IT'S YOUR BUSINESS: Business news releases Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Have you purchased your ticket to the 15th annual Business to Business Expo on Thursday, June 11? If you are looking for any kind of service or product or just want to be more involved in the community the Expo is the event to attend. It goes from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Three Oaks Banquiet Center in Estero.

Tickets to attend are $15 in advance per person and $20 at the door.

Advance registration ends tonight at midnight.

For reservations, visit bonitaspringschamber.com or call the chamber at 992-2943.

- Contributed by Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce

Source: http://www.marconews.com/

B2B Publishing Industry Luminary and Bizo Advisor Bill Furlong Joins Company to Run Business Development and Partnership Strategy

June 10, 2009 -- Bizo, Inc. the leading B2B audience targeting platform and advertising network, announced today that advisor Bill Furlong, the president and founder of SearchChannel and B2BWorks, and former managing director of Crain's BtoB Magazine, has joined the company full time as its VP of business development to build out Bizo's partnership strategies and focus on forging successful B2B industry partnerships.

Furlong has served on the IAB board of directors for two terms and founded and led B2BWorks, the first major B2B online advertising network. He is a frequent speaker at the Business Marketing Association, Direct Marketers Association and American Business Media, where he is a member of the Digital Media Council. Furlong has also been named to BtoB's Who's Who and Crain's Chicago Top Internet 100 list.

"I joined Bizo as an advisor four months ago, and after spending time with the company, I realized that this opportunity is just too exciting to stay on the sidelines as an advisor," said Furlong, "I care deeply about ensuring that B2B publishers and marketers are effective in their transition to digital and Bizo's approach to market gives them an unprecedented opportunity to monetize their online audiences."

"Bill is a triple-rare combination in the B2B information industry," said Chuck Richard, VP and Lead Analyst, Outsell Inc., a leading analyst firm for the information publishing industry. "One, he is locked in on an unwavering vision of where marketing is headed. Two, he brings sleeves-rolled-up, hands-on entrepreneurial experience running companies. And three, Bill has decades-strong roots in the traditions, realities and peculiarities of the industry."

"Bill joining Bizo to run business development gives us a superstar to ensure successful partnerships," said Russell Glass, CEO and founder of Bizo, "He is an industry leader and recognized expert in B2B digital media - having him help us guide Bizo to long-term success is a huge win for us, our customers and our partners. "

Furlong will remain the chairman of the board of directors of Search Channel.

In a separate release today, Bizo released a number of its growth and customer metrics including its B2B publisher earnings average of $3.65 CPM, more than 100% above the industry average.

Source: http://www.prweb.com/

Beamups Launches Online News Marketplace For UK

The online news marketplace Beamups launches a UK version today, hoping to exploit the dire of state of the news industry by allowing producers to sell on unused and archive content. The site launched a beta for the Middle East in April and set up deals with broadcasters including the BBC, al Jazeera, ABC and Rtvi. For them, it’s an opportunity to make extra money from unused footage, while buyers get one source of global, professional material.

Beamups’ spokeswoman told me this is essentially a business-to-business service, and though they expect that some citizen journalism to make it onto the site it isn’t trying to do the same as sites Demotix, which focus very much on the amateur consumer market. Content is sold with a 40 percent commission to Beamups (fairly standard for B2B news content) and the seller decides the price. Terms can be for one-off use by multiple organisations or exclusively. Sellers get their own store and build up ratings much like eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) and don’t have to pay a subscription to join.

Beamups is fronted by former News Corp (NYSE: NWS) Europe senior vice president Dean Stewart, and was founded by two documentary cameramen, Boaz Eshtai and Yosi Romano - who grew tired of always having to hand over the rights to their work for the BBC, APTN, the Discovery (NSDQ: DISAB) Channel and National Geographic. Their most widely distributed work wouldn’t make them a proportionate amount of money, while some of their best work would sometimes not find a suitable slot at all.

“As freelance budgets and crew sizes are shrinking, we wanted to open up the news market to offer an international distribution model that gives professional journalists precious access to newsrooms around the world,” said Eshtai.

