Hidden Ways to Get Into Google

Ok Folks, we're back,

These days everyone wants to get into Google. There are many faces of Google and it takes volumes to explain it all. Over the next few weeks, we are going to bring you some outstanding information to help you get your website way up in not just Google, but most of the other major search engines. In fact, we are going to be doing the exact things that we are going to show you and do them at the same time that you are doing them. I will keep you updated on my progress and you can keep me updated on your progress. But first, here are a few hidden ways to get into Google that you might want to try. this information comes from Kim Roach, The Hip Marketing Gal.

Everyone is concerned about their Google rankings. An algorithm change or an update can often leave many a webmaster in tears. However, I often like to sneak in through the back door. So today, I'm going to reveal to you some of my Google secrets, because Google's Lab is much larger than you think.

Google Video

Google Video allows you to have your very own TV show on one of the largest search engines on the internet. This is a form of multimedia that is certainly gaining popularity online. Right now Google Video is in a growth stage and it's one of the perfect times to get in and be one of the first to brand yourself in a particular market. Videos are also a great selling point if you have a product that can be demonstrated. With Google video, you can now have your very own infomercial indexed in the search engines. Of course, you'll want to provide some great content too. To check out this new technology, go to http://video.google.com

Google Base

Google Base was launched in November of 2005. Google base describes itself as “a place where you can add all types of information that we'll host and make searchable online.” Now, if that isn't a webmaster's dream, I don't know what is.

Your item could be almost anything: your products, research papers, articles, press releases, etc. You can describe all of your items so that you can zone in on your targeted visitor.

Anyone with a Google account can use this service, so why not give it a try. Google base is the perfect way to get an additional audience for your content. To find out more about Google Base, visit http://base.google.com/base/about.html

Google Local

Getting your products into Google local can put your items in front of some serious buyers. People often go to Google Local looking for a specific item or service in a particular geographic area. So, if you own a small business, Google Local is the perfect opportunity to increase your reach without spending lots of advertising dollars.

Now, onto a section of Google that you certainly won't want to miss out on.

Google Blog Search

This is one of the best ways to get some additional listings in Google. If you have a website, why not start a blog. By starting a blog, you can tap into a variety of blog search engines, including Google Blog search. This area of marketing is largely untapped, so it is the perfect time to get your particular niche grounded in these specialty search engines.

To get your blog listed, you simply need to ping an updating service such as weblogs.com. It's as simple as that. If you are using Wordpress, you can set it up to where your blog pings the major services every time you make a post.

You can even have multiple listings in the Google Blog Search because they list specific posts as well as entire blogs.

Google News

Want to get your article and even your picture into Google News? Well, it's really not that hard. The first step is to go to www.americanchronicle.com, scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click on the link that says “submit work.” From there you can sign up to be a contributor.

If accepted as a contributor, you will then be able to submit articles along with your picture. Many of their articles are syndicated on Google News and will be available to the millions of searchers who go to Google News each and every day.

If you are looking to get your press release into Google News, that is simple as well. All you have to do is submit your press release to prleap.com.

Using these techniques, you can get into Google News 100% free, while many other webmasters are paying to do so.

Now that you know about the many faces of Google, you will be able to use these tactics to your advantage. You see, there are so many people who just don't put in the extra effort required to get exceptional results. Luckily for you, this puts you at a great advantage over many of the webmasters online today.

About the Author:
Kim Roach, the Hip Marketing Gal, has many more free traffic tips to unveil. To Learn Exactly how to attract tons of targeted, qualified web site traffic to your site, visit http://www.unleashthetraffic.com/traffic.html

So, starting with our next posting, we will be giving you a series of lessons on how to optimize your website and we will be doing each lesson along with you. By the time we end this series of lessons, both you and I should have top listings in all the major search engines, even Google, of course.

But wait, even better (or at least as good), we are going to include information on where you can get thousands of dollors worth of FREE software and tools to build and manage your website like a professional. You should never need to buy another marketing book, marketing software or most any other software or tools you need to run the web based part of your business. And, this will help your physical based (Brick and Mortar) business.

