Virtual Staffing for Your Small Business

What's a Virtual Assistant?
Virtual assistants are independent contractors or entrepreneurs who provide administrative assistance to multiple clients. Unlike regular assistants, they work out of their homes rather than at your business’ physical location. Virtual staffing companies match virtual assistants with small and home-based businesses who need help running things. Many of these businesses are finding that there are numerous advantages to using a virtual assistant over hiring traditional help:

• Location. If you work from home, you don't have to find a place to put an employee.

•No Overhead. They provide their own office supplies, desk, computer, software, and phone lines.

•No Benefits. They're not your employee, so you aren't responsible for paying social security or income taxes, holidays, insurance, vacation or sick pay.

•Lots of Flexibility. It's significantly easier to find a virtual assistant who can work evening hours or weekends — after all, they're working from home. And you can give them more or less hours as your needs change.

Quality Control — How Do I Know What I'm Getting?
Gayle Buske is president and CEO of TeamDoubleClick.com, a highly reputed virtual staffing agency. Her clients are often concerned about hiring someone without ever seeing their face. She reassures them that because the agencies don't get to meet the people they send to their clients — often they're in different states — their hiring processes are significantly more stringent. In fact Buske admits, "We turn away about seventy percent of the people that we interview." Those who make the grade go through a nine-part interview process before they're trained and certified.

Virtual agencies try to match each client with an assistant who fits their specific needs. They look at qualifications, personality and work style, and hours of availability — both number and times. Whatever your unique requirements, they'll work to find someone who's a good fit.

Common Client Concerns
How do I know that my assistant is actually working the hours I'm paying them for?
To allow you to track their progress, many agencies have their staff send daily activity reports. They may account for how many inbound calls they received, how many outbound calls they made, how many appointments they set, what documents they worked on, as well as how many hours they put in for the day and their cumulative hours for the week. These daily reports can help you stay on budget — if you see they've already worked the total hours you planned to pay them for, you can push back other projects until the next week.

How hard is it to work with someone from a remote location?
Buske points out, "There's so much technology now that really facilitates working virtually. It's as simple as hitting the speed dial instead of the intercom, or attaching files to an email rather than walking them to the next room." Most of your communication will be via phone, fax, and email. There are also online meeting programs, like GoToMeeting.com, that let you do demonstrations and presentations, such as for training purposes.

And their skills run the gamut — everything from accounting to marketing to graphic design. Whether you need someone to answer incoming calls and do mailers, or someone who can manage your entire business when you're away, you can find virtual staff with all levels of skills.

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

Shopping with Uncle Sam — A Breakdown of Government Auctions

A Retailer's Bargain Paradise...?
You've probably heard about the amazing deals you can find at government auctions — the planes, trains, and automobiles your neighbor's uncle's cousin picked up for a song. But how true are these stories? Are government auctions really a good source for purchasing products for resale? The answer to that is, they CAN BE, but to find those good deals, you have to understand what you are doing.

Where Do Government Auctions Get Their Products?
Government auctions can be held online, live 'in-person', or sealed bid. They acquire their products from two main sources:

1. Goods they seized due to criminal activities or delinquent taxes.
2. Goods an agency of the government has, but no longer needs.

According to Ian Aronovich, president and CEO of GovernmentAuctions.org, there are two reasons these auctions can provide such great deals: "The government either attained the items for free or cheap. And unlike a corporation, the government does not have a traditional profit." They'll sell to the highest bidder even if they're getting less than market value.

Product Sourcing Tip 1: Research before you bid.
If you source products through government auctions to resell online, make sure you know the market value of the products before you place any bids. The key to not overbidding is to research the items ahead of time. Most government auctions will publish a list of available items two to three weeks prior to the auction. And that's when you need to start your homework.

Blue Books are a great source for researching product value. There are price guides out there for basically anything you're interested in. Some of the most popular ones are:

• Automobiles — Kelley Blue Book (www.KBBb.com )
• Electronics — Orion Blue Book (www.OrionBlueBook.com )
• Antiques — Kovels Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide (www.Kovels.com )

Product Sourcing Tip 2: Set a bidding limit.
Once you figure out the market value of the goods that interest you, just subtract the costs of reselling those goods, and the profit you hope to make. The result is your top bid for the item. You absolutely need to know your top bid for an item before the auction starts, or you may get caught up in the bidding and end up paying far more than it's worth. Know your maximum bids, and stick to them.

