Search Engine Strategies is taking place in New York in two weeks, and I'll be covering the show for AuctionBytes and EcommerceBytes Insider. The conference has been around for 10 years and gets about 5,000 attendees. In today's issue, Matthew McGowan from Incisive Media, the show organizer, gives us some tips on how small online retailers can get the most out of the conference. (Be sure and read the interview, Matt extends a special offer to EcommerceBytes Insider readers.)
The Internet Retailer conference (IRCE) is coming up in June, and I've been invited to chair the Small Retailers track. This is a must-attend event for serious ecommerce businesses, and the exhibit hall will be full of vendors with solutions for online retailers including Alibaba, BuySafe, ChannelAdvisor, Doba, Endicia, FedEx, Google, IMN, PayPal, RatePoint, Revolution Money, SquareTrade, Stamps.com, USPS, U-Pic, UPS, Volusion and Yahoo.
Internet Retailer is giving our readers an exclusive $100 discount on the conference registration fee (applicable to all options except Exhibit Hall only passes). Enter code SD9123 on the registration page after you have made your selections of which sessions you want to attend, and the discount will be automatically applied. To get the maximum benefit, you may use this EcommerceBytes/AuctionBytes discount in addition to the Early Bird discount, which expires on March 31, 2009.
Our online merchant directory EveryPlaceISell.com is running a new feature called Tweet Deals. Sellers who have a free listing in the EveryPlaceISell (EPIS) directory have a chance to be featured on the top banner ad on the site - see this blog post for details. (And yes, it really is free!)
Seth Godin explained this week the difference between PR (public relations) and publicity on his blog. "PR is the strategic crafting of your story. It's the focused examination of your interactions and tactics and products and pricing that, when combined, determine what and how people talk about you."
Conversely, publicity is the act of getting ink, Seth wrote. We may not be able to help you come up with your story, but we can help you get ink. Phil Davies, cofounder of BigNews.biz, a news and press release distribution service specializing in Internet marketing, SEO, corporate public relations, shares some inside tips and resources to help you get some publicity for your business!
You may have heard that Alibaba founder and Chairman Jack Ma is in the U.S. meeting with eBay, Amazon.com, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Starbucks, and GE to discuss possible partnerships. You can listen to Jack Ma on Thursday morning (March 12) at 7:30 am Eastern. He is speaking at an Asia Society event in New York City, "Embracing the Spirit of Entrepreneurship, with China's E-Commerce," which will be webcast on the Asia Society website (the link will be available on the homepage just before the speech starts). Jack is well known for his public-speaking skills and likely has some things to say about how the global recession is affecting ecommerce and online merchants.
Thanks for reading EcommerceBytes Insider - strategies for ecommerce success - and I hope to see you in New York or Boston this Spring!
