Marketing Blog for the Small Business

As promised, here is the second installment of our interview with Sara. This time the main topic is taking the business Green.

From a business as well as social responsibility standpoint, turning Three Little Ziglets into a green operation has been an imperative. What has the transition process been like?

First of all, and because our business caters to children, Three Little Ziglets has been on a mission to produce safe as well as attractive furniture collections. So from the beginning we have pursued suppliers that offer safer materials. Our ultimate goal is to be 100 percent organic.

We wanted to work with sustainable or recycled materials whenever possible. We were delighted to find a supplier who manufactures furniture with Rubber wood. Rubber wood is the basis for Latex. In the past, once the latex material was extracted the trees were simply discarded. Our supplier now takes this discarded wood and recycles it for furniture. It’s a hard and durable wood so it’s perfect for this purpose, perfect for our collections.

Secondly, we now use either low or no V.O.C. paint across all of our collections. We are able to incorporate vibrant and long lasting colors while delivering the lowest toxic product possible.

Our latest quest is for a range of fabrics that a) are manufactured from sustainable or recycled materials and b) facilitate the durability, style, and color for which our collections are known. When it comes to upholstery weight fabric this is particularly challenging; however, with the interest in green alternatives, manufacturers are developing more and more options all of the time.

All in all we’re very happy with our progress and look forward to meeting our goal to be 100 percent organic sooner than later.

Let’s get back to running the business and its marketing. What other observations would you like to share with our audience?

Here are some quick business/operational guidelines. When it comes to small business production, a good general rule of thumb is to plan to spend double the time and cost that you initially estimated in your business plan. Additionally, know that you will end up dedicating more time to production, as opposed to design and management, for longer than you’d planned.

Treat your top performing vendors well. Good and dependable extended partners like these are by no means a dime a dozen. Protecting these relationships will—-in the short and long term—-save you money, time, and anxiety.

Be smart about your customer relations. If a production problem arises and it will in fact impact delivery, let your customer know and always, always be prepared to offer solutions. Find out what is more important to the customer, whether it’s the delivery time or expectations they have about the product. And then let them choose the solution that works for them.

For many entrepreneurs control is an important aspect of having one’s own company. That said owners will continually be tested as to the amount of control they will be able to maintain. So allow yourself the grace of considering less control in some areas in order to keep it in others. And I cannot stress enough that you will put in lots of hours into your business, regardless.

On the marketing front, providing samples is important, if not essential, as a marketing tool for furniture companies like ours. As Three Little Ziglets has over 40 boutiques nationwide, our swatch program is integral to helping our distributors be more successful with sales. Whether you sell furniture, clothing, skin care, or other consumables, implementing a samples program could help you dramatically increase sales.

FINAL THOUGHTS FROM SARA

Please let your audience know that in this economy they may need to remind their client base why they still need their product or service, what the value proposition is.

For example, while Three Little Ziglets products are certainly high end, our clients know that purchasing from us is a prudent investment. Our collections adapt with the growth of their children. Individual pieces can be changed out over time, like replacing a crib with a big kid’s bed, while keeping the integrity of the overall look intact. Desks or vanities can be added once children are in elementary school. Or the bedding and accessories can be changed for a new look. Planned well, our collections can see a child up through high school.

Make your product/service very user friendly. Tell the client that you care about their time, threir convenience, their investment. Make life easy for them and they will appreciate that. Use that in your marketing.

For example, we know our customer is very busy, so it is our goal to make their lives easier. We know this particular client wants a custom look, but doesn't have the time or know-how to put together the look. We do that for them by coordinating bedding, furniture, and portable wall murals. We also made sure that our website is VERY USER FRIENDLY. Our clients are very busy, tired from working, taking care of kids, etc. They don't want to go to several sites to find what they need or to trying to remember where each cute item was. We put our site together like a recipe. We have a picture of the final product at the top, with all of the items needed to complete the room below. Very easy to imagine what you will be getting, and very easy to use.

Best of luck to all of you entrepreneurs and happy selling!