Source: http://www.paidcontent.co.uk

B2b Market Place for Wooden Handicrafts Launch of The Largest Online Hub for Wooden Handicrafts

Wooden Handicrafts, the B2b marketplace dedicated specifically to the handicrafts industry contains comprehensive information about the various ranges of wooden handicrafts available throughout the world. Browse through the website (http://www.wooden-handicrafts.com/) to get complete information on the suppliers, manufacturers and dealers of wooden manufacturers across the globe.

This is the one stop platform for all those who are looking for detailed knowledge of the various handicrafts associations along with wood crafts trade leads and wood craft publications. Some of the core areas of competencies include antique wood crafts, garden decoratives, wooden corporate gifts, wooden furniture, wooden kitchen accessories, wooden shutters and wooden toys and games.

Also find general information on the handicrafts with special emphasis on the industrial resources and industry overview with an insight on the various factors affecting the market growth of wooden handicrafts. The manufacturing regions, export import policies and production process has also been discussed at length. Here one can also find vivid collection of wood carvings, wood crafts and wood finishes.

The provision for receiving free quotes for wooden handicrafts also makes this B2B marketplace very palpable. You not only are capable to post buying or sourcing requirements for free but can also get multiple quotes directly from authentic wooden handicrafts manufacturers and suppliers. One can also send free request regarding the buying requirement along with other details to get responses from genuine globals sellers or suppliers, for free. Helpful tips related to the wooden handicrafts industry is also disseminated on a regular basis.

Exclusive range of wooden candle holders, wooden letters, wooden name plates, wooden bowls, wooden scoops and wooden planters along with their images, highlights and possible usage, have also been displayed on the website.

Source: http://www.enewswire.co.uk

B2B marketing moving dollars online

One of the trends coming out of the recession appears to be the shift to online marketing for many b2b companies with a recent report backing up that theory.

eMarketer reports that a joint study from MarketingProfs and Forrester Research finds that two-thirds of respondents say their budgets would stay the same or increase in 2009. However, while these companies are not decreasing their marketing spending, they are shifting where their dollars go.

The report finds that 47 percent of b2b companies said they plan to increase spending on search engine marketing (SEM) this year while 34 percent said they will increase spending on blogs, according to eMarketer.

In fact, blogs appear to be the biggest winner in this study with only 7 percent of b2b companies saying they plan to cut their budget allocations to blogs. By contrast, 55 percent said they will cut spending on print advertising - the largest percentage on the list.

A report earlier this month from Outsell found that 74 percent of small b2b advertisers will increase or maintain spending in 2009 with another 60 percent of large b2b advertisers expected to do the same. Much of these dollars will end up going to online marketing with the report finding that the category will see an 8.2 percent increase over 2008.

Source: http://www.komarketingassociates.com

B2BTradeWorld.com: A Smart Business-to-Business Tool

The www.b2btradeworld.com is a business-to-business portal gives you a platform to improve your company’s productivity in both the factors of revenue and growth. B2b trade world is a creative and an online B2B portal from India. Our company was established in 2007 and has attained the position of India’s biggest online B2B portal. B2B trade world is a great platform with latest features, which carry out electronic business and manage significant parts of corporate business processes.

www.b2btradeworld.com is one of the India’s well-known and fast-growing B2B Trade Portal, perfect for suppliers and buyers from small and medium-sized businesses all over the India including manufacturers, importers, exporters, purchasing departments, procurement agents, trading companies, distributors, retailers etc. We are committed to providing effective and efficient services that meet or exceed the expectations of our members. Free memberships are available for buyers and suppliers, paid Premium Suppliers (Silver, Gold, Diamond and Platinum) are also available.

Our emphasis has always been on quality of visitors rather than quantity.

B2btradeworld.com contains unique database and rich information with databases of millions of buyers, sellers, agents, distributors, retailers and wholesalers.

SOME SPECIAL ADVANTAGES TO BE WITH US:

• Companies can reduce their costs by overcoming mediators.
• Cost of selling and marketing can also be reduced.
• Selling cycle is shortened.
• Through JIT (just in time) delivery the company can have the track of good as to which place it has reached with the help of electronic commerce.
• Companies can get an easy and instant access to thousands of prospective buyers and sellers. This gives the company an opportunity to expand its business by finding new customers and suppliers from this new community and thereby companies can get every chance to expand their business operations dramatically.
• Buyers can study, compare and research a product offered on a marketplace without leaving the marketplace. This ability gives key information necessary to make a faster purchasing decision helps.

