Conferences

Pat July 2, 2013 Leave a Comment

IMA Educational Sessions Announced for August’s ASD Show

The IMA will once again be providing a lineup of educational sessions for ecommerce sellers at the ASD show in Las Vegas. The show, which is being held from August 4th – August 7th at the Las Vegas Convention Center is a terrifice sourcing opportunity for many ecommerce sellers as well as providing much needed (free) quality education.

ASD and IMA have a full two days of educational sessions prepared. All IMA classes will be held in the North Hall – room N245. Here is the lineup from the IMA speakers:

Monday, August 5

9:00AM: – Branding YOU. Get Out of the Shadows and Build Your Own Brand presented by: Mike Effle, CEO of Vendio
10:30AM – How to Deliver, Delight and Profit Using Mobile eCommerce presented by: Liam Supple, SingleFeed
12:00PM – Effective eCommerce: Understanding and Controlling Your REAL Inventory Costs presented by: Mike Effle, CEO of Vendio
1:30PM – Growing Pains: Is It Time to Build a New Web Site? presented by: Rick Wilson, President of Miva
3:00PM – ABC’s of Product Search. The Ultimate Powersellers Guide to Google Shopping presented by: Liam Supple, SingleFeed

Tuesday, August 6

9:00AM – So You Want To Be an eCommerce Seller? 10 Things You Need To Know Before You Start presented by: Rick Wilson, President of Miva
10:30AM – TBA presented by:Kabbage, Inc
12:00PM – 4 Keys to Great Content for Your eCommerce Business presented by: ,Christina Zila, Director of Communications at Textbroker International
1:30PM – TBA presented by: Kabbage, Inc

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We look forward to see many of our IMA members (and ASD attendees) at the classes!

Pat March 25, 2013 Leave a Comment

What does extreme networking look like?

At last week’s ASD trade show in Las Vegas, our partner Vendio hosted a night of ‘extreme networking’ in the IMA’s hospitality suite. Even without the fine selection of gourmet cheeses and generous supply of wine, this night would qualify as a major success for anyone in e-commerce. Over 100 people came through our hospitality suite doors that evening armed with business cards and a willingness to mingle.

One of the most popular questions that was asked was ‘So where do you sell online?” and usually followed up with “What do you sell?” When the ecommerce merchants weren’t chatting with their fellow sellers, they were seeking out the advice of service providers like Alibaba, Vendio, SingleFeed, M-Shopper and TextBroker.

Do you want to be a part of our next networking event in Las Vegas? Head over to the IMA website and click on ‘Join Us’. It’s FREE to join the IMA as an ecommerce seller! Be sure to also check out our newly launched Facebook Group where there is a ton of great information shared every day. And get ready to join us in Las Vegas during the next ASD show when we will again be getting together with our members and business partners for another extreme networking event.

Pat March 12, 2013 Leave a Comment

Vendio to host a night of ‘Extreme Networking’ at ASD

Internet Merchants Association Hospitality Suite

Join us for an evening of wine, cheese and extreme networking at Bally’s in Las Vegas (suite number to be announced at the IMA educational seminars to be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall Rm #S225) on Monday, March 18th, 2013 from 7:00pm to 10:00pm.

What is ‘Extreme Networking’? IMA members love to attend the ASD show so they can do just that – network with other ecommerce sellers and service providers. Some IMA members will tell you that the knowledge they receive from networking at our hospitality suite is worth the trip out to Las Vegas every year! Better yet – we suggest you come up and ask them yourself!

This year, our Monday night hospitality suite is sponsored by Vendio, a long-time partner of the IMA. Vendio would love to welcome you to the hospitality suite on Monday, March 18th. Stop by the educational seminars hosted by the IMA at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the day on Monday (South Hall, Room S225) to find out the suite number. We hope to see you there!

Vendio

Pat January 12, 2013 Leave a Comment

IMA Announces Educational Sessions at ASD for March, 2013

IMA has lined up some great speakers for attendees of the ASD trade show for March 18-19, 2013. As always, our speakers will be providing educational classes for both ecommmerce newbies and advanced sellers. If you are an ecommerce seller, this is a great trade show to source new product and learn about the latest in ecommerce! Here’s the current lineup:

Monday, March 18, 2013
9:00 – 10:00
Mike Effle, CEO Vendio

Online Triple Threat: Selling on Amazon, eBay and Your Web Site

Selling to customers online can be compared to having multiple store locations in the offline world. If you are selling on one online venue, it’s probably time you considered diversifying. Just as with brick and mortar businesses, your online business can grow exponentially the more locations you have. Mike Effle, CEO at Vendio, will help you discover the most effective ways to use eBay, Amazon and your own web site to boost your online sales.

Join Mike, a long time industry veteran as he guides you in developing a strong online marketing strategy that will make your online presence known and your sales soar.

