News & Information on Wholesale Products, Off Price Apparel, and Merchandise

Sink or Swim: Buying and Selling Sales Trends for This Season

ruebenmarley — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:45:33 +0000

It’s not going to be long now… and if you put your ear to the ground, you can clearly hear the ominous rumble of the train coming right at you. Black Friday will be upon us in a big hurry, and if you aren’t watching the signs of sales trends and predictions, you might be working harder than you need to during the Christmas rush, in order to recoup your losses! The category lists are growing fast on sites like toptenwholesale.com, manufacturer.com, wholesaleu.com, and offpricenetwork.com as products find their place in the ever-widening scope of goods that make their mark on the radar screen. Here’s some information that might come in handy if you’re looking to catch a few of the opportunities that come during a time of record unemployment and foreclosures, huge decreases in consumer credit, a big surge in über-frugal discretionary spending, and the audible hiss of air being let out of the tires as overall confidence lulls…

I’m predicting that consumers will spend more on Black Friday, but less overall during the 2009 holidays.

Last year’s data shows us that this was the case then, and it will most likely be the case now. Shoppers are getting early bird-itis, and it’s already looking like the deal-hunters aren’t waiting for the waves of bargain shoppers to come crashing into them as they try to snag a few good finds with minimal fuss. Convenience will be the biggest selling point, and those who offer the goods that consumers want - at a bare minimum of effort - will be the winners.

Quantity limits may sour the deal. I’m seeing a lot of people pointing out the fact that stores and online shopping sites who try to coerce or twist the arm of the consumer will end up feeling the pain… since there is a huge playing field, and choice is at an all-time high for those who are doing their purchasing from their armchair. I’m not talking about the people who make the trip to the mall, I’m talking about the consumers who make their buying decisions as they point and click on the sites that reward them with a feeling of security, not a take-away close… either be prepared to sell the item, or mark it as SOLD OUT, but don’t tease!

Help them visualize the purchase… because it’s going to be the sites that show consumers what they’re getting that will reach the point of purchase! If you think it’s not worth the time and effort to post pictures, pictures, and more pictures… then you should at least be posting some entertaining video content of your goods in action! When buying dollars are in short supply, the sellers who bring the purchase into a visual context will get the sale.

Watch out for that strange stuff coming out of strange places. I’m suddenly seeing a LOT of heavy-hitting content that raves about the great deals to be had buying discount goods from China… but some of the actual articles are almost impossible to understand. If you are reading some copy on a seller site, and it doesn’t sound like something that your third-grade English teacher would have passed with a D-, stay away. Some of the big guns (ahem, Alibaba) are literally pouring content out there, and it’s being written by underpaid college grads who don’t even know who’s going to be reading the stuff they write. I know what I’m talking about… I’ve met some of them. Times are tough in China too, and these kids are having a hard time scoring decent jobs.

Electronics rule! Games, cameras, laptops and desktop computers, HDTV, and GPS will be too hot to handle in some cases, and it’s the sellers who make it as easy as possible to ship – for no fee – that will land the sales! These goods are everywhere, so don’t rely on the basics for getting your customer to pay attention. Be creative. Offer online demos and reviews of the hardware, to help the customer visualize and feel out the product before clicking on their shopping cart icon. On the subject of laptops, I must stress the importance of categorizing and illustrating the feature sets of these products, because the strategy this year is to educate the customer as much as possible on what they will get from their purchase, in order to avoid the dreaded returns and complaints from people who didn’t know what they were getting. If you think people won’t be quick to call customer service, just look at how many PC products are out there… and apply the math to some other popular wholesale or retail items while you’re at it.

Take care of the customer, and they will take care of you. This year is all about making sure people are feeling good about their purchase, so don’t be afraid to apply more of your efforts towards the presale. Good luck, and happy wholesaling as you continue to Find it. Source it. Profit!

Drive Traffic This Season, Without Driving Yourself Crazy

ruebenmarley — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:09:55 +0000

A long time ago, it was pretty easy to get noticed on the Internet. All you had to do was put a few lines of code on your web site’s home page meta tags, and let the search engines do the rest for you. Now it’s a whole different story, and there are more new ways being generated every day… as old ones are phased out almost as quickly. Is it even worth it? Of course, letting toptenwholesale.com and its network of sites manufacturer.com, wholesaleu.com, offpricenetwork.com help buyers to connect directly with the wholesaler or manufacturer of choice is an easy option, but there’s a few things you can do for yourself too. I’m going to give you a few ideas that don’t require a degree in Computer Science to implement, that will perhaps help you gain visibility in a sea that is awash in technological mysteries.

Let’s take spiders, for instance. Spiders are not always a welcome sight, but in the world of Internet marketing they are indispensable. These “spiders” are the little pieces of code that is often referred to as a bot, or a software agent. Sounds like I’ve been watching the MATRIX too many times, eh? The job of the web spider is to crawl around and find information. This can be a simple one-line affair, or more usually a complex set of variables and instructions that are designed to work within the parameters of an environment that is constantly being modified, upgraded, and sometimes corrupted. It also takes a bit of know-how to craft one of these little bots, and to send it off on its way, without wasting your valuable time… or returning with nothing useful.

You don’t need to write code. You don’t even need to know much more than the usual routine of checking email, browsing sites, or using an online form. Some of the best things you can do to drive traffic to your site is to simplify your strategy, focus on the goals, and follow through consistently. If you’ve spent any time doing sales (which I suspect many of you have) then you know all about the 30-second commercial, the value of organizational skills, and the power of relationships. Here then, is a TopTen list of things you should consider when looking at the real basic methods for driving traffic to your site:

Branding is not just coming up with a cute logo and a clever name, but it means you should design a look and feel for your site as well. Choose a color and style that you like, and stick with it. Tie it all together through your online presence, printed materials, and promotional goodies. Bring the virtual and physical together on your terms, and people will come to associate these subtle themes with your business.

