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The world is trading more now than ever before!
- World trade now represents 47% of the World’s GDP, compared to just 10% in 1970
- International merchandise exports reached USD $11.7 Trillion in 2006, up 18% (USD $1.8 trillion) compared to 2005.
Small & medium sized enterprises (SMEs) fuel world economies
- More than 95% of businesses in most countries are small (<100 employees)
- In most countries, more than half of all employees work in small businesses
- In many countries more than half of gross domestic product comes from small businesses
- In 2006, about $24 trillion of goods were produced by SMEs
- SMEs account for 25%-35% of internationally traded goods
The Internet is driving international trade
- With 1.2 billion users, 18.9% of the world’s population is now online.
- The USA has the most Internet users (210 million), followed by China (162 million).
- According to research by Forrester, 80% of B2B buyers now search online before they purchase.
- Over 80% of B2B buyers say that more than 50% of their suppliers are met online
Online fraud remains a threat to companies worldwide
- According to PricewaterhouseCoopers 2007 Economic Crime Survey, one out of every 2 businesses has suffered economic crime in the past 2 years
- BuySafe.com reports that 76% of online buyers worry they will not get what they paid for and 72% say the trust problem is getting worse.
- At Fraud.org, where Internet users complain about online fraud, 34% of all complaints were for “goods not delivered” and 33% were for “goods not delivered as promised”
- Surveys of B2B website users state that trust is the #1 sourcing challenge
- At most B2B websites, more than 90% of member companies are NOT verified
Importers.com provides world-class solutions for international B2B trade
- Online promotion at America’s #1 B2B trade site
- TradeSafe Verification to prove business professionalism
- FREE buyer-supplier business matching
- Hundreds of NEW Buy & Sell TradeLeads posted everyday
- TradeMail and other services that make it easy to buy and sell online
Sure, marketing is a mix of the 4 Ps and a whole lot more. But members of Importers.com (and others) would do well to keep their marketing focused on customers.
Find New Customers
Importers.com makes it easy to search and find new customers. TradeBrief is a weekly newsletter sent to all members that provides custom searches of the Importers.com directory of importers and exporters. TradeCenter is the log in point for all members and it is an updated list of potential trade partners that have been active on Importers.com during the last 3 days. Of course, users can also search by keyword of industry category to find potential new trade partners.
Help Customers Buy
Online buyers are nervous and must be convinced that your company is professional, before they want to make inquiries or respond to new messages. Take the first step with TradeSafe Verification or offer to send a copy of your legal business registration to them directly. Provide details about your company and products that build confidence: industry certifications or awards, export successes, customer testimonials, etc.
Help Customers Buy More
The 6 most profitable words ever: "Would you like fries with that?" Once upon a time, MacDonalds was famous for hamburgers and not much else. All staff were trained to say the 6 words that invited customers to buy more. MacDonalds now sells more french fries than any other food retailer. And you need to think the same way about your business. What add-ons can you offer? How can you convert 1 sale into a larger purchase?
Keep Customers Happy
It is more expensive to find new customers than it is to keep existing customers. And, most of the time, your repeat customers are the most profitable. So keep them happy. Send them greeting cards, discount coupons and other material to remind them about your company and keep them coming back for more. Don't take them for granted. Reward customers with unbeatable service and you will be rewarded with higher profits.
TradeSafe Verified companies have provided Importers.com with a copy of their business registration, DUNNS number, or other information to confirm their company identity. Learn more. If the company you are interested in is not TradeSafe Verified, be sure you take these 2 steps!
1. Confirm company identity
Countries have different rules, forms and departments, but a business license is universal almost worldwide. Buyers and sellers should receive a copy of the company’s legal business registration. And this same information should be on the sales contract.
Make sure your potential trade partner has a company name and address that you have verified. Check Google and other online information to be sure company information is consistent and professional. If things go wrong, this confirmed information may be your only hope of getting an issue resolved.
Be cautious when:
- business registration is not provided/ not available
- you discover different contact information than you have
- multiple email addresses used and/or free email accounts like Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.
- you cannot find much information for a company that claims to be leading, top, best, number one, etc.
2. Speak with a company representative
Business really is about people. Email is great for getting information and negotiating trade terms, but before you buy (or sell), call your new business partner. Learn more about the company: years in business, number of employees, export experience, popular products.
To minimize misunderstandings, confirm product quantity, shipping, packaging and payment details by telephone. And when speaking with a company representative, think of the call like it is a job interview. Does this person impress you? Do they seem reliable? Are they a good fit with your company?
Be cautious when:
- representative makes excuses: no registration, no website, no phone number etc.
- contact person is uncertain about key details: money, delivery, quantity, etc.
- you feel like you are being mishandled, manipulated or sold
Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation have published the 2007 Index of Ecnomic Freedom for countries worldwide.
