According to the study, over 93 percent of B2B marketers use social media to market their business. That is slightly below B2C usage (95.2 percent); however, it shows a big increase since 2010 when only 88 percent of B2B marketers were using social media. In the last two years, social media has increased in importance and savvy B2B marketers have followed that trend.

How Well Does Social Media Marketing Work?

While there are challenges in measuring ROI, this report provides data about how B2B marketers are using social media, what’s working and what tools you can rely on. Below are some of the things B2B marketers listed as the major benefits of social media marketing:

• Over 56 percent acquired new business partnerships through social media (vs. 45 percent of B2C marketers)
• Almost 60 percent saw improved search rankings from their social efforts (vs. 50 percent of B2C marketers)
• Almost 70 percent are more able to gather marketplace insights from their social efforts (vs. 60 percent of B2C marketers)

Social Media Tools Used by B2B Marketers

The study found that almost all B2C marketers (over 96 percent) use Facebook as a marketing tool. However, only 87 percent of B2B brands use Facebook. B2B marketers’ adoption of LinkedIn is similar (86.6 percent) as is Twitter (84 percent). As shown below, B2B marketers are more likely to use blogs (65 percent vs. 57 percent) and Google+ (44 percent vs. 36 percent).

It is interesting to note the tools B2B marketers are using and finding successful compared to B2C marketers. Many of the tools are the same, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, but the percentage of use is different. B2B marketers prefer LinkedIn and Twitter and tend to use blogs more than their B2C counterparts.

While B2B marketers seem to prefer LinkedIn, the challenge is to understand which features of other popular social media sites can be used for B2B networking and then to capitalize on that. You need to familiarize yourself with each forum’s activities and build a strategy to fit the audience and the community activity.

A recent eMarketer article said that 52 percent of U.S. small businesses don’t feel they are marketed to effectively by other businesses. Additionally, 46 percent feel they’re being “sold” to instead of “spoken” to. A good solution for this is to use social media because that’s where you socialize with people rather than shilling. Social media is all about trust and building relationships in the social world.

The above stats show that social media marketing has hit critical mass for B2B marketers. In other words, manufacturers and wholesalers should get on the social media bandwagon now to successfully attract and convert more prospects.

If you’re not using social media to market your wholesale or manufacturing business, you need to start. If you’ve started but are not using social media in a systematic manner, you should consider creating a social media strategy to support your overall marketing plan.

You can start small by launching a blog and a business page on LinkedIn and Twitter. Next, you can create a Facebook business page. Devote six hours a week to it and you will eventually master the art of social media marketing to build your brand. Conversions will follow.

The GFC (global financial crisis) is now old news, and the world has moved on to a new marketing environment. This situation is scary and challenging, but also reveals opportunities; however, many retailers are still looking backward rather than forward. Below are the lessons that came out from this exercise for me.

• Don’t have sales or your customers will get bored

I can still walk thorough many shopping malls and see Sales signs displayed. In my own town, many retailers are using 50% off sales to try and generate new business. This strategy is now outdated; alas, the customer expects lower prices and the sale sign is irrelevant. In today’s retail world lower prices are part of the normal retail practice and the day of the sale has long gone and will not return for many years. Aiming to drive traffic by trying to convince consumers that we have genuine sales is old news. Today’s consumer expects everyday low prices.

• Target a specific demographic to generate sales

Every person that walks past your business is a prospective customer − wrong. In today’s developed market you need to focus on a specific demographic. K Mart in Australia used to be the department store that targeted everyone. In the last few years, they have reviewed their strategy and made a decision that their best investment is in targeting mothers. A look at their bottom line will show this has been a successful strategy. The key is to decide on whom you are going to focus and then market specifically to that demographic sector.

• Use multiple marketing channels to get your message across

Consumers today will get your message, as long as you are prepared to send that message via a number of different channels. That includes traditional avenues and “click” avenues that include Twitter, Facebook, You Tube and the like. Gone are the days when consumers will look at one source of media to get your message.

• Make sure you stand out from the crowd

There is a lot of messaging going on in the world and to be noticed, you need to be different. If you are following the pack, you will not be heard. This means you have to “dare to be different” to ensure your message is heard. Brainstorming ideas, preferably among your own team, and coming up with unique messages and messaging will ensure that your message will be heard. The key is then to get the consumer to act on your message.