So do visit regularly so you can get the advantage of this fantastic information giveaway. I would like to plug our main web based business which is our Wholesale Directory. Visit at http://www.wholesaleria.com. Whether you are a Wholesaler or a Retailer, there is something for you. Wholesalers, we have an astounding advertising offer. Retailers, we have tons of sources for wholesale products and services. Right now over 600,000 hits per month and over 100.000 unique visits per month makes www.wholesaleria.com a must see destination. Thanks for stopping by.

A J

Teens targeted with cellphone marketing

Hi again Folks,

Glad to see you back. Sometimes we tend to underestimate the Teen Market and we should not. But it is a good idea if you want to reach them that we keep up with the "How To". Most of us know that the cell phone is like a teens sixth sense. With that in mind, here is an article by Jayne O'Donnell, USA Today that will give you some new ideas perhaps on reaching that huge Teen Market.

Eager to connect with teen and twentysomething shoppers, retailers are focusing on the mobile devices that are never far from their hands — or ears.

"They are the early adopters and the influencers," Roman Tsunder says of teens targeted by cellphone marketing campaigns from his company, Access 360 Media. "The youth markets will show adults how it's done."

Technology designed to influence teen behavior should be "cool to use and add functionality," says Dan Butler, a National Retail Federation vice president. "Younger generations may certainly drive the utilization of these technologies. They'll take the time to learn a new technology because they automatically get the coolness and uniqueness."

Among the latest teen-focused shopping tech:

•An interactive dressing room mirror developed by IconNicholson that streams high-definition video of shoppers modeling clothes to their friends' computers or mobile devices. It made its first appearance in a retail store last week, in the Nanette Lepore department at the Manhattan Bloomingdale's. The mirror allows the friends to comment on a shopper's outfits and to select other clothes for her to try.

•GPShopper, an Internet-style search engine that lets shoppers search a chain's entire inventory. Retailers using the service include Best Buy, Toys R Us and Sports Authority. Consumers can text-message the service to find out if an item is in stock at a nearby store. The service is free to consumers with mobile phone plans that don't charge extra for data service.

GPShopper CEO Alex Muller says early research found teens wanted all the information sent immediately: "They don't expect to have to make a call."

Coupons that go to shoppers' cellphones. Tsunder, CEO of Access 360 Media, says a holiday coupon campaign for retailers including f.y.e. saw redemption rates of about 40% compared with less than 2% for many print or online coupon campaigns. Shoppers text a code found on store signs to get the coupon, then show it displayed on their phone at checkout.

Tsunder likes cellphones for marketing because they're permission-based. Consumers simply message back "stop" if they don't want messages or coupons.

Tsunder's campaigns also include in-store TV programs featuring hip young celebrities and the store's products. Often, the celebrity will ask customers to enter contests, which they can do by text-messaging. It saves the customer time, and the retailer has access to a cellphone number for marketing or research.

This generation was brought up on the Internet," Muller says. "We're giving them the same capability on another device they feel quite comfortable with — their mobile phone." ##

Now don't forget to visit us at http://www.wholesaleria.com if you are looking for some great wholesale product suppliers. And, you wholesale suppliers might want to look at the option of advertising your business on wholesaleria. We are getting over 600,000 hits per month and are running an introductory special that is impossible to refuse. Better check it out before it's gone.

Now here are: 5 Breakthrough Marketing Ideas

1. Offer to insert ads into your product package for other businesses. Just ask, in return that they do the same for your business. You should only trade insert ads with businesses that have the same target audience.

2. Offer a free daily class in your web site's chatroom. The class should be related to the subject of your business or web site. This will get people to visit your web site everyday.

3. Do you have a product that doesn't sell good? Offer it as a free bonus for another businesses product or service. You'll get free advertising by placing your web site or business ad on the free bonus.

4. Place different emotional response ads for the same product or service all over your web site. One ad may hit their hot button to buy more than another ad.

5. Publish your e-zine in e-book format. You could offer a larger number of articles per issue. It also allows you to include graphics with your ezine. Your advertising revenue would increase because you could charge businesses for large color ads.

