1. Demonstrate what your company does. Post photos of your staff, what they do on a daily basis or the trade shows they attend.
2. Show and tell more about your products. Whether written in a Note or in a message to your business Group, notifying customers about new products is made into an easy step through Facebook. Better yet, take photos or create videos that demonstrate how to use them.
3. Advertise for upcoming events and promotions. Facebook offers two ways of doing so: an Event invitation that you send to fans of your business Page, or a message that can be sent to all members of your Facebook group.
4. Be exclusive. Offer sneak peeks of new products or discounts off of purchases with a special code, that only Facebook Page fans or Group members can see.
5. Communicate one-on-one. Ask any questions you have of your customers, and encourage your customers to do the same, all with the intention of figuring out what they want of your company.
6. Reach out in your network, maybe even beyond. Search for people who are talking about products or services that you offer, then message them to initiate a conversation.

Readers, in what ways do you use Facebook or other social networking tools to promote your business?

“We needed to create something that would be useful for wholesale buyers,” said Jean Bahnik, goWholesale’s director of advertising solutions, “but considering how large the wholesale industry is, we wanted to create a directory with the help of everyone and their input.”

By this, Bahnik means that wholesalers, distributors, importers and suppliers can all register to create their own profiles. From these companies, just a short description and contact information is required – but, profiles can also be updated with press releases, product launches, upcoming trade shows and more.

“If people control their own listings, and they are the ones adding more info and more updates, it makes for a better directory than one that is updated by the people who are managing it,” Bahnik said.

Monitored by goWholesale staff, the directory already has over a thousand companies listed. All company profiles are also free to view, no registration required.

For more information, visit the goWholesale directory.

Their headlines all scream one thing: yes, the fashion industry is suffering. The industry knows this, and now everyone else knows it. But regardless, designers have new collections to put out and, just like nearly everybody else, they have a business to run.

While facing this reality, designers have come up with some creative and cost-efficient ways to make their collections known this year. Retailers, take their cues into consideration:

• Viktor & Rolf turned down a spot for Paris Fashion Week in September 2008, and instead used an online presentation to showcase their spring 2009 collection. The decision surprised many, though the math that the design duo made it all too clear. What they figured was, while a runway show can cost up to $1 million, an online presentation would cost them practically nothing.
  Consider: taking inspiration from Viktor & Rolf – and the designers that followed suit, like Alice Temperley – with an online presentation that still offers an up-close look of your products. Even consider listing more details, such as dimensions, materials, or anything else that makes them unique.
• Not all designers are foregoing the runway, though they still sought ways to cut costs. How Mara Hoffman, Nicholas K, and Sergio Davila did it: by sharing a runway stage, thus splitting rental costs that range from $28,000 to $58,000 an hour at Bryant Park.
  Consider: collaborating with other businesses that complement yours. Invite one or two businesses to co-host a promotional event, or figure out other ways in which you can promote each other’s. Make sure that this event gathers customers together with a focus on the products, not just food and drinks.
• Other designers who turned down their invitations are instead hosting their own events, while only inviting a select few. Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan both cut their guest lists of thousands by more than half, and Jacobs celebrities almost entirely. Vera Wang and Betsey Johnson opted for using their own boutiques to showcase their latest.
  Consider: remembering who your best customers are, then rewarding them with exclusive promotions and sneak previews of products. Invite not only those who buy the most products, but also those who refer the most customers to your business.

During these times, only those are realistic but creative at the same time will survive. Retailers, how have you been using in-store events to promote your business? What makes them effective?

Local governments as well as federal government laws are looking to come down hard on any businesses that fall foul of the new and proposed laws. However, far from this being a financial burden on your business, you can actually benefit and market your business as a green and environmentally friendly company. This will keep you on the right side of the law, as well as potentially increase your sales as customers look for greener options.

Go Green and Get Results
So how can this work for you? Aren’t there some businesses that are more suited to this approach than others? Not necessarily – even the smallest change can make all the difference. Yet you also need to have a plan in place that will make your business sustainable as well as environmentally sound. Then you need to market your business properly and to the right audience.

For example, say you’re a wholesaler that provides cardboard boxes of all sizes and shapes to various industries, as well as consumers. If you’re not already doing so, change your manufacturing techniques to use only recycled paper that can then be converted into cardboard. If your electricity bill is high due to the amount of power needed to run the machinery that you need to compress the cardboard, consider switching to either solar power or wind power.

This needn’t be as expensive as you might think, either. Once you pay out the initial costs of installing solar panels or wind turbine generators on your site, you have no more outlay – all your energy is provided by natural power. Solar panels are particularly useful, as they will store unused energy to be used later, which means that contrary to what their name suggests, solar panels will allow you to work throughout the night.

Effective Marketing
There are many ways that your business can change over to greener options and market itself at the same time. Use either your business cards, website or emails to promote as well as more traditional marketing techniques.

For instance, say you have a large fleet for transportation needs. Make sure you change over to unleaded or green fuel, and then advertise that on all your lorries or trucks with a logo “Powered by green technology” or similar. Release a press release that tells how you’re pioneering a green working environment both in your business and with your partners – the resulting news feeds could make a big difference to your business. Just make sure that you’re making all these changes for the right reasons, and not just to make a quick profit – people will soon figure that approach out.

As with anything in America these days, this type of advertising comes with options.

1. The standard billboard – This consists of your advertisement being displayed on a rotating basis between an average of 8 other messages.

2. The digital billboard – This one, like the one pictured above, consists of 6 high definition screens that can be seen day or night. You also have the option of using the 6 screens individually as well as a whole.

3. The billboard with display – This truck features either the standard scrolling or digital advertisements along the sides while in transit, but once it reaches its destination, the sides pull up and reveal a physical display of your products like in the picture below.

The general price for mobile billboards is around $4,000 for a 4 week period. Be sure to check around though as prices will probably vary by company and region.

Many times when companies devise their advertising campaigns they focus their efforts primarily around print, television and online advertising, which is very important but it’s not the only way to reach your target audience. Moblie billboards not only reach a massive audience of commuters stuck in traffic (think about how much time you yourself spend in the car!) but also is an easy way to bring your company to the attention of people attending sporting events, conventions, concerts–you name it.

Also, remember to think outside the usual advertising box and consider advertising options such as park benches, train and bus stops (or even inside the trains or on the buses), phone kiosks, taxi tops, digital projections on the side of buildings…in the world of advertising, there’s almost nothing off limits so get creative!