The bottom line in capitalizing on government auctions is that you have to be prepared. Says Aronovich, "You make your money when you buy, not when you sell. If you take the time to study things out and know what you're doing, you can walk away with potentially a lot of room to profit."

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

Sometimes It Pays to Follow the Crowd — 3 Internet Marketing Trends You Can Use

It doesn't matter if running an E-Biz is old hat for you or if you're just getting started: advertising is always going to be a key element of your business strategy. Search engine marketing is probably the biggest tool available for promoting your web store, so you need to stay on top of trends in that area to be competitive. In addition to SEO, there are certain developments in online marketing that your E-Biz can benefit from using:

1. Blogging for Profit
One of the hottest trends on the Internet right now is blogging. What started as informal personal journaling has become a great way to boost your web site's traffic. Adding a blog to your web site gives it a personal face, thereby increasing the quality of your site and giving your customers a reason to come back. If your E-Biz specializes in chocolates, you can blog your favorite recipe for chocolate brownies or sum up an article highlighting the health benefits of eating chocolate.

Blogging about topics related to the product or services you offer also helps you get ahead in the search engines' natural listings, for several reasons:

• You're constantly adding fresh, relevant content which is exactly what search engines are looking for.
• You're also adding keywords in those blogs, that reinforce your site's topical theme to the engines.
• Blogs are getting preference in search engine rankings right now. This is especially true of Google — even more so if you use Google's blogging service, Blogger.com.

2. Results You Can See
Internet marketing expert Derek Gehl, of MarketingTips.com, shares how an increased demand for trackable results in paid advertising in the last few years is working to your advantage. When you run a pay-per-click advertising campaign, search engine companies actually give you the tools to monitor the visitors each keyword brings to your site. Gehl recommends running a keyword campaign to track which keywords bring in sales conversions as opposed to those that only bring in traffic.

Suggests Gehl, "Start with anywhere from two hundred fifty to five hundred keywords and key phrases targeted to your specific market — that's considered a good test." Don't bid too much; you can still get a lot of words for ten and fifteen cents. From there, you can gauge what direction will be the most advantageous for you to take.

3. You've Got Mail — Running a Smart Email Campaign
If your business has conducted any email campaigns of late, you've probably been affected by the new changes in spamming laws. The recent crackdown on spammers has made it increasingly difficult for legitimate business' mailers to reach their customers' inboxes. But what many E-Biz owners don't know is that the big email service providers (Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, etc.) have what are called "white lists." Gehl counsels, "Legitimate email marketers can go through a process on each of those web sites to get white listed. And once you're on that white list, your email automatically goes to that inbox."

Following the crowd isn't always bad advice — by incorporating profitable marketing trends, you can help keep your E-Biz on top of the search results and in front of your customers.

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

Health Savings Accounts — What They Are and Why They Work

Healthcare Help for Entrepreneurs?
If you're in business for yourself, you've probably already discovered that individual health insurance is extremely cost-prohibitive. You may think paying outrageous fees is your only option — or even that you can't afford health coverage at all.

What Are Health Savings Accounts?
A health savings account (HSA) is an insurance policy that was actually designed with the self-employed and the small business owner in mind. According to Mark Baker, HSA specialist for Golden Rule Insurance Company, "An HSA is a higher deductible health insurance plan that is coupled with a tax advantage savings account."

The difference between purchasing individual healthcare and investing in an HSA is similar to the difference between renting a home and buying one. If you rent, each month you write out a check to help your landlord pay off the home you're living in (and you don't even like him!). On the other hand, if you buy, you incur a higher cost up front with the deposit, but with every payment, you build equity.

Similarly, with individual healthcare, the premiums you pay for your policy are gone forever, whether or not you ever use your insurance. Whereas, with an HSA, you pay a higher deductible when you file a claim, but the money you invest in your health savings account remains yours, whether or not you use it. And when you do need it, it’s there for you — it just builds up to be used for any future medical bills you encounter.