Quote of the Day:

"The person who said that money is the root of all evil just flat out didn't have any" --Stuart Wilde

Well, that's it for today. I hope this helped some of you in some way. Let me know what you think. Comments are welcome. Thanks for stopping by. See you again soon.

A J

U.S. Women Spend 1.2 Hours Shopping Online A Week

Well Folks,

We are back. It took us a few months to totally automate our wholesale directory where the best buyers meet the best sellers. This blog will now continue to bring valuable information to both the retailer and the wholesaler to help each make the kind of decisions that will increase business for both.

With that in mind, we have stored up a library of trade information that affects us all. Besides publishing this blog to bring you this information, we will also be publishing some great marketing tips on our website http://www.wholesaleria.com. This should be a regular destination for both wholesalers and retailers. Check it out, you will know what I mean.

Today, we have a couple articles that we feel are relevant to wholesalers and retailers alike. The first is a short article about Women shopping online. Here it is:

A survey of women's online shopping habits revealed that women spend approximately 1.2 hours per week shopping online, News Room online reported. According to the survey, from Consumer Reports, 96 percent of American women who have shopped online in the past 12 months have purchased at least one product online and 57 percent do product research and shopping online.

Women usually shop for family members and others in-store, but women usually reserve online shopping for themselves. The average spent on a single item purchased online is $397, but more than one-quarter of women have spent more than $1,000, and 9 percent have spend $2,500 or more shopping online in the past year, News Room reported. The survey also found that 7 percent of women said they would not purchase jewelry online. End...

The second short article gives us a look at prefered payment methods. See below:

Younger Consumers Driving Demand for Online Payment Options

A study from JupiterResearch shows that consumers under the age of 35 are driving the changes in payment methods, especially when it comes to paying online, Progressive Grocer reported. "Payment Preferences Online: Managing the Generation Gap Between Mature and Young Adults" found that 48 percent of consumers aged 25 to 34 prefer debit cards for Internet transactions and 34 percent prefer PayPal or other similar services, compared to 39 percent of all online consumers for debit cards and 27 percent for PayPal.

"As younger adults expand in proportion to the workforce, their earnings and overall capacity to purchase will also increase," said Edward Kountz, senior analyst at JupiterResearch, according to Progressive Grocer. "This will solidify the most durable of their different payment preferences. This trend will require payment-product issuers to develop marketing and product strategies to meet the payment desires and changing values of younger adults. This will include card features tailored to younger adults' lifestyle needs, and marketing efforts that embrace emerging social media."

So there you have it. Take this information and act on it to help increase your business either retail or wholesale because without one, where is the other. Wholesalers should be helping their buyers do more retail sales. It's a no brainer.

Now here are 10 Blockbuster Ways To Ignite Your Sales:

1. Sign-up to win web site awards. When you win, some award sites publish your web site link, name and description on their site.

2. Join online business associations or clubs. If you join, they will usually list all their members on their web site. It will give your business extra exposure.

3. Utilize a simple form of viral marketing. Write or have someone else write a small report with your ad included on it and allow others to give it away.

4. Improve your business by promoting customer feedback. Tell them you want their honest opinions about your business, good or bad.

5. Design your packaging so it sells your products. Utilize colors and lettering that make your product more attractive to your prospects.

6. Compare your product's guarantee to your main competitors. Find a niche were your can design your guarantee to be more powerful.

7. Try not to assume your audience understands everything in your ad copy. If you have words they may not know the meaning to, define them.

8. Build alliances with other online businesses. You could trade links or ads, create joint venture deals, cross promote your products, etc.

9. Design your web site to be a valuable resource for people. Include original content, links to other interesting web sites, ebooks, software, etc.

10. Compete with the highly branded businesses by practicing good customers service, strong product quality and speedy service.

Quote of the day:

"Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant." -- Horace

It's great to be back folks and I hope this will help some of you in some way to move your business forward. Be sure to check out our website. Retailers can find some great wholesale sources and wholesalers can advertise their goods to the retailers that come by to say hello. Our link is to the right of this page. http://www.wholesaleria.com If you are a wholesaler, you can get over $3,400.00 adveritsing and benefits for just $99.00 your first year. It is hard to believe, but we are actually doing what no one else dares to do. We are making online advertising affordable for you. Thanks for stopping by.

