International Web Marketing

I just read Tamar Weinberg’s internet marketing advice and noticed the different internet marketing specialties she listed:

• Search Engine Optimization
• Link Building
• Affiliate Marketing
• Pay Per Click Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Content Marketing

I agree with Tamar when she says you can’t be an expert in every one of these. Most web marketers have one area they are really good at.

This got me thinking about the specialties I use to reach international audiences for my own business.  The first thing I noticed is that I don’t use Link Building, Affiliate Marketing and Pay Per Click Marketing.  And this is probably because I tend to jump right into new markets to learn everything I can about them first.

• I don’t see myself getting into link building as it’s done by most people today.  I tend to approach link building through social networking, more about that in a minute. But I do see link building changing in the future and I’ll probably be right there when it does because it will involve more meaningful networking.
• And I don’t see myself ever getting big into pay per click marketing. But having said that, I’m closely following the results others get with Facebook advertising and may use something similar in small doses in the future.
• Although I’m not really interested in the traditional affiliate marketing practices, I do a lot of networking and do use similar practices to build business networks. I can see myself joining in when this morphs into the business networking world a bit more.

After looking at the web marketing I do not specialize in, here is how I see my own international web marketing specialties.

International Social Networking

It all starts here for me.  This is how I learn what to do next, the other tactics I need to use and whether my web marketing is on target or not.  I rely on the feedback and constantly analyze results to learn more about my new international markets.

Social networking is a mindset and a way of being. It’s what you need for successful international web marketing.

Although Tamar doesn’t have social networking on her list, it is a part of good link building, affiliate marketing and social media marketing.  And I think it is essential in international web marketing and needs to be in a category all by itself.

I would definitely say this is my strongest international web marketing specialty.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing goes hand in hand with international social networking because much of the social networking starts on social media.

Social media marketing is not always a big component of international web marketing. It really depends on where you’re based and which markets you want to reach.  And you need to keep your finger on the social media pulse of the countries you’re interested in reaching, because things change rapidly.

I’m based in France and target an English speaking audience.  So I use social media extensively to develop my international business network and everyone in a similar situation should do so too.

Social media marketing works very well for me.  I’ve written before about how surprised I was when I realized my social media marketing was always 100% on target.  And I’ve come to realize this is because of the similarities between my international business skills and the cross-cultural people skills.

• My strong international business development skills make it easy for me to adapt business objectives into new environments.
• And my strong cross-cultural skills come in very handy in this social environment. I know myself well enough to navigate between the social and the business focus, skills you pick up when doing business with people from different cultures.

I would say this is my second strongest web marketing specialty.

Content Marketing

I love the results you get from content marketing.  There are organic search results of course.  But you also get lots of feedback through content marketing, and this feedback is important when you are trying to develop new markets in different countries.

And once you get feedback there’s so much more you can do to try to develop the relationships you create.  First there’s listening and paying attention to the whole conversation.  And then even if the content is static once it’s published online, you can still bounce back with more content and use different formats to see what the reactions this brings about.  It’s a game about finding out more about your audience.

I really find this fun and I’m good at it on subjects where I have enough knowledge to see the whole game.

Search Engine Optimization

Many businesses that want to develop international markets worry about the cultural differences in SEO and there are a few other search engines besides Google out there.  But the reality is that the Google algorithm does makes the vast majority of the world’s search engines tick.

So it makes sense to get great at SEO in the Google world first. And then once you’ve mastered this you can work on improving SEO results in other countries. And the truth is that if you understand your international clients, if you know the words they use when they need help online, and you have a good understanding of SEO, then you’ll know how to get good search engine results throughout most of the world.

SEO is important for everyone online and I spend a fair bit of time improving my skills and learning enough to follow the well-known SEO geeks and understand what they are talking about.

Email Marketing

This is my weakest skill because I don’t do enough of it myself and also because I barely read a handful of email marketing messages sent my way on a regular basis.

Instead of building an email list for all of my blog readers when I first started, I jumped in at the deep end and focused on building segmented marketing lists:

• Professionals interested in developing their cultural skills
• Businesses needing how to advice on getting international clients
• French people interested in copywriting
• French people interested in article marketing

This is not something I necessarily recommend you do, after all the funnel does start off with a wide end and then goes narrow.  But I like testing and playing around with marketing to learn more about my markets, that’s why I did things this way.

But I do follow a few people who use culturally targeted email marketing to develop international markets. I’m not sure how much this works in other cultures, but it’s definitely something I’ll probably spend some time looking into in the future.

International Web Marketing

Of course, after doing this exercise reviewing my own personal specialties, this has me thinking about international web marketing in general:

• What are the different specialties in international web marketing?
• How are the specialties in web marketing different for international marketing?
• How is international web marketing evolving and how does this impact what we do?

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please start the conversation below.

More on International Web Marketing:

• What Is Your Definition Of International Web Marketing
• How Too Many Contributions Spoil International Communications
• My Own Case Study – Small Business Flexibility In An Online World
• International Article Marketing
• International Email Marketing
• International SEO For Quick Results
• Mindset Differences Between Offline Marketers And Online Marketers
• The Difference Between An eMarketer And A Geek Marketer

Copyright © Cindy King 2006-2010 - Cindy King

International Web Marketing Specialties

Twitter Interviews – #CKinterview

Today’s Cross-Cultural Interview is with Martin Lindeskog . Martin is the person behind the Twitter handle @lyceum.

Martin Lindeskog is a “trader in matter & spirit” and a small business entrepreneur in Gothenburg, Sweden. He is a board member of the Swedish National Association of Purchasing and Logistics (Silf, Western Region). He has started a new series of interviews for his podcasting show on the Solid Vox network.