The Bad and Good:

• You start with a high deductible. Not an attractive feature, but it gets better.
• Your high deductible results in significantly lower premiums.
• The money you save, you can keep tax-free in your HSA. When you face any kind of medical expense, you can use that tax-free money towards your deductible.

How It Works:
Let's say you're in a car wreck and wind up getting saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in medical expenses. Even though your HSA deductible is high, say three thousand dollars, the money you've saved (tax free) in your HSA will likely cover it.

When your deductible is met, your insurance takes over payments for its percentage of all your covered expenses. Every plan is different, but the most common scenario is that once your deductible is paid, you're covered for the remainder of the year.

You can even use the pre-tax money in your account towards dental and vision expenses. Or out-of-pocket costs, like filling prescriptions.

And as long as you have a health savings account, that money remains tax-deferred in your account for any medical expenses you encounter. If you find at the end of the year that you haven't spent what's there, don't worry — it rolls over. In fact, it can just sit there and earn interest until you do need it. According to Baker, his company is now paying a four percent interest rate on their clients' HSAs. If you spent that same money on the premiums of a plan with a lower deductible, that would just be money down the drain.

Your family deserves better coverage than your lucky rabbit's foot affords. If individual health care plans are out of your small business' budget range, health savings accounts may provide a very viable option, so you can have peace of mind in knowing that you're all covered... just in case.

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

One Man's Trash... Could Be Your Treasure — 3 Rules of 'Thrifty' Product Sourcing

Thrift shops and consignment stores can be an excellent supplementary source for your product inventory — they always have fresh wares to choose from, and you can find some unique items at rock-bottom prices.

• Consignment stores are commission-based. People bring in products for the store to sell on commission — what doesn't sell is returned to the owner.

• Thrift stores are often 'not-for-profit' and acquire most of their goods via donations.

In comparing the two, thrift stores are typically more willing to bargain with you, simply because they have more room to do so.

Online retailers sometimes feel that these types of resale stores aren't a good place to find inventory because there's not enough of a profit margin. But Kate Holmes, author of Too Good to be Threw, The Complete Operations Manual (TGTBT.com), disagrees. Holmes asserts, "These stores have a very limited market. If there's nobody in their town that happens to want a pair of jodhpurs that week, those jodhpurs will be sitting there waiting for an eBay seller to snap them up." The end result can be amazing buys on quality items that have an online demand.

In addition to a limited market, Holmes also cites limited space as a factor in resale stores' bargain-basement pricing. She points out, "They only have so much space, so they can only carry so many things. If they can move an item on and bring something else in, they're pleased with that."

3 Rules for Secondhand Sourcing
1. Shop the Edges.
Even resale stores tend to carry certain types of products. What doesn't fit a shop's profile, they usually want to move out quickly. They tend to put these products around the store's edges, so start there.

2. Shop Often.
They're constantly turning over product and bringing in new items, so don't let a dry trip or two discourage you. Your persistence can pay off in a big way.

3. Cultivate Relationships with the Shopkeepers.
If they like you, they'll be much more willing to give you deals. They may also be more willing to set things aside for you if they know what you're looking for, and to guide you to items you might otherwise miss.

If you're just starting out, a good place to find resale stores is in the yellow pages, under either "consignment" or "thrift." Don't be afraid to ask the shopkeepers if they know of other stores in the area — if they don't have what you're looking for, they'll usually be happy to refer you to someone they think might.

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

10 Tips to Increase Your Search Engine Rankings

The Basics of Optimization
Many online sellers get frustrated with search engines regularly changing algorithms. But according to Jill Whalen, founder of HighRankings.com, there are some basic principles that haven't changed through the years. She offers these tips for boosting your rankings:

Tip 1 — Don't be too quick to change domain names.
Google has an aging delay for any new domain — it can take up to a year for your keywords to start showing in the searches.

Tip 2 — Optimize your site for your target audience, not the search engines.
Always think about what impression your site gives your users — you'll create a better site the engines will like.

