An Open Letter to All JP Communications Customers and the Wholesale Community:

JP Communications was founded by Joe Preston and myself back in late April of 2005. Joe and I have over 15 combined years of sales, marketing, and management expertise, which has helped us develop some of the most unique products for the wholesale community. Top Ten Wholesale was created with the belief that:
1) Publishers need to show more of a commitment to their clients.
2) Advertisers need to know their return on investment.
3) Publishers need to be responsible for helping their clients track their response.
4) JP Communications will be the information “highway” of the industry and place where not only Wholesalers can market their products, but a place where retailers and entrepreneurs can go to collect valuable information on their industry and product line.

For many years, the only gateway the community had to market their products was offline in trade magazines. I used to sell print advertising for many years with a prominent publisher in the industry. We all know that the only guarantee a publisher gives us is that:
1) They will run our ad.
2) They will send us an invoice for that ad (or, make us pre-pay!!…Yikes!)
In 2003, when Wholesalers really started to market their products online through their web sites and search engines, I started to get some real, relevant objections as to why a continued marketing campaign in print magazines was not necessary. My customer started to tell me that:
1) Print is too expensive.
2) There is no guarantee on response.
3) I can’t target my precise market like I can online.
4) Margins are greatly increased through successful Internet advertising.
5) I’d rather spend my time targeting a more profitable, savvy buyer.

I tried to fight back. We had meeting after meeting and a response was developed to every objection. Hmmm…….Maybe, the industry was right. Was print on its way out? Does the Internet really work? What if they’re right?

I started to watch page counts drop like flies. To this day, if you pick up copies of trade magazines like the East Coast Merchandiser and compare the book to an issue 2 years ago, you’ll see a significant difference! Sure, the publishers will deny it. When they deny it, ask them for a copy of a magazine from two years ago (yes, they all have them) and just count the number of advertisers compared to the most recent issue. Look at the number of pages in the magazine, the editorial (some publishers get desperate and try and fill empty space with house ads and useless directory content). Well, it can no longer be denied. I still believe that print can be effective, but there is no longer a comparison between print and what the online world can offer all of us.
When Joe and I launched Toptenwholesale.com, we never could have anticipated the response that we received from our clients. Toptenwholesale.com was created with one belief, “For the Wholesaler, by the Wholesaler.” We knew that the only way our customers would advertise was if we could show them and prove to them results. The system we came up with was simple. No budgets, no bills, no contracts, no obligations. You, the wholesaler, choose what you want to spend, and we will only charge you for response. Very similar to that well know Super Giant: GOOGLE. Remember, GOOGLE is not making billions of dollars a year because the system doesn’t work! It works. In fact, search engine advertising is a brand new advertising revolution that is here to stay. Magazine publishers need not fight the trend. The only way to compete is to join!

Shortly after the launch of TopTenWholesale.Com, JP Communications delivered another product. The Off Price Network Never before had any publisher attempted to penetrate this industry online. JP Communications had a vision, listened to our customers, and developed a fantastic product. The Off Price Network was the 1st online search engine for the Off price apparel industry. For years, publishers had grouped “off-price” as just a category in the general merchandise wholesale industry. JP Communications though it was time to recognize the Off-Price industry as its own entity. Visit the site, it speaks for itself!

There are many more exciting products that JP Communication plans on launching in the future. Our recent acquisition of Wholesale U gives us a very powerful directory for retailers to find even more wholesale sources. Many of our customers have already given us some very exciting suggestions. So, stay posted, in the coming months there is much, much more to come (yes, we already know what it is, and we would love to share it with you, but for many obvious reason we’ll all have to be a bit patient! You are all going to love it!)

Jason Prescott
President, JP Communications
jason@toptenwholesale.com