Online marketers have long been advised to use social media sites – including MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo! and Google Groups, Gather, MeetUps.com, Craig’s List et. al — to achieve search marketing goals:

• To learn real users’ real search terms for your products and services, in order to build PPC Keyword Ad Groups;
• To leverage the Better Crede of user-generated product reviews, recommendations and community-rated content related to your line of business;
• To build believable link-ins from non-commercial social sites that just might bump up your site traffic, search results page ranking or big engine quality ratings;
• To get authority site links from industry, category or vertical search blogs and meeting spaces;
• Even to monitor social media sites for pre-emptive damage control, such as early warning via complaints by toy gift buyers, as they avoid imported toys on gift lists this year.

First, why rhinestone jewelry? Because this isn’t the so-so “maybe I want it” type of goods—this is must-have jewelry memorable occasions in life demand. After all, putting money out to buy inventory is a risk. Nobody wants a closet full of jewelry that doesn’t sell. They want baubles that move and build sales volume. They want something to take to the bank for all the risk and hard work.

Look at the needs for rhinestone jewelry—prom, balls, dance, pageant, and evening wear–but bigger than anything is bridal. So be sure to play to this market. Next problem is what do I buy and where to get it. Of course I would like to say “get it from me”, but you do the research and see if that’s your best option. Search online and be sure to use “wholesale” with the search terms because you need wholesale pricing to make a profit. Wholesale specific sites like Top Ten Wholesale only list wholesalers. Next how do you price it? Make double your minimum selling price because surviving requires it.

By Crystal Silvas

ChinaGrabber LLC, founded in 2005, is a U.S. based manufacturing and sourcing company based in Portland, Oregon. A successful supplier of electronic merchandise, they are the only distributors of DigitalRise MP3 and MP4 players in the United States. As their name suggests, much of their product is sourced out of China through the aid of strategic partnerships.

For those of you seeking direct and reliable sources of Chinese electronic merchandise, look no further for China Grabber has it all. With over thirty categories of products to choose from, you’ll be sure to find the electronic gadget you are looking for. They carry airsoft products, camcorders, spy equipment, mp3 players, cell phones, radio controlled helicopters, iPod accessories, Bluetooth accessories and so much more.

By Crystal Silvas

Although Handbags Importer and Wholesaler Corporation was established eight years ago in 1999, the folks running the company have been a part of the fashion industry since 1965. With over forty years of experience under their belts, they are considered leaders in the area of fashionable wholesale handbags and belts. With a staggering collection of wholesale bags, purses, belts, wallets, shoes and other wholesale accessories, Handbags Importer and Wholesaler Corporation was among the first to introduce people to the concept of coordinating all accessories through the use of matching materials—and they have many materials to choose from.

Handbags Importer and Wholesaler Corporation is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, the fashion authority of the West. As such they are able to keep up with the very latest in fashion trends, especially in the handbag department. Their Website, which can be found at www.miraclehandbags.com, offers bags and purses modeled after some of the finest names in designer handbags. Whether you want a bag that mimics the classiness of Liz Claiborne, the dynamic design of Versace or the svelte style of Gucci, miraclehandbags.com is your source for all things fresh, fashionable and absolutely fabulous.

This month has been one of the busiest for Shoenet.com. That’s because we have teamed with Apple to offer the iPod Touch FREE with purchase. The iPod Touch is the hottest electronic device on the marketplace today. With each purchase of only $3000.00 Shoenet.com will send the iPod Touch to you for free. It is just one of the ways that Shoenet.com is always working to bring their customers the best offers, and incentives.

Shoenet.com is a shoe wholesaler specializing in, wholesale women’s boots, sandals, designer shoes, closeout footwear, sneakers, all kids, and men’s footwear. As well as many other fashion clothing, and accessories, at discount prices. If you’re a store owner looking for a reliable distributor, and a source to purchase shoes or fixtures and displays for your shoe store you’re in the right place.

