Start doing online business using B2B Portals in Six Steps author:Nowshade Kabir source_url:http://www.articlecity.com/articles/online_business/article_239.shtml date_saved:2007-07-25 12:30:14 category:online_business article:

I registered with a B2B site but what’s next?

This is a question many first time users of B2B marketplaces ask themselves. A few expect that the registration itself will bring them a number of new customers. In some cases this might by true! Especially, if you are a seller of some much coveted items. But for rest of us, things are a little trickier! A large B2B marketplace has a lot of suppliers of similar products, who are vying for the attention of potential customers. To establish your company as a favored one among them is not an easy task! However, a little planning and thorough follow up of some basic guidelines improve your chance of getting noticed by buyers significantly.

Below, I outlined some of the basic steps that you should take once you seriously decide to market your products using B2B marketplaces.

1 Write a nice profile

When a prospective client sees your trade lead ad or your product on the marketplace and feels interested, the first thing he does is - checks your company profile out. That’s where the buyer gets his initial information about your company. If you have a virtually blank profile with a very little information on your company, doubtful that the potential client will even bother to make a request for quote. That’s why you should spend a little time on writing a nice company profile. Here are some aspects that you should emphasize on while writing your company profile.

Start your profile with something noteworthy about your company. This could be the distinct quality that sets your business apart from your competition.

Describe your present customer base, target market and any new products or projects that you are planning to come up with.

Write a bit about your company history. When the company was incorporated? What is the business form?

If you have something to boast about, do it! If you feel that your sales figures are impressive, why not mention them.

Be brief! The profile should not be more than five paragraphs. You don’t want your buyers to get bored!

2 Include your logo on your Storefront page

If you would like to separate your company from many other similar vendors, you have to think seriously about creating a brand for your company. Brand is the distinctive pattern of your business operation. It portrays the nature of your service or product, your uniqueness in comparison to others etc. A nice looking logo is a key to branding your company. Customers will remember your company name better if you have a great logo to go with.

3 Add products to your storefront

It is important to have your main products, products that are your primary sale generators, added to your storefront. Products with nice picture and well descriptions capture buyers attention more than any thing else. After all the reason that the buyers are on your page is to look for the products that they need.

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Basic

Single page storefront

10 products in E-catalog

Sales through e-marketplace

RFQ and Quotation

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Enterprise

10 different templates to build multiple-page storefront

100 products in E-catalog

Sales through e-marketplace

RFQ and Quotation

Negotiations

Purchase Orders

Invoices

Tax Calculation

Shipment tracking

Internal Messaging Service

Merchant Account

Many other features

Coming soon!

Corporate

10 different templates to build multiple-page storefront

1000 products in E-catalog

Sales through e-marketplace

RFQ and Quotation

Negotiation

Purchase Orders

Invoices

Tax Calculation

Shipment tracking

Internal Messaging Service

Merchant Account

Many other features

Coming soon!

4 Make nice pictures of your products

Nothing can turn off a prospective buyer than a hazy or blur picture of the product that he intends to buy from you. If your competitor’s product with exactly same features has nicer picture, guess who has a better chance to get the business? Spend some money and take professional pictures of your products. Make sure that you followed all the instructions of the Portal before uploading the pictures.

5 Post your products for sale on the marketplace

Product visibility is the name of the game! Don’t confine yourself just by adding products to E-catalog and your Storefront. Post products for sale on the E-marketplace.

There are numbers of great advantages of posting products on E-marketplaces:

Frequent browsers of marketplace can see your products

Buyers can compare your products with others on marketplace

Buyers can take an immediate buying decision and make an instant Purchase Order.

6 Post trade leads

For many not-so-savvy users of B2B sites it's a bit complicated to make buys and sales through marketplaces. They prefer to get trade leads from the site and make contacts with buyers or sellers by fax, phone or just emails. Posting trade leads is a great marketing method to tap new territories. Don’t be disappointed if you do not get immediate feedbacks. Repeat trade leads at least once in a month. Since normally a portal constantly acquires new members, in order to expose the leads to bigger audience, it is worthwhile to post trade leads frequently.

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10 Blazing Ways To Sky-Rocket Your Profits author:Dirk Wagner source_url:http://www.articlecity.com/articles/online_business/article_1373.shtml date_saved:2007-07-25 12:30:15 category:online_business article:

1. Use a "P.S." at the end of your ad copy. This is were you either want to repeat a strong benefit or use a strong close like a free bonus.

2. Publish a free ebook and give it away from your web site or in your e-zine. This will increase your traffic, sales and e-zine subscribers.

3. Create multiple streams of income with your web site. You could sell your own products, join affiliate programs, sell advertising space, etc.

4. Give your visitors compliments in your ad copy. This can earn their trust and put them in a good mood, in return they will be easier to sell too.