Sara Zigman's business began as a local custom design house for children's furniture. Since then 3 Little Ziglets has grown to offer a range of collections of furniture and accessories, which allows parents one-stop shopping and the ability to create "enchanting environments" for their children. The company now has distribution partners across the country and international expansion is on the horizon. Sara has painstakingly built her business that continually evolves while success milestones and business challenges are met. 3 Little Ziglets is the 2008 Winner of the Dreamtime Design Award from Pregnancy Magazine.

By all accounts Sara's business is a success, and the bottom line is that she loves what she does. What we want to share with you is the reality of what it takes to build a business, and the importance of marketing.

You say that marketing 3 Little Ziglets virtually never stops. Would you care to share with the readers what this means and give them some tips?

Sure. First and foremost, I recommend that you have your business cards with you at all times and share them whenever you can, because you just never know who you will meet that can help your business, who may become a prospect. Generally speaking, you must handle all of your interactions with care, because business opportunities can spring up from anywhere.

The very first thing we did with regard to marketing was build a website, as we believe this to be the cornerstone of any marketing effort.

We knew immediately that it was crucial that we produce a high-quality website, one that properly showcased the quality of our products. We invested a large percentage of our budget in top-notch photography from a renowned national photographer, and we spent 18 months planning and building the site. The end result was well-received and we were very pleased with the results.

What we learned was that we needed to find creative ways to drive traffic to the site. So we pursued web ads, such as Girl Shop Spot, made pitches to target bloggers, and took advantage of other online opportunities. And we continually test everything.

What has been most helpful to me is Google Analytics. It's a great tool. Every night I review the statistics, and find out what's working and what's not, and then amend promotions as needed. I can target by region or even location. In the process of monitoring and streamlining campaigns our page rankings increased from 17 - 20, depending on the search term, to Page 2...in 6 months. You can guess where we're headed from here.

Public Relations is another key component to marketing 3 Little Ziglets, and another activity I have thus far handled myself. PR, and press coverage in particular, is very time intensive, yet very important to helping build the company's credibility and cache. Plus, winning recognition such as the Dreamtime Design Award not only adds to the company's reputation, the personal reward it brings is impossible to put into words. It certainly makes all the hard work worth the effort.

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned in the process of building your business?

Probably about the most important lesson I've learned as a small business owner is that I must count on myself, not to depend too much on others. And while it's virtually impossible to do, you must know about all aspects of what you do, however you can. Finding people who are committed to quality work and who have a strong work ethic is a difficult task, so be prepared that you may not be able to delegate operations as soon as you had planned.

Sara, with your work and personal schedule, you said that you generally get about 4 hours of sleep a night. How do you keep yourself motivated? And what closing recommendations would you make to our readers?

Every night I have a ritual that is both relaxing and energizing. At around midnight I take a break AND tune into Donny Deutsch's show, The Big Idea. It runs from on CNBC at 9:00 PM and 12:00 AM, CST. It's awesome! It's a combination of pep talk, business advice, and amazing interviews. About Donny Deutsch: www.cnbc.com.
My dream is to be on that show!!

As for recommendations I would make to other entrepreneurs, I'd say remember that you are your own project. And since running your own business takes so much time and energy, you should have a passion for what you do. In fact, do not attempt it otherwise—-because you live and breathe it 24/7. There is no on and off switch. And there is no time out; your business is always where you are. My iPhone and I are glued at the ear. Also what I have learned about virtually anything related to my business is that quality always wins over quantity.

Everyone must find their own rhythm when it comes to blending work and their personal life. One of the reasons I work late at night is because I devote a lot of day time to my now 11 year-old triplets. These wonderful human beings are also the muses for my furniture collections.

Finally, one other thing I do for myself as well as others is mentor. I mentor college art students (arts of all kinds) on the practical side, i.e. sales, marketing, and business, of their planned creative career paths. I want them to have all of tools for success in their hands, to help them better drive their own destinies.

Next time: Sara will talk with us about the why and how of greening her business.

I've written a post or two on other blogs and forums about why small businesses should take advantage of this new and ever so popular trend, but I have failed to reiterate what I have come to learn, and many may be questioning. Is Video Marketing Overrated? The stats would tell you no, but I am hear to speak otherwise and these are my conclusions on why.

