International Trade Blog

Trade Safely Online

2005-05-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

Protect Yourself - Be Aware of Internet Fraud & Scams
At NuDeal, we are focused on ensuring your use of our site is fast, easy and safe. Most of the business introductions made using NuDeal are legitimate, and result in successful business partnerships. However, there are those who attempt to commit fraud with scams, fraudulent emails, and concealment of identity for purposes of criminal intent. Below are some important ways you can protect yourself and ensure you enjoy the benefits of Internet trade portal sites like NuDeal.

Five Tips to Protect Yourself

Be Cautious - It is human nature to be trusting. However, people take advantage of this every day. Do not rush into a business deal with anyone. Take the time to check their credentials. If you feel even slightly uneasy, ask for a face to face meeting, or prior customers you can speak with. The most powerful question available to you is "Why?" and use it to understand the reasons they are asking for certain info from you, especially sensitive information like payment, or credit card or banking information. If they are inconsistent or hesitant to provide info back to you, or in any way suspicious... then double check their credentials... In fact, triple check them!
Confirm Contact Information - Check to ensure the phone number, email address, and physical address all belong to the same company and are in the same country. If you note any inconsistencies in their contact information, take steps to confirm the legitamacy of their information. Scammers can create fake email addresses and other address information, so it is vital that you check this carefully.
NuDeal will NEVER ask you for sensitive information in an emailWe will never ask you for banking or credit card information in an email. We will never ask you to verify your membership info in an email. If you receive an email that looks to have come from us at NuDeal, be sure it has. Our email addresses have @nudeal.com in them. If there is any other character like @NuDeal-Site.com or anything similar it is likely a fraudulent email. Similarily, our web address is www.NuDeal.com. If you see an address like www.NuDeal-Site.com or similar, it is likely a scammer site setup for fraudulent reasons.
Be Aware of Fake Email Addresses - It is possible for a scam artist to send emails that look legitimate, but are fake. Be very careful when you receive email correspondance (even from those you know) to ensure you are dealing with a real company. Ask for multiple ways to contact their company including their phone number and fax number. Verify their business registration in the country they propose to be from.
Suspect Shipping Addresses - Certain parts of the world are unfortunately known for higher rates of fraud. These are Central America, Western Africa, and Eastern Europe. Be extra cautious when dealing with individuals and companies from these locations.

If you follow these safe trading tips and use common sense when doing business internationally you can help avoid fraud and scams.

NuDeal Admin

New About Us Page

2005-04-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

We've recently added a new information page for NuDeal.com that gives you some additional insight into our free services and history for our company. You can find the new page at:

http://www.NuDeal.com/New/Resources/AboutUs.aspx

Here is a short excerpt from the page:

Our Services

Designed for simplicity and speed, the NuDeal system is organized into four key areas:

Free Trade Leads - A trade lead is a simple online advertisement of your product or service. NuDeal's free trade leads are viewed every day by thousands of people worldwide. If you are a manufacturer, buyer, supplier, importer or exporter, you can find quality trade leads here.
Product Catalog Listings - The NuDeal product catalog is an excellent place for you to showcase your company's unique products. If you are a buyer, importer, or wholesaler, you can find quality products here.
Company Listings - The NuDeal company listing section is an excellent place for you to promote your company. If your are a marketing or sales professional, you can use NuDeal to get your company noticed.
Trade Resources - The NuDeal resources section was created to give our visitors the very best international trade information. You can find useful links to articles, websites, whitepapers and guides to help you better navigate the global marketplace.

NuDeal Feature Descriptions

2005-04-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

For those wondering what the main features NuDeal.com offers, here are some quick descriptions and links:

Trade Resources
http://www.NuDeal.com/New/Resources/

The NuDeal resources section is designed to give visitors quick access to international trade information. You can find useful links to articles, websites, whitepapers and guides in our resources section. Our resources section is a good place to get education on global trade.