UNIQUE SERVICES THAT WE PROVIDE FOR YOUR BUSINESS

• Business Directory (Exclusive database of manufacturers, suppliers and exporters worldwide)
• Trade offers (Post buying and selling offers)
• My B2B World (personalized virtual office of all services)
• Industry News (provides latest updates from niches market )
• Email Marketing
• SEO services (Search Engine Optimization)
• Reconstruction of present company’s website
• Offering feature of “lead on demand” for exports and imports
• Advertise with us (Brand Creation, Brand promotion and Brand Make over)

This is an online business where you can market your companies’ product online and offline. This provides you a link to the global market to sell and buy your product.

B2B Trade Links Pvt Ltd

F-8, Krishna Tower, Opp. Sachin Tower,

100 Ft. Ring Road, Satellite,

Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380015, India

Phone: +91-79-40067776

Email: info@b2btradeworld.com

Website: http://www.b2btradeworld.com

Online marketing takes slight dip in first quarter

Although all industries have suffered during the recession, a new report finds that the online advertising market saw only a slight decline in the first quarter of this year.

According to the report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), online advertising revenues reached $5.5 billion during the first quarter of 2009 - a 5 percent drop from the same period in 2008.

Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of IAB, says that because online marketing has become a line item for many companies it is susceptible to market conditions, but he expects the industry to rebound throughout 2009 as people continue to spend more time online.

"For this, and other reasons, interactive media continues to gain share of marketing spend. We're confident that growth will resume as the U.S. economic climate improves," he said. "Interactive advertising is the most accountable way to reach consumers - and in this economy, digital media will be a core component of any successful marketing campaign."

A joint study last month from MarketingProfs and Forrester Research shows good signs for the business-to-business online marketing community. According to the report, 47 percent of b2b companies said they plan on increasing spending on search engine marketing this year.

Source: http://www.komarketingassociates.com

Growth in Non Print Products Offsets B2B Revenue Decline

Revenue growth in online, live events and data products helped to offset declines in B2B magazine revenue in 2008, according to American Business Media's 2009 Media Financial Survey, as reported in Publishing Executive.

Among the companies participating in the survey, B2B revenue dropped 2.2 per cent in 2008 as opposed to 2007. Profitability declined even further: B2B media company contribution (revenue less operating expenses) dropped 7.8 per cent. The 2008 revenue and profitability figures however, remain above 2006 figures due to large gains in 2007.

Despite an overall decline in 2008 there were several key revenue categories that showed gains such as online revenue which showed the strongest growth, up 15.1 per cent in 2008 and rising at a compound annual growth rate of 26.8 per cent from 2006 to 2008. Online display and search advertising, which accounts for more than 50 per cent of total online revenue, gained 12.4 per cent in 2008 and grew at a compound annual growth rate of 30.7 per cent since 2006.

Trade Shows, the third largest revenue stream for B2B publishers, behind magazines and online grew 4.3 per cent in 2008, among those companies participating in the study and at a compound annual growth rate of 25.4 per cent from 2006 to 2008. Revenue from data and conferences also increased 7.0 per cent and 9.9 per cent respectively. Custom publishing revenue has remained relatively flat.

Magazines were the weakest performers, showing an 8.4 per cent decrease and a 3.9 per cent decline on a compound annual growth rate basis over the three year period.

As for profit performance, all major B2B media company revenue categories, except for magazines, for participating publishers increased on a contribution basis in 2008 and across the three year period of 2006 to 2008. Key magazine operating costs such as ad sales, editorial and production have not declined in line with revenue, and therefore, have negatively affected magazine contribution, which dropped 26.8 per cent in 2008 as opposed to 2007 and at a compound annual growth rate of 16.5 per cent from 2006 to 2008.

Source: http://www.mediabiznet.com.au

Trade mission to tap garment sector in Syria & Jordan

The Taiwan External Trade and Development Council (TAITRA) has sent a trade mission to Syria and Jordan with the objective to increase bilateral trade, with special emphasis being laid on the garment manufacturing and electronic cable sector.

