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Before one understand this mystery , three factors are to be known for revealing the mathematics of any market players :


a) Demand and Supply
b) Quality at competitive rate
c) Growth for survival in tough competition


I remember , last Saturday I got a call from a senior president of a MNC , saying that I am looking for new market but cant make as to where shall I go for and especially when the management is insisting for fast set up of new supply chain in new markets but I am afraid with global melt down of economy , since , it has broken the backbone of every company irrespective of country.


I started to deal the situation with certain things which I am just reiterating so that some one can use it as to why new markets are required . New Markets can be set up by adopting any of the ways as is practiced by the global players :


a) Setting up a subsidiary unit
b) Making up channel sales force
c) Making business associates
d) Making assignment based agents
e) Generating continous leads for business deals


People may choose as per their best economy , nature of business and longetivity of business interest. But, the gentleman was sounding over enthusiastic and even said ,…….yes , Mr Becker , I know this all but my problem is still as such and repeated it as well for times .This made me to finally ask him to accompany me over tea which longed to dinner.


In our first sitting , he had a very long brain storming session and he was only interested to know an answer to why ? instead of knowing how to do it so , let us name it “Why Session” Why Session New Market means more business and new business as well. In other words means more profit and revenue irrespective of its sustainability .


Again the same question cropped as to why new market , ofcourse ! for this I am paid for and companies make business out of such advises.
a) What is the meaning of new market ?
b) How to explore new market ?
c) Which market will be the best new market ?


All the aforesaid questions have simple answer as discussed below. It can be understood by simple formula of demand and supply. Where there is demand which is sustainable and with better prospects will be considered as new market . The new market can be within the territory of one’s country or may even cross the barrier of international market. If demand is more in a new market , then it is always advisable for exploring a new market . The market can be explored with better pricing with best quality , since the golden rule is quality should always command the pricing factor and pricing factor always follow quality factor . Since, both are incomplete without each other and compliment vice versa.


As already said , the new market could be explored with new subsidiary , joint venture, partnerships, business associates, deployment of work force or even without substantial investment by way of continous generation of business leads , may be a B2b platform or b2b portal can get business leads for you like www.made-from-india.com ,which I recently saw and seems to be a promising one for global traders and exporters.


Exploring new markets can be even by way of launching your product in unexplored areas of one’s country and even exporting the product to a particular country where best demand is there . The result will be more demand will always give better pricing factor. Ofcourse, such markets will be the best market to be explored since business is done for profit and the market which can give more profit will always be the best market whether it is new and unknown as well. Say , a ball pen has the best quality over the existing ball pens in its segment and usage, but unless not being sold in better market will always get less revenue over inferior ball pens which are in best market where the demand is more for ball pens and for quality .


After listening such simple things , the gentleman said , Mr Becker even I knew this but you made me understand the simple analogy and now I am sure to give some promising result to my management. We shall be discussing other aspects of other sessions in due course of time , meanwhile , simply understand the fact that business is for profit and it is always dominated by demand and supply .


The author is business editor with www.made-from-india.com

If somebody tells you that your present corporate website can be converted to a B2B portal which will help you significantly improve your company’s productivity in both of the two primary factors: Revenue Growth and Cost Saving, and that the portal can be launched in a matter of months with a very reasonable investment, what will be your reaction? Read on to learn how corporations all over the world are missing an opportunity, which can revolutionize the way they manage their businesses.

What is a B2B portal?

A portal is defined as an access point to World Wide Web. A portal is a combination of web pages, features and services which become a primary destination for users. The word was first used to describe the sites of popular Internet access providers or search engines such as AOL, MSN and Yahoo! At a later stage, the word “portal” evolved into something bigger covering business websites, where a corporate portal or enterprise information portal acts as a base for employees, customers, suppliers and other associates of a company to access corporate information and web services. A B2B portal is a distinct kind of website with features to conduct electronic business and manage significant parts of corporate business processes.

Benefits of having a B2B portal

Today, B2B portals are not just a fancy idea! They are an absolute necessity for all enterprises of any type and size. The advantages of having a quality B2B portal are massive. Implementation of a true high quality B2B portal could have immediate impact on company productivity.

Revenue Growth

Revenue Increase from Existing Clients
Existing clients get faster and easier access to product information, quicker response to their requests, get better customer support and are able to buy products online.

Revenue Increase from Value Added Services
Once a B2B portal is set as the primary sales channel, spared resources can be used to create more value added services for clients. Some of the services that the portal may offer also could be utilized to generate more value.