Search
http://www.NuDeal.com/New/Search/

Our search functionality allows you to find trade leads, products and company listings with one easy search. Our search technology allows for very quick searches through thousands of listings. Search results are returned in an easy to read format and allow quick access to information.

Trade Leads
http://www.NuDeal.com/New/Tradeleads/

Trade leads are online business listings advertising products or services. It is very quick and easy to create a trade lead listing on NuDeal and our free trade leads section is visited every day by thousands of people worldwide.

Product Catalog
http://www.NuDeal.com/New/Products/

Our product catalog area is where you can place listings for your company's unique products. You can create a listing that describes a series of products, or one for each seperate product you offer. You can also create a link to your own website's product pages.

Company Listings
http://www.NuDeal.com/New/Companies/

Company listings is where you can create an online web presence for your company. Our company listings feature allows you to describe your company, it's products and services, link to your website, and describe your quality control.

NuDeal Listed on Government Sites

2005-04-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

We are happy to announce that NuDeal has been listed on a number of respected government websites. We continue to strive for excellence and we are pleased to see that our efforts are recognized by these quality organizations.

USA Chamber of Commerce
http://www.usachamberofe-commerce.com/FreeTradeLeads/FreeTradeLeadsMain.asp

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
http://atn-riae.agr.ca/region/3754_e.htm

Vancouver Economic Development Commission
http://www.vancouvereconomic.com/business_tools/other_resources.asp

West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce
http://www.westvanchamber.com/links.html

New Site Launch - Success!

2005-04-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.NuDeal.com

The launch of the new version of NuDeal.com has been a great success thanks to the thousands of members who registered within the first few days and have already started posting Trade Leads, Products, and Company Listings.

If you have not already done so, here are five great reasons why you should use the new version:

1. NuDeal is a free service with no cost to you
2. Worldwide reach with members in over 150 Countries
3. Thousands of people view trade leads on NuDeal daily
4. Fast effective search capabilities
5. Did we mention it was free?

Due to the overwhelming number of visitors on the new site in the first few hours of being online, some members experienced intermittent delays when logging into NuDeal. These minor issues have been addressed and the the site is now operating as expected.

NuDeal is an easy to use, free trade leads website for people looking to find new sales and buying leads. Our site is visited daily by thousands of buyers and sellers worldwide. Features include a product catalog area, company listings and trade resources where you can quickly find information on doing business internationally.

NuDeal.com is Live

2005-04-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

We are very pleased to announce that the new version of NuDeal is available.

http://www.NuDeal.com

Already thousands of members have joined the new site and we have listings coming in from all over the world.

Over the next few months we will be rolling out new features, better search and sort capabilities and a host of other site improvements. Check back frequently to see the updates.

Final Countdown to Launch

2005-04-03T16:52:00.000-07:00

We are very pleased to report that we are into the final stretch for releasing the new version of NuDeal. Our quality assurance team has given the new application their final stamp of approval. We are now preparing to send a message to our members to let them know of the new version.

At midnight tonight, Pacific Standard Time, we will change the site to point at the new version. The old version of NuDeal will still remain accessible to members with bookmarks or search engines with cached versions of the site.

On the homepage for the new site is a link back to the previous version, which will allow members to review, modify, or copy from previous postings.

One final feature added today was an automailer for forgotten passwords which will give new members an easy way to retrieve their password.

It can be found at: http://www.NuDeal.com/New/Register/Login.aspx

Fresh New Look

2005-04-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

As part of our marketing rollout strategy for the new version of NuDeal, we have retooled our logo and company template designs. We feel the new logo, while not radically different from the previous one, is clean, sleek and makes a lasting impression.

You can view the new logo on the site at: http://www.NuDeal.com

NuDeal Launch - Two Days Away!

2005-04-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

We are putting the final touches on the NuDeal.com trade leads application (http://www.NuDeal.com) in preperation for the worldwide launch on April 4th. We recently added a sitemap at: http://www.NuDeal.com/New/Sitemap.htm which is a quick launching place to all other areas of the site.