A J

U. S. Kids' Buying Power Tops $18 Billion

Good Evening Folks,

I hope you are well and prosperous. It looks like most of the neighborhood kids are doing fairly well. Here is an article about how well kids are doing with respect to their buying power. I believe that we can take some notes here and do some targeting of our sales if we have not already done so in this area. Here is the article:

NEW YORK, May 9: According to a new study from market research publisher Packaged Facts, kids aged 3 to 5, 6 to 8 and 9 to 11 in the U.S.—an estimated 36 million children—had a combined purchasing power of $18 billion last year.

The Kids Market in the U.S. further notes that this amount will rise to $21.4 billion in disposable income by 2010. Concurrently, families spend more than $115 billion on kids in key consumer areas, such as food, clothing, personal-care items, entertainment, and reading materials. Almost half of this total, $58.3 billion, is devoted to food expenditures. By Packaged Facts estimates, annual expenditures by families on consumer goods for kids will reach approximately $143 billion by 2010.

In announcing the release of the study, Don Montuori, the publisher of Packaged Facts, noted, "The major industry-wide efforts to proactively respond to kid issues, such as obesity, Internet safety, and the appropriateness of marketing and promotions directly targeting children, have certainly impacted the market. While these need to continue to be major concerns, marketers would be wise to adapt to the rapidly evolving consumer attitudes and habits of today's media-saturated kids-and their families-by going beyond what's politically correct to find more meaningful and age-affirming ways to reach this demographic where they are." ###

Don't forget that you can find many kids products when you search www.wholesaleria.com for the best wholesale sellers in the industry. It's FREE to use for retailers and wholesalers alike. Anyone can use this wholesale directory fo find new products at great wholesale prices. It lists many of the top wholesalers, Importers, distributors, jobbers and liquidators in the country and beyond.

Be sure to get your wholesale business listed in www.wholesaleria.com the directory of wholesalers, importers, distributors and liquidators. Actually, at the rate this directory is growing, you can't afford not to have a listing especially considering the cost and the benefits. I would like to prove to you that the cost is so good it's almost FREE. You do not need to spend a fortune to advertise your wholesale business online. And, one new customer litterally will pay for your cost and probably give you a profit to boot. Can you afford to miss out on this? I don't think so!! Go now to www.wholesaleria.com and click on the banner link or the listing page link. Now here are:

10 Web Site Add-Ons That Can Catapult Traffic

1. Add a message board to your web site. People will visit your web site to ask questions and answer other people's questions.

2. Add a directory of web site links to your website. People will visit your web site to find related web site links for the topic they're interested in.

3. Add an article section to your web site. People will visit your web site to read and learn new info related to their interests.

4. Add an archive of past e-zine issues to your web site. People will visit your web site to read past issues of your e-zine that they've missed.

5. Add a free ebook directory to your web site. People will visit your site to download, study and read new information.

6. Add a free classified ad section. People will visit your web site to place their own free classified ad and to read other offers.

7. Add a free link page to your web site. People will visit your web site to place their own link and to look at other people's links.

8. Add an "about us" page to your web site. People will visit your web site to read about your business and yourself.

9. Add a guest book to your web site. People will visit your web site to leave their opinions about your business and to list their signature file.

10. Add a free software download page to your web site. People will visit your web site to find new software that will make their life easier.

Quote of the Day:

"Money is the seed of money, and the first guinea is sometimes
more difficult to acquire than the second million." -- Jean Jacques Rousseau

I hope that this has helped some of you in some way. Thanks for your time. Usually time spent learning is time well spent. You are always welcome as are your comments. Do come back soon. A J

It's A Rainy Day In Virginia

Hey Folks,

I thought I would keep it light today. We had some real storms overnight and it looks like a rainy day today. I hope the weather is good where you are. Anyway I am going to just give you Part II of Real Cool Tools so here are:

Real Cool Tools.......and They Are Also Free! Part II

AnyBrowser.com Screen Size Tester
http://anybrowser.com/ScreenSizeTest.html

Have you ever been to a Web site and not been able to scroll to the bottom of the page? The scroll bar is there, but you can’t get down that far to scroll. It’s not a pleasant experience. At the Screen Size Tester, you can test your Web pages in different screen resolutions so that you can be assured that all of your visitors can view your site in its entirety.

