means of sharing what is liked on the web.

Does +1 Impact SEO?
When +1 first launched on Google’s search results, the company said it would consider +1 click data “as a potential signal to improve search quality.” The +1 button FAQ explains this further as shown below:

Question: “Does +1 affect my site’s performance in search?”

Answer: “Content recommended by friends and acquaintances is often more relevant than content from strangers. For      example, a movie review from an expert is useful, but a movie review from a friend who shares your tastes can be even better. Because of this, +1’s from friends and contacts can be a useful signal to Google when determining the relevance of your page to a user’s query. This is just one of many signals Google may use to determine a page’s relevance and ranking, and we’re constantly tweaking and improving our algorithm to improve overall search quality. For +1′s, as with any new ranking signal, we’ll be starting carefully and learning how those signals affect search quality.”

While you don’t need to rush to get the +1 button immediately, it would definitely be to the advantage of general merchandise suppliers to get +1 buttons for product recommendations fairly soon.

The first thing to do is install the Alexa toolbar to IE or Firefox, in order to maximize the count from clicks from the toolbar. This can be further enhanced by setting the toolbar’s home page as your own home page, since the click counts go up every time you launch the application, or even refresh the page. However, this is not a step to abuse; it’s becoming harder every day to “fool” Google and other major search engines into believing that a page gets unique visitors with every click.

Try placing an Alexa widget on your website or blog, because every visit to the site will count as a click, and it helps overall page rankings when your page rank invariably goes up, and more visitors learn about your site through the increased exposure. It all works organically, and the results can be exponential in growth, if the content is engaging and useful to visitors.

Encourage others within your network and circle of friends to use the toolbar, and be especially conscious of giving instructions on how to make the most of the app. A little helpful guidance from the start, will pay off handsomely in the end.

Use social media to gain more coverage, and apply some strategic moves by using search-friendly names on each graphic file, and links embedded within your content, to increase effectiveness across the board.

Participate in as many forums and blogs as possible, and share your URL as well. This is not only good for organic growth through users getting to know your content on their own terms, but it also gives webmasters a chance to help you, since most of them have an Alexa toolbar installed already.

Don’t forget about China’s influence! The Chinese blogosphere and community of netizens is growing at an unprecedented pace, and if you’re able to post content in Chinese, it will do amazing things with traffic, as the user base is so enormous in East Asia.

Ask you friends to help out, by reviewing and commenting on your site. The increased interest in your site through active discussions and commentaries will boost visibility quite a bit, and produce results that are measurable.

Post those blogs, and get your name out there! Alexa can be used to track and measure the amount of traffic your site generates, and it’s also good for letting webmasters and users alike show interest in your content, by learning about the various ways you can improve rankings.

Take a shot at Pay Per Click (PPC) operations, to boost visibility even further. Buying ads on sites like Google or Yahoo, for example, will bring huge traffic, and it’s made even more beneficial if it relates to webmasters.

A super-visible, well displayed ad placed with a powerful search-based site like TopTenWholesale.com will give Alexa all it needs to make your site stand out. This will drive lots of webmaster traffic to your website, which will definitely improve your Alexa rank as well, so build an advertorial and marketing budget that includes buying banners and links for traffic from webmaster forums and websites.

Ralph Lauren knows it, and others in the industry are following suit. In terms of raw profitability, the company’s trade activity – according to a team of analysts at Citigroup – recently upgraded extended shares of Polo Ralph Lauren Corp from a “hold” rating, to a “buy” rating. This was the memo that was passed around in a research note to investors on Tuesday, January 4th. At this time, the clothing retailer and manufacturing giant now has a $138.00 price target on the stock.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for companies who have been surging upwards and downwards for months, with a big finish at the end of 2010 that left many of them gasping for air. In China, the effects of such a sales frenzy were visibly more impactful, as shoppers in major Chinese cities kept the ball rolling for an extra three weeks, as they celebrated the Spring Festival, a national holiday that is characterized by massive consumer spending that rivals anything the western world has produced with the big Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas rush.

Wholesalers and everyone else even remotely affiliated with them, have begun digging themselves in for an all-out assault in the coming weeks, with trade shows and events scheduled for the new season’s debut. Thousands upon thousands of people from virtually every country with an economy will be wearing a path around the hottest exhibits, as wholesale clothing manufacturers and wholesalers put their best on display for review.