It is estimated that US $4 million worth of trade orders will be signed by the trade mission. TAITRA intends to build on Taiwan's success in tapping into the garment manufacturing in particular and pipe industries in Syria.

Bi-lateral trade with Syria in 2009 touched $166 million, up 26 percent from that in 2007, which is however, well below Taiwan's bilateral trade with Jordan, even though Jordan's population is less than one-third of Syria's.

Source: http://www.fibre2fashion.com

New LifeShirt to address data & usability gaps in RPM market

VivoMetrics Inc, a leading innovator in remote patient monitoring (RPM), announced the first complete prototype of their next generation LifeShirt for the remote monitoring of patients' vital signs by healthcare professionals. The new LifeShirt has significant advantages over currently available monitoring technologies, dramatically simplifying the way in which key vital sign data is collected and transmitted to remote care providers. The system also provides a more complete understanding of patient health status by continuously collecting and fusing multiple vital signs into a validated, actionable health index--helping transform healthcare through the practical realization of telemedicine.

The next generation LifeShirt incorporates cutting-edge sensor technology and wireless data transmission into a lightweight, comfortable "smart garment" that eliminates the need for patients to operate multiple, discrete monitoring devices at specific times or to manually transmit vital sign data to those remotely managing their care. The system will passively and continuously collect electrocardiogram (ECG), respiratory, and temperature data in context with posture and activity levels and automatically transmit that data via cellular networks or Bluetooth to their healthcare providers.

VivoMetrics' new LifeShirt will nearly eliminate patient involvement in their own vital sign monitoring, requiring the user to simply wear the garment.

Numerous studies confirm the potential of RPM initiatives to improve outcomes for patients with chronic diseases and reduce the net cost of their care. It is estimated that savings resulting from RPM will reach $200 billion over the next 25 years in the United States alone. However, an April 2009 report by Datamonitor notes that available telehealth technology will need to improve in terms of reliability and ease-of-use in order for adoption to increase.

VivoMetrics' intent is to address these needs with the next generation LifeShirt and help make the full promise of RPM a reality.

"VivoMetrics has been a true innovator in remote monitoring technologies," says Kent Tonkin, assistant director of information technology at St. Francis University's Center of Excellence for Remote and Medically Under-served Areas (CERMUSA), a federally funded program that has begun a partnership with VivoMetrics and is dedicated to improving access to healthcare. "Solutions like LifeShirt can help us reach our goals of providing better lives and lower healthcare costs for our neighbors."

In addition to simplifying how vital sign data is collected, VivoMetrics also intends to transform how healthcare professionals can utilize this data in caring for their remote patients. In partnership with OBS Medical (Carmel, IN), VivoMetrics is adapting hospital-proven decision-assist software to fuse data from multiple vital signs into a single index of health status that will provide actionable insights into a patient's wellbeing and enable caregivers to proactively intervene in their care.

"The challenge for us is quite clear. If patients and providers aren't completely comfortable with monitoring technology, they won't use it," says Howard R. Baker, VivoMetrics' president and chief executive officer. "The key to strong adoption and sustainability in the RPM space will be highly dependent on both patient and provider compliance. It's exciting for us to be able to draw upon over 10 years of experience acquiring quality data in a vast array of ambulatory environments. We're creating solutions that address the enormous cost of caring for a population that is growing older and experiencing increasing rates of chronic illness."

The first integrated prototypes of the new LifeShirt have been assembled and tested, and VivoMetrics expects to begin collecting clinical data later this year.

Source: http://www.fibre2fashion.com

Faction Media Selected As 'Best of the Best' for B2B Cross-Media Marketing Campaign

DENVER, June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Faction Media, a full-service digitally led marketing agency based in Denver, has been recognized by the marketing community at the XMPie Users Conference in Las Vegas. Faction's work for tw telecom was the winner of the 2009 Best of the Best Award -- the integrated, cross-media campaign was hailed for its creativity and unique approach in leveraging emerging technologies and driving campaign results.

"We wanted to do something that had never been done before. With the explosion of emerging technologies and channels available, there are so many possibilities to be unique, creative and more relevant than ever before. We built a campaign that took advantage of paid search, e-mail, variable direct mail, dynamically generated video and database driven Web content to tell the tw telecom story," said Aaron Batte, Founder and Director of Account Services at Faction.