Anti-Spam and Security Fix for FormMail.pl Script
http://mailvalley.com/formmail/

“Formmail.pl, one of the most-used perl scripts on the Web, is designed to send data entered into a Web form to an e-mail address. This script could be exploited by a malicious user who could use Formmail as a spam server. If you use this script, spammers may be able to use it to send spam freely using your server's resources.” This site offers a patched version that prevents the script from being used by spammers.

Comprehensive Guide to .htaccess
http://www.javascriptkit.com/howto/htaccess.shtml

Though not a “tool” per se, this comprehensive tutorial about how to use the .htaccess file is excellent.

Top Ten Web Design Mistakes for 2002
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20021223.html

Though also not a tool, this handy list is something that we should all be aware of. For example, don’t use horizontal scrolling!

Get any of the following software, reports, eBooks and courses completely free...

Work from Home: A Complete Guide to Developing a Successful Internet Business from Home
A step by step guide to developing your own Internet business -- from getting your office set up to deciding on what products you should sell, to marketing and promoting. Nearly 100 pages - yours free. You may brand this ebook with your affiliate IDs and make money by freely distributing it.

10 Basics for Starting Your Online Business
There are ten basic steps to initiating and cultivating your dream of starting of your very own Internet-based business. The steps begin the moment you first conceptualize your dream and they culminate with continued revenue from your customers.

Free Software
Build Your Own Money Making Site in 15 Minutes or Less ... Launch Your Own 75+ Page MEGA Site Today using a revolutionary new software program that generates profit pulling websites at the push of a button.

30 Days to Success
A complete step by step guide to making money online. This eBook is a MUST read if you'd like to make some serious money online and jump start your Internet business.

Professional Web Site Design Course
Free Intensive 10-Day Web Site Design Email Course. Learn how to design a professional web site.

eBooks: A Complete Guide to Self-Publishing
A complete step by step guide to creating your own eBook including; researching, brainstorming, design, compiling and more. This eBook may be customized with your affiliate id (40% commission) and may be freely distributed.

I hope this has helped some of you in some way. Thanks for dropping by and be sure to come back soon. You are always welcome as are your comments. A J

Do Customers Really Appreciate Good Service?

Greetings again Folks,

I know that sometimes we all wonder if our customers appreciate good service. We get discouraged when we think we are doing a great customer service job and it seems like no one really appreciates it.

Well, you won't necessarily hear about it every day from every customer, but you can believe that your customers, for the most part, really do appreciate that good service and it will pay off if you don't let down. Now, I will be the first to say that there are some customers that you can not please regardless of how well you treat them. I run accross this every day and it would take too long to explain in depth. So, I am going to touch only on the positive things that can happen.

We were servicing some of our store wholesale buying customers Thursday and Friday and things were fairly normal, we missed a couple wholesale buyers and some were holding down spending for one reason or another. But, there were two situations that stood out and they were worth the effort we put forth for the two days.

First, while we were serviceing this store, one of the employees (Assistant Manager) came over and started to talk. They mentioned that they appreciated the fact that we priced everything and set it up ready to be sold. She stated that most of their vendors just dumped everything in the floor and left it to them to do the pricing etc. Now, it is great to hear someone tell you that they like what you do, but most actually do not say it even if they think it. However, from experience, we know that we command a higher ticket average per store than most companies that do what we do and one of the reasons is that service that we give to all our store wholesale buying customers.

The second situation invlolved one of the owners of a store that we had been serviceing for about 6 months. She and her father owned the store and she wanted us to know that she felt that our products did very well there and that she liked our service. Then she went on to say that they were going to make more space for us so we could put in more product. Then she said that they were opening another store in a couple weeks and wanted to know if we could do that store too.

Well there you go. Sometimes you can go a while before hearing nice things, bu then, your good service pays off. Keep giving your customers the best possible service you can. Go the extra mile if you can. It doesn't matter if you sell wholesale or retail, good customer service is a priority you can't afford to neglect. Like advertising, Good service pays!!