1)  Brand Recognition:  Video Marketing is great for brand recognition. Many marketers have taken this route over television commercials in hopes to achieve brand awareness on a large scale. And why not, if it fits the audience and the person watching, it can help your brand stand out. Video marketing makes all this possible with a very affordable price tag. But these outlets in which we broadcast must be the proper channels in order to relate to our customers. What we are feeding them at that time specifically must meet their needs at that given moment.

2)  Sales:  Video Marketing is not to be relied on to bring in the sales. First, I think the confusion lies in the type of business, type of video, where it is posted, and what the bulk of views are looking for. Most videos are views for pure entertainment.

I've seen companies spend a lot of money on producing a video in hopes to see large conversion rates from it. It really all relies heavily on the audience composition and what they are there for. For example, YouTube.com is mostly used for entertainment. Not that you can’t upload any video, but most are searching and wanting to be entertained.

So that brings us back to sales. How will that convert your video to sales? Most likely one looking to be entertained isn’t ready to get out their check book, but they might be ready to look into you’re company further. That’s why it’s so important to fit the video to reason for viewing. A company would be much better off creating a video to entertain with a call to action to get noticed on YouTube.

3)  The Overrated Part:  All the numbers we're seeing about the increase in popularity from video marketing are real. The overrated part comes from what they are viewing them for and how videos reach their target. Right now video marketing is overrated because:

1.  The numbers are mostly coming from people looking for entertainment. Videos today are mainly used and searched for this purpose. Online video watchers don’t want the commercials and to be sold. That’s why they left the television. Online they are in control of what they watch.
2.  The channels aren’t organized; there is so much noise and not enough collaboration on how and where to post.
3.  Videos are popping up now like banner ads once did, un-wanted, in your face, and such a huge annoyance. If companies would follow a simple formula on what, who, when, and where to post, we wouldn’t have to go through the overrated part, we could all start benefiting from positive and favorable brand recognition we all desire, which ultimately makes us all happier customers.

Do you remember that movie "You've Got Mail" with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks? I loved that "Little Shop Around the Corner." I think back on it now and wonder why they didn't re-open that Little Shop after Meg and Tom got together, for it's just not the same walking into a huge book store, cold and lost, searching for that little something from so many shelves. For what ever reason it might be for you. I prefer to shop at smaller shops around the corner or down cyber lane. They all bring something special and just for a few moments, I get to stop by, relax, and find something unique, something that will make me smile every time I look at it.

I often do think to myself, it was such a pleasure buying this, in that moment, and from that woman behind the counter. For "Little Shop Around the Corner," it was the pride and the joy of Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) following in her mom’s foot steps, helping support children's literacy, and the passion she had for knowing each book a child could take home and cherish. I step back and think that it must be like this for each shop owner, their pride in sharing a little piece of what they cherish. There is definitely something really special about each small business I run into everyday on Girl Shop Spot. I love to discover them all, for what they all offer us is truly unique.

For those of you who are looking for that "Little Shop Around the Corner," to warm a child’s heart and feed their imagination, there can't be a better choice than down cyber lane at The Lollipop Book Club. Please stop by, visit them today, and buy a gift of books for a child to cherish always.

Even in the best of times we've seen brick and mortar, as well as e-commerce retail businesses miss a number of opportunities to better market their store and products. Nowadays it's absolutely crucial to leverage every asset you have to win customers and sell inventory.

So here are Marketing Communications Think Tank's (MCTT) 11 top marketing tips for retail businesses:

1)  Location:  You've heard it before and it's so true, selecting the right location for your store is critical.

2)  Lighting:  Especially if yours is a clothing store and second only to location, good lighting is your most important investment (and asset). We're not kidding here, you can loose significant business if your atmosphere and product displays are hampered by a bad lighting system.

3)  Website:  Demonstrate you're serious about your business and that you plan to be around for a while. There are many inexpensive resources for creating and hosting a site, so after lighting the cost for creating a web presence should be your third priority. No excuses.

4)  Directory listings:  Make sure people can find you! There are a myriad of online and offline directory options, so before you spend any money on other advertising vehicles cover your directory bases first. Always, always include your website address.