This is a 2 part interview:

• Part 1 – The Blog Interview
• Part 2 – The Twitter Interview for 10 Cross-Cultural & International Questions

Martin Lindeskog – Part 1

Here is the first part of the interview with Martin.

Hi Martin, for those who don’t know you, can you please tell us something about yourself?

Martin Lindeskog: I come from the west coast of Sweden. I live close to the second biggest city called Gothenburg (Göteborg in Swedish). I studied Business Administration at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA, between 1997 – 2000. After my studies I worked as a cost analyst at a manufacturer of welding products in Troy, Ohio. I went back to Sweden in 2002.

I am an American in spirit, so I am happy that I have I received material regarding the Diversity Immigrant Visa program for the year 2010. I am planning to return to the Land of Opportunity – USA. Please feel free to give me suggestions on great cross-cultural and international places in the Melting Pot.

I speak Swedish and English (my second language). I understand and read German (I had it for six years in school), but I haven’t used it for a long time, so I don’t speak it fluently. I want to learn Interlingua at some point in the future. My wild guess is that Hungarian is one of the most difficult languages. I learned only a few words and phrases during my school project (international project coordinator) at a windshield (windscreen) manufacturer in Sopron, Hungary.

If you want learn some more things about me, please read my post, Seven Things About Me.

How did you pick up your cross-cultural skills?

Martin Lindeskog: I picked up my cross-cultural skills at an early age. I have been interested in fundamental ideas, history and philosophy for all long time. In my teens, I started to read foreign literature in English, subscribing to magazines, e.g., The Economist. I have a special bond to the Anglosphere and I have visited London several times. (Did you know that Gothenburg has a nickname: “Little London”.) I am a member of Vasa Order of America. It is a Swedish-American fraternal, cultural and educational organization. I celebrated Independence Day (Fourth of July) with my fellow members of Vasa.

Do you use your cross-cultural skills in your job?

Martin Lindeskog: As an experienced purchaser of raw materials from different parts of the world and an international project coordinator, I have been interested in international business for 20+ years. I started a hobby business in the end of the 80’s, importing computer stuff and teas from Asia. I visited Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Thailand in 1992.

Can you tell us about your blog?

Martin Lindeskog: I had read blogs for some time and heard how the interest for this new type of journaling had grown in America, especially after September 11, 2001.  On May 7, 2002, I stumbled upon Blogger.com and created my first blog, EGO. Ego is I (am) in Latin and has its foundation in the description of the blog by the following keywords: Reason – Egoism – Laissez-Faire Capitalism.

Anita Campbell (Small Business Trends) wrote a PowerBlog Review of EGO blog in 2004.

I haven’t had time to update my blog for a couple of weeks, but I will do as Stephen P. Smith and take some time to reflect on my blogging and publish a new post in the near future. I have started a new blog carnival, but the first edition is delayed. I will kick-off 2010 with a new series of podcast interviews, when the producer of Solid Vox has fixed the recording studio and other technical issues.

In the meantime, please read my annual report VII and my post on guest blogging.

You could find me on several social media places. I have listed them at KnowEm and Card.ly.

I must thank you Cindy for adding my Twitter profile to your International Social Media list. I am honored to belong to this fine group of individuals. As an example, I see that Charlene Li is included in this list. I think that Charlene Li’s & Josh Bernoff’s book, Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, is a very important book on social media.

I have a couple of lists I’m building here on this blog, and wonder if you have anything you would like to share.

Have you come across any cultural stereotypes that bother you, or you find inappropriate?

Martin Lindeskog: Here in Sweden you could find an ugly version of anti-Americanism. I started a blog in Swedish, covering this issue, but I got so fed up with the negativity so I have put it on hiatus. I am fighting hard to “bring back the smiley face to America.”

Do you have a favorite movie that could help people understand cultural issues?

Martin Lindeskog: I am not a movie buff, but I would recommend you to watch Lost in Translation. I want to visit Japan and attend a tea ceremony someday…

Do you have a book you could recommend to help others improve their cultural insights?

Martin Lindeskog: I read Cross-Cultural Business Behavior: Marketing, Negotiating, Sourcing and Managing Across Cultures by Richard R. Gesteland during my studies in international project management.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

Martin Lindeskog: I want to do a wine trip to Hungary and a tour around the United States of America in order to find a good place to set up a business.

Martin, thank you for sharing so much with us in this portion of the interview. I’m looking forward to hearing your answers to the 10 Cross-Cultural Questions on Twitter with you later today.

Martin Lindeskog- Part 2 – The Twitter Interview

This is an interview series of the people I recommend you follow on Twitter for the cross-cultural and international business insights in their tweets.

More Twitter Interviews

• Rajeev Edmonds – @mintblogger
• Rossitza Ohridska-Olson – @culturalrealms
• Charmayne Paul – @psitutor
• Lucy Chatburn – @pocketcultures
• Doreen Iannuzzi – @DoreenatDMS
• Donna Jackson – @wisequeen
• Chris Cotter – @CotterHUE
• Jack Yan – @jackyan
• Silvia Cambié – @XCulture
• Bill Ward – @DR4WARD
• Thierry De Baillon – @t_de_baillon
• Seshu – @PicSeshu
• Neil Urquhart – @culturematters
• Klaus & Flavia Westerwelle – @transdomo
• Donagh Kiernan – @dkiernan
• Christian Hoeferle – @hoeferleconsult
• Caroline – @ohh_la_la
• Deborah Swallow – @DeborahSwallow
• Steve Roesler – @steveroesler
• Matthew Bennett – @matthewbennett

Copyright © Cindy King 2006-2010 - Cindy King

Twitter Interview With Martin Lindeskog

Membership Sites

Last week I wrote about the WishList Membership Site WordPress Plugin. Many people are excited about this new tool. So am I. Every new membership site I come across seems to run on the WishList Membership Plugin. And hearing of friends setting up 3 membership sites in one day is not uncommon.