Tip 3 — Do extenstive keyword research.
Everything else revolves around the keyword phrases you choose, so it's critical you choose the best ones. WordTracker.com and KeywordDiscovery.com are two information databases that show you what words people are searching for and suggest words you can use.

Tip 4 — Design and categorize your site architecture and navigation based on your keyword research.
Advises Whalen, "Your homepage should be optimized for the more general phrases; your inner pages should be optimized for the more specific ones." If possible, use keyword phrases as your navigation words.

Tip 5 — Program your site to be "crawler" friendly.
Search engines send out "crawlers" to gather information from your site so they understand how to rank it.

• Create your links using HTML, not javascript. Crawlers can't follow javascript and won't be able to read your information.
• Don't design your site in Flash — there's nothing for the crawlers to read. If they can't interpret the information, they can't classify your site.
• Make sure your copy is HTML, not a graphic of a text. It may look like copy. But if you have a text graphic, all the crawlers will see is a blank page.

Tip 6 — Label your internal text links and clickable image ALT attributes as descriptively as possible.
Within the text links in your site, use the phrase that describes the page you're clicking to. For image links, make sure those phrases are contained in the image's code.

Tip 7 — Write compelling copy for key pages of your site based on your chosen keyword phrases.
Choose a few keyword phrases that apply to the particular page you're writing, and work those phrases into the copy.

Tip 8 — Incorporate your keyword phrases into each page's unique title tag.
Title tags are given significant weight with search engines. The title tag is the information that shows up in the search engine results, so it's crucial that it be enticing, not just crammed with keywords.

Tip 9 — Make sure your site is link-worthy.
Search engines judge a site's popularity by the number of links pointing to it. To make sure people will want to link to your site, you have to offer something worth linking to. Beyond your product or service, provide something that puts you over the top: an information service, a superior presentation, or great variety.

Tip 10 — Don't be married to any one keyword or phrase.
Optimize for all relevant phrases. Says Whalen, "Ranking highly for a good portion of them, will add up to a lot more traffic than just that one keyword phrase that you think is the big money one."

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

Good Clicks, Bad Clicks — Recognizing the Signs of Click Fraud

Search engine marketing is a billion dollar industry — but click fraud poses a threat to search engine advertising companies and online marketers alike. Pay-per-click ad campaigns are a fairly simple concept: advertisers bid on popular search keywords and pay the search engine companies every time someone clicks on their ads. It's a mutually beneficial relationship for the advertisers and the engines. The problem comes when the advertisers' numbers — and their bills — are falsely inflated through click fraud.

What is Click Fraud?
Boris Mordkovich of Search Marketing Standard, a magazine devoted exclusively to search marketing, explains, "Click fraud is any click made on an ad with no intention of actually buying or looking for information, but rather with the intention of depleting the advertiser's budget."

Who is Behind It?
Who would benefit from deliberately running up your bill? To start with, your competition would. The top paid ads are always in the crosshairs of the ads a little further down the page. And if your competitor clicks on your ad a few times a day or a few times a week, the search engines don't notice such small numbers. It doesn't sound like much, but it can really add up — especially when you have multiple competitors doing it. So they just chip away at your budget until you can no longer afford to advertise on that search engine.

Another common source of click fraud is search engine affiliates. When web masters get a cut of the revenue from the ads on their sites, they sometimes play the same game as your competitors. They quietly click away at your ad and raise your bill — and their profits — one click at a time.

It Could Happen To You — Fighting Back
When you think you have found a case of click fraud, you need to gather your information:

1. the questionable clicks
2. the keywords that were clicked on
3. when they were clicked on
4. the country from which the clicks originated

You can do this yourself by monitoring your server logs and watching for unusual increases in activity or repeated clicks from the same ISP addresses. Or you can get a third party to research it for you, like ClickClub.com, AdWatcher.com or WhosClickingWho.com. These services will analyze which of your clicks are valid and present you with all the relevant information in an organized report, typically for anywhere from twenty to a hundred dollars a month.

You can email this information to your search engine and request an investigation for the purpose of obtaining a refund. Mordkovich warns that you should expect some resistance. He advises "It's important to elevate the issue to a supervisor. If the search engines know you're serious, they will look into your claims."