I invite you to visit our wholesale directory www.wholesaleria.com. If you are selling wholesale in any way, it will pay you to look at the special offer available for a short time to help your business gain maximum exposure for so little cost, it is almost FREE.

Retail sellers, whether you sell online, in a physical location or both, you can find some of the best wholesalers and wholesale buys in the world here and it is FREE. You will find all types of wholesale sellers including wholesalers, jobbers, importers and liquidators. www.wholesaleria.com is the place to go to find it all. Now here are:

Cool Tools.......that are also free!!

Here are some great tools that most of us didn't know even existed. Part I of V

Customer Focus Calculator (“We We Monitor”!)
http://www.webconfs.com

This site has three different tools that are really cool plus a lot more. One is a Search Engine Spider Simulator, which displays exactly what a spider would see when it visits your page. Another free tool is the Google Backlink Checker, which lets you know who’s linking to your site and what link text they’re using. The last tool is the Similar Page Checker. We all know that “duplicate content” is a no no. This neat tool will determine the similarity between two pages.

Marketleap Search Engine Marketing Tools http://www.marketleap.com/services/freetools/default.htm

A favorite tool on this page is the Link Popularity Check. Enter your URL and up to three comparison URLs, and the site will let you know what your link popularity is in AllTheWeb, AltaVista, Google, Inktomi, and MSN. It also compares your site’s link popularity to other URLs you listed as well as other sites on the Net. The Search Engine Saturation tool determines how many pages a given search engine has in its index for your Web site. You can compare your site to five other sites with this tool. Finally, the Keyword Verification Tool checks to see if your page is in the top three pages of a search engine’s results for a certain keyword or keyword phrase.

Website Security Report
http://security.computer-concierge.net/security/website_security_report.asp

This very cool tool lets you find out how secure your Web site is. You could be surprised what you will learn from this one. You might want to change your hosting provider.

Your Computer’s Security
http://grc.com/default.htm

Gibson Research Corporation offers a really neat (and free) tool for checking the security of your computer: ShieldsUp. Scroll down on the page to the Hot Spots area, where you’ll find the link to ShieldsUp. Be sure to go through each of the checks in the ShieldsUp section (File Sharing, Common Ports, etc.).

Reverse DNS Lookup
http://remote.12dt.com/rns/

This service converts an IP address to the host name by searching domain name service tables. Now you can see who it is you are dealing with.

Doctor HTML
http://www2.imagiware.com/RxHTML/

Click on Single Page, and the free service will analyze your Web page based on document structure, image syntax, table analysis, browser support, verify hyperlinks, and much more.

GifBot by NetMechanic
http://www.netmechanic.com/accelerate.htm

GifBot will compress your GIF, JPEG, and animated GIF images by decreasing the file size without sacrificing the quality of the image. So, your pages load faster!

Bobby Online
http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp

This online service allows you to test Web pages to help expose and repair barriers to accessibility and encourage compliance with existing accessibility guidelines. It’s very important to make sure your Web pages are accessible for those who surf the Internet with disabilities.

Ok, use these tools to make your online presence a good one. There are more to come in the next 3 parts and possibly 1 more if we have enough free cool tools. I hope this has helped some of you in some way. Thanks for stopping by. You are always welcome as are your comments. A J

Retailers Project Higher Sales for 2006 Holiday Season

Hi again Folks,

Well, what do you know. Here is a prediction that sales for the upcoming Holiday Season will increase over last years Holiday Season. There is still hope if you keep a positive attitude and do the right things to take advantage of the good feeling that pervades the general public with regard to spending. Just about everyone loves to give during the Holiday Season as well as receive something too. Let's see what the prediction says.

RETAIL SYSTEMS 2006 CONFERENCE & EXPO, CHICAGO, May 22

Oracle ORCL today announced the results of a national study of retailer projections for the 2006 holiday season, revealing that, despite rising energy prices, the retail sector predicts strong sales growth over last year. The majority of the study's respondents project solid sales growth (between 5 percent and 9 percent) or exceptional growth (more than 10 percent) over last year's holiday season.