Make sure the customer can trust you. Build policies into your business that don’t confuse consumers or leave them with a bad taste in their mouths… and remember to look at everything you do from their perspective first.

Be creative with the added values on your site. Offer things that the customer will appreciate, like industry related links, recommended reading, or just galleries of fun pictures from the latest trade show or wholesaler event. These things don’t cost you much, and they will add to the time your customer spends on your site… as well as adding to the usefulness of it, too.

Include the ability to recommend your site to others. This can be as simple as putting a button on your page that lets the user submit an email or subscribe to a newsletter.

Pay attention to the changes. Google is pretty good about keeping a cap on things, and that means you should keep your site up to spec, in order to avoid getting penalized for putting one line too many in your header text, or making a meta tag that upsets some part of the analytics. Keyword placement can be an issue too, so find out what you need to know, and keep looking it up to stay ahead of the curve.

Advertise your site when it launches, and keep in touch with anyone who comments on it. Word of mouth is still a great way to generate leads and sales, so make sure you’re staying in front of people by reminding them about your site and services.

Create a piece of material – like an article or news piece – that is targeted specifically to your customer… and then put it on your site! Give it to them, because they won’t be asking for it. Also, it would help if you made an effort to pass it around, by offering it to readers with reprint permission. This is a great way to find your work in some unexpected places.

Use your web address for everything! Put it on your business cards, printed literature, T-shirts… everything and everywhere is best. Don’t be shy about it, since directing eyes to your site is numero uno in this game.

Join other sites that have chat rooms and discussion boards, in order to become more familiar to those in the business. It might take some time and effort, but you’ll end up becoming well-known in some circles, even if they’ve never met you! Of course a signature line with your company’s site address is a good idea… and try not to be too assertive with the self-promotion. Moderators on discussion forums love to zap anyone who comes around just to cheer about their own business without leaving anything useful for the other members to discuss.

This one sounds silly, but… visit your own site regularly, and check the links to make sure they’re okay. You’d be surprised how mahy dead links and error pages come up as your site grows and changes, and this is not the message you want to send out to those customers who have no time for figuring out why they got a 404 error when they just wanted to see your online catalog.

As you can see, there is a lot you can do without getting too technical, or without having to jump onto viral campaigns to boost your site’s visibility. For more specific and targeted strategies, be sure to contact the people at toptenwholesale.com for information on how you can use the power of heavy-hitting SEO to bring your site to the forefront. There’s a lot you can do, but the only thing you want your customers to do is Find it. Source it. Profit! From you, that is.

Toptenwholesale.com Report: Track Your Website Performance

ruebenmarley — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:07:00 +0000

You’ve spent a lot of time tweaking your site, getting everything streamlined, polished, and efficient. You’ve designed everything from the ground up, and it’s been a gradual but steady climb to the top, as you developed strategies that seem to keep winning customers over and moving that merchandise at a steady clip. Just like Toptenwholesale.com and its network of sites (manufacturer.com, wholesaleu.com, offpricenetwork.com), you’re all about general merchandise, apparel, accessories, gifts, electronics, handbags, jewelry, toys, and more… but you’re still stuck when it comes to figuring out what kind of people are really looking at your site, and even more perplexed by the thought of developing marketing that caters to a specific group, by using some web-based metrics. After all, how much information could there be out there to help you out with this stuff?

Plenty of information. As someone wisely pointed out to me once upon a time: “Everything you put on the Internet exists somewhere, even if you don’t see it anymore.” Scary stuff indeed.

To put it simply, much of it can used to drive your sales in the right direction, if you know the answers to the five ‘W’ questions, and us them to track your website performance…

Who is checking out your site right now? Who visits most often, and browses the contents of your online catalogs, but never buys? Don’t you want to know which customers are using your FAQ page, then heading straight into the order form? This kind of information can help you better service the people that are currently working with your site… and tailor the rest of it to suit the ones that seem interested, but not fully compelled to follow through.

What are visitors looking at, anyway? Do you really know which parts of your site get the most traffic, and which components are getting the most clicks?

Where does your site show up on the Internet, anyway? You might be surprised to see some blogs and other sites that have linked your site in reference to a story, article, or random post. On top of that, you’ll probably find a few reasons to work out a deal with some sites that you’d love to have a link posted on, which will direct traffic back to your site very easily.

When do visitors frequent your site? Are there particular times of the day, month, or even year that seem to get the most activity? This goes beyond the simple logic of holiday season peak traffic, but maybe there are some connections to other events on the calendar that tie in very nicely with your site’s offerings. Once you’ve identified these trends, it could be easier to position yourself for some higher visibility during the times that count most.

Why are consumers even looking at your site, anyway? True, you’ve spent some money and worked out some deals with partners and affiliates to promote your property, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg… consumer buying habits can be tricky to nail down, and chasing down the answer to the ever-elusive why can put you in the lead. It may also expose some flaws in your system, and help you to answer the other logical question: why not?

One major thing to consider is the rise of the vertical search market on the Internet. Companies like our very own Toptenwholesale.com specialize in narrowing the spectrum of search, to give seekers of industry-specific information the tools they need to find more relevant results with fewer clicks. While search giants like Google are doing an amazing job of bringing information to everyone, they almost do it too well, and a simple search for a text query will turn up thousands of results. Who’s got that kind of time? Fewer clicks - in terms of buyers looking for sources - means the difference between somebody choosing you… or your competition! It also means that you’ll get answers to questions that are heavy on the wholesale, and lighter on the other stuff that doesn’t apply to your business. All of this will work towards your goal to Find it. Source it. Profit!