• Be seen as the expert

The experts are brilliant at stock management. They know what areas of product they need to be deep in and what range of products they need to be shallow in. The result is they have a less is more approach to retailing. For example, if I was a specialist butcher, I may have a deep range of different cuts of meats and more unusual meats, but I would only carry a small range of spices and condiments, recommending them as the best since I am the expert. Providing too wide a range of the wrong products can say to the customer you are a generalist rather than an expert.

• Make sure the members of your team are experts

The consumer is relying less on salespeople to get advice and more on information they are sourcing on the Internet. One reason for this is that over the last few years, many retailers have cut the training budget. They are relying on fewer salespeople with less knowledge. The winning retailers think in reverse: as the economy gets tight, they actually invest in their team to ensure they are better at customer service and product knowledge that the competition. This means the trust between salesperson and consumer gets stronger rather than weaker. Your team is a critical part of a winning retail strategy.

By taking a look at the above lessons from retail winners, you can develop a winning retail strategy that will get your business looking forward rather than backward.

John Stanley is a retail consultant and conference speaker serving 30 countries. He can be contacted at john@johnstanley.com.au.

E-Retail Growth Approaches Pre-Recession Levels

Online retail sales increased about 17 percent in the first quarter of 2012, reaching $44.3 billion. That compares to the $38.0 billion for the same period in 2011, according to a comScore press release.The web measurement firm says Q1 spending marks the tenth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and the sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. This is good news for manufacturers and wholesalers, which should prepare to fill more orders as the economy improves.

“While the economic recovery continues to be painfully slow, the channel shift to ecommerce appears to be accelerating,” says comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “This presents opportunities but also challenges for bricks-and-mortar retailers if they can’t hold onto their offline market share in the digital world.”

The comScore report today also says that ecommerce spending increased by at least 17 percent year-over-year in the following product categories: digital content and subscriptions; computer software; consumer electronics; jewelry and watches; and event tickets.

Web retailers are doing all they can to attract sales, and one tactic that gets results is offering free shipping. To that end, comScore reports that during the first quarter of 2012, nearly half, or 48.8 percent of ecommerce transactions included free shipping. This is the highest percentage comScore ever recorded beyond the holiday shopping seasons. comScore indicated it only recorded higher rates for free shipping twice in the past: in the fourth quarter of 2011, when 51.8 percent of orders carried no shipping charges, and in the fourth quarter of 2010, which was 49.3 percent.

ComScore noted in the press release that it had also surveyed tablet owners during the first quarter and found that 38 percent of tablet users said they made a purchase on their tablets within the past month, and the most popular type of product was apparel.

ComScore’s estimates of ecommerce sales are based on tracking the online behavior of over 2 million consumers who have agreed to be tracked, with about half of them in the U.S.

Web-Only Retailers Have Ability to Grow Sales Faster

Web-only retailers have an advantage over traditional retailers in that focusing on one sales channel gives them an edge online over the ecommerce sites of traditional retailers, catalogers and consumer brand manufacturers. Additionally, many of the fastest-growing web-only retailers target very specific niches or special markets.

Retailers that sell products solely on the web benefit from their single focus on reaching their consumer targets because they don’t have to manage the competition for marketing dollars the way traditional retailers and consumer brand manufacturers do. Web-only retailers are ahead in online sales growth because they are in a unique position to invest and optimize marketing and operations to stimulate growth. They don’t need to consider other channels in their overall strategy, which can include decisions and issues that complicate matters and make ecommerce investment decisions for traditional web retailers more challenging and more costly.

The Glimpse app mimics Pinterest in certain aspects − it’s about social discovery and very visual. Images and videos are instantly descriptive; it’s no wonder ecommerce has discovered the power of imagery in selling product.

TheFind works with Facebook and the Open Graph to incorporate Like data from across the Internet to create its images. The app matches products in TheFind’s database with user Likes. The result is a virtual store window with brands and products Liked by Facebook users and their friends.

TheFind claims the experience is personalized “…based on what you have Liked before, sorted by popularity and the latest trends. We include products, stores and brands in the experience and you can shop right from here.”

Users’ Facebook Timelines and newsfeeds will show their interactions with Glimpse. So, if you click a product image, it will show up in your Timeline, viewable to all. However you can hide or delete Glimpses so they’re not visible to all. Any product can be clicked, taking users to the retail site for purchase. Users can also create catalogs, which contain a collection of products, very much like Pinerest boards. Naturally, catalogs can be shared with friends.

Facebook also has a section called Trendsetters’ Likes, which is visible to everyone and includes picks from various brands and fashion bloggers that TheFind works with. In the future, this could develop into ads/or sponsored trends.