WishList makes membership sites accessible to virtually everyone. All you need is a WordPress blog. The WishList plugin itself is just as quick and easy to install as any other WordPress plugin. You get a series of short easy to follow videos when you buy the plugin. This makes it easy for you to set up the different levels of your membership site at the same time as you go through these videos. You can easily set up a membership site in under an hour without any specific training.

Content Marketing

Sounds simple right?  And it is, but just like any other WordPress blog, you’re going to want to spend some time on design and other plugins.  This time you can use other plugins specifically to create a stronger experience for all of your members as they use your membership site. You can tailor your membership sites to different audiences.

And this is where as a marketer I’m very excited.

Not Just A Membership Site

My biggest AHA moment came when listening to some audios from a WishList Live Training Event. This is when I fully realized the power of creating a membership site in a WordPress environment.  What does this mean?  Well, you can:

• Choose a theme appropriate to the type of membership site you want to create
• Easily combine your WishList membership plugin with other WordPress plugins to do all sorts of things

When you choose a good theme and play around with the different combination of plugins and the different membership levels you can actually “manipulate” the experience you provide your members in many different ways. You can create very different membership environments by focusing on how you set up:

• Page navigation
• Featured content navigation
• Category navigation
• Sidebar navigation
• Footer navigation

And what can you do when you get a marketer to play around with all of this?

Provide A 3 Dimensional Community Experience

Your website is no a longer flat experience. You can really control the experience your visitor receives his end.

This reminds me of the IKEA experience, where all IKEA stores guide you through a complete tour of their store. They control your experience as you visit their store. And it works.

Now imagine different floors and hidden passageways in the IKEA store. Add some incentives, games, challenges and clues to find those hidden passageways. Make it fun and interactive so people want to come back often. This is what you can do with WishList when you combine it well with different combination of WordPress plugins.  You can create an almost 3 dimensional community experience for the members of your membership site.

Tailor Visitor Experiences To What Your Market Needs

With a little thought a marketer can create different dimensions for different membership levels. You do need both a marketing mindset and the technical skills to make this work. But the results can make a huge difference for your membership site.

For example, most membership sites experience higher membership drop offs at a certain point. This can be around the 3-5 month period. When you notice this, what do you do? In the offline world when people are about to leave your store, you would find a way to market to them just before they leave your store, for example with candy bars in front of the cash registers.

Well why not do something similar with your membership site? Before your members get to that drop off point, engage with them and offer them an incentive. With WishList it’s easy to do this. Technically you can add in different levels, and deliver specific content at specific times. You can set it up so it is easy to control who gets what.

Membership Outside Of The Box

You see if you continue to think of the membership site software as only providing traditional membership site products, you’ll miss out on the opportunities. Membership sites are being transformed.

So, instead imagine ways to control how you deliver content to the audience you want to reach. Go wild. Then go have a look at what WishList does without being blocked into traditional membership sites.  And also go look at what you can do on a WordPress blog with the wide variety of plugins out there.

Still don’t see a solution to your online content marketing dreams?

WishList will be making their API available to developers. Just give everyone the chance to play around with this and come back next year and have a look.

In the meantime, if you are ready to take the plunge and need someone to set up a membership site for you using the WishList Membership Plugin drop me an email. I’m taking on a few clients right now.

What about you?

• What marketing possibilities do you see for membership sites?
• Are you using membership sites to learn more about your markets?
• How do you think marketing with membership sites will change in the next few years?

More on Membership Sites:

• New Marketing Opportunities With Membership Sites
• WishList – A Great Marketing Tool To Get To Know Your Market Better

More in these Get International Clients Business Guides

• Design Your International Visibility
• International Market Research

Copyright © Cindy King 2006-2010 - Cindy King

New Marketing Opportunities With Membership Sites

Twitter Interviews – #CKinterview

Today’s Cross-Cultural Interview is with Rajeev Edmonds. Rajeev is the person behind the Twitter handle @mintblogger. Rajeev is one of my favorite social media networking friends. Although this is probably due to his particular social media expertise, it is also because he obviously has very strong cross-cultural networking skills. He just would not be as good as what he does if he didn’t have these international skills.

Rajeev is an active social media networker and runs a popular blog MintBlogger.

This is a 2 part interview:

• Part 1 – The Blog Interview
• Part 2 – The Twitter Interview for 10 Cross-Cultural & International Questions

Rajeev Edmonds – Part 1

Here is the first part of the interview with Rajeev.

Hi Rajeev, for those who don’t know you, can you please tell us something about yourself?

Rajeev Edmonds: Hi Cindy, It’s a pleasure to have the opportunity to talk about cross-cultural skills. I live in New Delhi, the capital city of India. I was born in the same city and have spent most part of my life in this metro.

I started my career as a programmer building Interactive Voice Response systems (IVRS). In 2008, I started blogging along with my day job. Presently, I’m working in a MNC as a senior developer and maintain several blogs in my spare time.

Apart from national language Hindi, I speak English and some local languages like Punjabi and Urdu.

How has social media networking helped you to pick up your cross-cultural skills?

Rajeev Edmonds: Since I started blogging, I became much more active in networking with people from different cultures. From far east to the west coast of America, I’ve networked with several wonderful people who’ve directly or indirectly helped me in sharpening my cross-cultural skills. I’ve found twitter and facebook the most useful social media services in developing cross-cultural skills with a large multi-ethnic user-base that is really active and willing to share and exchange.