Don’t Drop That Shopping Cart! Top Ten Wholesale Tips for Online Retailers and Wholesalers

Marie — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:06:11 +0000

Online sellers take note -– New study research shows that up to 70 percent of online shoppers will abandon their shopping cart or purchase transaction BEFORE they click the Submit Order button. That’s a 70% Rate of Shopping Cart Abandonment, according to a company specializing in abandonment tracking software (SeeWhy).

Online wholesalers/retailers and e-tailers who face this online seller challenge also need to know that the rate of Lost Sales (abandoned shopping carts or incomplete purchase orders) has increased in 2009 over sales transactions completed vs. abandoned from 2005 to 2008.

Primary Reason? Buyers have more alternatives: Comparison Shopping Sites let buyers move easily between sellers, product sources, and search devices (smart phone, laptop, desktop) to comparison shop.

Top Ten Wholesale thinks every wholesale merchandise seller or online retailer can capture lost sales revenue and stop abandoned shopping cart pile-ups. Here are tips on Trusted Sites, Steps of the Online Buyer/Seller Process and Meeting Online Buyer Needs that say . . .

Don’t Drop That Shopping Cart!!

1. Offer Alternative Payment Plans. A 2009 PayPal Checkout Abandonment Study found 24% of online shoppers did not complete their purchase transaction because they could not find their preferred payment option.

· According to a 2008 report released by PayPal and Jupiter Research, 55% of customers think about payments before they reach your checkout processing page,

Ignore it at your seller peril, especially since Javelin Strategy & Research estimates that, inside two years, “Alternative” Payments will be over 30% of all online dollar volume.

Bill-Me-Later payment plans, in particular, are important to close the sale on high-price tag and higher-ticket merchandise items.

2. Can You Be Trusted? Usability studies repeatedly point to buyer trust and confidence in the seller’s online site as reasons to either stay or to bail out of the buy transaction.

All increase buyer confidence in trusted sites. A visible, physical local address also helps get you indexed in local search listings … multiplying your other search, display and trade show advertising efforts.

Better Business Bureau

eTrust

VeriSign

Privacy Policy

Returns Policy

How will personal and contact data you request from buyers be used? How do you keep buyer financial data secure? Do you truly offer No-Hassle Returns? Are you a liquidation reseller who offers clear manifests of the contents of every shipment? Then, make this No Unpleasant Surprises policy accessible from the first web pages a potential buyer sees.

· Just like providing live customer service before merchandise is dropped in the shopping cart, don’t bury Privacy and No-Hassle Returns Policies in small print or only on inside pages. Looks like you’re hiding from the customer.

3. Display Shipping Charges Up Front. The number one reason online buyers gave for abandoning their shopping carts was high shipping costs. (That’s from the 2009 PayPal Checkout Abandonment Study conducted by online market trackers comScore.)

· Don’t leave shipping costs to the end of a purchase transaction as a Last-Step Surprise. The above-noted survey found that giving buyers a specific idea of shipping costs right up front might have resulted in more completed purchases and fewer shopping carts abandoned.

· At the consumer e-tailing level –

“… When I close or abandon a cart, it is because the seller is charging a lot more to send me the order. One seller. . . may charge more for the item, but the total is less than the first seller’s total because the shipping is a lot less. Comparison shopping does exist!”

· At the wholesale supplier level –

regional

Then note Regional Warehouses and Dispersed Shipping & Fulfillment Centers … right up front. Nearness of the shipping point to the wholesale buyer is the main shipping cost factor you control (as opposed to fuel costs).

4. Cut Down Buyer Purchase/Checkout Steps to Two or Three, Maximum. Nothing piles up emptied or abandoned shopping carts faster than putting the buyer through too many questions and too many steps.

· Do you require Site Registration First?

Break up Registration requirements and sign-up forms on a lead-in page to your online sales site. Then direct interested buyers to the Purchase or Checkout or Buy Now pages.

· Seal the Sale with a 3-Step K.I.S.S.

Don’t ask for too much unnecessary information during a purchase transaction. It’s tempting to ask a lot of questions like, How did the buyer find out about your products? What are their personal preferences for recommended products? How can you serve them better in the future? Resist the impulse to collect marketing data. You need to close the sale.

Make the process from “Add to My Shopping Cart” > “Supply Shipping and/or Billing Address” > “Payment Options” > “Shipping and Handling Charges” > to final “Submit this Order Here” no longer than two or three steps.

Break up requests for needed information and streamline the entire checkout process to no more than two or three steps or screens. The longer the checkout path, the higher the rate of Shopping Cart Abandonment.

5. Who Else Likes You? OR What Else Do They Like? Online comments, User/Buyer Reviews and Product Ratings – all social media interactions at merchant sites – are 2nd only to Word of Mouth Recommendations from trusted others to drive a final purchase or sale. (Rubicon Consulting Study of 2008)

· Track Current Customer Opinions.

· Personalize Recommendations with Re-Targeting Tools. I receive regular emails from Amazon.com when new books or DVDs are released that are similar to my last order. These re-targeting emails come in two forms:

(1) A call-out from Amazon product pages titled: Customers Who Bought (my last title) Also Purchased (these other titles) … and

(2) New Products That Might Interest Me.

Here’s a sample of my latest retargeting email from Amazon on food safety headlined: Recommended for You: Amazon.com has new recommendations for you based on items you purchased or told us you own.

Note that each re-target suggestion includes:
· Cover art, some labeled “click-to-open” offering a sample chapter;
· List Price, Current Price, My Savings;
· Buttons to “Rate this Item” and click to “Own it.”

