Go to our Facebook page and write a short summary of why social media is a powerful business tool.
The winner will be selected prior to Market and announced via Facebook and Twitter.
Lunch:
Saturday, January 9
1-2 p.m.
Erik Qualman is social media expert and author of Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business and the Keynote speaker for Market.
Toying with social media for your business, but need a little more guidance?
We’ve got the solution for you right here at Market! We’re offering complimentary one-on-one consulting sessions with social media experts.
All you have to do is click here and sign up for your preferred slot*.
You’ll be notified via email to confirm your session.
You’re just steps away from diving deeper into the social media world!
*limited to first-come, first served
The only way to ensure you don’t lose followers is to consistently provide quality content on your networks. The only confusing part is that means slightly different things on each network. Here is a cheat list of content Do’s and Don’ts for the top three!
Twitter Do: Keep it upbeat, fresh, and relevant. Positive quotes are always welcome.
Twitter Don’t: Talk about the weather, your dinner, or share if you are bored.
Facebook Do: Make it more detailed about your activities, events, career, travels, and they love pics, after all it’s called FACEBOOK for a reason.
Facebook Don’t: Any inappropriate comments about sex, drinking, partying, and the like. They are okay with the weather and dinner if you must.
LinkedIN Do: This is about business, make it valuable, relevant, and include trends, current events, latest and hottest, best practices and such.
LinkedIN Don’t: Personal chit chat, weather, dinner, errands, junk.
Each post you make is a tiny snapshot into who you are. Think hard about that and you’ll find that you will be more careful in what you post. Consider that a new follower, friend or contact may or may not look hard at your profile, but rest assured they will look at your latest posts and maybe only the last one or two. Do those posts accurately reflect who you are and what you are about? This is about defining your essence and continually putting your best self forward.
I’ve actually tracked follows and unfollowers in my Twitter account (not as easy to do on Facebook) and noticed that when I digress into a comment about just getting home, or going for a walk, even though I include it is a glorious day, I lose followers. It is mundane! We all have mundane parts to our lives so do you really want to share those? This is a unique opportunity to invite a more exciting interpretation of your life and showcase that to the world. Did you take your family to Disneyland? Or did you meet the most famous mouse in the world? Did you attend another industry conference, or can you share a nugget or two you gained from the conference that will make a difference to those reading it?
Think of social media as a way to mine for the gold of success in what we often see as an ordinary life. Each of us has extraordinary events, connections, and opportunity every day, it is in how we view it, share it, and interact with it.
Find out more from Melissa during her WITHit presentation at Market on Friday, Jan. 8 at 9 a.m.
Want more great business building tips and easy to implement social media success strategies? Check out www.todaybydesign.com. If you are looking for a social media speaker, consultant or coach, get in touch directly at melissa@melissagalt.com to learn what Melissa’s social media savvy and strategy can do for your business.
The beginning of a new year is a great time to set goals for your business and decide where you are going to spend some of your marketing dollars. If you don’t have a website for your business or your website is outdated, make 2010 the year you stand out online.
If you aren’t convinced that now is the right time to start thinking about your website, consider the following reasons:
1. Customers and potential customers need to know where to find you.
Every business can benefit from having an effective website. That being said, not every business needs the same type of site and not every business needs a large and expensive site. Many small businesses simply need a few pages with their phone number, address and directions to their location. This is going to allow new and returning customers to access the information they need about your business whenever they need it just by searching you out in a search engine such as Google.
2. Your customers are already shopping (and pre-shopping) online.
According to Forrester Research, online sales in the US are expected to reach $331 billion in 2010. This market is only expected to grow.
There will always be a place for brick and mortar retail shops, but e-commerce is something you shouldn’t ignore or resist. Not included in the $331 billion figure are consumers who went online to research, price, and comparison shop products before going into a traditional store to actually make their purchase. So even if you aren’t ready to sell online, a website can motivate your customer to buy from you.
Another promising statistic from Forrester states that although the economic downturn has impacted overall sales in nearly all areas, the online sales growth rate has diminished only slightly and continues its upward trend by as much as 13% per year.
3. The sooner you get online, the sooner you will start making new customers online.
Building a superior online presence takes time. Having a website built can be quick, but getting into the search engines and ranking well for the keywords you want can take months, even years for competitive terms. The good news is that you can get started right now by going to Godaddy.com and buying the domain name (that’s your .com or .net address). The domain will only cost you about $10/year. The earlier you get started, the sooner you can start getting results.
If you are serious about making 2010 your year to bring your business online, be sure to attend the January Market and visit http://www.goebelmedia.com for more information.
See Nick live in action as he talks in more detail about launching a website at Market on Saturday, Jan 9 at 2 p.m.
Small store. Big Store. Megastore. We all feel the pressure from our competition. How should we compete? The knee-jerk reaction is to lower our prices. When it comes to Oriental rugs, the best way is to take a lesson from a generation ago – make it job #1 to provide great service. That starts by becoming passionate for this art form, and getting educated and comfortable with answering customers’ questions about the rugs you sell.