The campaign was targeted at key telecommunications and IT decision-makers with the goal of generating qualified high-value leads, increasing overall revenue, gaining market share, and raising brand awareness. The strategy called for a highly personalized conversational experience for each prospect. Each individual was encouraged to use the Web's many facets including e-mail, search engine interaction, Web browsing, dynamic streaming video, to reflect how a high-speed network connection from tw telecom can change the way they do business.

"At the heart of this campaign's success was our ability to engage the audience in a unique and surprisingly entertaining way, enhancing their experience through multiple points of personalization," added Dave Greves, Founder and Account Strategist.

The annual XMPie Best of the Best Award recognizes marketing campaigns that, using the XMPie technology, have significantly impacted overall business effectiveness, leveraged measurement of response metrics, utilized best practices of data integration and presented overall creative excellence. XMPie is a software business unit of Xerox(R) Corporation.

Faction Media

Faction Media is a full-service digitally led communications agency that helps clients compete, evolve and grow in an increasingly complex and fragmented marketplace. Faction provides digital strategy, audience insight, creative services, interactive development, search marketing, performance analytics and marketing optimization to Fortune 1000 companies including some of the largest and most innovative businesses in the World.

Faction Media's Unified Marketing(TM) approach combines new and evolving interactive tools with traditional channels to identify, build and execute the most effective and successful brand and demand generation campaigns. A commitment to performance accountability, technology, and creative innovation has defined Faction Media's place as a leader in Business-to-Business communications and marketing.

Source: http://news.prnewswire.com

E-Commerce in Textile and Apparel-A FUTURE TREND

E-commerce is an exemplary concept in the future of textile and apparel industry. It is playing a major role in the present scenario of textile and apparel industry. It is also very significant that the future of textile and apparel industry is complete only with E-commerce. Diverse e-commerce applications are being implemented in the textile and apparel supply chain. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the capacity to make extravagant amounts of information available to users located in various parts of the world. ICTs also facilitate rapid communication between them. One application of these technologies is in the development of e-commerce to support electronic trading.

E-Commerce A New Concept and Scope

E-commerce can be specified as any form of economic activity conducted through computer-mediated networks. The potential of e-commerce caught public's attention as a result of ventures such as the electronic bookshop. As a result there are a growing number of other Internet-based retailers in the business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce area. However, business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce is growing much more quickly than B2C forms of electronic trading. E-commerce is a new and exciting technology, attracting much interest. It has the power of fundamentally changing the ways in which companies do business. It is having a profound effect on the management of the supply chain. Aspects of e-commerce are much diversified.

E-commerce has a large impact on industry as a whole, including aspects associated with Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce. In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in companies practicing electronic commerce. Two basic modes of organizing such companies have emerged. The first is creating a "brick-and-mortar" company, by installing an e-commerce division. The second is initiation of an enterprise as an electronic commerce company (dot.com), without previous organizational links to a traditional "brick-and-mortar" organization. Both modes of corporate practice of electronic commerce require redesign, recalibration, and even restructuring of key organizational dimensions. In such companies, there is also a question of applicability of traditional organizational dimensions to this new format of conducting commerce. As electronic markets and electronic commerce proliferate, there has been a marked increase in scientific studies of this phenomenon.

The emerging conventional wisdom suggests that electronic commerce is different enough to warrant an in-depth examination of traditional organization design in the present global scenario; e-commerce and e-business have increasingly become a necessary component of business strategy. E-commerce also acts as a strong catalyst for economic development. The integration of information and communications technology (ICT) in business has heavily improved inter organization relationships and intra organizational relationships. Specifically, the use of ICT in business has improved productivity, encouraged greater customer participation, and enabled mass customization and has also reduced costs. With the help of developments in the Internet and Web-based technologies, distinctions between traditional markets and the global electronic marketplace are gradually being narrowed down. The strategic positioning, the ability of a company to determine emerging opportunities and utilize the necessary human capital skill is the main aim of each and every firm. To make the most of these opportunities through an e-business strategy that is simple, workable and practicable within the context of a global information milieu and new economic environment is the focus of e-commerce. E-commerce coupled with the appropriate strategy and policy approach enables small and medium scale enterprises to compete with large and capital-rich businesses.