Here’s the second part of my personalized Recommendations email.

This facsimile shows my purchase history and the explanation – “We recommended items above because you purchased or rated these items.”

Then it requests my Feedback — Was it a gift? No longer interested?

Then, it states – “If you already own or have experience with the items we recommended, use the link next to these items to continue improving your recommendations.

Finally, there’s the option to opt-out – “We hope you found this message to be useful. However, if you’d rather not receive future e-mails of this sort from Amazon.com, please opt-out here.”

That’s a good example of personalized recommendation and re-targeted emailings to existing customers. Vendors like ChoiceStream work with your customer database to provide personalized product category recommendations. Or, you can work with your Product Specialists and Web Site Developers to managing your Customer Relations, mining a buyer database for returning customers and Lifetime Customer Value.

TopTen Tips to Increase Your Online Holiday Sales

ruebenmarley — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:04:15 +0000

There’s a lot of buzz about what kind of sales figures we can expect to see this year, and every wholesale and retail specialist knows that the year-end is the biggest and most important of all for either wrapping 2009 up in style, or being left out in the cold when 2010 comes rolling through. Toptenwholesale.com and its network of sites (manufacturer.com, wholesaleu.com, offpricenetwork.com) help buyers to connect directly with the wholesaler or manufacturer of choice, and this would be a wise starting point… but let’s not forget about the tactics you can employ yourself,as you gear up to Increase your holiday sales in 2009.

Without a good strategy, it’s going to be tough this time. That’s the awful truth, and reports from trusted research sites like the NRF only add to the stress levels, as they forecast sales figures that are just 15 below the reported sales from last year. Not entirely encouraging, but not completely disappointing either… and if you follow these TopTen Tips to Increase Your Online Holiday Sales, you might have an added level of security to give you something to smile about.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but if you aren’t ramping up your site with attractive features, discounted items, and special offers to holiday shoppers… then you might want to do it now. Well… right after you read this article, that is!

While we’re on the topic of procrastination, let’s not forget the shoppers who will not be too excited about fighting their way through crowds, parking spaces, and all the general mayhem of the holiday season… especially if they’re just going to wait and see what kinds of deals present themselves at the last minute. Be ready for this, and position some sales items specifically for this demographic. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt to start advertising this feature now.

Get specific about who you’re targeting… don’t rely too much on generalities when there’s specific buyer habits to pay attention to. Review the habits of your customers from last year, and look for the patterns that reveal the valuable stuff.

Group your marketing efforts dynamically… utilize all possible means of getting your message out there, and then tying it all together by leading them back to your site. I’m still amazed when I see advertising that tells people to “Call us today!” and place an order. Nobody calls for orders any more. People like to see the information in front of them, and they like to order from an online order form, unless they take the time to step inside your brick and mortar location.

Once you’ve got their attention, don’t scare them away… with a badly-designed site. Do you have an easy and intuitive interface? Are you using simple terms and attractive pictures on your site, or just some stuff that looks like a slapped-together job? Definitely get rid of the annoying pop-ups and intrusive banner ads… they definitely have their place, but the order form is not one of them.

Recommend products to each one of your shoppers… because a personalized recommendation is a lot better than a ton of ads screaming at site visitors from all directions! Invest the time and money in automated systems for making product recommendations, and you’ll see your sales increase.

Be willing to go the extra mile… by offering special deals that your competition won’t. Break large orders down into smaller ones, and offer them as sets on their own. Example: Have you ever wanted to try a nice glass of expensive French wine? Instead of forcing diners to commit to a bottle, many restaurants offer wine by the glass. Yes, it’s less convenient for you… but in the end, it could be the way to score sales that would otherwise pass you by…

Watch your budget… and don’t blow the whole thing on holiday sales campaigns. While the holiday shopping season is important, it’s not the end of the line. Be ready to keep a little extra money on the side for follow-up marketing that caters to those who didn’t buy from you during the holidays, or better still, the ones who did.

Keep up with the vernacular… because as we all know, things change at the click of a mouse these days. If you are selling bags, bags, and more bags… but the hot word du jour is ‘handbag’… guess which one will be getting more hits on the search engines?

While you’re at it, watch out for the latest click-stream behavior, as shoppers will be using certain strings of text and phrases in their quest for deal this year. If you use these terms, you will be on their list of favorites in no time.

Ready for some serious work on the site? Don’t put it off… it’s already the end of the month, and it won’t be long before it’s the end of the year! Remember to check our own collection of sites for ideas and inspiration as you continue to Find it. Source it. Profit!

Toptenwholesale.com Report: Powerful SEO Marketing This Season

ruebenmarley — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:50:01 +0000

You’ve been working hard all year, trying to tie everything together and make your online seller site a smooth-running machine… but there always seems to be more you can do to get that valuable search engine optimization (SEO) performance you desire. Maybe your site looks good, feels good, and is an absolute pleasure to browse… but you’re dismayed at how little overall traffic you’re seeing in return for your efforts? Isn’t there more you can do to maximize those hits, and get the rankings you deserve when people are throwing your category up on Google? Why is some random YouTube video from 2005 of a water-skiing cat showing up before your site’s URL on the results pages? Don’t take it personally… just know that it’s time for the wholesale and retail specialist to harness the power of SEO marketing this season, and really make those eyeball-hours count for something! Also, don’t forget that Toptenwholesale.com and its network of sites (manufacturer.com, wholesaleu.com, offpricenetwork.com) help buyers to connect directly with their wholesalers or manufacturer of choice. This is a great first step to ramping-up your SEO options!