This is a social shopping experience that should work well for Facebook, retailers and brands. Facebook will ultimately come under pressure to make (more) money from ecommerce and this could just be the ticket.

This scenario of posting images of popular products and styles could develop into the model for social shopping on Facebook, or other social networks, as Glimpse will soon have its own iPad app. Additionally, some of the social capabilities of the Glimpse app will also make their way back to TheFind’s main site.

Glimpse works only with Facebook right now but TheFind says, “The technology powering Glimpse, however, allows easy assimilations of other social signals such as Tweets, Pins and +1s, which we might add in the future.”

Research by mobile analytics provider Flurry shows that “4 in every 5 mobile media minutes” is spent with apps versus a mobile browser. Since shopping apps are the rage these days, it is likely apps like Glimpse will be widely adopted by consumers. With mobile devices expected to outnumber laptops and computers, social shopping apps could become the new way to shop online.

IRCE tells us this year’s Exhibit Hall will be organized in a new way and will be nearly 15 percent larger than the 2011 IRCE show floor in San Diego with an additional 58 companies booking exhibit booths.

“More companies are taking larger booths, accounting for the show floor growing by more than the number of exhibitors,” says Steve Rogers, IRCE’s exhibition director. Rogers also indicated that this year IRCE will have 34 island booths − displays of at least 400 square feet that are not directly adjacent to another booth. That is a 55 percent increase in island booths over last year’s show.

Visitors to the Exhibit Hall will also notice that for the first time the hall will be organized into four pavilions where they will find vendors of related technologies and services. There will be separate sections for exhibitors that specialize in marketing, merchandising and design, ecommerce systems, and operations and fulfillment.

“The pavilions are a direct result of our post-conference surveys in which attendees says they wanted similar vendors to be located in the same general area so that they could use their time in the Exhibit Hall as efficiently as possible,” explains Rogers. “We believe this will benefit both attendees and exhibitors, as it will better match up attendees’ needs with exhibitors’ solutions.”

While the pavilions are new, “IRCE 2012 will continue to have all of the things that have made the Exhibit Hall full of excitement and traffic,” asserts Rogers. “That includes two fully equipped cyber-lounges, a massage area, all food and beverage breaks, two lunches and two cocktail receptions.”

Organizers expect the Exhibit Hall to be crowded since record attendance is predicted for this year’s show. “The current projection is that at least 9,000 people will attend IRCE, which would be a 23 percent increase from the 7,300 who attended IRCE 2011 in San Diego, the previous attendance record for an ecommerce conference,” says Jack Love, publisher of Internet Retailer, which sponsors IRCE.

“Part of the growth stems from the nearly 16 percent growth in the ecommerce market last year,” Love says. However, there has also been a fundamental shift in retailer focus due to the multitude of consumers buying online. “Retail chains, in particular, are recognizing that growth won’t come from additional real estate, but from the web,” asserts Love. “Chains, as well as catalogers and manufacturers, and of course the Internet pure plays, all see a fundamental shift to consumers preferring to shop online, and that’s led to a shift in their strategic focus from traditional forms of retailing to this new form of retailing.”

TopTenWholesale and Manufacturer.com hope to see you all at IRCEin Chicago June 5-8. Register now for the show and get the pre-show online discount ($100 off) which ends midnight  June 2, 2012.

Thousands of dealers can be found at the G.L.D.A. Show, including gemstones, one-of-a-kind jewelry creations, estate jewelry, accessories, as well as products for everyone from the rock hound to the amateur jeweler. Deep discounts and the infinite variety attract the public to dealers from every corner of the world, including China, India, Indonesia, South Africa, West Africa, Australia, Poland, Russia, Canada, the American Southwest and the entire USA.

G.L.D.A. has a large number of foreign buyers and exhibitors attending each year; the Show rolls out the red carpet to competitive foreign companies. G.L.D.A. includes approximately 350 exhibit booths. Buyer attendance from the USA and around the world has increased from 5,000 attendees in 1980 to over 30,000 in recent years.

Here’s where you can pre-register and check out hotel specials for the Las Vegas Show May 28-31.

The G.L.D.A. Shows are unique in the Gem & Jewelry Industry. At least 50 percent of its exhibitors are direct source loose gemstone companies and the remaining are high-quality, finished-goods manufacturers, suppliers and mountings and equipment companies. Having a large percentage of foreign direct source exhibitors (currently about 50 percent) the G.L.D.A. Tucson and Las Vegas Shows have long been known as the show where buyers can find the goods they want at the most competitive prices in the world.