My company (employer) has several Chinese clients where we regularly interact with our Chinese counterparts on an almost daily basis. This gave me the opportunity to get a deeper insight about Chinese culture and the way they are passionate about their customs and norms. I must admit, my interaction with people from different cultures via social media has tremendously helped me interacting effectively with our Chinese clients. I realized it when my boss assigned me the responsibility to interact with their lead engineer in all technical information-gathering sessions.

Do you realize you use cross-cultural skills when networking on social media?

Rajeev Edmonds: Without any question, that’s the most essential attribute you must possess to successfully network with as many people as you can internationally. The simplest example can be greeting a person in his/her native language. This removes the barriers instantly and you may find it easier to connect with him/her in less time than you would have expected.

Learning several languages (at least a little bit), interacting at their convenient time and using the local buzzwords are some examples that help in better networking with people from different cultures. I’ve experienced it and found people get closer and more comfortable when you make them aware that you know about their culture. It’s all about making them feel at home.

Can you tell us about your blog?

Rajeev Edmonds: I started blogging as a casual personal dairy in 2006, until one day I read an article about problogging. In the first quarter of 2008, I launched a blog about Blogging Tips and Social Media Marketing Techniques and got a good response from the visitors. Since then, I never looked back and launched 3 more. The name MintBlogger came up for two reasons. I wanted a short domain name and couldn’t get a shorter one at the time of registration. Mint represents the freshness of content.

In one of my posts, I gave 8 Tips To Use Twitter More Effectively and it received massive traffic and still continues to get lots of traffic with Twitter and StumbleUpon being the top 2 referrer sites.

How can I forget about blog comments through which I’ve networked with so many friends, peers and subscribers from different parts of the world? You can clearly see the difference in approach when people from different culture come and comment on your blog. Some are very informal and like to go into detail, while others prefer a more formal approach and stick to giving suggestions and ask questions in a very monotonous tone. I’ve found people from Asia-Pacific region commenting as if they are talking with a family member. That’s so touching and instantly makes you establish a connection with them.

Besides blogging, I also do technical editing of books with subjects ranging from Wordpress, Web Design and Social Media.

I have a couple of lists I’m building here on this blog, and wonder if you have anything you would like to share.

Do you have a favorite movie that could help people understand cultural issues?

Rajeev Edmonds: Bend It Like Beckham is an excellent movie showing two different cultures where a rebellious Sikh girl joins a soccer team against the wishes of her orthodox family. The film shows east-Indian and British culture with various twists and drama throughout the movie. It is certainly one of my favorites movies.

Do you have a book you could recommend to help others improve their cultural insights?

Rajeev Edmonds:I’ve no book in mind, but I would like to mention a series I used to watch on Discovery channel – it’s Lonely Planet. It’s an excellent TV series taking you to different destinations across the world and experiencing the tradition, culture and food through the series host. Absolutely loved it.

And finally…

Is there anything else you would like to share?

Rajeev Edmonds: I’ve never traveled abroad and have spent most part of my life in Delhi and neighboring cities. I would certainly like to learn French and German as large number of my social network friends speak these languages. Cindy, for vacation, I can only think of Paris Hopefully, someday I will visit the place.

Rajeev, thank you for sharing so much with us in this portion of the interview. I think your story is a great example of how you can develop core cross-cultural skills without physically traveling today, thanks to social media and the right mindset. I’m sure there will be opportunities in your future to travel as you network more with international clients.

I’m looking forward to hearing your answers to the 10 Cross-Cultural Questions on Twitter with you later today.

Rajeev Edmonds- Part 2 – The Twitter Interview

This is an interview series of the people I recommend you follow on Twitter for the cross-cultural and international business insights in their tweets.

More Twitter Interviews

• Rajeev Edmonds – @mintblogger
• Rossitza Ohridska-Olson – @culturalrealms
• Charmayne Paul – @psitutor
• Lucy Chatburn – @pocketcultures
• Doreen Iannuzzi – @DoreenatDMS
• Donna Jackson – @wisequeen
• Chris Cotter – @CotterHUE
• Jack Yan – @jackyan
• Silvia Cambié – @XCulture
• Bill Ward – @DR4WARD
• Thierry De Baillon - @t_de_baillon
• Seshu - @PicSeshu
• Neil Urquhart - @culturematters
• Klaus & Flavia Westerwelle - @transdomo
• Donagh Kiernan - @dkiernan
• Christian Hoeferle - @hoeferleconsult
• Caroline - @ohh_la_la
• Deborah Swallow - @DeborahSwallow
• Steve Roesler – @steveroesler
• Matthew Bennett – @matthewbennett

Copyright © Cindy King 2006-2010 - Cindy King

Twitter Interview With Rajeev Edmonds

Twitter Interviews – #CKinterview

Today’s Cross-Cultural Interview is with Rossitza Ohridska-Olson. Rossitza is the person behind the Twitter handle @culturalrealms. Rossitza is a cultural tourism strategist and has been leading Cultural Realms since 2007, where she focuses on the global cultural and creative tourism.

This is a 2 part interview:

• Part 1 – The Blog Interview
• Part 2 – The Twitter Interview for 10 Cross-Cultural & International Questions

Rossitza Ohridska-Olson – Part 1

Here is the first part of the interview with Rossitza.

Hi Rossitza, for those who don’t know you, can you please tell us something about yourself?

Rossitza Ohridska-Olson: My first job after I graduated from Sofia University « Kliment Ohridski » in Geography of Tourism was one of the toughest one – trying to sell a totally unknown destination – Bulgaria, then communist country – for cultural, congress and event tourism.

I succeeded with one strategy – in international tourism you sell a dream, not a product or service. A desire of people to relax, learn, immerse themselves in the mystery of the unknown or the aspiration to see a well-known culture from a local perspective. Nobody buys the real estate of a hotel or the acres of a beach. People buy experiences, feelings memories.