I’m going to assume that you already know the basics of SEO… in fact, you’re probably implementing a number of advanced schemes already, as the holiday season approaches and makes those elusive clicks even more important than they are at just about any other time of year. However, there are a few things you could do to make your site a little more SEO-friendly, to direct that crucial traffic where you want it to land. Here’s a TopTen list of SEO ideas that will help you to clean up and streamline your site, just in time for the fearsome 2009 holiday season:

Time to reorganize, and get the place ready for party-time… after all, don’t you clean up and straighten out your home whenever you plan to entertain guests? Your site is an extension of your space, and whether it’s real or virtual… it’s got to have a new look for the occasion. On top of that, customers have different shopping habits right now than they do at any other time of the year. Liven up your site, and make it reflect the good times! This doesn’t mean you have to scrap your existing page code, but maybe just hook it up with keyword-rich anchor text over additional links that will pass page-rank to your most popular holiday categories and products. In addition, you can take measures to cut out the excess links by putting a link on your home page that sends visitors where they need to be, in one click instead of three or four.

Crank up the PPC… sounds like some kind of futuristic weapon from a sci-fi movie, doesn’t it? Pay-per-click advertising is good for advertisers who pay their host only when their ad is clicked… and even better for the rankings! This is crunch time, and there isn’t a lot of wiggle room on the calendar for companies who haven’t figured out that increasing your PPC adverts will also produce more traffic to your site. Customers will be clicking whether you put up an ad or not, so why not increase the chance that they’ll be directed to your site? Check out TopTenwholesale.com for PPC Ad opportunities.

Offer additional information that is useful and fun… a highly effective technique is to write an article or blog post on a specific product or service, because straight content ranks well in search engines and, as you probably know, content is everything for SEO. Get started and post a blog or comment on TopTenWholesale.com community blog.

Banner ads are good… sounds too simple to be included in this list, but it’s amazing how many companies forget this one. Back in the day, it used to be quite typical for magazine and newspaper adverts to skyrocket during the holiday season… now it’s the online version that’s getting all the attention. Put yourself in front of the customer by getting a banner ad out there. Toptenwholesale.com has a wide range of online banner ads that will get you in front of targeted buyer groups ready to purchase.

Meta tags and updates are small, but powerful… make sure that the most important key words you are targeting are listed in the beginning of the meta title! Since your title tags are probably structured by category, make sure they are ordered in importance. Since you’re promoting holiday goods and prices, don’t forget to dial-in your meta descriptions so that customers will quickly recognize the keywords they’re looking for. As the clock runs out, frantic shoppers will only be looking for the search responses that speak directly to them. Everything else is just noise.

Keep it simple… because quite frankly, the law of averages don’t care if your site is amazing… or a lifeless pile of HTML. Most of the clicks you actually do get will not lead to anything substantial, and that’s a fact. A good rule of thumb is to keep 80% of your link authority (page-rank) coming from 20% of your back links, which means that you should focus on building more of those strategic links that deliver more of your link authority. This is definitely not the time to try something big and crazy, but rather a time to use what already works… find the sites that have a nice stream of traffic, and see if you can’t get some of your content posted up there, for a mere link to your site as the payback. Bartering can be good for both of you, and it will crank up your traffic if you make friends with a high-ranking site!

Clean the place up… especially if you haven’t been doing it all year. Dead links, bad graphics files, and other detritus from the past can cause link splits and dead-end search results that don’t help you in the least. Simply cleaning up your internal linking structure can result in a higher ranking.

Don’t fear the audit… unless it’s the IRS at your front door! Seriously though, this is a good time to think about doing an overall assessment of your site’s ups and downs, and a time to take inventory of what is being used, and what’s not so useful anymore. Some sites are possibly under the annual code freeze right now, but you can still check basics like your customer contact form, live chat/customer service scripts, or other mechanisms that are in place. Go over the last few months of log files and site analytics, especially to turn up any 404 errors and other missing files.

It’s better to give than to receive… gifts, that is. Create some pages on your site that will promote the word “free” to your visitors… since everybody loves free stuff, right? This will be a tremendous boot to your page rankings, as long as you’re promoting the freebies actively.

Don’t forget the real world… If you live and breathe SEO, offline may be the furthest thing from your mind. Of course, there are other angles to the offline world. Hopefully you have the basic fundamentals covered, like making sure that your web address appears in all your mailings, advertisements, and anywhere else you may be marketing offline. If you have brick-and-mortar locations, it doesn’t hurt to remind people that you also have a website. Don’t forget that many of the traditional offline entities now have online presences themselves. TV news, radio stations, and newspaper reporters are often looking for interesting holiday stories, from the “most unusual” gift ideas to how to entertain for the holidays. Come up with an interesting story idea and you may not only get valuable airtime or print mention, but a link from their site to yours. Separate out, into “buckets,” those purchases that happened offline (e.g. phone orders) but that resulted from online marketing (i.e. were generated from natural search, from paid search, from print, etc.). You could even go more granular, beyond the referral source, and associate actual keywords (search terms) with these referral sources.

Sounds like a lot of stuff to do? Well, it is. Let the SEO experts at Toptenwholesale.com help you out with some of that tedious computer geek stuff, while you spend your time on any of the other hundreds of tasks that require your attention! Contact us by email for details at sales@toptenwholesale.com, and we’ll give you the straight answers to making your company’s SEO goals a reality. After all, we’re already helping thousands to Find it. Source it. Profit!

Search Engines, Social Networks, Swine Flu

Marie — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:45:14 +0000

If you thought social networks and search engines were only for tweeting buddies and finding product suppliers anywhere in the world . . . guess again. The fact that people search for medical information online, and blog or Twitter about their flu symptoms even before they see a doctor, is now the latest way to track the spread of epidemics. Like H1N1, or swine flu.