Source: http://www.fibre2fashion.com/

A new B2B Marketplace – revolutionary approach towards outsourcing

www.dataentryprojects.net - an OUTSOURCING portal that made a new wave online in B2B marketplace. It adopts a revolutionary and transparent approach towards outsourcing.

Ahmedabad, IN - June, 6 2009 - A new transparent B2B marketplace – http://www.dataentryprojects.net is making waves amongst outsourcing industry across the globe with its revolutionary approach towards outsourcing. It adopts very transparent approach to help outsourcing service buyers and providers.

It covers the entire spectrum of data entry and back office tasks which is a perfect fit to be outsourced viz. data entry, administrative support, data processing, data conversion, word processing, web research, typing services, claim processing, scanning and indexing, mailing list development and much more.

“It has attracted thousands of visitors in precedent two days” said CEO. Many businesses are preferring www.dataentryprojects.net for their back office outsourcing over many other project portals. Experts envisage that it will be “next Google of outsourcing”.

The portal works in an awfully easy manner:

Service Buyers - How It Works?

• E-mail your project description/requirements on projects@dataentryprojects.net or post it on site FREE.

• An editorial team will put your project on DataEntryProjects.

• Project alert email will be sent to all registered providers.

• Services providers searching for the projects will examine your project's details.

• If any provider is interested in undertaking your project, then he will contact you directly.

Service Buyers - Benefits

• Service is absolutely FREE. NO Middleman, NO Fees, NO Commission.

• No need to search for freelance service providers or companies. There are hundreds of services providers visiting the website daily.

• Your project being considered by a variety of skilled service providers locally, nationally, and globally.

• Choice to select your preferred provider based on capability, costs and talent.

• All service providers are pre-screened, so only authentically skilled service providers will get in touch with you.

• No obligation on your part to award the project.

Service Providers - How it Works?

• Register/Sign up on website http://www.dataentryprojects.net absolutely FREE.

• Search projects from the categories you prefer.

• Purchase contact details of the outsourcing services buyers associated with projects.

• Get connected to unlimited outsourcing services buyers.

Service Providers - Benefits

• Absolutely FREE registration.

• Free listing of company / freelancer profile.

• Providing verified leads.

• Save time and resources in finding buyers.

• Cut down marketing overheads.

• Build international clientele. Get projects locally, nationally and globally.

The portal also introduces various membership plans that suit every freelancers / companies’ budget and need.

The portal is muck talked in the outsourcing industry and many businesses sees it as a one stop solution for their back office outsourcing which saves valuable time wasted in bidding process.

Source: http://ecommwire.com/

Imported Kids Apparels from China - Are they Toxic?

How safe are the clothes we buy for our 'small people'? A report states that imported clothing from China contains unacceptable levels of toxic chemicals.

Chemicals residues on clothing are hazardous to human health. Increasing concern about global awareness has sparked the consumer's desire for organic clothing, leading more and more people to choose the nature's life style. Utmost care should be taken in the purchase of kids clothing. It should be kept in mind that they should be non toxic, eco friendly and free from chemicals, and skin irritants. A report states the shocking fact that the children's clothes imported from China contain excessive chemical content that can harm the kids.

The provincial quality and technology supervision administration has discovered the shocking fact that out of all the garments imported from China; only 53.5% meet with the safety standards. An inside information states that the garments included false information about the raw materials, color fastness, and also had excessive content of the chemical formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is commonly used in garments as an embalming fluid to give a 'permanent press' look. Excessive content of this chemical in our clothes can cause irritation in eyes, skin, nose, and result in respiratory problems, and diseases like cancer. It can also result in headaches, skin rashes, nausea, and chronic fatigue. Just by simply touching those products, or breathing the formaldehyde they release into the air, can cause intense symptoms.

Two years ago, New Zealand's Ministry of Consumer Affairs were investigating claims that clothes with high level of formaldehyde were imported from China and sold in their country. Tests conducted on these clothing revealed levels of formaldehyde in Chinese made clothing up to 900 times more than the level known to affect humans. The Chinese made flannelette pyjamas claiming to be low fire danger has also proved futile. (Source: http://www.abc.net.au). Earlier a worldwide recall of Chinese toys was made due to high lead content. An investigative New Zealand television show revealed that 500 times more than the safe amount of formaldehyde was found in the woolen and cotton clothes imported from China.

