Page 3
48 Textile Japanese
Companies Went Bankrupt
According to media reports 48 Japanese textile companies went
bankrupt during September 2005.
The bankrupt companies are reported to have liabilities of more than JPY10 million each.
A number of countries have recorded downturns in textiles trade since global quotas expired in January, allowing big producers such
as China to strengthen their hold on the market.
12/12
Playboy Expands to Hong
Kong & Malaysia
Multimedia entertainment group Playboy Enterprises Inc is to open
Playboy Concept Boutiques in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as it
continues its retail expansion.
The new locations, which bring Playboy’s number retail stores up to five, are
expected to open before the end of the year.
The stores will sell full collections of Playboy fashion and accessories, as well
as other Playboy-branded consumer products aimed at young men and women.
Playboy chairman and chief executive Christie Hefner said: "The retail success
of our existing freestanding stores in Tokyo, Las Vegas, and Melbourne enables us to expand confidently to other
cities, further enhancing our brand equity and strengthening our global retail presence".
Playboy's branded line of licensed fashion and consumer products includes
men's and women's fashion apparel and accessories, underwear, legwear, outerwear and footwear, as well as home
furnishings and lifestyle and entertainment products.
4/24
La Perla to Cut Jobs
Italian textile company La Perla, one of the world's leading manufacturers of
women's lingerie, plans to cut a third of its workforce before the end of 2007
as part of restructuring, trade unions said on Wednesday.
The management of La Perla, which is based in the north eastern Italian city of Bologna, had told trade union representatives of the plan to slash 410 jobs.
A trade union representative estimated that the group had made a loss of €9.0 million in 2004, but said that unions would resist "with force any attempt to put 410 workers in the street".
The company said in a statement that it was necessary to
"re-launch" the group, which was founded in 1960 before becoming a leading company in the market for high-quality, fashionable underwear.
A model is wearing a garment from the Terilyn K Ltd Collection
during the Lingerie Classique Fashion Show in Las Vegas.
Look for more photos from the Lingerie Classique show
in the
November 1st issue of McPete Sez.
"Ask Kevin"
For all of your website questions...
Kevin and his wife have been retailing lingerie and adult products since 1988. They started out with home parties through "Lotions & Lace" and their home party / retailing kits and then opened up their store "Interludes Lingerie & Tanning Boutique" in Butte Montana in 1998.
"We owe a lot of our financial success to the addition of our website to our store. We believe that in today's fast paced market, internet marketing goes hand in hand with any business. My wife and I currently have four successful websites online that we retail quality lingerie, exotic dancewear, sexy shoes and adult novelties. All of these compliment each other with the major search engines.
I designed our first website in 1996 for retailing quality lingerie on the internet. The store and the website complimented each other financially so designing and maintaining websites has become a passion for me over the last 9 years.
My personal site design experiences include all levels of internet marketing and design including secure server ordering processes, merchant account integration, HTML editing, photo editing, graphic design and banner advertisements. All of which are needed on a business style website. I also design websites and act as a consultant for clients who want to do business online. I welcome your questions and comments regarding website design, internet marketing, photo editing, domain registrations and hosting."
Internet Marketing
& Site Optimization Tips:
http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/848190
You can ask Kevin questions at Kevin@mcpetesez.com
We were fortunate in the beginning to be one of the most popular webpages, earning 1000 or more visitors a day but nowadays we receive as few as 250.
I know that more lingerie websites popped all over and copied our success using the discount keywords.
I have been reviewing different sources for key word advertising including pay per click, shopping sites, adwords etc. What do you think is the best way to promote your site with advertising on the net that will give
immediate results and low cost.
Thank you
Sherri Myers
http://www.discount-intimate-apparel.com
http://www.ladystrange.com
Sherri,
It is frustrating to see lots of hits and sales for a period of time and then watch them go stale. This can happen if you make changes to your HTML code that the search engines find negative towards their rules of priority listing. It can also happen if you don't submit your site often enough with "fresh" content and changes.
Keeping any site listed high on the search listings is very challenging but it is a necessary evil when marketing a website. In order to get better listings, which translate into more "unique hits" and sales, you need to first do some research as to what exactly is it that a "top search engine" looks for in a site. There is a very good software program that I have been using for a few years now, made by Webposition that teaches you how to set up your HTML code, Meta tags, and alt tags for each individual search engine. They update their software with the common changes of the top search engines. By using it, you can monitor your competition and your ranking / listings. This will really help you obtain and keep better listings with any search engine. I have an affiliate link to their site if you'd like to check them out.
http://www.webposition.com/d2.pl?r=FYD-5556
When it comes to spending money for internet advertising, my theory is: The best advertising is "free" advertising. There are no guarantees of better listings and hits to your site with "pay per clicks". If your sites are properly designed, you can be listed among the top dozen listings on the search engines for free. I have had the best luck with Yahoo and eventually, after getting listed there, Google started listing me for free with the link popularity and hits I had received from Yahoo. Try to emulate the layout of the HTML, Keywords, descriptions and meta tags that the higher listing sites use. You can spend as much money as you want on "pay per clicks", ad words, etc... but if your site isn't set up properly or maintained and submitted often enough, all that money will do you little good when you're up against the big name companies with the deep pockets.