With the appearance of the Internet, telling the story about a destination or an attraction became much easier. With Web 2.0. everybody can sell a destination – the user generated content can glorify, inform or trash a place or country.

How touroperators, destination management organization, cultural attractions, historic sites, governments and travel agencies are using this opportunity? This is the field and scope of my work – to help them sell the dream, without loosing their unique identity in the vast ocean of global media.

Working in the travel industry for more than 20 years, and being one of the pioneers in the Internet since 1993, I had a variety of business and cultural experiences. I lived and worked in 4 countries – Bulgaria, Spain, Portugal and the USA. Taking in account that in the USA I lived in worked in 2 totally different states (Minnesota and Florida), with different cultures, I could say that I lived actually in 5 cultures.

I live as a global nomad: between USA and EU, serving international clients and working with vendors from around the world. Sometimes I have to get up at 4 in the morning and speak with vendors in Izhevsk and continue to work throughtout the day until California closes its business hours at 9 PM my time. Yes, it is hard. And very rewarding. Living in 4 countries prior to establish my base in Florida, USA, helps. Speaking 5 languages helps too.

As born and living most of my life within the Mediterranean cultural mindset, I do business in very personable way – close relationships, mixing friendships with business, counting on the emotion of the customer to get more sales results for my clients.

Surprisingly enough, this Mediterranean approach works very well for my clients too – they consider me a friend, they can call me at any time and they know that I will find a unique solution to a marketing problem. As you know, creativity is one of the main business characteristics of the Mediterranean mindset. I am trying always to find out of a box creative solution. It helps my client and helps me to expand my knowledge.

This peculiar approach to cross-cultural interactions to the tourism business – the opportunity of the globalization and the challenges it presents – is in the essence of my role as macro strategies.

How did you pick up your cross-cultural skills?

Rossitza Ohridska-Olson: I didn’t pick up my cross-cultural skills. They picked me. The first necessity to develop them was in high school. I was educated in a French high school in a communist country. You can guess the cultural differences, and the challenges.

As a student I wanted to get close to the French culture, without being accused of collaborating with the “West”. My classmates and I managed, without too much trouble, although we were considered different from the other Bulgarians. Still we are.

Then, my education in the University: I had classmates from all over the world and had to learn how to communicate with them without prejudice and embrace the differences. That was very difficult in Bulgaria, which was close-minded, racist, and clicky country at that time. After graduating, I worked mostly with Spanish and French people, once again, in Bulgaria. With the local KGB lurking behind my back, once again, I had to balance between political correctness and adaptability to my clients. I was arrested 2 times – not very good track record for my intend to balance between these 2 requirements, but finally, I could get away from these absurdities and emigrated to Spain.

Then I moved to Portugal, Minnesota and Florida. In each country I lived, I made mistakes and tried again, and finally got it right with the tireless attitude to do whatever it takes to adapt to local cutlures.

In the last years, outsourcing some of the company services, helped me a lot with my cross-cultural skills. My vendors help me with shortcuts through the cultural differences – I can ask them about anything and they will give me an appropriate cultural advice about their country or region.

How do you use your cross-cultural skills in your job?

Rossitza Ohridska-Olson: I use my cross-cultural skills in two ways.

First, to understand my clients, who come from very different cultural background. Not only geographically – from different countries and regions – but also from different business cultures. Some of them are governmental organizations, some of them have European mindset – more social responsibility, some – more American – more bottom line direction in their business approach. Understanding my client needs takes a lot of cross-cultural skills.

The other way I use my cross-cultural skills is to make my clients succeed on different markets outside of their countries. That involves a lot of research, competitive landscape analysis and skills to convince my clients to what extend they have to adapt to local rules and what markets they don’t even have to try to enter, since it will be not productive and profitable. I always believed and dreamed that the international tourism should be the number one global industry.

In fact, it is not, but still is one of the most successful consequences of globalization. It offers exchange of experiences and helps people to open their minds to other civilizations and cultures, which is the reason I entered in this business in the first place.

Can you tell us about your blog?

Rossitza Ohridska-Olson: Before creating my blog, I started to respond to issues on the Internet that interested me or that I believed were important.

My first blogpost was not even related to the cultural tourism – it was an opinion piece in the Batak terrors in 1877 when an entire town was slaughtered by the Turks. The Bosh Foundation in Germany had financed a research that called these events “a myth” in spite of tons of documents proving the veracity of the killings, rape and destruction. Some German scientists eager to receive funding invented this research and deeply offended the entire Bulgarian nation. Clash of cultural understanding and misinformation on history were the reasons for the Bosch Foundation to give the money.

After this blogpost, the Foundation withdrew their funding and the blogpost was published at large in the Bulgarian press. I have seen that I can change the reality with a blog piece. That was under other blog address. The blog was named “Save the Bulgarian History” and I published only one piece there afterwards. Then, there was a client who had the company newsletter called the same way as the company. I believed that the newsletter should be named differently and proposed “Cultural Realms”. The client didn’t go this direction, but I registered the name, because I believed is a great name for cultural tourism website anyway.

So when I decided to share my knowledge on the business of cultural tourism, I used “Cultural Relams”. I started to publish some of my opinions on cultural tourism, country branding, creative tourism, destination branding, etc., plus some pieces on cultural discoveries, monuments and sites totally unknown outside of Bulgaria.

Since my writings are much more like articles then blogposts and research pieces, many of them take long time to produce. Hence, I don’t blog as often as I should or I want. I supplement my blogging with almost daily tweets, facebook and linkedin announcements and short comments on cultural events, cultural tourism issues, etc. The blog is more as a book with chapters, that I try to write very carefully. I hope that this way the articles are meaningful as advice and action plans to be used by the readers.