The key to not becoming a click fraud victim is to be aware: Monitor the sources of your clicks, check your server logs, watch for spikes. Consider a third party watchdog if necessary. Click fraud is both real and prevalent, so use a little caution and you can save yourself a great deal of money down the road.

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

How to Make Product Liquidation Work for You — Sourcing Liquidated Products

Liquidation — a very scary word for most online sellers. But the reason we get nervous is simply that we really don't understand what liquidation is. One man who is extremely familiar with the process is Bob Nelson, president of retail consulting firm Power Retailing (Retailing.com). Nelson explains, "Liquidation is simply getting rid of and converting inventory and other assets into cash." It's a practice that allows manufacturers and retailers to maximize the value of their assets.

Who's Liquidating and Why?
There are many reasons companies choose to liquidate — order cancellations, bankruptcies. Maybe their business is expanding and needs cash. Oftentimes, companies that are relocating will liquidate supplies, equipment, even inventory. It's actually financially more advisable for them to just walk away, than to put the time, effort, and money into moving them. It's a good idea to know why the items you're looking at are being liquidated — there may be a perfectly valid reason, but you don't want to get stuck with goods that you can't move either.

What Am I Looking For?
You want to find off-price, overstock, out of season, promotional items — liquidated products. How do you find suppliers with surplus goods, and manufacturers with overstocks and cancelled products? You can look at courts dealing with bankruptcy and insurance companies dealing with excess and damaged merchandise. Sometimes U.S. Customs will have unclaimed goods, or the police will have stolen property you can purchase at deep discounts. Web sites like Liquidation.com and LiquidXS.com also locate manufacturers and suppliers with closeout goods, which they resell online for wholesale prices.

What Should I Know When I Buy?
When you buy liquidated goods, it's critical that you know whether or not your supplier is legitimate. Nelson suggests, "Ask for references of people who've already done business with them." He also recommends checking out their reputation and type of operation — how long they've been in business, what they carry, if they have volume discounts.

Above all else, know their policies. What are their protocols regarding returns, cancellations, guarantees? What about exchanges? Credits? Do they stand behind their products? The most important thing is to be comfortable with the company and to feel that you can work with them.

4 Tips for Liquidation Shopping:
1. Know your customer base.
You have to give your buyers what they want, not what you want personally.

2. Stay in the niche you've carved out for yourself.
If your E-Biz sells athletic apparel, don't try offering blenders on your site just because you found them at closeout prices.

3. Don't try to compete on price alone.
While liquidated items can give you a pricing edge, you just can't beat out the big retail stores. So you need to have other features to draw your customers in: easy returns, good customer service, a well laid out web site, etc.

4. Have a flexible business plan when working with liquidated items.
If you stock certain quantities of specific products — types, colors, styles, brands, and models — for your E-Biz, you can't plan to consistently fill those with liquidated products. The items change too frequently.

Make liquidations only one source for acquiring your inventory — it's a great way to spice up your product line and get some amazing deals for your online store.

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

The Inside Scoop on Tradeshows — What They Are and How They Work

The Nuts and Bolts
Suppose you run an E-Biz specializing in floral arrangements. Imagine coming across a huge mall devoted entirely to — you guessed it — flowers. You'd probably be pretty excited to find such an amazing source for products and ideas. Well, when you attend a tradeshow, that's basically what you're getting. At a tradeshow, many vendors within one particular industry set up exhibits to provide information on their products and services.

Different tradeshows typically represent different industries, and only members of legitimate businesses within those industries are allowed to attend. So to go, you'll need to prove you own, or buy for, a qualifying business — whether you run a brick-and-mortar store or an E-Biz. That means you'll need your business card, tax ID information, and probably a credit card or check with the name of your company, or an invoice from a vendor, indicating you're a buyer in that industry.

What's In It for Me?
Steve Bergon, senior vice president of CTI Convention Staffing (CTIConventionStaffing.com), whose company provides staff for hundreds of tradeshows annually, feels that the most important thing a retailer gains by attending a show is information. There are conferences and products all centered on your specific field of interest. Bergon enthuses, "This is where you can pick up a great number of ideas. You can see exactly what your competition's offering."