5)  Customer service:  If you're going to be in retail, you had better be prepared to provide good customer service. No one wants to buy anything from crabby people. So unless you are selling something indispensable or buyers cannot get it anywhere else, you and your staff are your most important marketing assets.

6)  Online marketing sites:  There are TONS of options here and this can be a highly affordable way to make your business more visible and sell more effectively. Sites like Girl Shop Spot are a great start!

7)  Social Networking:  If you haven't already, get connected to your buyers, your community—-online and offline. These people are your core market in one way or another. If you or your staff have time, launch a blog and/or forum to develop a line of communication with your audience(s). Look into online professional social networks. Join a trade or local business association if relevant to your business.

8)  Local Advertising:  Perhaps your business can benefit from online and print newspaper advertising, coupon mail bundles, billboards, radio, TV, and other local advertising. These local advertising mechanisms can be very effective for your business, used wisely. Spend time researching your options, the costs, and the projected return for your investment.

9)  Offers:  Depending upon the type of retail business you have, it may benefit from running specials, offering product samples, or inclusion in co-op promotions with other local vendors. The possibilities are endless. Just remember to do your homework before you plunk down your hard-earned money. DO NOT IMPULSE BUY! Create an advertising plan and budget and generally stick to it, bearing in mind that you do want to remain open to surprise opportunities (just remember you will have to amend your advertising budget accordingly). Run your numbers before launching into any sales or specials, to make sure the volume sales you seek offset your costs.

10)  Merchandising:  Organizing, grouping, and displaying your products is very important. Messy or crammed merchandise is a real turn off. An easy to navigate store with clearly designated areas and thoughtful displays enhances the shopping experience and improves sales.

11)  Lighting:  Did we mention the importance of lighting? Never, never underestimate the power of lighting. It can literally make or break a customer's shopping experience. Bad lighting example/clothing store changing room: "OMG, do I really look like that? I look hideous in everything I'm trying on. I'm going home." Good lighting example/jewelery store display: "Isn't that diamond ring gorgeous? Look how the light makes it sparkle? I must have that now."

Did you know that AstraZeneca, which manufactures breast cancer drugs Arimidex and Tamoxifen, founded the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the year 1985? The aim of the NBCAM from the start has been to promote mammography as the most effective weapon in the fight against breast cancer.

In 1993 Evelyn Lauder, Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estée Lauder Companies founded The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and established the Pink Ribbon as its symbol, though this was not the first the ribbon was used to symbolize breast cancer. In the fall of 1991, the Susan G. Komen Foundation had handed out Pink Ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors. (Wikipedia)

Early detection, access to mammograms for all women, enlightened treatment, and ultimately eradicating breast cancer are the aims of this organization and its campaign---with over 20 years commitment to these goals. This month GSS encourages everyone to support the cause to win the war on this devastating disease.

To find out more about Breast Cancer Awareness Month click here: http://www.nbcam.org

We are the first company to offer advertisers a new method of measuring activity from advertising. And the best part is, you only pay when shoppers show interest in your ad by interacting with your page. We believe that there is a real need for a more comprehensive internet advertising pay structure. In the current economic times, companies are looking for ways to cut costs, but still remain competitive. The Pay-Per-Interaction (PPI) model, allows companies to do both. And, Girl Shop Spot is here to bring it to you.

How it Works

What you will receive are daily and monthly snapshots of each specific interaction category along with the total number of interactions. These results that can be further dissected by the images, Must Haves, and Sale and Specials Coupons, with a detailed summary of how many interactions per each item.

The date, time and IP address is recorded with details on where they found your Shop Spot page from, whether it be Google, Live, Yahoo, another GSS Shop Spot under Favorite Spots, GSS search, GSS home page, your Featured Ad, or GSS Great Sales results page.

Through GSS you know you've made an impression from your ad. But what’s even better is that you can measure specifically what they are interacting with, and from where they are coming to find you. Not only do you streamline lead generation, your Shop Spot literally becomes an online marketing laboratory. You get to test and retest promotions, experiment with your product or service mix, and refine your communications with prospects and customers.

How is Pay-Per-Interaction^TM (PPI) different from other forms?