Those lab workers at Shanghai Institute of Biological Products in China are developing possible vaccines that may protect people from the swine flu virus. But, before vaccines can be administered to the right people, the pandemic bug must be tracked down. Just like forecasting extreme weather.

Enter: Internet Detectives
Here’s where Internet Flu Watcher Programs come in, including Google’s Public Flu Trends System (see below), HealthMap’s automated hourly web crawler that searches for flu information in seven languages, and Maryland’s Resident Influenza Tracking Survey fed with voluntary weekly health reports sent over the Internet.

Some flu detectives are even keeping an eye on cell phones as a way of building those charts that show with whom, exactly, a flu carrier has been in contact.

Psssssst! You’re not paranoid. Your electronic devices ARE watching you!

FluLog proposes using Bluetooth (radio frequency) technology as a kind of Match.com for cell phones. Say you’re in a meeting room and you’re carrying one of two Bluetooth-enabled cell phones that discover each other. Then the presence of you and the other phone owner is logged into a secure central database. Should you -– or your cell phone’s friend — show up with swine flu symptoms, then public health officials can figure out from meeting data turned over by the phones which people are potentially at risk of exposure. Or, so says Mehul Motani from the National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Engineering.

You saw it here, first, at Top Ten Wholesale.

Sorry to gloat. But we told you about an amazing use of search engine technology in Google’s Public Flu Trends system last November 2008. See Search Technology Powerful Enough to Track Bugs from Top Ten Wholesale Blog.

Here’s one of Google’s plots of “sick” and “flu” search queries that was showing the location and spread of influenza outbreaks . . . long before Centers for Disease Control could compile information from state health officials.

All this is part of “infodemiology” -– a cross between the research disciplines of Informatics (Information Technology & Computers) and Epidemiology (Medical Spread of Disease through Populations). Except that, now, search engines and social media enable a far more active approach to managing disease outbreaks.

As Alessandro Vespignani, professor of informatics at Indiana University, said:

It’s not just . . . a passive approach, where we just wait for the disease and then try to do something.

It’s like doing weather forecasts in which you try to get all the initial conditions, and then you run your numerical models on the computer to try to anticipate what will be the evolution.

If we’re talking about that swiney H1N1, I say: Search, Blog, Tweet, Social Network and Track Away!

You Want to Source Qualified Buyers and Sellers?

ruebenmarley — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:23:58 +0000

Finding and sourcing qualified sellers and buyers can be the biggest – and initially the most prohibitive – obstacle for first-timers who want to break into the wholesale and retail game. It helps to remember that Toptenwholesale.com and Manufacturer.com are the leading wholesale directories and search engines connecting thousands of buyers and sellers daily. These B2B directories and platforms were designed to connect buyers directly with domestic and international wholesalers and manufactures. There are over 100 different product categories to search from including: general merchandise, apparel, accessories, gifts, electronics, handbags, jewelry, toys, and more. Toptenwholesale.com and its network of sites (manufacturer.com, wholesaleu.com, offpricenetwork.com) can get you started down the path quickly and efficiently, because aside from technical issues that require specialized knowledge, and other major points that should be handled rather carefully (like taxes and import / export regulations), there is clearly one important thing that must be addressed, in order to really get going with those goals of making an online business or small store a reality:

So… who do I get my products from?

It’s a serious question. Assuming you’ve already found a product, or maybe a range of products that seem to be in demand… a viable market that expresses demand for the product… and as long as the product isn’t currently flooding the market (unless you thrive on the thrill of high-pressure competition), you will need to find a source. On top of that, you’ll need to find one that isn’t going to leave you high and dry when you need support later on.

There’s a lot of different kinds of suppliers out there, and you might want to start with these top categories:

Dealing with distributors could be the way to go for a lot of choices right upfront, or if you want to eliminate the guesswork of having to put complimentary sets of items together by yourself. It could also come in handy if you don’t fancy doing the paperwork and technical stuff that might need to be done to tie the whole order together when dealing directly with a manufacturer. This way of sourcing goods will probably cost you more, but it might save you a lot of time and aggravation in the long run.

Discount sellers and liquidators can lead to big savings. This means you’ll have to be pretty flexible, too… since you won’t always be assured of being able to fill repeat orders for something that was an awesome steal last week, and has quickly dried up this week.

Importers are bringing the goods from far away right to your front door. If you are trying to get goods from another country, this is where you’ll need to look. Luckily, there are some rather firm rules regarding the processes involved in import and export… but it’s all going to be smooth ride or a bumpy one, depending on who the importer is. Larger importers are not as flexible as smaller ones, but tend to be a safer bet. Small companies can give you exactly what you were looking for, but might have their hands tied by some sudden political instabilities or policy changes that they have no power over. I’ve seen this happen a number of times with associates of mine here in China, and it’s a reality you should be prepared to face.

Distributors are great… but maybe drop shippers are better for you. In the case of large or heavy items, it makes a lot of sense to shave off as much of the overall shipping price as possible, both for logistical and price cutting purposes. This can save you from having to coordinate the transport of goods from the source, to you, then to your customers. It will also save the customer some money too, which makes you a lot more attractive as a seller when your competition seems to always have a higher price point for the same merchandise you carry.

Go straight to the source… the manufacturers. This is the best route to take when you are hitting high quantity numbers per order. It also leaves you in a position where you are dealing with fewer parties, and this could simplify things considerably. On the other hand, many manufacturers are great at producing the goods you desire… but awful at customer service, after-sales service, and even simple stuff like accounting or invoicing. This could be a problem if you aren’t willing to take ownership of the situation, and handle as much as you can for yourself.

