In addition to all of the books I’m giving away this month, I’ve also teamed up with goWholesale to giveaway an Apple iPod Nano this week!
goWholesale wants to better understand how you use the internet to source products and services for your
business. The iPod Nano will go to the person who leaves a comment with the best tip for using the web to find products for their business.
Rules
- Leave a comment below with your answer.
- You may only enter this giveaway once. You can enter different giveaways, but you can only enter
this one once. - Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older.
- Winners will be selected by Business Opportunities Weblog on December 11. The Apple Nano will be shipped shortly after.
- Entries can be submitted until Monday, December 10th, 11:59PM EDT.
Good Luck! And check out goWholesale’s Sourcing Survey 2007 for a chance to
win an Apple Touch!
Paul on December 3rd, 2007 at 10:43 am
In order to have a business, for the most part, you will have all ready found the products that you wish to sell.
In the case where you decide to start a business prior to having any actual product, finding a blog or blog network that deals with your particular niche would be the best bet.
You will find that a highly utilized blog will provide many answers and leads for acquiring the best deals. You will more than likely be provided the most useful information by folks that have all ready gone through a more tedious process.
That will likely be a much better option than just blind surfing the web.
Also, (in a blatant attempt to coerce the judging) “gowholesale” has an amazing array of products. You would most certainly find the product/products that you need and you’ll find them at great prices!
Anastasia on December 3rd, 2007 at 11:00 am
Google Alerts! Whether you’re looking for cheap product, software or just want to keep up to date on the news in your sector, Google Alerts will give it all to you!
Just set up a search with your keywords and every time something is posted to the web (that Google crawls), you’ll recieve an email about it :) This saves you soooo much time on research AND it keeps you up to date so you never miss an oppotunity :)
http://www.google.com/alerts
Steve Heston on December 3rd, 2007 at 2:12 pm
ThomasNet.com is a good source of stuff.
Contest Beat on December 4th, 2007 at 6:54 am
Hi there
I blogged about your contest here - http://www.contestbeat.com/win-an-ipod-nano-and-a-couple-of-books/
All we do is write about contests in the blogosphere so hopefully we can send you a few more entries too!
Regards, Matt.
Jenny Arnez on December 4th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
I am in the process of building a photography business. Having reliable professional camera gear & software is important to me. All of the online vendors I use, except for Amazon, I learned about in different photography forums & blogs that I visit. In these sites, I learn what other photographers recommend for gear, who to buy from/who to avoid , Photoshop actions, etc. Since the dollars really add up, having these reviews & recommendations are critical to me.
Lesha on December 4th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Looking at other blogs / web-sites gives me on insight what my customers would probably like.
betshopboy on December 4th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
ChooseYourDeals gives consumers a way to share deals and to find deals. It’s got the familiar Pligg set up, so the most popular deals can be floated to the top by votes as the lesser deals sink to the bottom.
It could become a good source for shoppers as more people start using it
knupNET on December 4th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
It’s obvious that whether you run a business or work for a business, you will most likely have some experience buying products online. This has become the trend for most businesses and it’s only going to grow more.
Myself, I own a network of over 50 websites part-time. I own a sports events business part-time. And I work for a fortune 500 company on a full-time basis. I have a family and a life outside of computers as well. What am I getting at?
TIME is very valuable to me and it should be to you as a business owner as well. Buying products for your business online not only saves you money, but it saves you time like you wouldn’t believe. So what is my tip? My tip is - DON’T SPEND TOO MUCH TIME COMPARING PRICES. Pick a place to buy your products (goWholesale.com) - and stick with them. You will waste so much valuable time trying to find the “best deal” or the “best price” each time you need to buy. This is not time well spent. Even if it means spending a few more bucks - it’s worth it for the convenience of knowing who you are buying from and how they operate.
So that’s my tip. Since time is so valuable in everyones life and business. Do your research once, find a reliable - well priced place such as goWholesale, and STICK WITH THEM!