Monday, March 18, 2013
10:30 – 11:30
Liam Supple, Product Marketing, SingleFeed

Google Shopping – Get the 800 Pound Gorilla On Your Side

Using Google Shopping may be the best way to get your products noticed. With so many changes to the comparison shopping search landscape, Liam Supple of SingleFeed will show you some expert techniques for getting your products indexed into Google Shopping for the maximum impact.

Getting your products found on the internet is tough! If you are ready to submit your product listings to Google Shopping, then you owe it to yourself to attend this session with Liam Supple of SingleFeed.

Monday, March 18, 2013
12:00 – 1:00
Harry Hirschman, VP of Marketing and Business Development, Vendio

Mobile Commerce and “Showrooming”: Win Business From The Big Box Stores

The reality of competing against Big Box Stores is that there are some things you will never beat them on but there are just as many strategies that you can implement where you can have the upper hand!

Join Harry Hirschman, Vice-President of Marketing and Business Development for Vendio as he discusses the ‘Showrooming’ phenomena and how you can win business from the Big Box stores. Harry will help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of the Big Box Retailers and what you can do as a small to medium sized business to up your game.

Monday, March 18, 2013
1:30 – 2:30
Marc Gorlin, Co-founder & Chairman, Kabbage

Funding Your Expanding Ecommerce Business – Case Studies

Raising funds is something most businesses don’t like to do. Sometimes it’s because the lending landscape has changed and it appears difficult – if not impossible – to raise capital and sometimes the reason is that small businesses don’t believe they should be raising funds at all.

Marc Gorlin, the co-founder and Chairman of Kabbage will present some case studies of growing businesses and how and why they raised the capital to fund the expansion of their businesses.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013
9:00 – 10:00
Rick Wilson, President/COO, Miva Merchant

Devour Your Competition: Building the Best Web Site

Building a web site is easy; building a GREAT web site that has all the features that customers like takes some skill and knowledge. Even if you think your web site already has it all, Rick Wilson, President of Miva Merchant has some ideas and suggestions for creating the kind of web site that customers have to come to expect in ecommerce shopping – and the kind of web site that will help you devour your competition.

We love knowing that customers are visiting our ecommerce site, but how do we turn a browser into a buyer? For most ecommerce web sites, less than 4% of all visitors actually make a purchase. So how can you increase your sales conversion rate when the odds are against you? With over 13 years in ecommerce, Rick has the expertise to help guide you – and your buyers – in the right direction.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013
10:30 – 11:30
Liam Supple, Product Marketing, SingleFeed

Comparison Shopping Engines 101: Getting Your Products Found

Maybe you’ve heard about comparison shopping engines and want to learn more. Perhaps you’ve never even considered them for your ecommerce web site. In either case, this is the session for you to attend to learn the basics of comparison shopping engines.

In this beginner to intermediate level class, SingleFeeds’ Liam Supple will give you the knowledge you need, teach you the ins and outs of comparison shopping engines and show you some expert techniques to getting your product indexed on the comparison shopping engines.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013
12:00 – 1:00
Rick Wilson, President/COO, Miva Merchant

The Rise of Tablets – How Responsive Web Design Is In Your Future

Your web site needs to be accessible and usable for everyone even as the number of devices, platforms and browsers that are used to access it continue to expand every day. Incorporating a responsive web design represents a fundamental shift in how web sites are built now – and into the future.

Join Rick Wilson, President of Miva Merchant as he discusses the explosive growth in tablets and how you need to be making changes to your site now along with things you need to consider as you redesign your ecommerce web site in the future.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013
1:30 – 2:30
Marc Gorlin, Co-founder & Chairman, Kabbage

Personal Credit vs Business Credit – What’s the right type to grow my business?

Many small businesses rely on their own credit to fund their business. But when is it prudent to consider a business loan? And what are the differences between business credit and personal credit? Most businesses find that it’s important to maintain a business credit profile that is distinctly separate from your personal credit profile.
Building separation between the two can help your business develop the credibility that matters to banks, suppliers, and other creditors.

Join Marc Gorlin, co-founder of Kabbage as he discusses the differences between the two so you can decide which one is right for you.

Pat August 30, 2010 Leave a Comment

ASD Educational Sessions Now Available

submitted by: Pat – West Florida Components

The Internet Merchants Association and its sponsors recently presented eight educational sessions to the ASD trade show attendees. The bi-annual sourcing show was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center with over 30.000 visitors in attendance.

Platinum and Diamond level sponsors including Vendio, Alibaba and MIVA Merchant were among the featured speakers on topics ranging from integrating social media to building effective web sites and search engine optimization.

Most of the speakers have provided their slide decks so that session attendees can review them and download them. The slide presentations are available at slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/imamerchants

The Internet Merchants Association is now accepting applications for the March, 2011 educational sessions. Speaking preference is given to all IMA Platinum and Diamond level sponsors. Interested parties can learn more about the speaking and membership opportunities by contacting Pat Pepe. She can be reached by email at pat@imamerchants.org.