Researches supported by the WHO (World Health Organization) states that 20 parts per million of formaldehyde is enough to be hazardous to human health. Europe has limited the chemical residue in kids clothing to a maximum of 30ppm.

If China is to increase the quality of materials and processes, it will simultaneously increase the cost of goods. Profits would be less and Chinese products would be less competitive. Entry of low cost manufacturers from China into the global market, who are less aware of the chemical risks, product regulations, safety, and childrens health, is likely to pose a serious threat.

This induces a growing concern about the Chinese clothing. Stricter regulations are needed regarding garments, especially for children's clothing.

Source: http://www.fibre2fashion.com/

Strategies to protect your profits

Mr Tito Mboweni - Governor of SA Reserve Bank - has cautioned South Africans to fasten their belts, as we've officially hit our first recession in 17 years. Our economy shrunk by 6,4% in the first quarter of 2009 on compared to a contraction of 1,8% in the fourth quarter.

Trimming overheads is not the only way to weather the current economic downturn. And desperate times do not always call for desperate measures so don't be too reactive when faced with the negative economic news in the media.

Rather assess your organisation's performance across the various marketing departments and initiate some of the following profit protection strategies. That way you'll reduce the effects of the economic downturn in ways that go beyond profit-threatening cost cutting.

Focus your strategy and competitive advantage

Snap out of any fearful paralysis and take another look at your business goals and marketing strategies. Trim out all the "luxurious" marketing activities and focus your valuable resources on core activities that will get results in these times. Importantly, make sure that your brands offer additional value to your customers.

Keep an eagle eye on your competition

Consistently monitor your competitive by regularly reviewing their product offerings, advertising communications, price points, websites and press coverage. Be sure you are always aware of their new products, promotions and strategic moves.

Reassess your objectives and prioritise

Create a special strike force to monitor key indicators and be sure your marketing and sales teams are perfectly aligned with your key objectives and with each other. Do this by creating an approved list of marketing priorities and ensure everyone is on the same page. Also identify your best performing employees and look after them.

Have a strong online presence

And sweat your website to become a hard working business tool. Be sure its optimised, user-friendly, easy to navigate and that your content is always current. You do not have to have an expensive website but make sure you have the basics in place.

Lead by example

During tough times managers have to stay positive and convey a positive and confident message to your staff and your clients. And be sure that you nurture your relationships with key accounts if you're a B2B brand or your existing and potential customers if a consumer brand.

Be brand-centricTM

The brand-centricTM approach is the process of entrenching your brand and it's values within your organisation and in your communications to your customers. This means encouraging your employees to live by your brand values and creating the appropriate infrastructure to enable this. It also means ensuring that all your brand messaging communicates those values at all touch points with your consumers.

Enhance customer relationships

Nurture your relationships with your current customers. Stay in contact with them via direct channels such as SMS, emails and maintain your above the line presence. For example, Vespa SA has initiated a Vespa community and organises regular Vespa Club Runs. It also keeps potential Vespa clients and current clients updated with news, offers and events in a monthly e-newsletter called the "Vespa Sting".

Offer potential clients with guarantees

A believable guarantee will make it safe for prospects to give your organisation a try. This will work for consumer brands and B2B brands.

Maximise call to action and cross sell

Provide vouchers and sampling opportunities as often as possible to the right target market. Offer incentives to purchase and actively cross-sell related products.

Capture new customers and steal market share

Publish customer testimonials and success stories on your website. Make use of word-of-mouth and viral techniques. This can be done by calling for feedback either via your call centre or your website - a good way to create awareness of your positive brand experiences and for finding out your weaknesses.

Yes its official, South Africa is in an economic recession, but make sure it doesn't become a psychological one as this could snowball into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Rather turn your attention back to marketing your brands using smart, prudent methods. That way you will ensure that your business and your goals don't contract and will pass through this downturn stronger than ever before.