If I was going to spend any money on internet advertising, it would be with Yahoo & Google in their "Sponsored Links" sections. These will get you the best results for "paid" advertising.
Good Luck with your internet marketing,
Kevin
Hello Kevin,
I am starting an internet lingerie business. I just have a few questions I hope you can provide some perspective on.
1. I have not been able to find any information on average annual stores sales for lingerie internet stores. I know everything depends on the quality of the site, products, marketing, etc., but is there a resource to provide average sales info?
2. Do most internet only businesses carry inventory? What is your personal recommendation?
3. Are there "peak" selling times during the year? I would assume christmas would be the busiest time of year, followed by valentines day. Is this correct?
Thanks for your help!
Sandy
Sandy,
Congratulations on starting your own internet lingerie business. Your first question regarding average annual sales is a complex one. I am not aware of any specific resource for any exact numbers for this type of data. There are far too many variables involved for providing an accurate sales projection especially with a new website just starting out. There are many lingerie related sites out there that make very good incomes. There are also a lot of them that don't. It really depends on how you promote your new site and how it is designed. You definitely want to get your new site listed high in the top search engines such as "Google, Yahoo, and MSN". They offer "paid" inclusions but if you're like most small businesses, you need to watch your budget. Getting listed for free is possible with proper site design and submitting procedures.
Your second question asks if most "internet only" stores carry inventory. This depends on if you decide to handle all of the ordering, packaging and mailing duties yourself. If you want to succeed online with any business, you need to get your merchandise to your customer in a prompt manner. The quickest way to hurt your online business and lose customers is to make them wait for an order they've made online with their computers. You should carry an inventory of the more popular items for this reason. Many lingerie suppliers require you to order at least $100.00 dollars worth of goods on an order. My personal recommendation for a new online business is to find a reputable, high quality supplier that "Drop Ships" your orders to your customers. The usual $5.00 fee for this service is well worth it and your business will succeed and give off the appearance of a larger company without having to carry large inventories. I have been working with Elegant Moments Lingerie for years and recommend their drop ship program for the smaller online lingerie stores. Another one to consider is "Sensual Mystique". They are somewhat new but might be worth a try.
Christmas and Valentine's Day are some of the best "Peak Selling" times of the year for your online lingerie businesses. However, we have found that Mother's Day, St. Patty's Day, and Halloween are some extraordinary times for selling and upselling from our lingerie related websites. Always update and make holiday related changes to your sites at these times of year (well in advance) for increased sales. Halloween can be more productive than Christmas with the right promotions and costumes.
Good Luck with your website. Kevin
Hi Kevin,
I'm planning to advertise our new Pastie Tattoos in McPeteSez. (please scroll down to see pictures)
This is a wonderful product...and we are the only company in the world producing it!
Pastie Tattoos apply on the skin in just 10 seconds with water...they last for 2-5 days, even while swimming, bathing, etc. (easy to remove with household rubbing alcohol.)
We introduced this product a few months ago at the Adult Novelty Expo and the response has been tremendous,
from distributors of Adult novelties as well as Adult home party companies.
I would like we discuss how you might be able to help us achieve distribution and sales in the Lingerie and internet markets.
A little background:
We have been the leading producer of Temporary Tattoos for the mainstream retail market and promotional products market for over 20 years.
We have produced custom tattoos for promotional giveaways for thousands of companies...everyone from Disney to Seagram's to 7Eleven.
We currently have our Tattoos is several major chains and hundreds of smaller stores.
We are pretty new to the Adult and Lingerie markets and could use some help in understanding the potential.
You seem to know a great deal about this and I would love to speak with you.
I can be reached by email or my direct phone line: 619-316-5118.
Hope to hear from you.
kind regards,
Joyce Bordelon
Joyce,
I took a look at your website and your ad for your "Pastie Tattoo's". These tattoo's specifically and your other tattoo products are a great
"niche" market and given a true chance on the internet, should be easy to market to the adult, lingerie, swimwear, sports and related
industries.
The first thing I would do to get increased product awareness of your tattoo's and more unique hits to your website is to directly contact as
many website owners and marketers as you can and offer them wholesale inventories of your products. This does take time initially
but can be done by doing searches for and visiting the many adult product related sites and contacting them via email or phone. Most
established and trusted website marketers offer their contact information on their websites for better customer trust.
You will most likely get offers to resell your products from their websites. You should also consider trading links and banners with
other related sites. This increases site popularity which gives your website better ratings and listings with the top search engines.
I would definitely contact the main warehouses that manufacture and distribute adult novelty's such as Peekay and Eldorado for mass
marketing of your products.
Another great place to market your pasties tattoo's would be in the exotic dance clubs and their websites. They would go over really well
with the dancers and customers.
Good Luck with your internet marketing,
Kevin
The "Ask Kevin" Column is an opinion Column and may
not necessarily reflect the views of
McPete Sez
Halloween Pets
Hey Sales Reps !!!
Would you like to write an article for this newsletter? we are
looking 
for information for our readers and if you have anything to
contribute please e-mail me.
End of page 3