Final categories are being added to the system now, and some performance tuning is taking place. One of the key goals for the site was performace, and it uses the latest technology in caching (storing in memory for quick retrieval). We expect this to provide sub-second response even under heavy load (i.e. many happy users on the site at the same time).

As we add refinements to the site we will post messages here with details on how to use the new features, and also see previews of upcoming improvements. Check back often to find out what's new.

NuDeal Trial Run - Success

2005-03-27T08:34:00.000-08:00

Within the first few minutes of the new NuDeal site being live we had a number of new members join, post and edit trade leads and a few company listings. We did notice a few minor hiccups in a couple of areas, but those are currently being addressed by our technical team.

Wih a few listings in the products catalog area, it has demonstrated that the new products feature will be a hit with our membership base.

Overall we are extremely pleased with how the new site has worked. We received feedback from a few members and the response is very positive toward the new NuDeal site.

NuDeal Trial Run - Easter Weekend

2005-03-25T18:58:00.000-08:00

We decided to give the NuDeal site a trial run through the Easter weekend. The full launch is still planned for April 1st when we'll update all links coming into the site. For a short period anyone going directly to http://www.NuDeal.com will arrive at the homepage for the new site.

Within the first few minutes of having the site live we had new trade leads posted and a few registrations from Chinese companies. China continues to be one of the highest traffic producers for NuDeal. Part of the redesign of the site was to prepare it for eventual translation into Chinese as well to help further improve our standing there.

On Thursday we will be sending an invite out to our existing members. Currently we have around 55,000 members using the legacy trade leads site. Members will be encouraged to register with the new site as it has improved membership management that requires additional info.

The team is excited about the prospects for the new site, and some of the technologies we have in development (more to come on this later).

Trade Leads Portal Launching April 4th 2005

2005-03-24T16:38:00.000-08:00

We're getting close to announcing the release of our newly revised NuDeal.com international trade portal application. The site has been undergoing thorough testing by our quality assurance team and we are targeting April 4th, 2005 for the official release.

Existing members will receive an email a day earlier with the opportunity to be the first to stake claim to the new site and get their trade leads and product listings in place. The last time we launched a new version in 2000 when we changed from BC Trade Network to NuDeal.com we had hundreds of postings in place within the first few hours.

For those who read the blog regularily, there is a preview of our press release at our Advanium website at: http://www.Advanium.ca and you can read about the launch of the new version of NuDeal.com

International Trade Resources

2005-03-10T16:31:00.000-08:00

We've updated NuDeal with a new section called "Trade Resources" which we plan to make into the best place to find information on international trade and doing business in foreign markets. This came about as we struggled to find one place with really great links to trade articles, websites, guides, and white papers online.

You can see the new resources section at: http://www.NuDeal.com/new/resources/

There are literally thousands of sites out there with great trade information, but it can be hard to find. We took the approach that by placing abstracts (links with short clear descriptions) in our resources section to reviewed, human validated content, we could better aggregate this together.

It is a work in progress and we're looking for comments and suggestions for resources we can add in. The framework is in place so it is easy to add content, and it is indexed into our search system, so finding the resources after will be straightforward. Let us know what you think works, and what we should change.

What is NuDeal?

2005-01-25T23:59:00.000-08:00

Our goal for NuDeal is to become the world's leading international trade leads portal. Already thousands of people come to our http://www.NuDeal.com/ site to find qualified buyers and sellers in our Trade Leads, Product Listings and Company Listings sections.

Based in the trading port city of Vancouver, Canada, NuDeal has been online since 1998 when it was originally called "BC Trade Network". Our site is listed on local and regional chamber of commerce sites and is linked to by about 13,000 websites globally (you can see this by searching for "NuDeal" at Google).

The site has gone through a number of revisions and we are about to launch a new version that is rebuilt from the ground up using the latest technology. The site will be much faster, easier, and useful for our visitors and members.

We sincerly hope you visit our site and find it a valuable tool for promoting your products and services to an international audience.

NuDeal is owned in Canada by Advanium Software Inc. - http://www.advanium.ca/