Cost Savings

Order Processing Cost
If the B2B portal integrates supply chain management solution, it will reduce the cost of processing orders drastically. Studies show that similar solution can reduce cost of processing a purchase order from US$ 70 down in average to US$ 6 only.

Sales and support costs
Automated sales and customer support features integrated in the solution is capable of reducing overhead costs up to 30 percent.

Inventory keeping costs
Clearer visibility and forecasting ability thanks to various features of the B2B portal may help companies considerably reduce inventory keeping costs.

Other key benefits include:

Low customer acquisition cost
Effective portal branding on the Internet will help to attract customers from new sources. The cost of acquiring customers through online channels is always cheaper than other traditional methods.

Improve customer service
Ability to have constant interaction with customers through the B2B portal helps companies serve customers better. The B2B portal solution allows tracking the whole ordering process from payment to delivery and brings greater efficiency in customer service.

Reduce sourcing time cycle
The customers can select products from the integrated marketplace of the B2B portal and either sends purchase orders or directly buy products using the shopping cart. Buyers handle all their procurement related correspondence from a consolidated working page, which helps them react instantly and reduce time in document processing.

Community participation
Company buyers and sellers can create communities surrounding the B2B portal’s discussion board. This helps getting valuable feedbacks on time, building new partnerships using the networking ability of a community, and disseminating important information to members easily.

Real time access to current product information
Current information of a product is vital for an accurate buying decision. Updating product content and other information using customized forms as it is necessary, the company can help buyers and other associates to take critical decision promptly.

Control rogue spending
Consolidated and automated procurement and approval method stops maverick buying in a company.

Main components of a B2B portal

Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management solutions can deliver great values to company’s existing systems. Implementation of these solutions will help achieving incredibly high return on investment and will have tremendous impact on company’s business, which include: better productivity, faster order processing, greater visibility, the elimination of maverick or unplanned purchasing, etc.

Marketplace
This is the venue where the enterprises can post their products for sale. A sophisticated shopping cart will be integrated into the electronic marketplace in order to automate the buying process.

Auction
Electronic auction system can use both English and Dutch auction methods. For convenience the auction component can be integrated into the electronic marketplace.

Online auction helps liquidate surplus goods easily.

Reverse Auction
This solution allows the company to automate electronic procurement, where suppliers compete for business real time online.

Storefront for Participants
Each associate of the B2B portal will get a Storefront that may reflect profile of the company, its products, services or other information.

Forum
A Forum or a Discussion Board is an organized, on-line interactive message board where participants conduct discussion on a set of topics by posting questions, comments and responses.

Internal Messaging System
Elaborate Messaging System allows a participant of the B2B portal send and receive messages from other participants and the company. Since the messages do not leave a secured server, participants would not be worried about sending sensitive information over the Internet.

Classified
Catalog based bulletin board allows company associates to post important notices in various predefined formats.

Directory of Companies
This is a listing of all registered associates of the B2B portal either by business category or by alphabetical order. An advanced search engine tool is incorporated in order to find a company based on data provided.

E-catalog
E-catalog a hierarchy of product and service categories based on UNSPCS, a global products and services classification method that covers the broadest collection of industries and commodities available today, and designed to facilitate e-commerce transactions by providing geography-independent common nomenclature system.

Product Content Adding System
Product adding mechanism based on either easy-to-use wizard or simple but detail forms allows users to integrate products or services with accurate and up-to-date information.

Product Notification
The system can generate an alert and send by email to a user, who requested to inform once a particular product or service gets added to the E-catalog.

Numerous other features could be incorporated to an existing B2B portal depending on requirement, such as: News Aggregation using RSS feed, Contact Management, Electronic Journal, Press Room, Document Repository, etc.

Time needed to set up

Using ready made B2B Portal components from a provider like Rusbiz.com a medium size portal can be built or integrated to existing website within three to four months.

By developing a B2B portal ahead of your major competitors you can give your business a significant boost and make your company stand out from the crowd.

Nowshade Kabir is CEO of Rusbiz.com, a global B2B portal for small and midsize companies. Our distinctive web stores along with many outstanding features like e-marketplace, e-catalog, supply chain management solutions, and trade leads section will allow you to build robust Internet presence and manage key business processes online. Rusbiz also develops Corporate B2B portals.