On GSS, the seller has the opportunity to create an interactive ad that is full of images and content in order to measure what's working, what people are interested in, and what they click on to learn more. Why wouldn't they? The more things you offer your customers to interact with in an online ad, the more qualified your leads become, which in turn lowers the bounce rate of that ad that you would typically pay for in Pay-Per-Click advertising. You may be thinking how? Before potential customers contact you, click to your site or must haves, they have already learned about your business and what you're selling. These leads have already been pre-qualified and that's something you want to pay for.

Pay-Per-Click advertising is short text ads, typically found on very large search engines. There are other advertising sites that may offer an image and short decsription with the Cost-Per-Click model. These ads can produce a click but often times create high bounce rates. This overall makes you pay more for your leads, it's not measurable other than the traffic and you are paying for the initial click to you.

Yes, it's that time of year. The time of year to start planning your holiday promotions, sales, and specials. It's not all that hard to start thinking about the holidays this early on, as your consumer is already faced with seasonal merchandise as early as August in so many local shops. So where do you start? What's been successful? What will your competitors do? "Plan Your Holiday e-communications Now," is a great article with great tips on how to get you prepared for the holidays.

Girl Shop Spot will be sending out a Holiday E-mail to all of its members. We are seeking businesses, services, and products to represent in this holiday season's newsletter. If you have a great holiday gift idea, sale, or promotion, please send us an e-mail at service@girlshopspot.com.

Have fun, shop, and support your GSS Community this holiday season. Add them to your favorites, help drive sales to eachother, send their Shop Spot to your friends and family. That's what it's all about!

P.S. Don’t forget to update your Shop Spot as well to reflect you holiday bliss!

If you're an entrepreneur or small business owner, you may have a business plan, maybe. But do you have a marketing plan? If you don't, you could be spinning your resource and creative wheels. You could be spending money that will not serve your specific needs. You could be jeopardizing your business and sales goals. You may be spending an inordinate amount of your time on one marketing activity to the detriment of others or more importantly, operational priorities.

Here are three fundamental reasons to create and then monitor a marketing plan for your business.

Reason Number 1

Create a marketing program that maximizes its success rate. Taking a high-level and cohesive approach will assure a more cost-efficient, affordable, and results-generating program.

Having a plan will give you the grace to:

  Implement marketing activities that best suit your business and your budget.
  Consider how well each component compliments the others; how the sum of the parts can produce more       dynamic results.
  Think about how you can leverage results as well as resources.
  Develop a program that is scaled to your needs and helps you amortize your costs.
  Monitor its success and make changes if/when needed in order to keep on course with reaching your goals.

Reason Number 2

Prevent kneejerk or impulse purchases. If you don't take the time to layout a marketing strategy and consider the cost-to-result ratio, you may become prey to impulse buying decisions or kneejerk reactions to competitive actions.

If you don't have a plan and budget to refer to, you might just drop some precious funds on something that will end up having little impact toward your goals or worse cost you more and possibly leave you unprepared to cope with the fallout of an ill-conceived decision. Plus, you divert time and energy from more important endeavors.

Here are some sample impulse marketing decision scenarios:

  You're contacted by a rep for an online directory that has a limited-time offer for a top position sponsored listing and in order to secure this top position the company needs your commitment right now. If you take the offer you'll have to spend some time creating the account, uploading information and perhaps even create an ad you weren't prepared to create.
  You're in Real Estate and you heard a competitor is launching a mobile marketing campaign. Just then you're hit up to jump on the mobile marketing bandwagon by a service provider. You sign up for what turns out to be a very expensive program and you haven't thought through how you will actually field the inquiries or considered how to adapt your online presence to accommodate mobile prospects.
  You hear that social networking is the thing to do, so you decide to dive in and start setting up accounts, initiating a blog, and uploading blog comments...without realizing that you need to carefully orchestrate it all in order to protect your interests.
  SEO. It's out there and you know it matters to your website visibility. A company with Pay-Per-Something just called to make you an offer of a lifetime, but they don't even know what your business does. Do you chance signing up and then hope that you understand how it works and that the claimed "hits" you pay for are legitimate?

