ETD: 960 Remember the "good old days" - the 1990s; Archives;
Webinar on China
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Tue Mar 7 14:44:40 GMT 2006
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0960 March 7, 2006
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem at gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] Remember the "good old days" - the 1990s
[3] Archives
[4] Webinar on China
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
Remember the "good old days" - the 1990s? The high flying days, when
anything with the word dotcom was an instant winner, or so it was
thought. A positive incident this week made me think about those
days, and write a piece on how it applies to today. You can still
make money online, if you know what you are doing. And there are
folks looking for the next Google or Amazon or eBay - folks who ave
money to invest. We just found $2.5 million for a startup with an
unproven concept, but one that we believe will grow.
We need to update our E-tailer's Digest site, and are looking for
some special reports that will remain there for posterity. And the
site does get a LOT of traffic. If you would like to contribute
something, send it to me. It should be 1,500 - 2,500 words and it
must be of interest to our retail community, i.e., anything to do
with retailing - selling, buying, advertising, merchandising,
technology, legal, accounting, warehousing, etc.
Since we had a couple of pieces on doing business in China, today's
notice of a Webinar from the U.S> Department of Commerce should be of
those who are interested in that region of the world. China is now
the U.S. 4th largest export market.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, LLC
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] Remember the "good old days" - the 1990s
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Remember the "good old days" - the 1990s? The high flying days, when
anything with the word dotcom was an instant winner, or so it was
thought. Then came 1999 and the big online crash - investments dried up.
An incident that happened to us yesterday, got me to thinking about
those days and how it should work today. The incident was a company
in which we were involved - a partner as CEO, another as CFO and me
as CMO. We successfully built this company and initiated a sale to a
publicly-traded company for an obscene amount of money. Well, the
publicly-traded company was just purchased by one of the world's
largest media companies! Yes, we all still have some of the stock.
In the "good old days" you developed a website and put it up and
people came to visit. Of course back then, there weren't that many
sites around, maybe a couple of million or so. Today there are
probably a couple of kzillion sites, so it gets harder to have a
successful site. (When we started with sites, we had some of the
first 5,000 or so sites).
On the front page of today's Wall Street Journal there is an article
that tells how the big survivors among Internet companies mature,
they are learning a painful -- and unexpected -- lesson: Staying in
the online game requires heavy, constant
spending.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114170450561091194-email.html (This
article will be available to non-subscribers of the Online Journal
for up to seven days after it is e-mailed.)
The same holds true for smaller companies. You have to spend money
to make money - but spend it wisely.
We constantly get requests from smaller companies who want to develop
or promote a website, and believe they know how it should be
done. They use concepts that are used offline - magazine ads, or
videos, which won't work they way they would like them to work
online. They want flash movies, and sound and lights and
action. Which is nice if you are selling to kids who use the
computer for games. They don't work for the majority of consumers or
business people who want to purchase, and would like to see pictures
and content.
The other problem is they have too much information that they want to
show, which bores most people. We had one company tell us they
wanted to promote to agents to sell their products and services. We
asked to see what they offer, and were inundated with material. The
right approach is to show a summary, followed by a bit more detail,
then a detailed "how-to" manual when they buy.
This week we turned down three companies who wanted us to help
them. Actually, in one case we started with the company, and
resigned after four weeks, as they did not want to listen. We gave
them their money back and said to go elsewhere.
Are we being too high brow for our own good? I don't think so. We
know what works, and we have a formula that has proven
successful. Why should we waste your time and money? If you know
better, than you don't need us or any other firm.
We are looking for that next company who will be purchased by the
largest media (or any other business type) company, so that we can
all make money. If you need more information,
visit http://interimhelp.com/ or send me a note.
George Matyjewicz
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[3] Archives
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I just noticed that the Archive portion of E-tailers is not active.
Is this on purpose? I was still looking for that article from last
year on product pricing.
Thanks.
Best regards,
John Schulte
President and Chairman
National Mail Order Association (NMOA)
http://www.nmoa.org
Email: schulte at nmoa.org
Tel: 612-788-1673
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
We have to remove the archives button from the site. List archives
since March 2003 can be found here...
<http://gapent.com/pipermail/etd> Before that, the information is
probably stale and of no use to anybody. We used to keep the
archives all the way back to when we started, which worked in the
"good old days" when everything was new, and nobody knew where to
find anything. Now, three years is enough (maybe even too much). Of
course, the Special Reports will remain forever. My favorite is
still "Selling Is Like Poker." ;-)
http://etailersdigest.com/resources/Specials/Selling_and_Poker.htm
George
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[4] Webinar on China
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Discover new sales opportunities in a dynamic market!
Learn strategies and methods for American manufacturing and services
exports to China from this U.S. Commercial Service
webinar. Opportunities in China is perfect for new-to-market
companies who want to be part of China's rapid economic growth.
Learn about the following topics:
o Market opportunities and prospects for continued growth
o Bilateral and multilateral trade patterns
o Costs and benefits of alternative market entry strategies for
American manufacturers
o Common risks and suggestions on how to ensure prompt payment,
protect intellectual property rights and comply with Chinese standards
Hear directly from the experts.
Senior Commercial Officer Craig Allen from Beijing, China will
discuss doing business in China and will be available to respond to
industry-specific questions.
Consider the China Region.
o China is the 4th largest importer of agricultural goods.
o U.S. machinery exports have experienced healthy growth rising
nearly U.S. $3 billion in value since 2000 to more than U.S. $7.2
billion in 2004.
o Best prospects for manufacturers include machine tools and tooling products.
o Best prospects for franchises include car rental, education,
training, real estate, and dry cleaning and executive search.
o U.S. exports to China increased 28%, 22% and an estimated 19% in
03, 04 and 05 respectively. In 2005, China became our 4th largest
export market.
Event: Opportunities in China Webinar
When: March 20, 2006, 2:00 p.m. EST / 11:00 a.m. PST
To Register: Contact Linda.Abbruzzese at mail.doc.gov for your access
information and pass code.
Can't make the live webinar? Register to watch the archived version
and still submit questions that will be answered by our regional
trade specialists.
Don't miss our future webinars: Opening Markets in India, April 4,
2006, 11:00 AM EST
Selling Overseas 101: Strategic Exporting, May 20, 2006, 2:00 PM EST
U.S. Department of Commerce
14th and Constitution Ave NW,
Washington DC 20230
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