Cathy March 15, 2010 Leave a Comment

Reflections on the 2010 IMA Conference

I budget a lot of money on seminars every year, I feel my education is important to me and my business. Although IMA is fairly a new trade association, I continue to be impressed with the conferences that is put on. This year’s conference, which I’m still thinking about, was no exception.

I didn’t have the opportunity to go to all of the ASD & IMA seminars (this photo by IMA president Fred Neff is of just one of the well-attended seminars).

Because I’m familiar with videos and blogging, the rest of the social media venues and networks intrigue me most. So I found this video extremely powerful, and I hope you’ll take the time to watch it.

I keep remembering what Rick Wilson of Miva Merchant (an IMA diamond member) said: social media is a “circle of life.” It’s about the three C’s: connections, then conversation, and then conversations. So if we can build a community of supporters for our businesses and give them good content, they can help us tremendously with our marketing.

Here are some free tools I learned about at the conference:

Backtype.com, which is a real-time tool for you to keep tabs of what people are saying about your business
Alterian has a freemium version of its monitoring service for you to monitor your social media venues
Here is a free tool that helps you with documents, www.docstoc.com
And another for PowerPoint presentations, www.slideshare.net

What did you enjoy most about the conference? Please share your learnings.

Cathy January 9, 2010 Leave a Comment

Business Conference – How Do You Continue Your Education

written by Cathy, Visibility Unlimited

We all think we are the best person to grow our business. The best person for SEO, the best web designer, the best IT person, the best at everything we do. But the problem is that your competitors think the same. The e-commerce industry moves so fast that it is actually impossible to keep up with all the trends and changes. You need help; we all need help to stay ahead of our competitors.

I have taken my education very seriously the last few years and to be honest, the improvement in my bottom line is the proof that it was well worth it. I have gone to business seminars, web design conferences, SEO conferences and many marketing seminars and to me, the cost of being away from my business and the conference expenses were worth every penny. A conference can cost up to thousands of dollars and when you spend this kind of money, it is important to make sure that this investment is going to help your business grow.

One of my favorite conferences that I look forward to every year is the one from the Internet Merchants Association (IMA) which will be held in Las Vegas, March 2-3,2010. It is presented in conjunction with the ASD/AMD Sourcing Show where IMA offers free business seminars to the attendees. This year on the 1st & 2nd of March, IMA will present titles that include “The ABCs of Web Design”, “Big Ideas for Small Businesses” and “Get Found in Search Engines: SEO 101” to just name a few.

Rick Wilson, Vice President of MIVA Merchant will present an important topic at the IMA Conference, “Top 10 Tips for Designing a Great Checkout Process.” I look forward to hearing what expert Rick has to say about the checkout process. The checkout process for your customers is so important and if your customers “don’t get it” then you can be out of business quickly.

While I love to blog, I am not consistent with the “other” social media stuff. I really do understand it but there has to be a way to make it more financially viable for my business. “Nine Ways to Make Your E-Commerce Site More Social” will help me pull it all together and complete my 2010 plan for my business. Another title that I am looking forward to attending at the IMA Conference in March is “How 21st Century PR Can Build Your Brand”.

I hope you can attend the IMA Conference, March 2-3 in Las Vegas. If you do attend, track me down and I will be happy to buy you a few drinks in the IMA Networking Suite.

Cyn March 6, 2008 Leave a Comment

Last Day of the IMA Conference

Good morning from San Antonio. It is good to be home, but now I have to get to work putting all this new information to work in my business!

If you missed the last day of the conference, you missed out on some great information. Michael Levit from Vendio was the first presenter “Cross Channel Selling Costs and the Effects of eBay’s New Pricing.”

Vendio

Mike spoke about the importance of creating and running your own website store. Get your webstore established now, as internet retailing is only going to get more competitive in the future. He gave us valuable information on how to market a webstore through SEO, SEM and CSE’s (comparison shopping engines).

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Cyn March 4, 2008 1 Comment

Day 2 of IMA Conference

Howdy. Day 2 was very fast paced – my head is still spinning from all the information that was presented by the speakers as well as conversation with other members.

Upon registration, some of us received canvas tote bags compliments of BuySafe with the IMA logo on one side and the BuySafe Logo on the other. In my bag was the book “eBay Power Seller Secrets- 2nd Edition” by Debra and Brad Schepp. This was exciting to me as I am quoted in this book! I will be available for signings later today

The first presentation was given by Matt Singer of TalkMarket – How to Create an Effective Video Presentation. We learned tips and tricks to create an effective video designed to keep the potential buyers attention and convert them to a sale. Video marketing is the new internet marketing vehicle. If you’re not doing it – it is something you need to seriously consider!

Talk Market

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