Google announced a new distribution channel for marketers on October 9 that may offer benefits to all interested parties.

First, Google gets content for its AdSense publisher network, plus the opportunity to finally make ad revenues from its ownership of YouTube video site.

Second, search marketers get another channel to distribute their ads and messages to targeted audiences, without developing a new or expensive ad creative campaign.

Third, users get more: More engaging and more relevant content from their Internet Searching & Surfing. User “more” benefits can be assumed from Google’s video distribution plans according to Google Product Marketing Manager Christine Lee, who promises that the new venue for video ads would be “unobtrusive” and “relevant.”

So, what is this announced video distribution opportunity that promises to be all things to all people?

It is believed that holiday sales will be growing by four percent this year to $447.5 billion. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), this represents the slowest holiday growth since 2002. In a holiday preview called “Hot or Not: A 2007 Holiday Preview,” the NRF’s Scott Silverman said that while this year’s holiday growth is expected to grow more slowly than in past years, it will still be up from 2002, when sales only grew by one percent.

“While this may not be the rosiest of predictions, this is certainly not a ‘sky is falling’ mentality,” cautioned Silverman. “Consumers will be more conservative in their holiday spending, but they will still be out shopping.”

Evening wear and diamonds will likely be driving sales in the fashion and apparel categories, and tailored denim products are also expected to be a hot item among men, women and children alike. Women’s boots will also help drive sales this holiday season, with a shift towards three-quarter length boots rather than knee length.

Attention marketers: Have you given your advertising program, product literature and other customer information a check-up lately? Even new technologies require basic communications strategies and implementation to be considered effective.

I recently needed information about a manufacturer of technology products, so I sought out its Website. I eventually found and landed there (though I think “beached” or “crash-landed” would be a more accurate description.) In over 40 pages of “content”, this is what I learned about the manufacturing company:

• The company makes gizmos, gadgets and widgets.
• The company always ships on time, has a fast shipment policy, can help with custom applications, and conducts seminars.
• The company’s gizmos, gadgets and widgets come in various sizes.
• The company has experienced growth.

More importantly though, here’s what I didn’t find:

Tooks are cool new beanies and headbands featuring built-in removable headphones. Tooks were born in the spirit of winter sports but can be used for just about any activity where people listen to music, such as biking, hiking, jogging, skiing, or working out. Tooks also make great promotional items for businesses and are very popular as personal gifts (consider your Christmas shopping done!).

Tooks International was founded in Denver Colorado in 2005 and hit the market with the now popular Tooks Classic, a 100% bulk acrylic beanie offered in six colors (black, gray, navy blue, brown, red, and pink). Customer feedback resulted in the development of the Tooks Headband, introduced earlier this year. Tooks feature compact size removable headphones which have been engineered for superior sound quality in a slim package design. The fact that they’re removable allows the headwear to be washed. The headphones are inserted into the inner layers of fabric (so they are hidden) and can be adjusted directly over a person’s ears. A small piece of Velcro keeps them in place once positioned. Unlike the earplug styles which block the ear completely, the Tooks headphones allow some ambient sound to still be heard, for instance while skiing or at a football game.

It’s official. Yahoo! Search announced upgraded features on October 2, including a menu of suggested additional information on a searcher’s topic, and adding multimedia search results (photos, audio and video) to the text links and web sites listed in Yahoo’s standard search results.This follows Microsoft Live Search’s September 26 announcement: expanding its search index four-fold and ignoring search query spelling glitches to provide quicker and deeper Instant Answers. Live Search also claimed an innovation in returning results that fold in photos, videos and blog reviews, regardless of whether the searcher asked for multimedia.

But first, there was Google’s launch in May of what it named “Universal Search” – returning results to searchers that list not simply web pages and links, but blogs, images, news content, videos and other online multimedia, such as maps. As Google applies it, “universal search” would also be termed automatic return of multimedia results, without requiring a specific request for blog posts or videos. (Yahoo! positioned its suggested additional info dropdown menus as “optional” universal results.)