Source: http://www.moneyweb.co.za/

TAITRA Features Recession Beating Global B2B Tools on Taiwantrade

The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) features recession beating B2B tools on Taiwantrade. Designed to meet the rapidly changing requirements of global trading during challenging times, Taiwantrade provides instant access to B2B commerce tools to international small and medium enterprises who are members. Taiwantrade is going to launch a promotion to offer free memberships and elite bonus to all worldwide suppliers and buyers next week.

Essential tools include an electronic bulletin board showcases numerous buy and sell business opportunities posted by Taiwantrade members from around the world, and alerts for new products, biz exchange trade leads, new suppliers, special offers, and trade-related news. Taiwantrade also provides an extensive business and trade database. A personalized homepage will highlight exactly the information that was specified while signing up as a member.

Taiwanese companies play a major global role in supplying the world’s requirements in sectors such as electronics, communications, computers, auto parts, and motorcycles. Associations representing these industries work closely with Taiwantrade to enable global buyers and suppliers to obtain the latest information on products and manufacturing services offered by these Taiwanese enterprises.

In 2008, TAITRA organized 28 international trade shows, provided services to 10,072 local and foreign exhibitors. TAITRA updated a domestic suppliers' database that features more than 240,000 companies, and established a foreign buyers' database that includes more than 1.12 million companies. TAITRA provided enterprise-portal services over 30,000 companies, compiled 240,000 pieces of new electronic product catalogs, initiated 706,600 trade leads, and racked up 7,668,176 visits to the Taiwantrade and TAITRA websites. TAITRA also sponsored 68 promotional seminars concerning eMarketing, increased foreign company members by 27,364, and organized 23 international online trade shows. Plus, TAITRA arranged 915 purchasing tours for foreign buyers to come to Taiwan.

Mr. Yuen-Chuan Chao, the President and CEO of TAITRA stated that “The e-Procurement Site service of Taiwantrade helped foreign buyers and sellers create 54 global business transactions in 2008, of which value reached up to US$800 million. We are redoubling our efforts in 2009 to overcome the challenges of the difficult times. Taiwantrade is a major component in our strategies.”

With the B2B commerce tools on Taiwantrade, it has never been easier for worldwide buyers and sellers to locate online vital global trade information that exponentially increases business opportunities.

About Taiwantrade

Taiwantrade is an interactive e-business portal designed to provide small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with immediate access to B2B e-commerce activities, and to help them gain a digital edge over their competitors worldwide. Backed by a wealth of trade promotion resources and strong support from different trade and industry associations, e-marketplaces, and popular trade websites, Taiwantrade offers the utmost online trade and promotion services. Taiwantrade is sponsored by the Bureau of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and administered by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council.

Source: http://www.businesswire.com/

B2b Market Place for Wooden Handicrafts Launch of The Largest Online Hub for Wooden

Wooden Handicrafts, the B2b marketplace dedicated specifically to the handicrafts industry contains comprehensive information about the various ranges of wooden handicrafts available throughout the world. Browse through the website (http://www.wooden-handicrafts.com/) to get complete information on the suppliers, manufacturers and dealers of wooden manufacturers across the globe.

This is the one stop platform for all those who are looking for detailed knowledge of the various handicrafts associations along with wood crafts trade leads and wood craft publications. Some of the core areas of competencies include antique wood crafts, garden decoratives, wooden corporate gifts, wooden furniture, wooden kitchen accessories, wooden shutters and wooden toys and games.

Also find general information on the handicrafts with special emphasis on the industrial resources and industry overview with an insight on the various factors affecting the market growth of wooden handicrafts. The manufacturing regions, export import policies and production process has also been discussed at length. Here one can also find vivid collection of wood carvings, wood crafts and wood finishes.

The provision for receiving free quotes for wooden handicrafts also makes this B2B marketplace very palpable. You not only are capable to post buying or sourcing requirements for free but can also get multiple quotes directly from authentic wooden handicrafts manufacturers and suppliers. One can also send free request regarding the buying requirement along with other details to get responses from genuine globals sellers or suppliers, for free. Helpful tips related to the wooden handicrafts industry is also disseminated on a regular basis.

Exclusive range of wooden candle holders, wooden letters, wooden name plates, wooden bowls, wooden scoops and wooden planters along with their images, highlights and possible usage, have also been displayed on the website.

Source: http://www.enewswire.co.uk/