Additionally, many vendors at these conventions will bring out their newest products — ones that may not hit the market for months — and allow you to pre-order them. And sometimes exhibitors will have specials on specific products and give you discounts for buying them at the show.

3 Tips to Being Prepared
When you invest time and money to attend a tradeshow, you want to make the most of it. That's why it is so important to be prepared. Here are some simple steps you would do well to follow:

1. Pre-register. Most of these shows allow it and many require it. In addition to potential savings on registration fees, you can save yourself considerable time when you get to the convention.

2. Have productive questions ready for the exhibitors: how quickly can they deliver, how fast are their reorders, etc.

3. Think ahead. Anticipate your needs:


a) Pad and paper — you'll want to keep track of who impressed you.
b) A sufficient amount of business cards. Typically an exhibitor can scan your ID badge and get all your contact information; however, if that's not the case, you want to be ready.
c) A knapsack. You're going to be collecting information all day and carrying it around — you'll want some place to put it.

How Do I Find the Tradeshow I Need?
Bergon suggests two sites in particular for finding tradeshows: TradeshowWeek.com and Tsnn.com. You can type in your industry and your city, and they'll show you the events that are coming into that particular venue.

If you live in a smaller city, you may have to be willing to drive a bit. But Bergon feels it's well worth the sacrifice. He explains, "You get a marvelous opportunity to get a heads up on your competition and reap the benefits and rewards. Zone in on the tradeshows that you feel would be most appealing to you, or are in closer proximity to where you're living, and take it from there."

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

Importing Basics — What You Need to Know to Get Started

You're Already Importing — Why Not Get the Benefits?
Every retailer and e-tailer knows there are great deals to be found overseas — product inventory that can be obtained for a fraction of the cost. But what you may not have considered is that many of the products you're sourcing domestically have already been imported. You’re just paying a mark-up cost to the person that did the actual importing for you. For retail newcomers, there’s nothing wrong with that. But for the established businessperson, importing directly can save a lot of money.

3 Things to Consider When Importing:

1. Your wholesale cost isn’t what you pay for an item.
Your wholesale cost is the cumulative total for getting that item to your house, ready to be shipped to your customers. You may be paying fifty cents a vase, but after you pay a Customs broker, import duties, various fees, freight, consolidation, and insurance expenses, your actual cost of goods may be $2.25 each. Look at all your costs before you jump on a deal — anything you forget will come out of your profit margin.

2. You have to allow significant lead time when placing overseas orders.
It can sometimes be two or three months, or even longer, from the time you place your order to the time you receive the goods. Problems with Customs can delay your orders even further. The costs of air freight may be as much as ten times higher than the costs of shipping, but air freight is significantly faster and less risky. You have to know when you need your wares and decide which way is going to best serve your needs.

3. You need look at the legal aspects.
There are numerous government forms to fill out and a great many regulations regarding your imports. You, as the seller, are responsible for ensuring that what you bring into this country complies with safety codes and all other applicable laws.

How Do I Get Started?
If you’re brand-new to importing, your best bet is probably to start with a Customs broker. Says Kelby Woodward, of TradeInnovations.com, “The Customs broker really helps you through the whole process. They make sure that all your I’s are dotted and your T’s are crossed, and that you’ve considered all the different factors to accurately estimate your product's landing costs.” A Customs broker can assist you in finding a trustworthy freight forwarder to advise you on the best way to ship your products and to book their passage for you.

Additionally, a Customs broker will walk you through the regulations and legalities, insuring you’re properly declared, you’ve paid the correct duties, and you aren’t dealing with gray market wares. If your goods get tied up in Customs, your broker can help expedite the process of getting them through. States Woodward, “Expert advice in the beginning is very important. As you develop your expertise, then you can start taking over some of these processes yourself and save even more money.”

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

Our Town — Sourcing Products Locally

Getting Creative with Community Resources
If you've ever picked up a trinket for four bucks at a yard sale and sold it for sixty-five dollars on eBay, you know how exciting translating your treasure hunts into cash can be. But yard sales are not your only local source of goodies. Dennis Hester of MillionDollarDeals.com has built a successful online business using local providers almost exclusively. Flea markets, antique stores, auction sales, craft shops — Hester attends them all.