At the same time, however, nearly 90 percent of retailers surveyed predict flat or declining margins over last year, largely due to rising energy costs. These findings indicate that retailers plan to continue absorbing increased transportation costs instead of passing them along to consumers, ultimately impacting the bottom line.

The study also finds that retail organizations are investing in technology solutions to improve operational efficiency and enhance the customer experience to ensure a successful holiday season and ongoing profitability. Rising energy costs, it appears, are forcing retailers to move strategies for success closer to the customer.

"Retailers are focusing more than ever on the objectives of increasing operational efficiency in order to enhance the customer experience," said Oracle Retail Global Business Unit General Manager Duncan Angove. "As they attempt to minimize the impact of rising costs, retailers seek tools that help them transform operations, understand and predict customer demand and improve performance at every customer touch point -- key factors in building and maintaining customer loyalty."

Strong Sales, Weak Margins

Fifty-one percent of retailers surveyed project solid comparable-store sales growth (between 5 percent and 9 percent) for the 2006 holiday season over last year, and 5 percent anticipate an exceptional year (more than 10 percent growth). Not all retailers are bullish, however, with 39 percent predicting flat sales, and 5 percent projecting declining sales. Retailers targeting a robust season cite continued strength of the economy and the introduction of new merchandising strategies as key factors; those more pessimistic point the finger at rising gas prices as a consumer spending inhibitor.

Despite optimism about sales, retailers project a margin squeeze for the 2006 holiday season, driven by higher transportation costs and pressure for deep and early markdowns. Sixty-one percent of respondents predict flat margins, and 27 percent project lower margins this holiday season. Executive management and IT management are more pessimistic about margins than senior management (merchandising, planning, marketing managers, etc.) and store operations respondents.

"Getting squeezed on margins is nothing new to retailers," said Angove. "In recent years, retailers have fought for every point of margin as real estate and workforce costs skyrocketed. Retailers want choices in the tools they use to create new efficiencies in operational costs they can control. As a result, we see the introduction of better merchandising and pricing strategies, tighter store and inventory management, as well close collaboration with manufacturers and partners to transform the supply chain." ###


The article goes on to list the percentages of respondents that are looking to technology solutions to help them through the balance of the year and beyond as well as staff training to increase efficiency and the bottom line.

This is also a chance for the wholesale industry to increase sales through special offers and more efficeint handling of product from ordering to shipping. Wholesalers need to make customer service to their buying retailers a top priority and keeping in touch with their customer is one of the most important thing a wholesale seller can do regardless of the type of wholesale business you are. Now here are:

10 Killer Ways To Multiply Your Sales

1. When you make your first sale, follow-up with the customer. You could follow-up with a "thank you" email and include an advertisement for other products you sell. You could follow-up every few months.

2. You could upsell to your customers. When they're at your order page, tell them about a few extra related products you have for sale. They could just add it to their original order.

3. Tell your customers if they refer four customers to your web site, they will receive a full rebate of their purchase price. This will turn one sale into three sales.

4. When you sell a product, give your customers the option of joining an affiliate program so they can make commissions selling your product. This will multiply the sale you just made.

5. Sell the reprint/reproduction rights to your products. You could include an ad on or with the product for other products you sell. You could make sales for the reproduction rights and sales on the back end product.

6. You could cross promote your product with other businesses' products in a package deal. You can include an ad or flyer for other products you sell and have other businesses selling for you.

7. When you ship out or deliver your product, include a coupon for other related products you sell in the package. This will attract them to buy more products from you.

8. Send your customers a catalog of add-on products for the original product they purchased. This could be upgrades, special services, attachments, etc. If they enjoy your product they will buy the extra add-ons.

9. Sell gift certificates for your products. You'll make sales from the purchase of the gift certificate, when the recipient cashes it in. They could also buy other items from your web site.

10. Send your customers free products with their product package. The freebies should have your ad printed on them. It could be bumper stickers, ball caps, t-shirts etc. This will allow other people to see your ad and order.