G.L.D.A. exhibitors offer the most unique one-of-a-kind gemstones found in the world. One buyer at the Tucson Show was overheard in the elevator saying, “Attending this show is like going on a worldwide buying trip without the cost and trouble. I can get better prices here than I can if I go direct to the mines themselves in the respective countries!” “Here, they have to compete for my business.”

Last chance to Pre-register by May 15, 2012 for G.L.D.A. at the Mirage Casino & Resort Hotel MAY 28-May 31, 2012

Show Production Team
120 Derwood Circle
Rockville, MD  20850
E-Mail: info@glda.com
General Fax Number: 301-294-0034
Office Hours: M-F 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM (EST)

The unemployment rate is still high, the housing market remains in the gutter, and The Dow continues to be volatile − which is exactly why now is a great time to start a business. If you have a great startup idea, you can get startup information from Roger Rappoport, a practicing corporate attorney in San Diego and Silicon Valley. Rappoport is the founder of Startupinfo.com, and a partner in Procopio, one of the largest business law firms in Southern California.

As a partner in Procopio, Rappoport brings big-law-firm experience into StaertupInfo.com. Procopio has expertise derived from understanding the businesses and industries of innumerable clients since 1946. The firm is known for delivering intelligent and pragmatic legal solutions in the most cost-effective manner by advising companies at every stage in the corporate life cycle in planning, financing and operating their businesses.

Rappoport likes to tell his clients the advice he provides falls into one of three categories: legal advice (40 percent), business advice (40 percent) and psycho-therapy {on the house} (20 percent). Virtually all of Rappoport’s clients are alike in that they: have no money, get money, have no money again, get more money again and ultimately exit. That’s where his venture capital skills and knowledge can help entrepreneurs develop a funding strategy, identify the appropriate angels, angel groups or VC’s to target for funding their projects.

Rappoport was an entrepreneur for ten years before becoming a lawyer, thus has learned many valuable lessons. That gives him a unique perspective – the ability to view situations from both sides of the table. When he dealt with lawyers in his former occupation as an entrepreneur, Rappoport always wanted to shout out, “don’t keep telling me what I can’t do or give me a lecture on the law – just give me what you believe are the best alternatives to help me accomplish the things that I want to achieve!” This is one mantra he tries to live by in assisting his clients.

In closing, one of the guiding principles of Startupinfo.com is that the company always advises entrepreneurs based objective criteria, rather than the way clients hope it will turn out. The company’s goals are to provide abundant information enabling the entrepreneur to make fully informed business decisions that culminate in venture capital funding for a successful business startup.

The AlixPartners Home-Delivery Shopping Survey, which polled 1,000 adults nationwide between March 22 and 25, found that respondents were willing to wait at least five days for an ecommerce order to arrive if they got free shipping (75%) and some even said they would wait a full week (50%). Other consumers responded as follows:

• 12% said they’d wait only four days for an order that was shipped free
• 9% would wait up to three days
• 4% would wait up to two days

When asked why they don’t make online purchases, 36 percent of consumers said shipping costs were too high, especially for low cost orders. That means that shipping costs are the second most common reason preventing consumers from buying online, slightly behind the 37 percent who prefer to view, touch and feel an item before purchase.

The Home-Delivery Shopping Survey also found that free shipping has a stronger effect on consumers’ online shopping behaviors than having to pay sales taxes on Internet purchases.

• 59% said sales tax would reduce the likelihood of buying online
• 21% of respondents said having to pay sales tax would “greatly reduce” their online purchases
• 38% said it would “somewhat reduce” their purchases
• 41% of all respondents said it would have no effect on their online buying

The study also queried respondents about other reasons for not shopping online besides shipping and sales tax. Following are the reasons that consumers gave for not shopping online (percentage of consumers citing each reason among their top three reasons for not buying online):

• 20% said difficulty of returning an item
• 17% cited potential for purchases to be lost or damaged in transit
• 13% had concerns about getting the right item delivered
• 10% cited difficulty getting an item into the house once delivered
• 10% said delivery times are too long
• 3% said they can’t track items while in transit
• 3% said they needed but couldn’t get guaranteed weekend delivery

It appears that offering free shipping is a good incentive for getting more online sales; however, merchants need to calculate their break-even point, which is the point where the margin on an order equals the cost of shipping. You can calculate the break-even point by using a range of average shopping-cart values and then calculating both the average margin and the average cost of shipping for different cart sizes. This allows you to set a minimum order value where you can offer free shipping and still maintain a sufficient margin. CCD Consultants offers a break-even analysis (BEA) calculator that will calculate the break-even point for you and also explains the terms used for calculating the BEA.