5. Create new products or services only if there is a strong need for them. You won't have anyone to sell them to if you don't have a market.

6. Sell your backend products to your customers right after they order. Take them to a "Thank You" web page that includes other products you sell.

7. Sell a few products on your web site instead of selling a large amount of products. To many choices can overwhelm your visitors and they won't buy.

8. Include content and free stuff on your web site that promote the products you're selling. If they don't read your ads, they may read your offerings.

9. Remind your visitors that you're human not just a web site. You could publish information on your family life, a picture of yourself , a profile, etc.

10. Provide a "Contact Page" on your web site. Give your visitors as many options to contact you as possible. This'll add credibility to your business.

Copyright 2004 Dirk Wagner

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10 Critical Things To Do Before You Spend A Dime In Advertising author:Karin Manning source_url:http://www.articlecity.com/articles/online_business/article_195.shtml date_saved:2007-07-25 12:30:14 category:online_business article:

“Research…”

Let’s say it again…

“Research”…Grrrrrrrr.

The word “research” can make many eBusiness owners cringe. Why? Because it sounds like such hard work.

Let’s analyse the word itself. “Search” means to go looking for something and “re” means “again”. Put them together and it means to go looking for something again.

Guess what?

Research is hard work. However, to survive online research must be done and it must be done on a regular basis. So if you don’t like doing research, well basically, that’s too bad. It’s time to take it by the hand and make it your friend because you need to do research to be a successful eBusiness owner for these reasons:

Research is going to take time, however, in the long run it’s going to save you a lot of money.

Research is what’s going to set you apart from everybody else. By taking the time to research hot topics, hot websites and the latest techniques of Internet gurus you are going to learn what is currently working and what is currently not working – taking advantage of the mistakes that others have made – and that information alone is priceless.

Research is going to make you look like an expert. People will want to join your list, belong to your private site, read your books because they know you spend the time researching the latest up to the minute trends and techniques.

Research is what the majority of eBusiness owners avoid doing like the plague. Why? Because people are inherently lazy and if there’s an easier way of getting from (a) to (b) people will consistently choose that route.

Guess what? By doing research that other people hate doing you will become a valuable regular source of information to an unlimited number of people.

So let’s say the word again and this time let’s say it slowly and with a smile…

:O) R E S E A R C H :o)

See, it doesn’t seem so awful now, does it? Because research is what is going to save you a lot of money, make you a lot of money, and research is what all successful Internet marketers do on a regular basis.

It’s time consuming

It’s annoying

Sometimes it’s a right royal PITA (Fill in the blanks with this one ;O))

However, it’s a necessary evil so let’s learn to really love it.

Okay, now that I hope you are feeling a little warm and fuzzy towards doing research ;o), what every Internet marketer must do on a regular basis is research what advertising works.

And the first step is to find a newsletter/ezine to advertise in and to do that you need to spend a bit of time collating some information.

Here’s 10 things to do before you spend a dime on advertising:

Take time time to look at the newsletter publisher’s website.

If you like the website then subscribe to the ezine and look at the format of the ezine closely.

Contact the publisher and ask the following questions:

What is the number of subscribers?

Has each subscriber specifically asked to be subscribed to the list or has it been automatic through a co-op etc?

Is double opt-in used ie. Has each subscriber confirmed their request to subscribe?

How often and what days of the week is the ezine published? It is generally believed that Tuesday through Thursday are the best days for readership, however, I know of many successful ezine publishers who publish regularly on a Friday or Saturday targeting weekend readership.

Is the ad published in the newsletter itself or is it published as a separate ad sheet (newsletter preferred).

Will the publisher use your choice of subject line and, if so, will it just say your subject line (always preferred) or the words “SOLO AD” and then your subject line?

Is there a queue before your ad will be published (this is a really good sign)? A queue usually means that ad results are good and the ezine is a recommended advertising source.

By taking the time to wait for these answers and going over the responses carefully you will immediately be able to place ezines in rankings of importance as a result of the answers you receive.

The more “yes” answers you get to the above questions the higher the quality of the readership will be. The number of subscribers is not an indicator of how well your ad will pull. Quite often newsletters with low subscribers pull as well as newsletters with thousands of subscribers.

The bottom line at all times is the sales you receive as a result of your ad placement. The higher the readership quality the higher quality prospects and customers you will receive and the less refunds you will have to process :O).

So next time that you’re in two minds about doing things the quick way (looking for quick results with no research, high chance of monetary loss) or the slow methodical way (looking for quality results, possible delayed gratification, definite monetary savings in the long term) remember that Turtle who gave a certain self-confident Hare a big run (pardon the pun) for his money.

Now which one are you…that Turtle or that Hare?

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