INTTRA, the leading e-commerce portal for the ocean freight industry, recently announced that Jeff Pattison has joined the Company's senior management team as Chief Information Officer. Pattison brings a unique blend of technology expertise and leadership experience to his role at INTTRA. As CIO, Pattison will be responsible for the technology that powers INTTRA's e-commerce tools and the work processes that create and sustain it, including research, design, engineering and development of the product line.

INTTRA, the largest e-commerce platform for the ocean shipping industry, offers a range of e-commerce products to help shippers and forwarders plan, process and manage their documentation with their carriers. Pattison's appointment is a further testament to the Company's commitment to providing its customers with comprehensive technologies for simplifying collaboration and increasing supply chain visibility.

Pattison will work closely with John DeBenedette who has moved to INTTRA's Commercial Department to lead the global team. Leveraging DeBenedette's leadership experience with INTTRA's global sales force, the Company has merged commercial, marketing and product management under DeBenedette in his new role. This collaboration of departments will allow INTTRA to continue accelerating its efforts to bring innovative products to market quickly and effectively without compromising quality.

"In today's global environment, INTTRA stands above the rest, increasing supply chain visibility for international shippers, carriers and freight forwarders," said Pattison. "INTTRA's e-commerce tools make the global marketplace more accessible and provide a transparency to the supply chain that benefits all users. I am looking forward to working with INTTRA's seasoned management team to further develop their innovative product line."

Prior to joining INTTRA, Pattison served as Vice President of Application Services at NRT, Inc., the largest owner and operator of residential real estate brokerages in the U.S. In this role, Pattison was responsible for more than 20 mission-critical consumer and B2B Web sites and the supporting enterprise architecture for more than 65,000 independent real estate agents in 1,000 offices around the U.S. Prior to joining NRT, Pattison was Director of Application Development at Medco Health overseeing numerous applications used in their prescription processing. In addition, Pattison spent eight years at Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting), providing cutting edge business solutions to clients across various industries.

"Jeff's varied work experience in other industries will allow INTTRA to broaden its scope and will help us continue our tradition of innovation and technology leadership in the industry," said Ken Bloom, CEO of INTTRA, "while John's new position will enhance our focus on product development and market strategy."

Pattison graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, majoring in Management Information Systems and Marketing.

About INTTRA
INTTRA, founded in 2000 and headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., is a leading global provider of e-commerce solutions to ocean carriers and their customers. INTTRA professionals work with customers to streamline and standardize their shipping processes, applying their e-commerce knowledge of the shipping industry for customers in markets worldwide.

More than 240,000 container orders are initiated on the INTTRA platform each week, representing almost 10 percent of global ocean container trade.

INTTRA's e-commerce platform offers a comprehensive range of e-commerce tools, including: Tender, Sailing Schedules, Booking, Shipping Instructions, Bill of Lading, Track & Trace, and Reports. Accessing the INTTRA platform is simple, using any combination of their channel solutions: INTTRA-Link (EDI-based, system-to-system connection), INTTRA-Desktop (off-line PC application), or INTTRA-Act (web-based application).

INTTRA's carrier network includes, Alianca, ANL, CMA CGM, CSAV, CSAV NORASIA, Deutsche Afrika-Linien, Emirates Shipping Line, Hamburg Sud, Hanjin Shipping Co., Hapag-Lloyd, "K" Line, Libra, Maersk Line, MCC Transport Pte Ltd., MISC, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A., NYK Line, Safmarine, Senator Lines, United Arab Shipping Company.

For further information visit www.inttra.com.

SOURCE: INTTRA

When you use the Internet to sell your old golf clubs, you've got two security challenges: making sure that the person you're selling to is trustworthy, and making sure that others don't try to steal your data while you're doing the transaction.

Now imagine that instead of a person selling golf clubs, you're Boeing, and you want to use the Internet to share the plans to a top-secret warplane with one of your business partners.

That's the challenge faced every day by Exostar, the online B2B community that serves the aerospace and defense industries. For more than a decade, Exostar has been linking aerospace companies like Lockheed Martin, BAE, and Rolls Royce with government agencies, allowing them to securely transact purchases and do collaborative projects.

Exostar's collaborative environment provides the infrastructure that allows aerospace companies to work together over the Web, but the question of certifying an individual's identity -- ensuring that they are who they say they are, and that they have the rights to access specific applications and capabilities in the community or on a member company's systems -- has been a tricky one.