And there are many, many more scenarios from local school advertising calls to event marketing opportunities and mobile search sponsorships. The list is simply endless. With a plan in place you are far less likely to make snap purchasing decisions, decisions that can derail your overall efforts and possibly sabotage the results you seek.

Save yourself! Separately SEO, mobile marketing, and social networking could easily become full-time activities. You could find yourself totally sucked into spending all of your time pursuing any of one of these marketing nirvanas. But will they make your business successful? Will they drive sales and on your timetable? Can you keep up with how often the rules change? Can you imagine being able to produce a blog entry...every day, for instance?

Know what you can do yourself and how much time you personally can devote to your selected marketing activities. If you can hire someone else to do some of it for you, it may likely be much more cost and time effective to do so. If you are running your own business you can ill afford to spend a hefty percentage of your time on one marketing activity, let alone several.

So know yourself, know your business, and then spend time laying out a marketing strategy that will help you achieve your goals, protect your resources and assets, best utilize your time and talents, and allow you to monitor progress.

We're excited to announce that we have a few really cool Shop Spots that can assist you with marketing on a startup budget. You can find these helpful businesses with their information and links below. Since we've been on the topic, Cost Effective Advertising on a Budget, I would also like to share with you InsideCRM's 101 Free Offers List and Coupons, for "Marketing on a Startup Budget."

  Marketing Communications Think Tank

MCTT is about strategic, solutions-based, and affordable marketing. We are your partner, not in word but in deed. Your success is our prime directive. We're here to make you look great. And we'll never waste money, resources, or your time in the process. Never. MCTT is proven to be the most effective and affordable marketing think tank you'll ever work with. Challenge us to offer up a solution to your greatest marketing problem.

Special  Limited Offer: $100.00 For Marketing Plan Review or New Plan Outline. The return on this $100.00 investment is at least twentyfold.   Learn More

  Retroboutiques Web Design

Web Design for the startup, small home business, especially for the mom! Different than the rest, no cookie cutter designs here! Fun, funky, retro, feminine and girly, calm, cool, wild and loud, pastels, hot colors, muted toned down, mod, hip and chic, we do it all....partner with an easy to use web host with super duper easy content management...stop by, look around, contact me with questions...do it...you know you want your own business...affordable, friendly, and fun...lets build your business together!

Special  Website templates start at only $100.00!   Learn More

  Love It! Designs

People love working with me not only because I'm good at what I do, but because I'm easy to get in touch with, easy to work with, timely, honest and reliable. Plus, I often work during non-traditional business hours (as well as traditional ones), which means you'll usually get a quick response from me. Additionally, I'm quite affordable compared to most established graphic designers. I have a standard hourly rate, but can work with flat rates if need be.   Learn More

  Sweet Boutique Design, LLC

Specializing in affordable trendy, hip, boutique website designs. Custom e-commerce sites, brochures site, business card sites, informational site, blog designs, shopping cart installation, shopping cart license, logo design, print design, and graphic design.    Learn More

As we've stated in last blog entries, it's vital to advertise online for small business success. But let's face it; we can't simply afford all the advertising that is out there. So how does a small business achieve a great online presence? Well, it's funny because not only small businesses should take the following into account, but the larger, more established businesses as well. Heck, one could even hire someone for such a presence with all the possibilities that are out there today.

Below is a list of quite a few sites every business should consider in their online media plan. Starting with social networking sites and ending with classifieds. Some of these sites may take higher priority to others depending on your target market and niche. The possibilities are endless here. Be sure to join and comment on forums and groups specific to your niche that may not be listed below. There are many other smaller localized sites to look into as well. It may seem overwhelming at first but the key is to pick your target and diversify, so you're not putting all your eggs in one basket, or in one online medium.

This has been a work in progress. Please feel free to contact us to include sites you feel we've missed out on. Our team will review for inclusion in another post.

Short Cuts to the GSS List of Coolest Sites to be Seen On!