Tyte-Guy has many exceptional uses. At home, outdoors or just about anywhere when you need to take up slack or apply tension to a line. Below are some examples of how you can use Tyte-Guy to secure large lines.

Tyte-Guy for SUV, Truck, or Roof Rack: Whether transporting lumber, furniture in a truck, luggage, or a vacation load on an SUV or RV, just two or three revolutions of Tyte-Guy will make short work of securing your load. And it’s worry free because in the event of a line failure, Tyte-Guy stays in place with a tether easily applied to the line in use.

Tyte-Guy for Camping/Tents: Tyte-Guy makes line tightening a cinch for all camping needs. Fabricated from aircraft-grade aluminum alloy and weighing only two ounces, Tyte-Guy is virtually weightless to stow when packing. With hardly any effort, Tyte-Guy can handle your tent lines or any other lines on your camp site that require secure tension.

Tyte-Guy for Pool Covers: Most above-ground pool covers are factory equipped with an integrated line used to secure the cover to the rim of the pool. Tyte-Guy excels for this purpose, making your pool cover weather tight until re-opened.

Tyte-Guy for Clothes Lines: No clothes line tightening device requires less effort than Tyte-Guy. When applied to a clothes line, Tyte-Guy will remove almost all of the bowing in the line and restore original tension. Even under substantial loads (as from rugs or carpets) Tyte-Guy can readily “lift” the line, bringing it to a surprisingly satisfactory tension.

Tyte-Guy for Furniture Repair: Furniture repair can be frustrating; particularly when gluing troublesome components, which due to their shape and size, are not conveniently held by clamps. Tyte-Guy, along with a length of cord, solves this problem with ease.

Tyte-Guy for Guying Trees: Since Tyte-Guy works like a powerful miniature winch, it is extremely effective for guying small tress and maintaining them in a proper attitude. Once installed between the tree and the stake, Tyte-Guy can be adjusted with ease as the tree grows.

The various uses for Tyte-Guy are almost endless and limited only by a person’s imagination and creativity, and the tool is worry free. When using Tyte-Guy for securing goods for transport, a safety “tether” is provided. This “tether” is designed to prevent the tool from being lost on the roadway as a result of possible line failure or from breaking or any other reason. If the line breaks on either side of the hook, the tool is retained on the line.

This new tool is unequaled in its convenience for most of your securing needs. You get power with Tyte-Guy that is versatile, effective, simple and quick.

Tyte-Guy™
Subsidiary of: Cargazen Inc.
450 Carey Ave.
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702

Phone: 1-855-898-3489

Email: info@TyteGuy.com

As you can see in the photo above, you can hardly tell the difference between EasyRock and real rock formation. EasyRock can give a home the elegance of stone without compromising the properties of what makes stone great.

The EasyRock patented in-mold colorization process gives these panels the realism required to satisfy even the most discerning eye. The panels are molded from real rocks, and pigmentation is achieved by using actual rock dust. Therefore, the surface is real rock, and it has the additional benefits listed below.

• Light in weight and easy to transport
• Incredibly strong and durable
• Requires no special tools to cut
• Easy to install – no structural support required
• Savings are significant compared to conventional rock

If you have any doubts about being able to tell the difference between EasyRock and real rock, take the EasyRock Challenge and try to pick the image you think is real rock.

The EasyRock patented Hardcoat technology makes this product extremely durable. It is virtually scratch proof and requires low maintenance. There is no need for touch-ups to keep the stones looking like new. Just wash with a garden hose when it gets dirty. Homeowners can take comfort in knowing that years from now they will have no lost or broken stones. EasyRock panels resist cracking over a wide temperature range. The polyurethane closed-cell properties make it waterproof and resistant to harsh weather, mold and mildew.

Twitter Provides Simplicity, Speed and Visibility: The power of Twitter is its simplicity, speed and visibility. Its 140-character requirement made it immediately popular. Twitter can break and share news faster than Google. In today’s world of fast-moving global connectivity, it’s important to be first. Twitter also gives its users visibility by driving new traffic to websites and blogs.

How can wholesalers and manufacturers optimize their tweets for more visibility and referral traffic in the least amount of time? Below is some advice, along with best practices, tools and apps you can use to produce better tweets in less time.