Next week, however, Exostar will launch a new capability, the Federated Identity Service, that does the process of "credentialing" on behalf of Exostar's members, ensuring that individuals that attempt to use the systems of the community or its members are who they say they are -- and are authorized to use the systems they are trying to access.

The FIS service will essentially replace many of the security processes that most companies outside the community must do on a bilateral basis with their trading partners. For example, Exostar will verify the location and the identity of an individual who attempts to log on, and ensure that their connection is secure. Exostar's systems will also ensure that the individual has access rights to the applications they are using, as defined by contracts and access privileges defined by its member companies.

Using PKI technology, Exostar also encrypts the communications between the individual and the member company, and dates and timestamps all communications and transactions to ensure that they are authentic and to provide an audit trail for assessors and legal authorities.

With FIS, Exostar resolves many of the security issues faced by supply chains that want to do business online. Back in the heyday of Internet fever, many industries and organizations attempted to build "B2B exchanges" and online communities, using the successful eBay as a model. In the end, however, few succeeded, partly because eBay's trust model was insufficient to secure high-dollar business transactions and collaboration.

"The key for a community like this is to define who you are," says Vijay Takanti, vice president and security program director at Exostar, which serves more than 40,000 companies worldwide. "There has to be a standard for certifying your identity and to verify that I have a contract with you. If you can't do that, all the other capabilities of the community are useless."

In essence, Exostar's PKI certificates allow users to come and go into authorized systems of their trading partners, much as a passport allows a person to be authenticated and tracked in the physical world. The system is significantly cheaper than bilateral exchanges of certificates or multifactor authentication schemes such as smart cards.

"We're linking over 40,000 members, so we can achieve economies of scale that no one company could achieve with its partners," Takanti says. And because Exostar's member are outsourcing the authentication process, they can reduce or eliminate their investment in in-house remote access or "guest access" technologies, such as network access control (NAC), which some companies are attempting to use with their suppliers and trading partners.

There's only one problem with the Exostar service: you have to be a member to use it. That means FIS can only help companies in the aerospace and defense industries, although similar communities are operating in industries such as pharmaceuticals and financial services, Takanti observes.

"For a community of interest, where there's agreement on standards for authentication and credentialing, this model makes great sense. I think we may see it applied in other industries," Takanti says.

Source: darkreading.com

One of the biggest challenges B2B clients grapple with is content creation. Developing material that is fresh, relevant, and keeps users coming back—while also being SEO-friendly—can be difficult. This is a problem. Fortunately though, there’s an easy and effective solution. And it’s closer than you might think.

The situation

For the most part, B2B organizations struggle with content development for one reason, and it’s not because they don’t have anything to say. Rather, the problem can be attributed to staffing, or a lack thereof, as content development typically is quite lean in most B2B organizations.

However, these same organizations tend to have solid PR teams in place—whether in house or on the agency side—that are ready, willing, and able to generate new material. In essence, what these organizations lack in the area of content development, they make up for in PR.

The solution

Given that, B2B marketers struggling with content development should try to capitalize on PR to generate new content. Doing so could provide the ideal solution. In fact, my experience has shown that once PR is brought up to speed on the goal and how they can assist, they are excited to contribute.

But before you run down the hall to ask for their help, let’s first take a look at how you can get the most out of the resource.

Getting clarity

To start, if you are going to partner with PR, then it’s critical to get some clarity. Specifically, what constitutes content? Good question. And timely too, especially given the development of blended search.

Over the last year, the major search engines have started to display blended results, which integrates different forms of digital content—images, news, videos,—into the general search results. Now web pages are not the only type of content that matters. Instead, the search results landscape has changed.

This is actually a good thing. The change represents considerable opportunity for marketers as it allows them to leverage their various forms of digital content, and as a result, increases their chance to stand out amongst the clutter in the search results.

But for some reason, when marketers think of content, they limit themselves to web pages. This is a mistake. For example, most marketers fail to realize that a white paper is content too—just in a slightly different format—and that if it is optimized properly, it can do quite well in the search results.

But now with blended search, there’s so much more opportunity. Images, videos, and yes, even press releases are considered content too. In fact, a recent study on blended search reveals that of all the types of specialized content now displayed in the general search results, users prefer news items the most.

Success factors

Clearly, the opportunities for content development are endless, and PR is a great resource to leverage. However, what are the chances that the PR team is idly sitting around waiting for your call? My guess? Not very likely. So if you are considering tapping into PR, you would be wise to keep the following factors in mind as you move forward. Doing so could make the difference between the success or failure of the initiative.

