Wikipedia defines search engine optimization as a subset of search engine marketing that deals with improving the number and/or quality of visitors to a web site from “natural” (aka “organic” or “algorithmic” search engine) listings. The term SEO can also refer to “search engine optimizers”, an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients.

Um…ok. Thanks wikipedia, but let’s put that in laymen terms. There are three methods of search engine marketing (SEM) that will increase the visibility of your web site in search engine results pages (SERPs). The three subsets are:

1. Search engine optimization – the goal here is to improve rankings for your important keywords in search results by improving a web site’s structure and content. The search engine sends out little spiders that scan all the important data on the whole site and store it in the search engines’ data base. The search engines will display the most relevant results first. There’s a lot more involved than just the spiders, but this is a good start. Because search engine optimization takes a very long time and is quite costly, most sites make use of pay per click advertising so they can start seeing results instantaneously. A combination of SEO and PPC will provide more exposure and results than either strategy alone.

2. Pay per Click (PPC) advertising – also known as sponsored search and search engine advertising, the advertiser is only charged when a user clicks on the ad. The ads can be text ads, banner ads, video ads, or even audio ads. Pay per click advertising allows advertisers to target specific users with certain interests.

3. Paid inclusion – this is different from pay per click advertising because it guarantees inclusion but not placement. Paid inclusion ensures your ad is going to be viewed when a user does a search for your keywords or phrases. You usually pay by month, 6 months, or year and now your listing is included for relevant searches. There is no way to be #1 in the search results unless the marketing company has exclusive positions available which will be not be included in the costs of the basic inclusion.

Let’s face it. Everyone would love to be among the first companies displayed in the search engines’ results page. Not everyone has the time or money to invest to keep up with the continuous changing algorithms the search engines use to decide which ads to show first. That’s why, especially in a competitive industry, a combination of search engine optimization, pay per click advertising, and paid inclusion is going to get you the best bang for your buck.

Justin Prescott

Online shopping totaled $30.1 billion during the 2005 holiday season. That’s a 30% increase from 2004. Manufacturers, Distributors, and Wholesalers must love to hear that news. All these ebay powersellers and jobbers are taking advantage of the emerging ease wholesale companies have made to be found online. Consumers trust of on time delivery is growing so the trends are showing us they are shopping a little later in the holiday season. Apparel/Clothing totaled sales of $5.3 billion dollars online last year between October 29 and December 23. That’s a whopping 42% growth from the previous year. Computer products enjoyed a 126% growth in online revenue last year, ranking second in category spending with a total of $4.8 billion. Tied for second was consumer electronics, which is the second fastest growing category bragging a 109% increase year-over-year. Books and toys/video games accounted for a total of $5.3 billion.

Let’s hope these numbers are a sign of what’s to come this year as online shopping continues to grow year after year. Best of luck to all of you searching for suppliers and wholesalers with the hottest products for this holiday season.

Justin Prescott

I want to wish all wholesalers success and good fortune at the ASD/AMD trade show in Las Vegas next week. Retailers will be flocking like hawks to find next seasons hot products and the big holiday sellers. I hope you’re ready.

I hope all of you retailers are ready too. You’ll be able to find hot deals on everything from Airsoft to Sunglasses. Speaking of airsoft, don’t forget to stop and check out the great deals from Point Act, a wholesaler of top quality airsoft guns. Say hi to Maylee Lieu at booth #L5219 – L5221and ask her about her case pricing.

Did I mention sunglasses before? That reminds me, Julian and Sam from Sunny Trading, Inc. will be there too. With over 30 years experience in the industry, they have every type of sunglass you may need. Whatever you’re looking for, they can help.

Don’t forget your sunblock because it is going to be hot. Remember to keep hydrated. You can bet the casinos will have the air conditioners blasting (they always have our best interests in mind ; ). I wish you all save travels and I’ll see you there.

Justin Prescott

The holidays are right around the corner. Every eBay, retail, flea market, and wholesale seller is looking for ways to increase their sales. You can attract more wholesale buyers and attention during the holiday season by promoting special offers. Make your special offer as attractive as you can afford. Give the reseller special holiday discounts. It grabs the attention and motivates many prospects to buy. Have a special combination price. If you are a wholesaler of fashion accessories, for every buyer that wants handbags, you can offer a special price if they purchase the matching belts. This can help increase the number of orders for certain products and increase the average size of the sale. The buyer will spend additional money to take advantage of the good deal. You can offer a free bonus that has a high perceived value to your customers and that doesn’t cost you much. Wholesale buyers often complain about the cost of delivery; especially now with the high gas prices. For a holiday special, you can stand out from the competition by offering free, fast delivery.
This will motivate the prospect to take action today so they can be sure to have their shelves stocked with the hottest holiday products. Not to mention everyone loves something for
free. Your special holiday offer should always have a deadline. It will help create a sense of urgency. All of you internet savvy wholesalers using the benefits of wholesale search engines and directories, like Top Ten Wholesale.com and WholesaleU.com, must not forget to advertise your holiday specials at the very top of your company’s websites.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas in August,