I don’t blog everyday commenting on news or happenings in the cultural tourism business. I tweet about it or post a line or two with a link on facebook. Since my blog is more on the side of “serious” reading, I achieved the results I intended. For man people around the world the blog is useful for their research and their business.

My readers come from 58 countries and from many different backgrounds. They are people engaged professionally in cultural institutions, NGOs, non-for profits, students, and of course, people from the travel industry: travel agency owners, tour operator employees, etc.

Some of the pieces, like the one I wrote about the famous Bulgarian archaeologist, Dr. Kitov in the night he passed away, and the Bojkov Collection in the Museum of the East in Moscow, are read by the general public. Two-three pieces on national strategy for the Bulgarian cultural tourism and technology applications to culture are read and commented by policy makers.

My favorite blog post, as well as for many readers, is the one advising on creative tourism and destination management. Is a series of advices, very simple to follow and up to the point. I might develop this into a book, if I have time for it.

My newest blogpost on country branding from the perspective of the global cultural tourism is also very interesting, since it reveals the relationships between the image of country and the implications on cultural tourism to this country. It is also in the form of series, and the two most important ones (trends and conclusions) are published simultaneously with this blog interview.

I have a couple of lists I’m building here on this blog, and wonder if you have anything you would like to share.

Have you come across any cultural stereotypes that bother you, or you find inappropriate?

Rossitza Ohridska-Olson: Of course. The most bothering are all the stereotypes related to the people from “Eastern Europe”, since I am directly affected by these stereotypes.

In the mind of many people, including the press and media, the “Iron Curtain” still exist and it will be very difficult to demolish the mental “Berlin Wall”, as it proves 20 years after destroying the physical one. I believe that the “Eastern European” country stereotype shouldn’t exist, since we are so different.

I even heard somebody saying on the TV here, in the USA – “their accent sounds as Eastern European”, which totally made me laugh, since in Eastern Europe there are 4 major groups of languages (Slavonic, Hungro-Fin, Romanic, and Germanic), and more than 20 languages. How you can say that an accent is Eastern European? But then, again, I guess, people try to simplify things when they are dealing with unknown cultures and this way they create stereotypes.

Some of the stereotypes are culturally induced, some of them politically. I hate the latest ones, since they are artificial and don’t help human understanding at all. The culturally induced stereotypes (gypsies are thieves, Russians are drunk, French women are “easy”, etc.) are unpleasant and very difficult to deal with, because of centuries of history, which created them.

There are also cultural stereotypes which, true or false, contributes to the image of a country in a positive way: Germans cars are perfect, French wines are the best, Swiss watches are the most precise, etc.

Do you have a favorite movie that could help people understand cultural issues?

Rossitza Ohridska-Olson: No. Successful movies in the field of intercultural exchange are based on stereotypes, which makes people watch them – they simplify a culture to an comprehensible digest, which rather creates a false image of a country then help understanding the real cultural issues.

Do you have a book you could recommend to help others improve their cultural insights?

Rossitza Ohridska-Olson: “The Culture Code” by Clotaire Rapaille, anything by Mikhail Epstein.

And finally…

Is there anything else you would like to share?

Rossitza Ohridska-Olson: I am trying to make the step from “cross-cultural” or “multi-cultural” to “transcultural”, as defined by Epstein. As he says : «This is when a firm cultural identity relies not on hybrid formations, but on a variety of potential cultural signs, a universal symbolic palette, from which any individual can freely choose and mix colours in order to paint his or her self-portrait ». It is time to create a transculture, not adaptation only. Adaptation is a difficult process, in which sometimes the identity get lost. I don’t want this to happen to me. That is why I pick and choose characteristics of one culture, absorb them and apply them to my entire identity. Sometimes is difficult, but I guess I can achieve it.

In addition, I would like to understand more cultures. Some of them are past cultures – the Persian, the the Hettite, the Skittish. Some of them are contemporary – the Middle East, the Far East. Major obstacle in understanding these cultures is that I don’t speak the languages of these cultures, which is number one requirement to get the feel and the color of them. I had a friend from France, who learned Russian only to be able to read Pushkin in original. Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of time to learn more languages to the extend to understand the original texts written in ancient languages or in modern Turkish, Farsi, Arabic, or Japanese.

Traveling or leisure or business to the countries where these ancient cultures were created (Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Japan) helps the understanding more then the translations of old texts into modern languages. If I can visit all these counties for a period of 2-3 months in each, it will also help me to get the grasp of the present cultures in these mystic places more than I understand them now, only based on short trips and literature. My firm believe is that “dead civilizations” are very much alive in many contemporary behaviors, ethos and attitudes. And this is what drives the cultural and creative tourism, in a sense, a type of “time travel”, isn’t it?

Rossitza, thank you for sharing so much with us in this portion of the interview. I look forward to hearing your answers to the 10 Cross-Cultural Questions on Twitter with you later today.

Rossitza Ohridska-Olson- Part 2 – The Twitter Interview

This is an interview series of the people I recommend you follow on Twitter for the cross-cultural and international business insights in their tweets.

More Twitter Interviews

• Rajeev Edmonds – @mintblogger
• Rossitza Ohridska-Olson – @culturalrealms
• Charmayne Paul – @psitutor
• Lucy Chatburn – @pocketcultures
• Doreen Iannuzzi – @DoreenatDMS
• Donna Jackson – @wisequeen
• Chris Cotter – @CotterHUE
• Jack Yan – @jackyan
• Silvia Cambié – @XCulture
• Bill Ward – @DR4WARD
• Thierry De Baillon - @t_de_baillon
• Seshu - @PicSeshu
• Neil Urquhart - @culturematters
• Klaus & Flavia Westerwelle - @transdomo
• Donagh Kiernan - @dkiernan
• Christian Hoeferle - @hoeferleconsult
• Caroline - @ohh_la_la
• Deborah Swallow - @DeborahSwallow
• Steve Roesler – @steveroesler
• Matthew Bennett – @matthewbennett

Copyright © Cindy King 2006-2010 - Cindy King

Twitter Interview With Rossitza Ohridska-Olson

Social Media In International Web Marketing

I have a new website – International Social Media. This is where I will publish detailed articles on how to do different aspects of international social media.