You don’t need to become a scholar, although Oriental rugs are a fascinating study! What you need to do is learn all that goes into creating them. Take that simple step and you will unavoidably be awaked to the artistry and craft that goes into creating Oriental rugs of all types and qualities! You will become passionate about what you sell. Only then will you be able to instill those feelings in the hearts and minds of your clients and lead them to buy finer and more expensive rugs. And even better, buy them from you!
The next step is to not only sell the rug but turn each customer into a customer for life. You do this by understanding what your real product is, making it unique, and working tirelessly to strengthen it.
If you pay attention and do it right, you will become the competition that everyone else chases!
Steve and Sy can be reached at www.meraconsulting.com
Be sure to attend their seminars during Market.
AmericasMart exhibitors are all over the television this holiday season! Check out the list of exhibitors below who have been featured on syndicated television programs.
Oprah’s “Christmas at the White House” special featured The Magnolia Company’s red lacquer wreaths on December 13.
Daytime TV hosted a “Southern Living made by Southern Hands” special featuring three (3) AmericasMart exhibitors including:
Peach & Love
EchoSource
Cinda b.
Check out the Daytime TV segment here: http://www2.daytimeonline.tv/video/2009/dec/07/southern-living-made-by-southern-hands-30306/
And , look for all these fabulous products in January, here at AmericasMart.
Interior Designer and popular design blogger Brad Ford, is featured on the cover of Lonny magazine’s holiday issue. Lonny, a new online shelter magazine, chose Brad to design an earth vibe spread for the issue.
Brad Ford will also be a guest speaker for the January market where he will present a seminar titled The Accidental Blogger. Brad’s seminar will focus on his quest for inspiration and his foray into social media outlets.
Check out Brad’s featured article in Lonny magazine: http://www.lonnymag.com/
Check out Brad’s design blog:
http://www.designtherapy.com/2009/12/exciting-news.html
And check out Brad’s seminar The Accidental Blogger, Friday January 8 here at AmericasMart!
This January, retailers will be taken to new levels of communicating—never discovered before—with Project Social, AmericasMart’s exclusive programming covering all things social media in a comprehensive series of seminars. The lineup includes keynote address by Erik Qualman and six other courses focusing on social media nad networking.
Find out more details and see a listing of Project Social events here.
Navigating the AmericasMart campus needn’t be daunting. You’ll do a better job 
shopping for your customers if you plan ahead and allow plenty of time to enjoy your experience. Here are a few tips to keep in mind before and during Market:
There’s excitement all over the Holiday & Floral/Home Décor floors (Building 1, Floors 16-20) for January Market. Unique ornaments. Any size or shape tree you can imagine. Cherished collectibles. Stunning floral and greenery stems, pre-mades and containers. Stylish home accent pieces and candles. Ribbon and garlands. Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Easter – options abound for every season.
Beyond product selection, there are activities throughout the day on Market Friday and Saturday. Regency International and Joy to the World sponsor creative décor seminars on Friday while Sullivans and Winward International present creative holiday classes on Saturday. For complete info, check here. On Friday, buyers can spin the Cash Color Wheel, and the ever-popular Stocking Extravaganza with gift and deals from participating showrooms returns on Saturday afternoon. And, Jane Seym
our will make a special appearance to promote her new holiday line on Saturday.
From brand new lines to trusted partners moving and growing, the 2010 collections aren’t to be missed.
New Exhibitors
Christmas by Krebs 20-D-4
Creative Connection, The 18-A-6
ESC Trading Company 20-C-1
Flora Bunda, Inc. 19-E-13
Home Kreations by KK, Inc. 19-D-4
Tom Floral, Inc. 17-A-8
G. Debrekht Artistic Studios 20-A-12A
Thomas Home Decors & Beyond, LLC 18-E-23
Appelman Schauben & Company 18-C-1
Expansions/Relocations
A & B Florist Supply Company 16-C-9, 15
Christopher Radko 18-E-20
Designs Combined, Inc. 19-A-14, 16
Fantastic Craft 18-A-15
Floral Treasure 18-C-3
Galt International Company, Inc. 19-A-10
Gold Eagle 18-D-10; E-6
Jim Marvin Enterprises Ltd., Inc. 18-D-2, E-18
Lincoln Imports Ltd., Inc. 18-A-14, 18
Maxsilk, Inc. 19-E-15
Midwest – CBK 16-A-7; E-21
RAZ Imports, Inc. 18-C-15
Season Flower International, Inc. 19-A-7
Signature Piece 19-D-2
TJ Collection 16-A-16
Transpac, Inc. 19-D-10
Winward International 17-D-2; E-18
California Floral 19-A-15
Katherine’s Collection 18-D-7, 9, 11.
Holiday Image / Holiday Pro 17-C-14.
