Sales Leads Made Easy |

B2B in China business has evolved so much as to help users to consider import/export as a career opportunity. Business to business is actively supported by government with individual departments eyeing for some chunk of import/export revenue to boast off. It pays to evaluate some statistics that help us understand the current trends of B2B import/export in China and global sourcing demands.

-Status of Business to Business or B2b

B2B in China prevails at a stage where innovative applications become the need of the day; 2 of which are

1. Integrated B2B platforms

2. Vertical B2B platforms

Unifying B2B with mainstream, in China business, brought B2B trading to identify with China business and import and export. Look at how China business organizations like B2B International are helping business-to-business through research and market analysis. B2B International provides information based on sound foundation of market research particularly in business-to-business and import and export areas. Nevertheless, China business needs to accept the reality that B2B or business to business has arrived and is the commonly accepted method in import/export and global sourcing industry. Applied to import & export, B2B is a wonderful platform particularly when e-commerce is used to execute business to business transaction in both global sourcing as well as import/export.

-Global Sourcing Via E-Commerce for B2B in China Business

Global sourcing couldn’t have expected a bigger boost than the mature e-commerce, through wide spread business to business e-marketplaces in China business which eventually complements the B2B operators as it does to import and export by helping to generate business leads and product information in global sourcing. Although this was in practice for years, even without any government encouragement and protection, import & export companies, have now matured to have an established business paradigm to interact/transact with global sourcing buyers till shipping the goods.

Global sourcing has come of age for China business. Contribution to Chinese economy from global sourcing explosion and the subsequent boost import/export got is now an integral part of B2b scenario. Thanks to e-commerce, global sourcing and import and export are gradually occupying the center stage in China business increasingly by the day. The reason for e- platform to become a hit, in China business, with global sourcing and import/export entities is its ability in facilitating an in-depth analysis of originating company’s strengths and weaknesses.

E-commerce is welcome in China business as long as bottlenecks and roadblocks are being removed for import & export and global sourcing.

Dylan Sun
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/business-to-business-and-importexport-from-china-business-223522.html

Have you thought about pay per click programs? The two biggest, I think, are Yahoo! and Google

A few free resources – check out the sources box for links:

1) Create a blog pertaining to your field

2) Use Yahoo! Local & Yahoo! Groups – Be sure to read the TOS for each one!

3) Write articles pertaining to your field and/or expertise.

4) Advertise on Craiglist

Also, consider signing up for an affiliate program. These programs enable you to advertise on other’s sites (your affiliates) and once a sale is made to you, your affiliates & the program are paid a commission.

I listed a few handy sites & articles relating to marketing, promotion & advertising. Here are some book titles that are relevant:

* The Complete Idiot’s Guide ® to Marketing Basics by Sarah White
* The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries, Jack Trout
* Creative Advertising: Ideas and Techniques from the World’s Best Campaigns by Mario Pricken
* Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide: Over 1500 Great Marketing Tricks That Will Drive Your Business Through the Roof by James Stephenson
* 301 Do-It-Yourself Marketing Ideas: From America’s Most Innovative Small Companies by Sam Decker

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Cold calling. Most people hate to do it and there is a cottage
industry of people making a profit by selling ideas on how to
generate business without cold calling. They’re making money
because they are using a basic marketing tactic that most of us
have forgotten how to use – give your customer what they want!
Tell a salesperson that they can get appointments without making
cold calls, tell them to buy your book, and you’ll make money
hand over fist. Why? Because it’s a solution that fits what that
market wants.

The fact of the matter is that there are many things you can,
and should, use to help generate leads. However,
business-to-business cold calling will always be an effective
basic tactic that will help you get an appointment with your
prospect.

Get Back to Basics

Here are 4½ steps that are so easy and basic that we have a
tendency to be suspicious of them. But if you just follow along
the steps, you’ll be on your way to doubling your sales
appointments in record time.

½ Step) Put yourself in the place of your prospect. Think about
what it will be like to get a call from you. You know your
product/service inside and out and are hopefully excited about
and believe in it. Your prospect isn’t excited about your
product/service and doesn’t believe in it yet! Also, you have
set aside time in your day to make calls, but your prospect
hasn’t set time aside to take your call. That’s why it is very
important to make the call all about them. Give them what they
want out of a cold call – hint: the solution to what they worry
about at work.

Step 1) Identify your ideal customer and their critical wants
and needs. At the very least you should have some generic
information about the markets that you serve and the obstacles
that they face from industry magazines, trade associations, or
industry analysts to help you target your cold call message.
This is just the starting point, but a great way to determine
how to give them what they want.

Step 2) Ask the “cold sweat” question. “What is it that wakes
your prospects up at 3AM in a cold sweat and in such a troubled
state that they would give anything to solve that problem?” If
you answer this question within the first 7 seconds of your
call, you will be more likely to gain the attention of your
prospect and be that much closer to gaining an appointment with
them.