One particularly useful — and unusual — avenue he urges E-Biz retailers to try is trucking companies. "Call them up and ask them where they get rid of their OSD (over, short, and damaged) merchandise," advises Hester. "The trucking companies get caught with a lot of merchandise sometimes. So they send it to a central area to auction, or they have their own outlets where they have auctions and retail stores." Often these auction sales are open to the public.

Tips for Networking
The people you meet in these outlets — the junkyards, the pawn shops, the estate sales — are all in the resale business. So talk to them. Ask questions: How did they get started? Who are their sources? Where did they get their products? Hester has built up an impressive list of suppliers with this simple method, and he offers the following insights:

•Be friendly and polite in dealing with people. Says Hester, "People don't like to do business with jerks — people who are obnoxious or demanding. Don't try to be too nosy; just ask a lot of questions in a friendly way."

•Be persistent. Not everyone will want to share their sources with you. Some may even be rude about it. You just have to keep asking and trying because there are people out there who are willing to share their knowledge and experience.

•Be open. Don't just ask questions. Listen to what they have to say — they're the ones with the expertise. And listen to discern their needs as well; you can develop mutually beneficial relationships.

Why Shop Local?
There are a lot of good reasons to find product suppliers in your own community. You get to know your sources personally and build relationships and trust with them. Also, you can physically view and examine the items you're purchasing ahead of time.

Finally, doing anything locally is going to be easier on your budget. You save on the cost of drop shipping or having merchandise shipped to you. And you save on travel expenses — the price of gas alone makes that a point worth considering.

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

The New Face of Advertising — Drawing Customers to Your Site with Interactive Marketing

What is Interactive Marketing?
We're all familiar with the popular pay-per-click advertisements that many E-Biz owners employ — a very effective tool for driving traffic to your web site. But according to Jackie Peters, chief creative officer of HeavyBagMedia.com, "The real question is, Once that traffic gets to your site, what is their experience going to be like?"

Peters' company helps many of its clients launch campaigns designed to pull, not push, customers in through a process known as interactive marketing. By engaging your audience with relevant content they can actually experience, you give them a reason to stay once they're there — and a reason to come back. Online gaming, message boards, short videos, mobile content, email and SMS are just a few examples of interactive marketing.

Be Relevant to Your Market
You need to know your customer base and design your interactive marketing campaign to fit their needs. If you sell Metamucil to a target audience that's over fifty, online gaming and SMS are probably not your best advertising bets. On the other hand, if your niche market is teens and 'tweens, those could both be very enticing features. There are basically three keys to interactive marketing: relevance, relevance, and relevance. The following are some practical examples of using interactive marketing to connect with your audience:

•Give your customers a reason to read your e-newletter. Don't just tell them what you're selling — talk about something they'll care about. If you sell shot glasses, your customers might like to know the rules for the new drinking game you learned over the holidays. And while they're reading, they'll just happen to see the new products you're offering as well.

•Get creative — find some popular blogs relevant to your target audience, and send them product samples. Ask them to review the products on their blogs.

•With mobile content, you can send interesting and relevant messages to opt-in customers' mobile phones and say, "Hey, we brought this to you." The Mobile Marketing Association (MMAGlobal.com) can provide you with both information on the way mobile content is being used, and resources for getting set up if you choose to employ that option in your advertising campaign.

Branding Benefits
States Peters, "A brand is a lot more than a company and a logo: it's a relationship between the brand and the audience." Interactive marketing can really give you a leg up on making that connection to your audience and engaging them. That's how you differentiate yourself from every other web store out there. The goal is for your brand to become a part of your customers' lives — you're on their phones, their computers and in their inboxes. When they think of the type of goods you sell... they think of you.

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

Understanding Consumer Buying Trends — Building Dynamic Product Lines

The ability to detect trends and to interpret that knowledge can not only tell you what consumers want now, but also help you predict what they'll be looking for tomorrow. This can give your eStore a big edge, particularly when it comes to selecting product lines.