Quote of the Day:

"Never talk defeat. Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory." -- Norman Vincent Peale

I hope this helps some of you in some way. Thanks for dropping by and I hope to see you again soon. Your comments are welcome. A J

Online Sales To Rise 20 Percent In 2006

Hi Folks,

We have a report today that indicates that online sales will increase substantially in 2006. This should help you to decide how much effort you want to put into online sales. There are some great areas of growth here, so give it some attention. Excerpts of the Report:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Online sales are expected to rise 20 percent this year to $211 billion, with pet supplies and cosmetics experiencing leading growth, according to a report to be published on Tuesday.

Internet has more than doubled in the three years through 2006 as more retailers offer consistent prices on their Web sites and in their brick-and-mortar outlets, and use gift cards and loyalty programs to increase sales, according to Forrester Research and Shop.org's annual State of Retailing Online study.

Excluding travel, 2006 sales are expected to increase 22 percent to $138 billion.

"Online is a key growth driver for retail overall,'' said Shop.org Executive Director Scott Silverman. "It's going to be a bellwether for overall retail.''

Computer hardware and software, cars, and apparel, accessories and footwear are expected to be the largest non-travel categories driving the increase, with anticipated sales of $16.8 billion, $15.9 billion and $13.8 billion, respectively.

But sales of pet supplies, cosmetics and fragrances will increase faster than other categories at growth rates of over 30 percent, the report found.

Last year, online sales rose 25 percent to $176.4 billion, with 28 percent growth in online purchases excluding travel. Total Internet sales in 2004 and 2003 reached $141.4 billion and $114.1 billion, respectively, Silverman said.

"I think we're still looking for the next several years (for) growth over 20 percent per year,'' he said, adding that growth closer to 30 percent was probably not sustainable.

The National Retail Federation has estimated that retail industry sales, which exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, will increase 4.7 percent in 2006.

Gift cards offered by nearly half of all online retailers and loyalty programs offered by a third have helped increase sales, the study found. Additionally, greater integration between retailers' traditional stores and their Web sites have alleviated pricing confusion and increased loyalty, Silverman said. ###

I hope that you can find some good ideas for your business in this report. In the meantime, wholesale sellers, it pays to advertise. You won't believe how reasonably you can advertise your wholesale business until you check www.wholesaleria.com the wholesale directory of wholsalers, Importers, distributors and liquidators. List your business and get the most fantastic bonus you have ever heard of. Don't believe it? Check it out for yourself at www.wholesaleria.com. If you know of a better more effective place to advertise for the money, I want to know!

Also, retailers, if you are looking for some great wholesale product, www.wholesaleria.com is a free resource for you to find the product you want at the best wholesale prices. Just log on and browse. you'll love it. Now here are:

10 Magic-Like Ways To Multiply Your Orders

1. Use reward programs to keep people revisiting your web site and buying your products. You could reward gifts or discounts for revisiting or buying.

2. Publish e-zines for other web sites to increase your traffic. You could do it at no charge and in return just ask for a sponsor ad in each issue.

3. Trade endorsement ads with other e-zines. They pull more hits and sales than just trading classified ads because it gives your ad instant credibility.

4. Test your ad copy before you start taking orders. Tell your visitors to e-mail you if they want to be notified when you launch a new product.

5. Get your visitors excited about your product by letting them know how excited you are about it. Tell them why you're excited and use exclamation points.

6. Use incentives to gain referrals if you don't have an affiliate program. Tell people when they refer customers you will award them with free products.

7. Tell your visitors the reason why you're having a sale so they don't think your products are cheap. It could be a holiday/seasonal sale or clearance sale.

8. Stay away from overloading your web site with high tech gadgets. They can create a slow loading web page and distract people away from your offer.

9. Cut out words, phrases, and paragraphs in your ad copy that aren't selling or supporting your product. This will stop people from getting bored with your ad.

10. Keep people at your web site as long as possible. Allow them to download free ebooks, sign-up for contests, use free online services, etc.

Quote of the Day:

"Friends are an aid to the young, to guard them from error; to the elderly, to attend to their wants and to supplement their failing power of action; to those in the prime of life, to assist them to noble deeds." -- Aristotle

I hope this has helped some of you in some way. Thanks for landing in the wholesale retail connection blog. Your comments are welcome. Come back soon. A J