The study uses various statistics to measure and rank economic freedom in 161 countries according to:
- Business Freedom
- Trade Freedom
- Fiscal Freedom
- Freedom from Government
- Monetary Freedom
- Investment Freedom
- Financial Freedom
- Property Rights
- Freedom from Corruption
- Labor Freedom
Here are the top 10 most economcially free countries:
1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore
3. Australia
4. United States
5. New Zealand
6. United Kingdom
7. Ireland
8. Luxumbourg
9. Switzerland
10. Canada
Not in the top 10? See your country rank!
I have spent several hours with the report and some of the results are surprising. For example, Taiwan is more free than France, which is more free than Brazil, which is more free than Turkey, which is more free than India. And while Nigeria is famous for its corruption, its overal freedom ranks higher than Vietnam and Venezuala.
Exporting members of Importers.com would do well to become familiar with IHS.com.
This website provides information on over 800,000 standards, specifications and codes, with much of the information available for PDF download. The sites lists the following "popular" industry standards...
- Aerospace
- Automotive
- Building Code Software
- Construction
- Electrical/Electronics
- Government/Military
- Health and Safety
- Medical
- Petrochemical/Utilites
- Quality
- Telecommunications
- Welding & Metals
Suppliers can boost their export readiness by knowing and conforming to standards requirements of importing countries. In addition, suppliers that promote that their products confirm to local market standards will attract more qualified inquiries.
A new web service provides search and information on US patents.
PatentStorm.us offers patents from the US Patent Office, including full-text patent search. Whether you are an inventor, a patent attorney, a patent agent or just curious about how things work, this site is for you.
The site allows users to search all patents from January 1990 forward. As they expand, they intend to provide the most comprehensive source of free patent information on the web. In addition to full text search, patents are categorized by industry category.
ENJOY!
The good folks over at Business 2.0 recently published a list of the top 12 "best places to do business in the wired world". Their results are guided by the presence of technology giants, a thriving community of small tech businesses and a business friendly environment. Read the full article.
1 - Bangalore India
2 - Barcelona, Spain
3 - Helsinki, Finland
4 - Hong Kong, China
5 - London, England
6 - Seoul, S. Korea
7 - Shanghai, China
8 - Singapore
9 - Stockholm, Sweden
10 - Tallinn, Estonia
11 - Tel Aviv, Israel
12 - Tokyo, Japan
It's hard to believe that the list does not contain at least 1 American city. San Francisco (Google, Cisco, Ebay), Seattle (Microsoft, Boeing), and New York (IBM, AOL, etc) should be strong contenders. Afterall, how much business is really done in Tallinn Estonia?
I understand that English is not the first language for many international traders. But, when marketing online, having poor English not only does not help your company - it can often hurt your business opportunities.
For example, consider this promotion from a garment trader in India:
i have manufactour of \" bandhani\" from bhuj kutch . india . its made by tie and dye. its kutchhi work. its hand work. so mostaly we make duppta ,scaf, skarts ,dress materiayl. tops with bandhani. so now i want to some contact who intersted in my products.
The 3 main problems...
1 - It is not at all clear what this company sells
2 - There are no good keywords that will help the company be found
3 - The description is so unprofessional, many buyers that do read it will NOT want to do business with the company
English is the language of business and the language of the Internet. In order to have success marketing online, companies must provide English business and product descriptions - using good keywords - that promote the professionalism of the company.
Don't let poor English language skills or your rush to complete an online form ruin your chances of success online. Free Members of Importers.com are responsible for their own marketing. Members that upgrade to Premium or Client Membership benefit from the professional marketing services of Importers.com TradeStaff.
And, not only do we help to create a winning TradePage, but the English descriptions we provide can be copy and pasted onto your own website or other marketing material. For as little as $349 per year, companies get online promotion at Importers.com, plus the services of TradeStaff to create strong, professional English promotions. Upgrade now.
Fatally tainted pet food, faulty tires, toxic toothpaste, Big Birds and Elmos coated in lead paint, blankets steeped in formaldehyde, flammable children's pyjamas, dirty disposable chopsticks, poisonous feed for fish farms, dried apples preserved in carcinogens, frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics, scallops and sardines coated with bacteria, mushrooms sprayed with illegal pesticides, tainted diet supplements, cosmetics full of impurities, counterfeit medicines, contaminated chicken, pork and fish - the list of foul, infected, polluted or fraudulent products coming out of China in the past year is staggering. And because the Western world's manufacturers and retailers are increasingly dependent on cheap goods from China, the potential for injuries, illnesses and even deaths throughout North America and Europe is enormous.