Make It Personal: Put a real voice in your tweets to avoid being a spammer. Mix in a few personal tweets with your business-related tweets. You could tweet about watching the birds feed from your office window or any other minor observation that people can relate to, showing your personal interests in addition to business topics.

Optimize Your Twitter Profile: This seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many large and small companies fail to optimize their profile. Your name in the Profile Settings and your username are like title tags so take advantage of that. Post an optimized image using your name as the filename, which Twitter will use as the ALT tag for your profile image as well. Craft your description (bio) with relevant keywords. The keywords in your bio can come up in search results when people search for similar tweets to follow. Also include a hashtag or link if applicable.

Tweet Structure: While this structure may not fit every one of your tweets, it’s a suggested order for best practice: (1) Headline or Topic Phrase, (2) Link, (3) Hashtag.

Hashtags: The # symbol (called a hashtag) is used to mark keywords or topics in a tweet. Following are best practices for hashtags:

1. Use no more than 3 hashtags per tweet.
2. Avoid starting a tweet with a hashtag.
3. Find hashtags by performing a keyword search like on Google, and then use the words that move faster and fit your topic area.
4. Too many hyperlinks (hashtags) will devalue your tweet.
5. Using the hashtags used by big influencers will get you noticed by those in that niche.

Re-tweets: This is the re-posting of someone else’s tweet to all your followers. The way you re-tweet is important.

1. When using the RT button on Twitter, remember it’s used by high-level influencers.
2. Cut/paste the Tweet into the Tweet box using RT = Headline, link, hashtag, RT @______, your comment, or
3. Use your own comment or headline, your own content and link via @twitterID.
4. RT is a popular tweet you want your name to be associated with for indexing on Google.

If you ensure your Twitter account is fully engaged with people in your community or niche, you will attract re-tweets naturally if you’re perceived as a trusted friend. In that case, you can ask via DM for a re-tweet.

Twitter Measurement: Tracking your Twitter progress with Google Analytics provides important metrics such as referring traffic to your website or blog. Bitly can also be used for a single account or multiple client accounts, letting you shorten, share, and track links with your bitly account directly from your browser.

Twitter Favorites: Favorites (flagged by a small star icon next to a tweet) can be used when you like a tweet and want to save it for later. If someone tweets kudos about you or your brand, mark it as a favorite so it’s saved in your Twitter history. Otherwise it goes into Twitter’s archives, which are enormous and difficult to search.

Twitter Tools: Some top influencers never use automated services. Others say avoiding automation tools is a mistake. If you have a full-time job and yet want to grow on Twitter, you can use a few of the tools below. Just use them responsibly and as they are intended.

Triberr is a platform consisting of a group of trusted bloggers sharing each others’ content. It has increased in popularity over the past year. When you join, you are exposed to other bloggers’ content, which you can tweet. The result is your own content also gets shared.

Buffer is a new app that takes the pain out of scheduling tweets and posts. It can help you add the great articles, pictures, and videos you choose to your Buffer and then automatically shares them for you throughout the day.

Rapportive is a plugin you can use with Gmail for social sharing. It shows you everything about your contacts right inside your inbox. You can grow your network by connecting on not just Twitter, but also LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube. (Rapportive was recently acquired by LinkedIn.)

TweetDeck is a Twitter app that lets you respond to mentions in a timely manner.

Twitter Automation Tools: Sets up trusted, automated feeds to other social networks.

• Twitterfeed: Sets up trusted automated feeds to other social networks.
• Wisestamp: Dynamically adds your latest tweets into your email signature.
• if this then that: Connects any two web apps in creative ways. You can set up “if this happens, then that happens” in tasks and outcomes. For instance, you might want to:

1. Greet every new Twitter follower
2. Thank people who give you a #FF (followfriday) nod
3. Post all photos shared via Twitter to Flickr
4. Receive an SMS when someone DMs you
5. Thank people for an RT

In conclusion, wholesalers and manufacturers can optimize their tweets for more visibility and referral traffic by adopting the suggestions above. What’s stopping you from producing better tweets?

Idea World has a company philosophy that originates in creation. The company strives to create useful products with high-tech resources. The power behind Idea World is their talented employees, who are encouraged to express their creativity. Idea World aims to profit by providing future-oriented products, strengthening its R&D capability and creating new technology for product development. A few of the products Idea World has helped develop and distribute are described below.

Brushpicks, tiny brushes used to brush between teeth to remove plaque and food for oral hygiene. These brushes have a flexible head that allows them to fit between teeth, fighting gingivitis, helping to remove bad breath, improving periodontal health and oral hygiene.