	Myspace  A place for friends.
	Facebook  Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you.
	Ladies Who Launch  Network for lady entreprenuers, business magazine, & more.
	Flickr  Share your photos. Watch the world.
	WomanOwned  Small business networks & resources for women in business.
	Viewpoints  Find reviews from people like you.
	Plaxo  Stay in touch with the people you care about.
	Indiepublic  Indie Community. If you're an artist, designer, retailer, blogger, we've saved a seat for you.
	Stuffable  Where cool people come to show off cool stuff.
	Epinions  Unbiased reviews by real people.
	Squidoo  Share your knowledge and passion with the world.
	BzzAgent  We are the leading word-of-mouth media network.

	StubbleUpon  Discovers web sites based on your interests.
	Digg  Discover the best of the web.
	Wists  Shareable image bookmarks for any page on the web.
	Ma.gnolia  Discover, share and discuss the best of the web.
	Del.icio.us  Bookmark things for yourself and friends
	Google Shared Stuff  Easily share any webpage with your friends.

	Kaboodle  Have fun shopping with friends, share and discover new products.
	ThisNext  Recommend, share and discover great products.
	StyleHive  Connecting stylish people.
	StyleFeeder  StyleFeeder discovers products for you based on your unique tastes.
	Wishpot  Makes it easy for you to shop anywhere, keep all your finds in one place, & connect with friends.
	Zebo  Where friends help you get cool stuff.
	Woot!  An online store and community that focuses on selling cool stuff cheap.
	Buzzillions  Unbiased product reviews from actual buyers.
	Crowdstorm  Expert product reviews.
	Pronto  Get recommendations, compare & buy at the lowest prices.
	ShopStyle  Feed your fashion habit. All the stores you love. All in one place.
	Shoppero  Recommend. Discover. Make Money.
	Osoyou  Stare. Shop. Share.
	I Like Totally Love It  Products you didn't know you wanted but suddenly, like, totally need.
	BoxedUp  Organixe your internet shopping and make it more fun with boxedup.
	AgentB  a place for you to find and share great deals from across the Internet.
	No More Notebooks  Social Shopping has come Online. Create. Compare. Recommend. Discover.
	BunnyBot  Instant messaging, instant shopping feedback, instant fun.
	Desiresin  Add, share, rank, and find social shopping bookmarks.
	Product Wiki  Unbiased product reviews and information.

	Girl Shop Spot  A girl's best friend. Shop. Discover. Meet. Sell. (Only Pay-for-Performance)
	Mintd  Shop, buy & sell independent goods. (% of sales)
	eBay  New & used goods at low prices. (% of sales)
	Yahoo! Local  Find businesses and Services near you.
	Merchant Circle  Find new customers.
	Google Maps  When potential customers search Maps for local information, they'll find your business.
	Yellow Pages  Reach new customers with yellowpages.com.
	Smashing Darling  Leading the Indie Fashion Revolution. (% of sales)
	HGTV Marketplace  It's Shopping on HGTV. (pay-per-click)
	Beautiful Shops  Women entrepreneurs find success & happiness with online shops.
	Etsy  All things handmade. (% of sales)
	PriceGrabber  Comparison shopping, online shopping, product reviews. (pay-per-click)
	Google Adwords  Grow your business with Google. (pay-per-click)
	Amazon  Online shopping for electronics, apparel, computers, books, & more. (cost-per-click)
	Gifts  Wedding gifts, anniversary gifts, gift baskets, gift cards. (cost-per-click)
	The Rose Bridge  Fine boutiques at home & abroad.
	Find Gift  Find unique gift ideas & creative gifts. (pay-per-click)
	Google Product Search  Search for stuff to buy.
	Shopzilla  Comparison shopping online. (cost-per-click)
	MyStore  Buy or sell online for free.
	Like  Shop visually for shoes, handbags, and more.
	WahmsShoppes  Created to offer mothers in business an affordable eCommerce solution.
	Shopping  Online shopping, price comparison, product reviews. (cost-per-click)
	BizRate  Price comparisons & product reviews. (cost-per-click)
	Become  Compare prices & research products. (pay-per-click)
	Crafster  Crafting community, including craft forums about knitting, crochet, sewing and more.

	Plurk  Plurk is a social journal for your life.
	Twitter  What are you doing?
	Posterous  The place to post everything.
	Virb  Put all the things that make you you - in one place.