So what is to be done? There are already cries for more government regulation. But while governments clearly have a role to play, they cannot possibly inspect every shipment arriving at Western ports. Instead, corporations and consumers have to demand higher standards from Chinese suppliers. The Chinese economy is every bit as dependent on exports to the West as Western companies' profits are on cheap Chinese parts and finished products. If Western consumers start balking at "Made in China" goods, both Chinese manufacturers and their Western partners will be compelled to ensure Chinese products are safe.
Read the full article here.
When it comes to getting more business inquiries online, perhaps nothing could benefit your company more than a high search rank from Google – the king of Internet search.
Whether Google finds your company website, your Importers.com TradePage, or other online information, a high rank will get a LOT of searchers looking at your company information.
So, what information can you put online that will help your company rank high in search?
Content is KING!
Shakespeare once said: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet". But for Google, a rose by any other name is barely a rose at all, because most searchers won't find it.
At Google.com EVERY search is a keyword search. You may not be able to rank very high for 1 keyword, but the good news is that more than 70% of searchers type a keyword phrase. Your objective is to rank well for a combination of words that are relevant to your company.
MEMBER TIP #1: Buyers search for products, NOT companies. Detailed product descriptions should include keywords that buyers will use to get more product information online
Get Business Inquiries
The most popular websites that use the keywords important to your company will rank highest in search results. Usually, this means B2B websites.
MEMBER TIP #2: Be sure to use good keywords for ALL postings you make on the Internet, starting with your Importers.com TradePage
Importers.com works like Google too. Users search by keywords and buyers look for products.
Log in NOW to be sure your TradePage is using keywords that will help your company rank high in search results - at Importers.com, Google, Yahoo and other search engines
I was speaking with a buyer by phone yesterday. He called to ask for prices from a specific supplier. Of course, here at Importers.com, we don't have supplier prices - unless they provide them on their TradePage. I explained this to the buyer and our conversation is provided below.
TradeStaff: "For wholesale trade, pricing is largely based on purchase volume and many suppliers provide prices once they are contacted with a specific quantity."
Buyer: "Why would I bother contacting a company that does not show their price? That's a waste of my time."
TradeStaff: "It's a waste of your time to get prices?"
Buyer: "Yeah. I have 5 price quotes sitting on my desk right now. They were sent to me by US distributors. The reason I am searching online is to find suppliers that can beat the price. I don't have time to send a bunch of price requests and wait for the answers"
TradeStaff: "Do you contact suppliers that do not show prices?"
Buyer: "No. No price, no message. If they have a price, I may contact them. If their price is good, I want to know more about the product quality, shipping and payment terms. That's when I send a message."
TradeStaff: "Is price the most important issue for you?"
Buyer: "Yes and no. First, they need to have the products I am searching for and they must seem like a real business. Then, if the price is right, I contact them to get more info about products and company."
TradeStaff: "So, you recommend that all suppliers provide their price online?"
Buyer: "If they want my business. Yes."
I have had virtually the same conversation with hundreds of buyers. Just like all of us, they are busy. And, if they have the choice between contacting a company with prices and one without, 99% will contact the company that shows their price online. Having a price makes them want to get more information. Not having a price makes them keep looking for companies that do provide a price.
At Importers.com, prices are optional for TradeProducts, but new TradeLeads must have a price. Since suppliers can provide a price range - from X to Z - there is no reason to keep buyers in the dark.
As individuals, when we shop, price is often part of the motivation to be interested in a product. But, without a price, we only make the effort to get a price if we are really really interested in the product. The same is true for online wholesale buyers.
The bottom line: Suppliers should show prices online!
Dogged by a plethora of reports in the foreign media highlighting problem Chinese goods and worried that product-safety recalls are spiraling into a major problem for its export juggernaut, Beijing has shifted gears to defend its battered "Made in China" reputation.
International worries about China's exports have continued to mount with more and more reports about substandard and fake products coming to light. Since April, a slew of exports have been recalled or rejected around the world. Recent high profile cases include:
- Tainted seafood exported to USA
- Zinc in baby's milk powder
- Juice with questionable colour additives
- Toys with lead contaminated paint
- Toothpaste with diethylene glycol
- Toxic wheat and rice glutins in pet food
- Formaldehyde in milk candy (chocolate)
- Fake pharmaceuticals (Viagra, etc)
As a result, China has come under political pressure from the US and the European Union, where politicians are demanding assurances about the quality and safety of Chinese exports.
"Our US regulatory agencies are concerned about what they see as an insufficient infrastructure across the board in China to assure the safety, quality and effectiveness of many products exported to the United States," Mike Leavitt said in Beijing
China's safety woes have not been limited to Europe and North America. Excessive antibiotic or pesticide residue has caused bans in Japan on Chinese poultry products, frozen spinach and tea. Hong Kong blocked imports of turbot fish last year after inspectors found traces of malachite green, a possible cancer-causing chemical used to treat fungal infections.