What are you waiting for? Get online and start looking for these sources! Of course I would recommend that you take a little time to browse the numerous categories of Toptenwholesale.com and Manufacturer.com to see some great examples of global manufacturers and distributors who have made the cut, and investigate the ones who have become part of our search results pages. One of the biggest advantages to using a wholesale-specific search engine like this one is the simple fact that your search results are all going to be relevant to the business of manufacturers, wholesale, and retail… instead of returning hits that are coming from popular celebrity gossip headlines and YouTube feeds. You want information that has been put together using the leading wholesale directories and search engines connecting thousands of buyers and sellers daily. These B2B directories and platforms were designed to connect buyers directly with domestic and international wholesalers and manufactures. There are over 100 different product categories to search from including: general merchandise, apparel, accessories, gifts, electronics, handbags, jewelry, toys, and more. Toptenwholesale.com and its network of sites (manufacturer.com, wholesaleu.com, offpricenetwork.com) help buyers to connect directly with the wholesaler or manufacturer of choice, because the Internet is frustrating enough with 80% of content being spam-related… so do yourself a favor and use the tools that will streamline your search! Of course, there is a lot of traditional media you can subscribe to a well, and trade magazines and newsletters are readily available if you like to have something more tangible to read. Making the voyage out to major shows like the huge Canton Fair in Guangzhou, China could offer you a tremendous advantage too.

Be wary, though… there’s a lot of fake stuff in circulation, and after living in China for the past three years, I’m never surprised anymore when I see something new that turns up, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Doing your research is paramount to protecting yourself, and there are many ways to find out if a business is legit or not. Visit the website, and take a few minutes to move around within it. If it doesn’t seem to be a worthwhile investment of your time, walk away. This extends beyond simply sniffing out the scammers; it’s also a good indicator of which companies have their acts together… or which ones will be a challenge in terms of simple communication, or basic ideologies behind doing business with them. Make sure you do your homework once you find a possible partner. Taking the time to read through policies regarding returns, damages, backorders, and other essential parts of the company’s customer service plan will save you some headaches later. If you notice that the company has a contact number or PO box… instead of a physical location that you can visit… this is a huge indicator of something shady. Of course, nothing substitutes for calling the supplier directly and asking a few questions. If in doubt, you can also take a shot at checking the business out through the Better Business Bureau, Hoover’s Online, or any other background investigation agency.

Finally, besides getting everything squared away in terms of setting up your company and getting a business license and tax ID number… you need to establish payment terms with your new source. Sometimes they are easy to work with, and sometimes you will feel like you need to get certified as a CPA to understand the paperwork. In either case, remember that many of these suppliers will allow you to apply for credit, or set up payment terms that work for you. If you need to know more, try contacting us at Toptenwholesale.com for the answers! Find it. Source it. Profit!

Different Strategy for Buyers and Sellers Gearing up this Holiday Season?

ruebenmarley — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:10:58 +0000

Never before has there been a time of such uncertainty and economic instability in the USA. For the wholesale and retail business especially, this is where it all comes down to a strong finish for the fourth quarter, or a weak ending that leaves a lot of people wondering what happened. There’s going to be some winners, and a lot of losers… but the ones who lose big are going to be the ones who didn’t change their strategy, and relied on pure luck to squeak by in 2009.

It’s no secret that the US economy is practically made entirely from an enormous consumer base, and this makes it pretty important to keep spending up, even as the dollar continues its drop. However, countries around the world are showing signs of moving away from export trade… by instead internalizing their resources, in order to invest in themselves a little more. China is a prime example of this, and in the coming months things will only get more difficult for the wholesalers and retailers that are looking for easy deals through their Chinese partners and sources… until the next developing country takes the spotlight for being the cheap-labor center of manufacturing.

Have you looked at the Chinese netbook market?

Where did all that great 3G tech go?

It’s going to take a whole new outlook – coupled with a highly strategic plan – to make the numbers this time around. If this sounds like a harsh dose of reality, it’s only because it is. Does it mean you should throw in the towel? No, of course not… but it does mean that resources like Toptenwholesale.com (search a term like China some time) might become very valuable to you as you look for sourcing options and trends in the industry that lead to solutions!

Let’s talk about China’s changing economy, and the new obstacles in its path. Long gone are the heydays of making money just by sourcing from the cheapest Chinese manufacturers, and while this has affected the US economy substantially… it pays to keep an eye on what the PRC is doing about it. Here are four areas of interest that you should be very interested in, if you are currently doing business with China, and relying upon a trade relationship to fuel your wholesale engine.

Higher costs of labor, and environmental protection are resulting in higher prices from China’s export sector. Even though cheap labor is the foundation of the current Chinese economy, it’s a model that is quickly reaching its limit.
Saturation in the international markets is taking its toll. Too much of a good thing, or too many cheap things?
China has been involved in the world’s largest number of anti-dumping cases in recent years, and this has led to a big rise in trade protection, on the part of other countries that don’t like the way the game is sometimes being played.
There is a trade imbalance between China and other countries, and it is getting worse. As the RMB continues its climb in value, domestic companies are going to be faced with much bigger exchange risks in import or export-based trade.

What does it all mean to you? It means you had better find the good sources, quick! After all, this is not a passing trend or a fad, this is the truth… and those who face the truth first will be positioned to get the most from new strategies and relationships that form in the coming years. It also means that as many wholesalers fall to the wayside due to poor planning and bad choices, the winners will take the prize. Keep looking here for more, as Toptenwholesale.com continues to give you the news you need, so you can continue to Find it. Source it. Profit!