	Craigslist  Craigslists classifieds.
	Posteroo  Post your classified ads.
	HappyHippie  Eco-friendly retail direcectory.
	Oodle  Online classifieds - cars, homes, jobs, pets, & more.
	Pikaba  Community marketplace, online merchant network.
	CMather  Classified advertising for your products and services.

Have you ever been on a site where the product photos sparkle and scream out touch me, buy me, you have to have me? You’re thinking they must have spent hundreds to thousands of dollars hiring a professional photographer. Well that’s certainly one solution, but there are others out there I want to share with you. Easily learn how to make your products photos sparkle while doing so cost effectively. This article, "Glamour Shots: Inspiring Inventory with Free Image Editors," by Vangie Beal is an extremely helpful resource in doing so.

Whether you just built a site or looking to improve what you already have, there's one question that arises after many months of trying to increase sales online. What's wrong with my site?

It's best to look at your website as an interactive book that should serve the purpose of the reader. People visiting your site have a purpose, a want or need they are trying to fulfill. If your site is not serving it well and dishing out all that it's meant to be, your potential customer will leave within seconds. And what about the others who decide to stick around, thinking you have what they are looking for and are interested in what you have to say but can't figure out exactly what it is you do. So, here's a list of some pointers to help you determine what needs fixing on your site, web page, or any advertising for that matter.

  Your home page should state clearly what it is you do or sell, just like the cover of a book.
Does you logo, company name, and tag line speak the purpose of being in business to your audience clearly? What type of message are you trying to send them? How do you want them to feel when they first set eyes on your site? Many company names aren't obvious to customers what it is they do or sell. Spell it out for customers. Be sure to make your tag line and copy clear, interesting, and specific to what is you're selling. There's nothing worse than having potential customers wonder what exactly it is that you're selling.

  Can you navigate easily through other chapters of your book from the home page?
Can all your most important chapters be easily accessed from the home page? Be sure to make all your internal pages relevant to what you're writing about or selling on each page with no grammatical errors or incomplete descriptions. Reducing the amount of page clicks before reaching the check out or desired result is always recommended as well.

  Always update your content.
If you have a potential customer that comes back to your site to make a purchase a month later and you have outdated material, they are sure to leave and never come back. Be sure to update content as needed and on a consistent basis. This is also recommended if you want to keep your existing customers.

  Depending on what your site is for, be sure to go a step further than the other guy.
There are millions of books on "How to be Successful." What makes yours that much better? Where's the proof and testimonials? Express how you are different than the shop down the street or a click away who promises to deliver the same. Your content is always king and should shout out to your customers. It should come alive and reach your audience like nothing they've ever read before. It should be compelling, truthful, and exciting!

  Title tags should be included in your web pages, just as there are sub titles in the chapters of a book.
Treat each title tag like it's a sub title for a book. But it gets even better than that. You can make you tagging work for you. Relevant and concise title tags can bring in customers who were searching for you. Each title should include what customers will find on that page. Off purpose, irrelevant titles will only hurt your sales. Web pages without titles are like reading a book without chapters.

  Make it easy for customers to find and contact you.
There's nothing worse when you're trying to contact customer service or the owner and you have to hunt through the site to find out how. Have a contact us page that is easily accessible from all pages. Always check and respond to your e-mails promptly.

  Offer up a call to action.
You must entice your reader to want react. Picture this, you've just started reading one of the best inspirational books you've ever read and couldn't wait to pick it up and read it again. Throughout the day, it's all you could think about. The writer effortlessly primed you to want to practice the things that were offered in that book. Give your site the same enthusiasm by delivering a call to action. Make your customers see all the wonderful things they will receive in your copy and images when they contact, purchase, or visit. Give them a reason to purchase today whether it is through special offers, sales, promotions, and make it hard for them to forget you when they leave.

You've been looking at your stats and wonder why people are leaving your shopping cart before making the transaction. According to online shoppers from PayPal and comScore the top reason for shoppers to leave their cart was shipping fees. Customers are getting ready to check out and are shocked by the total after shipping costs. Since this seems to be such a concern among shoppers, promoting shipping discounts on your site, in-store, and just about anywhere you advertise seems to be a must in this market.

Many online shoppers are also looking for bargains, researching goods and services online, comparison shopping, shoppin