 Cloud Nine Insoles are made of soft silicon and provide joint protection and shock absorption when placed in slippers and shoes. This is special silicon that is elastic and durable. It pumps to circulate the air while relaxing the foot. It also adds shock absorption and provides balance for people who stand on their feet for long periods.

Comfy Footies are moisturizing socks for indoor and outdoor activities. They keep feet warm and moisturize dry, scabrous soles, preventing cracked heel skin. They come in two types: a bootie covering the entire foot made of DuPont Neoprene with an extra layer of insulation for warmth. The second style fits the ankle and half the foot with toes out and made of the same material. Both styles have a silicon coating with slip grip design. The material is porous for breathing, ventilation and comfort, while keeping feet warm.

Knee Support offers joint protection. Made of the highest quality neoprene fabric, this knee support has excellent elasticity and ventilation. It is very comfortable and easy to wear. This product protects and supports the patella cartilage covering the knees.

Wrist Protect can be used for carpel tunnel and is made of 100 percent neoprene to ensure elasticity. It protects the joint region with secure compress. It gives comfort through a tight grip.

Air Cushion for Neck and Back is a must have product for use on trips in an airplane or a car. This product inflates quickly with the pump provided and comes with a microfiber fabric cover that absorbs sweat and can be removed to clean.

Idea World Co.

855 Daera-ri Gijang-eup, Gijang-gun

Busan, Korea

Telephone: +82-51-751-7676

FAX: +82-51-752-6922

Email: ideawd@naver.com

Creating Brand Identity: Global Village Concerns provides a fundamental shift in the way that schools and non-profit organizations raise money. At the same time, it increases visibility and community support with its wealth of marketing and branding resources.

GVC’s team of world-class branding experts will first assess the organization’s needs, making suggestions to build their brand image through its B1self branding program. They also take the necessary steps to legally protect the brand’s identity.

B1self is about organizations expressing themselves, as well as uniting their entire community around a common cause.  Through CVC’s unique B1self branding program, the company creates a custom-designed B1selfShop.com online store for their clients. This can leverage the client’s brand much like the way that colleges and professional sports teams operate. As a result, schools and non-profits will be able to generate revenue and fuel community support through the B1self program.

The end result is a fundamental shift in the way schools and non-profits raise money. Through branding, expert marketing and social ecommerce, Global Village Concerns builds, organizes and activates the client’s existing community to rally around the cause, generating support and money for non-profits.

GVC can ignite a non-profit’s cause, creating excitement and commitment from its community base.  It requires very little effort from the non-profit itself or anyone in its community. There are no upfront costs for the B1self branding program. The program is free and the organization gets 20 percent back on all sales generated.

Here’s How It Works: Global Village Concerns will create a custom designed B1selfShop.com store around your cause.  Your community members can purchase directly or create a gift registry from your store.  With each sale, 20 percent of the retail purchase price goes back to support your cause. A sample of an online store is shown below.

Non-profits can get branding and raise money worldwide every day of the year, 24/7, with the B1selfbranding program. Schools and non-profits can raise funds from half-way around the world, and even while they sleep using the B1selfShop.com platform. Organizations save the extensive time and effort required for traditional fundraising and continue to collect revenue as sales are made from their online stores.

Global Village Concerns: 4350 Executive Drive, Suite 201
San Diego, CA 92121

Toll Free:  (888) 501-1577
Phone:  (858) 768-7444
Fax:  (858) 768-7460
Email: info@globalvillageconcerns.com

Cash-strapped states in the U.S. that need revenue and job creation are welcoming foreign companies with open arms. Over the past five years, there has been an increase in Chinese manufacturers launching U.S. facilities.

The biggest investments are being made by Chinese firms with products that have huge anti-dumping tariffs. The U.S. imposes financial penalties on imported products it believes are being sold cheaper than what it costs to produce them. This is called dumping, which the U.S. Department of Commerce believes creates an unfair advantage in the marketplace.

In recent years, the agency has imposed anti-dumping fines on solar technology and heavy industrial products from China, including steel pipes, copper tubing and aluminum extrusions.

Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, Inc., the world’s largest producer of the copper tubing used in air conditioning, refrigeration and autos, recently broke ground on a $100 million plant in Alabama. This is the first Chinese-owned and operated factory to enter the state and is expected to create 300 American jobs when it becomes operational in 2014.