Here’s The Scoop

As you probably know I started a business 2 years ago helping businesses develop their international markets. And my primary clients are not in France where I live.  So I use international web marketing and, in particular social media, to identify and engage potential business partners abroad.

When I started I didn’t realize how my cross-cultural skills and international business development expertise would help me in finding the best way to use social media to develop my own business. But it did, and it does makes lots of sense.  There are many similarities between establishing best practices in a new culture whether it is in a new country or on social media platforms.

The thing is, as I went about my own business, other people noticed my success in using social media to build my business. And I keep getting requests to share my knowledge and help other businesses use social media.

So I recently decided to combine the copywriting & social media skills I use in developing my own business with my cross-cultural skills and expertise in international marketing, sales & business development. And I now help businesses in effective business development with social media content marketing.

In A Nutshell, Here’s What I Do

I use my business development expertise to create content for business focused social media marketing. And that’s not all.  I spend the next 6 to 12 months adapting this content marketing until I get the right web marketing and social media tactics for specific business goals.

This is similar to what I do for international business development in new foreign markets.  I only work at market entry and leave as soon as I have a Sales Guide established specific for each client and each new market. Although it depends on the business and the market, this usually takes between 6-12 months.

Of course, this means I get involved and:

• Create content
• Tweak strategies to get them to work
• Manage business content, blogs, tweet plans and social media marketing
• And I also proactively move these content marketing plans forward towards the specific business goals in collaboration with top management.

Now Taking On A Client Or Two

This is why I am now offering the same services I used to develop my own business… with one hitch.

• I only have the time to work with a 1 or 2 clients at a time and they have to sign up with me for at least 6 months.

Although I enjoy working towards developing international business this is not my only area of action. Most web marketing involves working with culturally diverse communities where my cross-cultural business skills are particularly useful.

Businesses get the most value out of my skills to jump into unknown markets with different rules and customs, and figure out how to get things to work for their business objectives when things look complicated.  Those are the skills I picked up in international business development: flexibility, adaptability and risk management.  And they are also needed for social media marketing.

This is how I landed the position as Managing Editor of the new online magazine, Social Media Examiner, where I work alongside several of the best social media experts today.

If you have a moment, take a quick look at my new website which describes my social media marketing services in more detail.

Let me know what you think. And, if you happen to know anyone in your network who may be interested in the kind of help I provide, please pass this link along. I’d really appreciate it.  My email is cindy@cindyking.biz

I’d love some feedback from you…

• What are your biggest web marketing challenges?
• How do you think your social media tactics are working for your business?
• What do you expect social media to add to your business?

Please share your comments below.

More on Social Media In International Web Marketing

• How Do You Use Social Media For Business?
• The Cultural Divide In The Social Media Evolution
• How Cultural Differences Impact International Social Media
• How To Sort Through The Social Media Hype
• It Is Business-To-People In Social Media Marketing
• How Do You Use Social Media For Small Business?
• 12 Social Media Tactics In My Marketing Plan
• 7 Cross-Cultural Skills For Businesses To Master Social Media
• Content Marketing To Reach International Markets
• Links And International Social Networking
• Choice Of Social Media For International Markets
• Connecting With People On Twitter
• Cultural Differences In Social Media Marketing
• Guerrilla Marketing With Social Media To Enter New International Markets
• Is Social Media Changing Business Networking?
• Likability For International And Social Media Communication
• New Marketing Taints Old Networking Tactics
• Social Media Marketing Across Cultures
• Understanding Social Media For Stronger International Web Marketing

More in the Get International Clients Business Guides

• Build Your International Marketing Strategy
• Connect With Your International Markets
• International Market Research
• International Web Marketing

Copyright © Cindy King 2006-2010 - Cindy King

International Social Media

International Content Creation

I just read Denise Wakeman’s 7 Tips to Create Better Blog Posts and realized how my reading habits have changed dramatically over the last few years. I used to always take the time to read meaty articles, but not any more. I now skim through everything I read and within a few seconds decide whether I want to give it another minute or two and a second evaluation, or if I want to stop reading immediately. After the second review, I usually stop reading the article, unless it really grabs my interest. And only then will I take the time to read it properly. Yes, everything I read goes through 2 reviews before I decide to read it.

So I need white space and frequence subheads in blog posts – otherwise I cannot skim through it properly. When I skim through an article the first time I only read the title, subheads, the first couple of bullets, maybe a short callout or a quote and 2 sentence paragraphs that look interesting. That’s it… and this is not a lot of content to grab my interest, is it?

Another new habit I’ve acquired is listening to audios. Whenever I’m doing a task that does not occupy all of my brain space, I put on an audio version of something I want to read.

Multiple New Habits In Consuming Content

I’m not the only one who has changed their habits in consuming information. Many others have too. And this is not including the new habits we have of reading the different types of content now available on social media.

Social media platforms have specific atmospheres about them:

• Facebook is full of networking games
• LinkedIn has a business feel to most of the conversations
• Twitter folk do not like sales pitches

Have you noticed the variety in content styles between each of these social media platforms?

And looking at this from the other side, from the readers point of view, there are even subgroups of further differences in how people like to consume content. When you add cultural preferences into these different ways of consuming content, things can get complicated.

Below we are going to look at the different types of content from two different angles:

• Personal consumption preferences
• The broader audiences you want to reach

And finally we’ll see how complex content creation can become when international audiences also listen in to what you share with the people next door to you.