The Off Price Show in Las Vegas is on such an event, with this year’s expected turnout exceeding the year before. Located at the Sands Expo and Convention Center during February 11-14, 2011, the show has proven itself to be a real must-see for anyone who is interested in knowing what the competition is up to, and what the current strategies are in all corners of the world, to promote and move merchandise in large volume.

Over 12,000 apparel buyers are expected to attend as well, and that means big opportunities for the ones who are there to establish relationships and connect with the influential members of their large and diverse community.

One market that is gaining a noteworthy level of attention this year is the maternal and mother’s category of clothes. Since mothers are always looking to find clothes that are practical and stylish at the same time, there has been a growing need for clothes that represent good value, instead of simply focusing upon the “bling” imagery of years past. With exhibitors watching the trends closely, we can expect to see a host of new fashions that mirror this sensibility at the show, as well as the usual array of hot and trendy clothes that everyone has come to expect from major venues.

On the other side of things, the theme of cultural and social awareness is a prevailing message that has reached a climax this year, as everything from political and economic events have caused consumers to take pause, and consider the deeper ramifications of their purchasing decisions.

Companies that are following this trend have realized that equally important as displaying goods and showing their best prices, is a need to demonstrate to buyers that their products will also enhance a company’s image with the consumer public, as well. Through programs that range from simple donations to full-blown sponsorship parter campaigns, Wholesale Clothing inds itself in a position to do more than simply garner profits and make cash; it also has the power to make change.

You should be using LinkedIn to increase your business network’s reach, exposing your brand and marketing yourself as an expert in your field.  When you do these three things successfully, vendors, customers and business partners will come to you.

Neilson Online called LinkedIn, “The world’s largest audience of affluent, influential professionals” with over 80 million users in more than 200 countries.  The user base for LinkedIn is highly educated and highly paid; the average household income of a LinkedIn user is about $108,000 per year.  What’s more, more than 20% of LinkedIn users are senior level executives and managers.

Create a Personal Profile

Like Facebook, users create a profile page that gives an overview of your work experience, areas of expertise and education.  LinkedIn connections can “recommend” you by writing a testimonial to be displayed on your page for all viewers to see.

Your history doesn’t need to read like a resume, but should include the titles you’ve held and the companies that you’ve started or worked for.

Connect with Others

The purpose of Social Media is to create connections.  LinkedIn allows users to search their email contacts for real world connections that already use LinkedIn.  When asking someone that you do not know to connect with you, look to see if you have a mutual contact and if not, send an invitation to connect.  Engaging with other users is the heart and soul of any social media network, so feel free to add connections liberally.

Take advantage of LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn allows users to connect with up to 50 groups to join conversations and interact directly with the leading experts in the desired field.  You can also create your own group and thereby creating your own community of followers.  This will allow you to make sure that your message is heard.  The key in LinkedIn Groups is to consistently create and distribute content.

Use LinkedIn Answers

LinkedIn works the same way as Yahoo! Answers or Quora in that you can ask questions to the general population of users, or you can contribute to the community by answering questions that others have asked.  LinkedIn Answers is a great place to brand yourself, increase exposure and establish yourself as an expert.

Social Networking has become as integral to the future of the internet as search.  The way that you brand yourself online will go a long ways towards your virtual reputation and leader in your industry.

Please feel free to add me as a connection on LinkedIn.

Flea markets are a great place to resell liquidation goods because they are by definition, a place where consumers go to find great deals in everyday items. The concentration of buyers looking for cheap alternatives to department store products makes flea markets an excellent place to move a large amount of inventory consistently; but a flea market table alone won’t make the sales for you. While there are hundreds of things you can do to increase your profits, here are some ideas that once implemented, can greatly increase the number of products you sell and the profits you’ll see.

1. Research the flea market where you plan to sell. Schedule a visit before you source your merchandise and find out what other vendors are selling. Once you know what your competition is like, you will be better equipped to source the right merchandise. You want to sell merchandise that fits within the scope of what is sold at that flea market, but won’t have too much competition that might take away from your business. (For example, if it is a flea market that sells primarily clothing and shoes, try purchasing some fashion accessories that could differentiate you from the competition while still being relevant. Or, try to source branded clothing and branded shoes to offer the more in-demand versions of what other vendors are selling).