Justin Prescott

If you’re willing to put a little time and effort into understanding Internet marketing, the rewards are enormous. I’ve done hours of research on how to make your web marketing strategy successful and I would like to share my knowledge with you. Advertisers need to first be clear on what the purpose of their web site is. Otherwise, it can just be a confusing mess. For instance, the purpose of TopTenWholesale.com is to deliver wholesale companies the highest quality traffic to their web sites. Remember, your web site should not be about you. Your potential clients are interested in what you can do for them. There should definitely be an ‘About You’ section, but beyond that it should be all about your prospective clients and how you can benefit them. Show prospects how you can solve their problems and you can be sure to have repeat visitors. I’m sure you’ve heard this a thousand times before, but collect your prospects e-mail addresses. If you’re not doing this, you might as well take a huge bag of cash and dump it out off of the highest building near you. Every time a wholesaler fails to capture someone’s e-mail address they’re turning down an opportunity to contact the reseller…for FREE! Your web designers should be able to setup a simple way of doing this. And don’t forget, once you have the e-mail addresses, use them. Pay per Click advertising can help your business be at the very top of all the search engines without spending months on search engine optimization that probably won’t work anyway. This will enable you to get to the top of the search engines but you only have to pay when someone clicks to go to your web site. How much you pay will depend on how much competition there is among other advertisers in your category. You also do not get locked in to any contracts or obligations. You choose what to spend, when to spend, and where to spend it. Make sure to ask your representative if their search engine shares your listing with affiliates. If they do, find out who the affiliates are because it may not be targeted to wholesale buyers. Search engines that operate on a proprietary network are much more targeted.

The online marketplace for flea market items is growing and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. According to Pew Internet and American Life Project, online flea markets have grown more than 80% in the past year. It is estimated that 1 in 6 American adults have sold something using the internet. That’s 25 million people selling over the internet. This is great news for wholesalers. If you want to remain competitive in the online flea market game, you need to take advantage of this growing trend. Wholesale companies need to have a presence in the top search engines, such as toptenwholesale.com, where flea marketers and power sellers are looking for products and suppliers.
The proliferation of the internet gives every wholesaler a chance to directly target the eager buyers and resellers like no other time in history. The internet has made it easier to source a nearly limitless number of in-demand products, which can be bought cheaply from domestic and overseas suppliers and resold for a hearty profit. With the ease of a mouse, resellers can buy products cheaply from thousands of suppliers worldwide, and make profits on e-commerce web sites like eBay.

If I was given a penny every time a prospect said “Justin, I’m getting the hits on my website, but nobody is buying,” I’d be a very rich man. First off, I’d like to congratulate you on knowing the importance of online marketing and realizing how it can help sustain and grow your business. Let me ask you a question: if you had a visitor to your warehouse or store and they didn’t buy, who’s fault is it? Exactly. So, you now have the targeted audience coming to your site and now you need to sell them. You can not only rely on the “contact us” form, hoping that
your buyers will find it and actually use it. Dress up the site with a variety of ways for the prospects to reach you. To effectively convert visitors into leads, you must provide your target audience with valuable offers and information in exchange for providing their basic contact information. Try to get inside of the heads of your buyers and understand what they are looking for, then provide a simple process for prospects to request access to it. Here are a few easy tools to use:

1) Purchase Online – this is the ultimate conversion. Most of you already have this, but make it visible and appealing for the prospects to proceed to the next step.

2) Make an order form for the prospects to access free samples or free trial services. Make sure you can capture contact info.

3) You could have them subscribe to an e-mail newsletter that will promote your sales and specials. Now you have their contact info.

4) Have the buyers register to access “premium content” – special prices or promotions on products that only the registered buyers will have access to.

5) “Call me now” or online chat to reach out to sales people. This will get you to the buyer when they are ready to make a purchase.

6) You can have a registration for seminars, webinars, or events that interest your potential customers.

Also, I recommend dressing up the “about us” section and making it easy to find. In this section, tell the buyers what differentiates you from your competitors. Tell them about your company and success stories of your clients. Don’t just say we are a leading wholesaler of such and such. That is what everyone else is saying. You should direct the buyer traffic to your products page, but 70% of the visitors will want to visit your “about us” page to find what differentiates your company from your competitors. These are just a few simple tools for you to use to capture leads that will turn into sales. Good Luck!

Justin

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Justin W. Prescott. I am a recent college graduate of Western Connecticut State University with a degree in business/financial investments. As my years pass by, my blood seems to be thinning a little and I could no longer bear those uncontrollable Northeast winters. Then I was offered a job as an account representative with TopTenWholesale.com based out in sunny San Diego, California. What an incredible opportunity! How many people can say that they have the chance to do something they love and be in a place somewhere they love?

To help finance my education, I built inground swimming pools during the summers in Connecticut. My only contact with wholesalers had been on the buying side when my company was looking for swimming pool products and accessories. Now, the roles have been reversed and I am excited and eager to help serve the wholesale industry as best as possible.

As you can imagine, the pool industry isn’t the most lucrative place to be unless you are an owner or very experienced builder. To make up for the lack of income during the winters I would join a company and sell something for them. I was always pretty good at it, but something was missing. You know what it was? It was passion. I never cared for the product. I never thought the customer needed what I was selling.

Boy has my life changed. Now, I am presented with such a unique opportunity. I can go home at night and rest peacefully knowing that all of my customers will be satisfied at the end of the day because they have invested in a product that is going to help their business grow and expand. This is the first time in my life holding a sales position where I believe I have earned my commission (sometimes I feel it isn¹t enough).

I will be attending my very first trade show in Las Vegas in March. I am overwhelmed with excitement to meet all of my new customers and some future ones as well. I look forward to servicing everyone in the wholesale industry as best I can.

Remember, my name is Justin Prescott. If you see me at the show, please come and introduce yourself. I can’t wait to meet you.

Now, let’s all get out there and become rich together.
(say hello to justin via email: justin at toptenwholesale dot com)