TopTen Popular Off-Price Products Being Outsourced This Holiday Season

ruebenmarley — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:33:41 +0000

With the US Dollar shrinking rapidly, and a seemingly never-ending series of contradictions regarding the instability of the economy hitting all of the news feeds… it’s easy to see that this holiday season will present some interesting challenges to the wholesale and retail specialists that are trying to tie it all together in time for the major shopping wrap-up of 2009. General merchandise has always been a market with its upswings and downturns, but this time the numbers to focus upon are the forecasts for what kind of money will be spent by the consumer this season in specific areas like Christmas and party supplies… and how you can apply some smart spending of your own towards meeting their specialized demands, without resorting to too much guesswork.

It looks like the ones who research the trends and the global news are going to win. Fortunately for the number-crunchers, there are a variety of resources available for those who want to sink their teeth into the dizzying piles of numbers and spreads that break down consumer spending patterns, regional areas of distinction, and pretty much anything else that you can think of… but how do you filter out all the noise, and find the resources that make sense to you? What’s being offered by manufacturers to your market category? Where can you turn to, without spending all of your time going bleary-eyed from the bluish-cold glow of your PC monitor, and without making you feel like your world has been reduced to a 1680 x 1050 display? Okay, maybe that last part was really just describing my own situation… but you get the idea.

Since every one of you in the wholesale and retail biz are as different as the customers you serve, I’ll try to bring up a few of the main traditional focal points, with another nice and neat TopTen list of popular off-price products being outsourced this holiday season:

Accessories… there’s never been a better time to start carrying a full range of accessories, from classic to outrageous. With prices dipping and once-successful export companies in China feeling the pinch… you might get a lot for a little, if you apply the right tactics in getting a piece of that surplus at a price you’re happy with. Your customers will be even happier when they see how easy you make it for them to find what they want.

Apparel… I’ve actually noticed some military-grade bags and other small items that are hitting the racks – with the minimal addition of brands and logos – here in China, because there are a few companies that were making actual military gear… who now find themselves without contracts. Guess who’s going to be rocking the desert-camo cargo pants this year? I’ll be one of them. Maybe you can reach out to these manufacturers, and make a deal?

Shoes… while there will always be a market for high-end footwear, it’s certainly the designer-inspired and budget-conscious suppliers that will be getting more attention this year. Don’t be afraid to check out the huge market for discount shoes.

Jewelry… I’ve talked about the rise of online jewelry wholesalers in past posts, but another thing to consider is all the talk about gold and silver prices going through the roof. No, I’m not suggesting that buying jewelry will really be the best way to invest in wealth protection, but what I’m referring to instead is the fact that gold broke the USD1000 mark not too long ago… and it continues to climb. That means people had better buy their gold now, rather than waiting for the prices to continue the hike. Are you educating your customers about this? Of course, this means your timely large-volume purchases will protect you from rising costs down the road, too.

Toys… factory closures in China - and more than a few unscrupulous bosses disappearing with the company’s cash - have been making news here in the PRC, and that means that there are a lot of toys floating around with no place to go. This year’s Christmas will be the year of seeking value, and you can direct your customers to the best ones, if you act fast.

Electronics… I don’t need to say a lot about this one, do I? China is on a mission to build up its reputation as the world’s next electronics empire… and that means that right now you will find a lot of companies that want to bring their low price-point goods to you, in the hopes that it will boost their budgets for development, and push them to the front end of the surge. Again, this is a nice example of some leverage you may have over them. Beware of really poorly-performing hardware, though… just remember to buy smart, and win.

Health and Beauty… this is a great example of unknown Asian companies making their move. Did you know that Asian and Indian women have distinctly different needs than Caucasian women, with regard to simple things like concealer, lip liner, shader… and… all that other stuff that I’m suddenly embarrassed to admit I know a lot about? Do you know the demographics of your community – both online and on your street – that will influence your buying decisions? Do you know anything about Kevin, the famous makeup artist from Taiwan? Why don’t you Google him (by the way, this is a different guy from Kevyn Aucoin, the famed American cosmetics entrepreneur) and find out what Asian women are looking for in the USA. Be the first one to offer it to them at a special price! Here’s a tidbit for you: in China, the general consensus is that Japanese and Korean companies are the only ones who make top-quality cosmetics for the Asian market. That means the Chinese products can be had for a low price… for now.

Handbags… nothing replaces this category, and both men and women will be looking for the all-purpose ‘field kit’ that looks less like a nerdy excuse to keep all of your valuables on your person, and more like a stylish reason to carry extra items that come in handy when you’re out and about.

Home Décor… lots of folks are going to be moving to smaller homes, rental homes, and even moving in with friends and family as this housing crisis continues its graceful descent into oblivion. Sounds great, right? Well, the fact remains that people like to be comfortable… and that means offering the goods to make a new - and perhaps less posh - living space feel more like home, will be appreciated.

Food… ah, I saved the best for last. I was in the Food and Beverage business for years, and my prediction is that more families will be giving the gift of cookware this year, in an effort to curb spending by not eating out too often. There’s a lot of choice in the market, since the culinary craze of the past 20 years has built a very solid foundation of foodies far and wide… but this year, the emphasis will be on finding high-nourishment… and half the fat. Bad joke, I know. Pay attention to the smaller, low-cost items of choice in the area of home cooking, and family-sized wares.

Lest I forget, you can always turn to the power-packed pages of Toptenwholesale.com for a solid lead-generator, and a glimpse into what the trends are, in real-time. Other information to peruse would be COMSCORE’s helpful data, like the chart below.

It’s impossible to cover all the bases in one post, but it’s a start. Hopefully you will continue the search for the best outsource options, as you gear up for the most unpredictable holiday shopping season we’ve seen in a long time… just remember to Find it. Source it. Profit!