Last year Taiwan too banned imports of hairy crabs from mainland China over traces of carcinogens. This June, Russia's federal agricultural authorities banned fish from China because of antibiotic contamination.
Chinese producers - whether through ignorance or greed - are gaining an international reputation as world-class scammers. China is facing product bans, recalls, restrictions, tougher import requirements, more inspections and beyond. There is a price to pay for poor quality and the marketplace moves quickly to punish offenders.
In a dramatic display of concern, in July China executed the former head of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), Zheng Xiaoyu, for accepting bribes in return for granting government approval for various medicines in 2005. While aiming to publicize its actions on safety controls, Beijing has also tried to limit future PR fallout. Newspapers in the capital have been warned against running negative news on food safety. This past weekend, the co-owner of the toy factory that produced and exported over 1 million lead contaminated toys commited suicide.
Beijing is now fighting to reassure global customers that it takes quality seriously. Certainly damage has been done. Is it a question of too little too late? Well, are you still sourcing product from China? And if so, what are you doing to ensure quality standards are being met?
Sources: Product Quality Scare..., China's About-face on Product Safety, Chinese Executive Kills Self Amid Recall, US to Help China with Product Safety, China Closes Firms Over Tainted Products.
Send 100% More! Get 100% More!
Importers.com has raised the TradeMail quota for ALL Free Members. Buyers and sellers can now SEND 10 and RECEIVE 10 new inquiries each month. (Previously, companies could only send 5 and receive 5). Log in to send more NOW!
TradeMail Works!
Importers.com is one of the most active B2B trade websites in the world. Everyday thousands of visitors search for new business opportunities and make contact with companies that interest them. And at Importers.com, companies contact each other using TradeMail.
TradeMail works just like email, but it has some important differences. Anyone can get a free email address under any name. Anyone can send millions of email messages. Combined, these 2 facts have caused one sad reality: SPAM now accounts for over 80% of ALL email.
At Importers.com, by restricting how companies can contact each other online, TradeMail is 99% SPAM-Free and is a powerful tool for international buyers and sellers.
More TradeMail Opened
These days, email messages from all kinds of companies are deleted without even being opened. Less than 2% of email are opened when the sender is an unknown company. Compare this with Importers.com TradeMail: in 2 days, 24% of all TradeMail messages are opened. And 40% are opened within 1 month.
Given that the Internet is a virtual free-for-all, Importers.com account restrictions work to improve the quality of messages.
More qualified inquiries are sent and opened because:
- Users must qualify to receive a free account
- Traders must act professionally
- Free Members can only contact companies in the same industry
- Each month, members can only send a limited number of new inquiries
As America’s #1 B2B trade website, Importers.com offers an industry leading eMail marketing solution for buyers and sellers worldwide - TradeMail. Free and SPAM-Free.
Use TradeMail to make new business contacts NOW. To contact more than 10 new companies this month, upgrade membership.
The World Bank has published a report on the world's most corrupt (and honest) countries. Examining various credit sources over a period of 10 years, the report is an in-depth barometer of international government practices.
World's Most Corrupt Countries
1. North Korea
2. Somalia
3. Myanmar
4. Afghanistan
5. Congo
6. Iraq
7. Zimbabwe
8. Bangladesh
9. Nigeria
10. Turkmenistan
11. Cambodia
12. Chad
13. Ivory Coast
14. Angola
15. Papua New Guinea
16. Sierra Leone
Source: World Bank
At Importers.com, our experience varies quite a bit from this list. For example, the top 5 offending countries in the list above are NOT significant traders on Importers.com. If we were to publish a list of countries with the most corrupt traders, it would look different than the one above - though some countries would make both lists.
In terms of fraud - whether from membership upgrade payments to us, or complaints from members - the top 3 countries at Importers.com are:
- Nigeria
- Indonesia
- China
Traders doing business with companies from these countries should be especially careful. See TradeSafe Tips.
Apparently, just 50% of US companies have a website and worldwide, the rate is even lower. As an "Internet guy", I find this quite alarming.
It is so easy and cheap to have a website these days. Plus, it is so damn practical. A corporate website becomes an online brochure that works 24/7. It reinforces business credibility and in many cases, it is the difference between acquiring a new customer or not. And, it helps keep existing customers.
Depending on your industry, 40-85% of commercial purchasing agents now research online BEFORE they make a purchase. For these buyers, no website = no new business!
Of course, members of Importers.com get a FREE website. Depending on membership level, it be from 3 to 100+ pages. But in my opinion, having a TradePage or membership at other B2B sites really is not enough. Afterall, what successful company does not have a website? I can't think of one. And for international suppliers, having a website is the price of admission to the world market.
These days, you can buy a hosting solution and build a website yourself for about $100 per year. 1and1.com can provide a hosting solution and Nvu.com provides free website building software.
If you don't have a website, get it done!
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