Step 3) Once you have figured out what wakes your prospects up
at night, create multiple positioning statements that focus on
solving your prospect’s most difficult problem or achieving
their most important goal.

Step 4) Test those positioning statements and determine which
one results in better dialogue with your prospect and gets you
the appointment.

Here’s a very successful sample cold call script that I’m using
for my own business based on the 4½ steps:

Good morning Mr/Ms. VP of Sales, this is David from EMDCO.com
here in Chicago. We are the major B2B lead generation firm in
the area. Because of our expertise in your industry, we’re able
to solve the problems of the call reluctant/time constricted
sales force by delivering quick, reliable, and affordable lead
generation services. The reason I’m calling you today
specifically is to set up an appointment so I can tell you the
way in which we’ve been successful with (name client(s) that
prospect would recognize) companies. How’s (day) at (time)?
That’s it! I mention that I can solve what most owners,
presidents and sales directors worry about. They are always
thinking about the revenue numbers they have to hit, they know
they have sales people that don’t make sales calls for various
reasons and they know they want a reliable source of leads. I
know I’m not wasting my prospects time with a telephone
introduction like that.

By using this simple 4½ step process, it will help you formulate
your own quick introduction, allow you to quickly answer any
questions they have about you or your product/service, and
redirect the call back toward getting the appointment.

David Wells
http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/4-12-steps-for-doubling-your-b2b-appointments-2279.html

10

For the past few years, you’ve heard so much about blogging that you’re reluctantly concluding that now might be the time to join the parade. Yes, blogs do have a place in the IT marketers’ arsenal, but only under the right circumstances.

Blog Basics

A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world. Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules.

In simple terms, a blog is a web page made up of short, frequently updated articles, or “posts,” arranged chronologically like a journal. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what’s new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not.

Since blogs were launched, almost five years ago, they reshaped the web, impacted politics, shook up journalism, and enabled millions of people to connect with others and have a voice on the Web.

Should You Blog or Shouldn’t You

The reason you probably know the definition of “blog” is that blog readership is high among IT professionals like you. In August 2006, IT information-search company KnowledgeStorm surveyed 4,500 of its registered users, who are typically IT professionals. Of those surveyed, 80 percent said they read blogs, including 18 percent who read them daily and 33 percent who read them weekly. Keep in mind the percent of IT professionals that read blogs is dramatically higher the overall percentage.

While there are millions of blogs online, including my own B2B Marketing Blog, consider that Pew Internet & American Life Project reports that only 39 percent of Internet users read them. Before you decide to enhance your brand image and awareness with a blog, make sure your target audience is among the 39 percent of Internet users who read them.

I recommend considering blogging if and only if your audience is reading them and if you need a venue to demonstrate your expertise (branding) or are looking for additional ways to move up in the SERPs (awareness).

If you’re more concerned with driving leads and sales, pass on blogging for now. There are plenty of marketing tactics that will have a more direct impact on your bottom line.

If you decide you need to establish your expertise by blogging and sharing what you know about subjects related to your products and services, then keep these six blogging tips in mind:

• Often, techies write blogs for technical decision makers. However, some of the most effective business blogs are written by management personnel for business decision makers.

• Regardless of your editorial focus, the best-read blogs avoid hype and self-congratulatory content. Instead, they focus on content useful to their intended readers.

• To create awareness about your company, products and services, keep in mind that blogs tend to be favored in the Web’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), especially if it’s optimized to your industry’s keywords. Optimizing your blog can go a long way toward helping your company be found by prospects actively searching for what you sell.

• To gain and maintain readers, you need to keep your blog fresh. You’ll need someone who has the expertise, writing skills and time to frequently post new blog content. How frequently? According to a research study by public relations firm Porter Novelli and market analytics company Cymfony Inc., only 24 percent of bloggers post once a week or less (I belong to this camp). Some 39 percent of bloggers post several times a week and 37 percent post daily or multiple times a day. I recommend that you plan to post new content to your blog weekly to start. You can always turn up the frequency later, once you’re sure you have the ability to keep up the pace.

• If you’re looking for links from the blog to your Web site to boost your Web site’s search engine results, host it on a different server than where your Web site is hosted. Search using a phrase like “blog hosting” on Google or your favorite search engine to find a number of inexpensive blog hosting options.

• To move potential customers through the awareness, inquiry, consideration, and purchasing cycle using your blog you must relate all of your blog topics back to your services or products, to articles within your site, and other sales lead generation tools.

Mac Mcintosh
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/it-marketing-should-blogging-be-on-your-b2b-marketing-todo-list-109380.html

I have a home based business, and am thinking of getting a car wrap to generate my own local leads. Most testimonials are about the quality of service. I am interested in hearing about results. Thank you all.

Hi,

I have a car wrap on my car now and I get a few leads per week, but not to many. But it’s there and people can always see it.