What is a Trend?
A trend is not a group of popular items that everyone is buying. A trend is an expression of what matters to consumers at the moment — it's a sign of what they're excited about. A trend can actually give you many ideas of what products might be popular within certain groups. The trend towards natural living, for example, could inspire a whole line of products, because that's what consumers are currently concerned with and thinking about. Although trends grow and evolve and morph, they have rhyme and reason — unlike fads, which often spring out of nowhere.

Trend Analysis
Lisa Suttora, founder of WhatDoISell.com, explains, "Trend analysis is just looking at a definable group of customers that you can get coming back, time and time again. You need to know exactly what types of products people are looking for, so you're not sourcing products in a vacuum." Though it may take you more time to study market trends in the beginning, it will save you a lot of time in the long run. You won't be trying to figure out why you can't move products, and you won't be wasting money, just guessing at what you think will sell.

How Do I Become a Trend Spotter?
Spotting trends is a learned ability; it doesn't require you to be trendy. It requires discipline — make it a habit to research trends daily. There are many avenues you can use to help you research:

•Most major search engines offer keyword tracking tools that show you how many people are searching for a given item. And WorldwideBrands.com's product sourcing tool, OneSource, has a built-in market research function that can show you how likely a product is to be successful online, based on market statistics.

•Consumer magazines and web sites are great sources for gathering information.

•Check out tradeshows, associations, and publications. Though trade publications can be pricy, the information in them is the result of millions of dollars of research and projects trends twelve to eighteen months in advance, which gives you a jump on buying trends that haven't even evolved yet.

•The media can provide some really valuable trending stats — newspapers often give numbers and demographics. Look for indicators of growth and decline. You want to get in on the upswing of a trend — not when it's on its way out. Document everything so that you have it all in front of you. You don't want to forget anything important when you sit down to analyze the results of your research.

The key is to be consistent and do your research daily. Advises Suttora, "Trending information is not something you do once and then stop. Every successful business owner is going to continually be reinventing their product line on an ongoing basis."

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!

Software Designed Around Your Needs — Microsoft's NEW Small Business Solution

Microsoft has a new service designed with the needs of small businesses in mind — businesses with ten or less employees. If you've thought about taking your business online, Office Live makes it easy for you. There are three different versions of this software to meet the particular needs of your small business:

Option One — Basic
This first solution is Microsoft's core product and comes with several free services:

• A domain name
• Web hosting
• Email in your company name

If, for example, you open a hair salon called "Anne's Coifs," your first step would be to log into OfficeLive.com and see if that name is available. If it is, then Microsoft registers that domain for you, AnnesCoifs.com. With your domain name, you also get a free email account for your business, and a web site which you can customize using a variety of templates.

There are easy-to-use tools for setting up your free web site. And just because you're using templates doesn't mean your site has to look like a cookie cutter. According to Terra Terwilliger, Microsoft's worldwide business management director, "You get a tremendous amount of flexibility in those templates. You can have over 50,000 combinations just using the dropdown menus." You can also upload your own logo, text, and pictures.

Option 2 — Essentials
This is the more advanced version. You get all the features of Basic and some others as well:

• Business management tools for managing your customer lists, company assets, projects, etc.
•The ability to go beyond the template format and design your web site yourself, or hire someone if you choose.
•The ability to create password-protected shared sites: You can post documents and make them viewable to your customers, business partners, employees, etc. They can log in and see the status of your projects, review files and information, or see what tasks need completed. Depending on the level of access you give them, they can either view the site as read-only, or they can edit those files to keep them updated.

Option 3 — Collaboration
Collaboration gives you all the business applications without any web features. Says Terwilliger, "If you already have your own web site, but you just want the business tools and the shared site, you can get that too."

Making It Work For You
Office Live is in beta right now, with about 75,000 customers signed up for the free trial version. Basic Office Live is — and will always be — free. The upgraded versions will charge a monthly fee when the final product is launched, but are still more cost-effective than a server. And because the software is in testing right now, all the services — including the subscription services — are free.

Microsoft plans to release the completed version in late 2006, possibly November. In the meantime, users are encouraged to try all of the different features and give feedback to help make Office Live more user-friendly for small businesses.

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BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!