MrPrizes.com on December 5th, 2007 at 8:25 am
Just dropping you a line to let you know that I have added your contest to several related categories in our online directory, rss feed, and our new mobile site. Please feel free to keep me up to date on future listings. Have a great day!
http://www.mrprizes.com/newlyaddedlistings.htm
MyBlogContest on December 5th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Great blog contest!!
I blog about this blog contest here
http://myblogcontest.com/win-an-ipod-nano-and-8gb-apple-ipod-touch/
Sarah on December 5th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
I would say google is a great place to start for research…then get bloggers (like myself) to host reviews and giveaways for your business products to help get the word out there!
Great contest~
sharvey at connections-etc dot net
Amanda on December 6th, 2007 at 9:39 am
Hey! This is very nice. I like having the opportunuty to enter. My son is asking for one of these for Christmas. Keep it up. Thanks
Jethro on December 6th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
I believe the best way to source out products for my business is using social networks that are available like facebook, twitter, linkedin, my blog, and ning. I use twitter a lot to browse what other people in my industry are doing and what they are using. I have found several software programs, subscriptions, and even this blog through twitter especially. I follow people who use a lot of products and learn from them. When I need something specific, I can ask a question, and usually get a relatively quick answer.
Everything Finance on December 7th, 2007 at 7:12 am
Count me in for the Nano giveaway!
Thanks.
Matthew on December 7th, 2007 at 9:39 am
I am in the process of designing the website for my upcoming business. As a reality webshow that anyone can participate in, the internet is the backbone of my business, allowing me to get my product (content) to my customers (viewers) and also allow me to procure income (sponsors) and advertise for them.
Laura @ Laura Williams' Musings on December 8th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Personally, I use the web to google the product I am thinking about buying. I will look for reviews of the product from bloggers as many of them post reviews of books, clothing and more.
Same thing with services or online businesses.
I blogged your giveaway and survey here: http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2007/12/tuesday-edition-of-contests-galore_04.html
Febriyanto Mak on December 9th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
While searching for sweepstakes, I found this site.
It’s not a bad idea if I can get ipod just by leaving a comment. and it’s last minute.
Ok, good luck for everyone
Mary on December 9th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I visit other blogs and crafters sites to see what the new trends are. Then, I tailor classes and finished cards for my customers. Classes are done in person, but I’m working on creating video’s to post on the web
Sarah Edwards on December 10th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
I use my Google-fu to find products.
Alessandro on December 10th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
I am not my own business yet but if I had one I would do some sort of social engineering first.
Use the web to understand what other similar businesses are using to run their operations. Hardware, software, supplies, goods, etc.
As the first thing I will use Google to find all of potentially similar businesses in the market I would like to address.
I would then go through their official web sites to understand how they work and operate.
The next step would be going through company blogs, if they have one. These blogs tend to have a lot of useful information on how the business is run.
At the end of this process I will have a list of senior manager names and, hopefully, a list of potential suppliers.
Using these names I would try to search for these names on business social sites like LinkedIn in order to gather more informations on their contacts. It is very usual to add suppliers contacts to LinkedIn shortly after having met them. This should help understand who they have met.
Having the list of suppliers I would use Google alerts to be advised on special deals on their products and services.
Sometimes I would also go through eBay for non critical stuff like office supplies or similar.
And, most important, I would also go through my social cloud to find advice.
Prosperity Diva on December 10th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
I own several businesses and research all products and services before offering them to anyone I know. I have delegated this project to my Virtual Assistant so simplicty is key. It should be easy to find, offer the most information, including shipping and warranty info and be of good quality. My reputation is important to me and never want to provide my customers with poor quality. We have used the internet to find distributors, affiliates and other channels of distribution. Online forums offer information on reliability and ease of use. You can also learn from dissastisfied customers via surveys and blog postings. I also enjoy online networking groups and communities that freely share product comparisons.
Frederick on December 14th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
I read tech blogs such as engadget.com and alibaba.com for product placement ideas. Furthermore, I have trading companies all over the world who contact me to see whether I would be interested in certain products that are not available in the US but might sell well.