Strategy. If you want to leverage PR, you’ll need their buy-in first. To start, discuss your overall strategy with them. Take the time to explain the content challenges you are experiencing, and that you value their opinions in developing a solution. While this might seem like a very trivial part of the process, it’s not. I have seen numerous organizations fail right from the starting blocks because they did not get buy-in from their PR folks.

Education. To successfully tap into PR, you need to educate them first. Again, this might seem very basic, but it is another area where organizations regularly shoot themselves in the foot. Most of the PR folks I have worked with on this were initially intimidated by the task of developing content for searchers. For the most part, I think their trepidation can be attributed to the fact that this is a new area for them. To help them feel more comfortable with the task, provide a few training sessions on what SEO is, what your goals are, and specifically what you are looking for them to do. But keep in mind that your PR folks may be wary that you’ll want them to turn everything they create into marketing fluff instead of meaningful content. Given that, be sure to spend a good amount of time discussing the types of content you are looking for them to produce. Then allow them to brainstorm some ideas; it will get you more buy-in that way.

Develop a pilot. To effectively leverage PR, start small. From my experience, the most successful initiatives start as pilots. The benefits of doing so are twofold: Not only will it help you get it right—by getting everyone on the same page first—it will also make it much easier to create momentum and show the results. This will get people excited about what you are collectively accomplishing, and as a result, they’ll be more willing to make it a regular effort.

Other formats. Leveraging PR for content development also means capitalizing on other media formats. You can involve your PR team in the optimization of additional types of digital content such as videos and podcasts. Many PR teams already create these digital assets for a variety of reasons, so take the time to train them to make subtle but effective changes, such as incorporating keywords in questions and using keywords to describe the video.

Measurement. Last, but not least, to fully capitalize on PR, you need to set goals and measure performance. A good way to start is to work with your PR team and the results of your pilot to set goals for your efforts. Be sure to set goals in terms of pages of content and frequency of update. More importantly, you must also set performance goals. But be mindful that the best goal setting is done as a collaborative effort. Make these performance goals aim for better placements in the search engines, more traffic, and more registrations or leads (some form of business results). And make sure to track these metrics monthly and report back to all involved so that everyone feels as though they are part of the effort.

Overall, if you are a B2B marketer struggling with content creation, your PR team could be the solution to your problem. But to make it work, you need to get their buy-in, run a pilot, and set and measure the goals for these efforts. If done properly, you have the chance to really make a difference.

Source: searchengineland.com

UK retailer, WHSmith, has completed an ambitious project to consolidate its B2B e-commerce network using GXS Trading Grid and GXS managed services. The move has provided WHSmith with a standardised and simplified approach to B2B e-commerce, enabling the company to focus on accelerating its supply chain initiatives rather than managing technology. GXS' global B2B platform also provides WHSmith with support for suppliers that vary in their e-commerce capabilities and technology sophistication; insulation from the complexity of evolving standards; support for multiple transaction formats beyond basic electronic data interchange (EDI); and tight integration with internal systems.

WHSmith had been a long-term user of several point solutions, data exchange methods and value added networks to support its e-business strategy, but decided to consolidate its activities using GXS managed services. The managed services enables companies to outsource many of the day-to-day aspects of managing their B2B integration infrastructure. The system enables WHSmith to automate transactions with their trading partners while shielding them from rapidly changing standards, eliminating manual and duplicative efforts and enabling a high level of process integration and business intelligence. For WHSmith, one of the key benefits of the company's use of the managed services system has been WHSmith's ability to more easily support in-store replenishment.

‘Using GXS managed services to place orders, receive confirmations, and transmit shipping notices and invoices enables stores to have stock replenished on shelves within two to three days of selling an item like a book. In other areas of the business, we've cut lead times for new stock from several weeks to less than a week,’ says Alastair Reid, support manager for the trading and marketing teams at WHSmith. ‘It has enabled us to move to a direct-from-supplier supply chain model. Instead of shipping orders to stores from stocks held in our warehouses, we now have consolidation centres that take incoming orders from suppliers, split them by store and consolidate goods from many suppliers into a single delivery for each store.’

Using the system WHSmith has been able to reallocate staff from processing paper or manual re-keying of data to activities that add more value to the business and make better use of their expertise, such as investigating invoice discrepancies. This has been coupled with greater visibility across the supply chain.

Source: supplychainstandard.com