2. Check for any limitations the flea market places on the type of goods you can sell or the number of sellers allowed to sell a particular product category. Some markets put a cap on the number of vendors of item x that can be present. In order to avoid being turned away on the day you set up your merchandise, make sure you fall within their quota on whatever you choose to sell.

3. Avoid large and heavy items (like furniture for instance). It is heavy and difficult for you to transport to the flea market and set up, and probably even more difficult for your customers to haul away. You are likely to have better luck with smaller, lighter items that can be easily carried out.

4. When sourcing product, make sure you go after assorted lots. Single-item lots are great for store sales but less so for flea markets. If you end up with too many of one item, you risk finding yourself with a lot of excess inventory to move. If you purchase mixed lots, you are more likely to find buyers for a larger variety of items and you won’t have much excess left over.

5. If you do end up with excessive inventory of one kind of item, don’t despair – use those items as promotional giveaways. Let’s say you bought cosmetics and clothing to sell, but you ended up with way too many of one kind of lipstick in the cosmetic lot. Put up a sign on your stand that says “buy a t-shirt and get a lipstick free.” You will entice more customers to stop and buy, all the while moving that excess inventory.

6. Track your sales and know where you stand at the end of each day. Keep a simple notebook with you and mark down the items sold and at what price, or use your cellphone or laptop if you want to do it digitally. You will then be able to back track and compare your sales to your purchase price to determine your overall profits. As you move forward, you’ll be able to see which product categories sold best and what items you should focus on in the future.

7. Have some knowledge about the products you are selling. Spend some time researching the items before you price them in order to make sure they are competitive with the other items offered at the flea market. Take some time to visit other vendors and see what price they are selling items for.

8. Display and merchandise your goods attractively. Lay them out nicely on the table and keep valuable or smaller pieces closer to you to avoid theft.

9. Offer merchandise instead of discounts whenever possible. Put in place “Buy 2 Get 1 Free” type promotions to help you move more inventory.

10. Try to increase the average purchase amount by offering volume discounts for bulk purchases. For instance, “1 for $10, 3 for $25!”

GazoPa is a similar image search service in open beta by Hitachi that can be very useful for clothing manufacturers and buyers, as well. People can search images from the web based on their own photos, drawings, web images and keywords. GazoPa enables users to search for a similar image from characteristics such as a color or a shape extracted from the image itself.

While there are so many illustrations on the web, images cannot always be described by keywords. Since GazoPa uses image features to search for other similar images, a vast range of images can be retrieved from the web. This next generation similar image search engine also allows users to search for stock photos, to upload an image, or even to draw an image in order to search for similar items.

With the large number of fashion products available on the Internet, it isn’t easy to quickly browse and compare fashion products, especially when you’re a retail fashion buyer. Therefore, GazoPa integrated its similar image search technology into GazoPa Style Visual Fashion Search, which allows users to look for similar fashion products by using color and shape.

GazoPa Style Visual Fashion Search gives fashion buyers and other users a visual product search engine that enables them to easily browse and search for similar fashion items. Here, clothing manufacturers and retail buyers alike can search a multitude of different fashion product categories and filter their searches by stores, brands, main colors, sizes and prices. Currently, the women’s clothing sold on web stores such as eBay, Amazon, Etsy and ShopStyle are searchable at GazoPa Style Visual Fashion Search, and it plans to add more stores in the future.

In addition to using images on the site, GazoPa Style Visual Fashion Search allows users to upload images from their own personal computers or use images from other sites found by a plug-in tool for searching similar products. Clothing manufacturers and designers can use GazoPa Style to look for new styles or to add their own product line to the database.

GazoPa recently added stock photo search to its search results pages which allows users to search by keywords for stock photos. Currently, the stock photos are from Shutterstock, but the company promises to add new sources to its database soon.

Another recently added feature is GazoPa Answers, an application that answers questions about images. The Q&A site enables users to ask questions by visually displaying photos and drawings. Users can upload several photos at a time and ask multiple-choice questions like, “Which handbag is best with this outfit?” Other users will answer to help them decide. The application can help users find answers to questions easily on a daily basis by soliciting input from an active online community.

This innovative, similar image search service is not only useful; it’s fun and exciting, as well. It is useful not only in the fashion industry, but is valuable for a wide range of users, including students. With so many questions in the world that are best answered through the use of images, GazoPa provides a great resource for a practical need.