A Hong Kong-based consulting firm helped coordinate the deal for Golden Dragon and is also working with 30 other large Chinese manufacturers that want a presence in the United States. For many of these Chinese companies, their biggest buyers are in the U.S., making it advantageous logistically to be near their biggest customers.

Opening a facility in the U.S. allows Chinese manufacturers to save on transportation and fuel costs. For instance, Golden Dragon’s Alabama facility will be fairly close to its largest customer, Goodman Manufacturing in Houston, TX.

While Golden Dragon will still be paying anti-dumping penalties until its Alabama plant is operational in 2014, Alabama has offered special tax credits to offset the anti-dumping duties until then. This was negotiated to give Alabama preference over other states, as there is fierce competition for attracting these new manufacturing facilities.

Chinese investments in the United States can create domestic jobs and spur economic growth. This was done by Japanese companies in the 1980s, which also came about due to anti-dumping duties. Today, there are more than 700,000 Americans working for Japanese affiliates in the United States.

Other manufacturing consulting firms are working with Chinese manufacturers looking for factory locations in the United States. For example, Nanshan America, a subsidiary of China’s Nanshan Group, is scheduled to open its first U.S. plant in Lafayette, Indiana in July. The 600,000-square-foot-plant will make aluminum components − a category that faces anti-dumping fines. The facility expects to create as many as 200 local jobs by 2013.

Nanshan picked Indiana because 60 percent of its market is in the Midwest. Avoiding tariffs was also a major factor in the company’s decision to produce in the U.S. When America imposed anti-dumping fines in 2010, 95 percent of aluminum extrusion products exports from China came to a halt.

As Chinese companies continue to grow into global brands, it makes a lot of sense to manufacture products in the U.S., which is currently the largest consumer market in the world.

Not only are Chinese conglomerates moving to the U.S., many American companies that moved to China are starting to come back. With the new tariffs, taxes, and employee salary and benefits laws that took effect recently, many OEMs have had second thoughts about keeping manufacturing in China.

China, which was once the cheapest place to manufacture goods has fallen to third place behind India and Mexico, which is now number one due to its lenient tax laws and continuing low labor costs.

In conclusion, manufacturing appears to be on the rise in the U.S. As reported in Yahoo Finance, “U.S. factories stepped up hiring and production in March, evidence that manufacturing is growing at a healthy pace and fueling the recovery.” While many American companies moved their manufacturing facilities abroad to countries like China where labor costs were significantly lower in the ‘90s, offshore manufacturing costs have been rising in China, while U.S. labor costs decreased due to the past influx of manufacturing plants abroad.

Surya’s new pin boards on Pinterest are designed to interest potential shoppers. According to the company’s press release, “Surya’s Pinterest boards showcase latest trends in home décor to stimulate prospective shoppers’ imagination and drive traffic to Surya dealers.”

Surya targets designers and home décor shoppers by creating and sharing virtual pinboards on Pinterest, the highly visual social network that is all the rage these days.

Surya has 24 décor boards on Pinterest featuring its spring introductions, designer products and latest colors and trends. The company plans to update their boards regularly, which is recommended to keep shoppers’ interest.

“We have been creating mood boards for years in our catalog, but couldn’t find a simple tool to share digitally,” said Satya Tiwari, president of Surya. “Pinterest is what we were looking for all along, and we are thrilled to make our virtual pinboards easily accessible to Surya community.”

Surya has been expanding its social media presence under the SuryaSocial brand to connect with its customers. Surya posts daily on its Facebook page, which has over 32,400 fans. Sounds like a great plan for many wholesalers and manufacturers with products that are appealing to the eye and need only to be demonstrated.

Tips for Your Pins and Boards

Engage. Make your pins engaging. Interact with your shoppers on a personal level to build relationships and fans. This can lead to brand loyalty, but you must use the right approach by making your pins relevant and interesting to your audience. Stick to your expertise, and tell your audience what they want to know.

Share. When pinning on Pinterest, be sure to include your images on Facebook and Twitter as Pinterest integrates with both of these sites. This puts your pins on the most important social networks so they’ll be shared far and wide.

Price. When pinning, enter a dollar amount in the description, and the platform will automatically add the price to the corner of the image while listing that pin in the Gifts section of the website. This can greatly expand the visibility of your merchandise. Listing the price also simplifies the purchase process because prospects know the price beforehand.

Optimize. Check out this infographic by Pinnable Business. It tells you everything you need to know to succeed on Pinterest.

In closing, most products sold by wholesalers, manufactures and retailers are essentially visual in nature. Take advantage of this and make Pinterest an extension of your site.