To Froogle or Not to Froogle

Selling on the Internet is no different then traditional selling. Every business must remember the 4 Ps: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. However the internet is a little more complicated because with the click of a mouse a potential consumer could obtain several different prices for the same product. Therefore price and product become almost irrelevant tosome degree; because no matter how good your price is on a product someonemight be able to undercut you. However, promotion is a very valuable asset, but we will save that for another article. Today we will discuss product placement better known as product distribution.

Free Online Product Distribution

Every question I have with a website owner is always the same, How do I get my website higher rankedin the search engines? If the company is trying to drive traffic to increase product sales or drive traffic to its paid sponsorships theanswer is always the same. I recommend blogs and content distribution. However, if the individual has a tangible product I recommend three free options.

1. Froogle " Googles free product search engine thatallows anyone to submit their products for free. The Froogle search engine will list your products image, description and price based on relevant searches. The only two requirements are that the products are shippableto the United States and are for sale online.


2. Free Product Listing Sites " if you organization is in a specific niche market there is a good chance there is an online community that might offer a place for you to list your products for free. Spend a few minutes searching Google to see if any suchcommunities exist. A good example is No. 1 Artist " an online community for artist that allows artists to sell their artworkfor free. The organization takes a small transaction fee for each sale, but it creates free exposure for artists products.


3. Press Releases " if your company has something to talk about then create a press release to let the world know about it. There are several free press release companies, I recommend PR Web. Most of these press release organizations also offer paid inclusions that enhance your visibility. For example PR News Wire offers a middle level package that will automatically add your press release to both Yahoo! and Google News.

Why use these free resources?

Why not, they are free. The more places your products are listed the better chance that someone will find what they are searching for andat the right price. In addition, joining a community or product sale website helps to see what others are doing to sell their products. As good as you think you are at selling your products online, there is someone outa competitor is.

Who uses Froogle?

Overstock.com, Buy.com, No.1 Artist, Barnes & Noble. Why not have your products listed next to theirs?

Help!!! Froogle Setup Seems too Difficult!

I agree, to the average Joe the Froogle process is comprehensive. However the benefits go on, Based on relevance, your item may appear on Google properties like Froogle, and Google Maps and the main Google web search (Google Base FAQ). Meaning if you submit good data there is a strong likelihood that your Froogle submission could actually land in various places within the Google platform.

I personally use a third party vendor to automate my Froogle Feeds three times a week. The company is Hudson Horizons. Their support is fantastic and the price is affordable. Here is an actual Froogle listing done by Hudson Horizons for No. 1 Artist.

If you have products for sale online and theyare not listed in Froogle thenyou are missing out on a huge opportunity to increase your sales with FREE product placement!