3 Different Personal Preferences For Content Consumption

Here are 3 different reasons why you need different types of content in your online marketing.

1 – Connecting With People With Different Time Constraints

Let’s face it, some of us always busy for certain information. Some of us will always take the time to read certain types of information.

Who do you want to reach? What are they like? How much time do they want to spend reading your stuff?

2 – Grabbing People’s Attention With The Right Information

Sometimes the same information delivered with a slightly different point of view is all it takes to grab people’s attention.

Do you know how your readers prefer to get the information you want to share with them?

3 – Engaging With People Who Consume Your Content In Different Environments

It is easy to understand how sound should be avoided in some environments. If many of your readers use phone applications to visit your site, they will not appreciate anything slow to load. The same people who connect with you during their business hours for a certain type of content, may also like to connect with you first thing in the morning with another type of content.

Do you know where your readers prefer reading your content?

3 Different Audiences For Your Content

But you cannot only look at the personal preferences in how people want to consume your content.  There are also the different ways you can target your audiences where you need different content.  The next 3 points look at different factors you can use when creating your content.

4 – Bringing People To Take The Next Step Most Appropriate For Them

We all write content for a reason.  What do you want your reader to do after reading your content?  Different readers will be willing to take steps of various sizes.

Do you have content with the most appropriate  obvous next step for your audience?

5 – Appealing To People From Different Cultures

You need different content to engage effectively with different cultures.  Even when these cultures speak the same language, you will get a better response from your audience, if you use the right vocabulary and hit the emotional buttons that appeal to the specific culture you want to connect with.

Does your content speak to your audience?  Can your audience easily identify themselves with what you say?

6 – Avoid Excluding International Audiences

The web is a global one and different cultures have different communication styles.  What is polite and friendly in one culture, can have the opposite effect in another.  What can seem insignificant in one culture can have a big impact on your communication with another cultures.  This is easy to understand.  But when you look closely at the content you publish online, who is it for?  It is great to write for a specific audience, that’s what we should do.  The question is whether there are any small things we can do to facilitate reading by international audiences.

Do you put international readers off without realizing it?  Does this bother you?

Complex Global Audiences

The last thing to remember is the complexity of today’s audiences.

7 – Managing Mixed Audiences

Situations can become complex:  you may have international readers who use phone applications to read your online content while your reader next door wants to take read the same content slowly with his morning coffee.

What do you do? Is there a way to publish content strategically on different social media platforms?

Getting Your Content Right

Consumption preferences for different market segments will differ for each social media platform. This is why you need to:

• Adopt one social media content plan at a time
• Engage with your readers to tweak it and find their preferences

You only know how to write web content when you know what, where, when and and how your reader wants to read it. But the list of different online content above shows us the two trends we also have to be aware of:

• The changes in how different people deal with the amount of information they have to process
• The variety of the different types of content businesses need to publish online

What about you?  What do you think about your online content needs?

• What are your business goals for the content you publish online?
• What does your audience want to read from you online?
• What different kinds of content do you need to publish online to reach international audiences?

More on International Content Creation:

• An International Development Template
• Foreign Language Communication Simplified
• International Content As An International Business Development Strategy
• The One Important Step Missing In Many Guidelines For Good Websites And Landing Pages
• Third Transition To A Global Market Internet Business
• What Are Your Words Saying To Your International Market?
• Web Content Conference In French
• Who Do You Need To Write Your Foreign Content

More in these Get International Clients Business Guides:

• Connect With Your International Markets
• International English
• Culture Customized Content
• Cultural Web Tools

Copyright © Cindy King 2006-2010 - Cindy King

7 Reasons For Different Online Content

How To Create An International Business Blog

Can you promote your services to international audiences with a blog ? Yes, this is what I do with my blog and it works very well because of my particular situation.  But different businesses are in different situations. And, in these different situations, is a blog still a good option to connect with an international audience? You need to dig deeper to find out.

Your International Audience

When defining your international audience and establishing the right communication to engage with this audience, you can look at this audience from different angles.

You can use a blog to connect with you international clients, potential clients, business partners, suppliers, employees and other business contacts you may have.  This is one way to look at your audience.  And it is an important one.

But before speeding ahead and analyzing this in detail, remember to take the step backgrounds and look at the very first level of your communication on an international blog.

Don’t miss this very first step in determining whether an international blog is right for your business. In my experience, many missed international business opportunities are due to skimming over some of the most basic research.

Communication Challenges

The first step is to establish the communication challenges related to who you are and who you want to reach. If you read this blog regularly, you know how important it is to question yourself first.  It is the same with an international blog.  Before you can successfully blog across cultures, you need to have a very clear understanding of you, your business, your international blog and where all of this is in relation to your audience.

Here are 3 different situations, each with different communication challenges to consider before you start your international blog.

1 – English speaking companies targeting audiences in other English speaking countries

Even if you speak the same language, if you want to develop specific English speaking international markets, you still need to pay attention to your cross-cultural communication and marketing. Many businesses forget this and do not adapt their communication to other English speaking markets

Business Opportunity: Country-specific marketing. If you are already getting some clients from another English-speaking country, imagine the potential of developing this market even further with some country-specific marketing.  A blog can be the hub from which you do this.

2 – Non-English speaking companies targeting audiences in English speaking countries

The task is almost the same as above, except this time it is more obvious… and therein lies the problem.   You see, this time there are not only different languages but also different cultures involved. And people from different cultures may not realize the value of having a blog in English. They hesitate longer and increase the size of the obstacles to overcome.  Language issues often become bigger than they need to become.

The good news is if your business is currently selling to English speaking markets, this is not usually a big hurdle to cross.  It can even be easier to market abroad with your native language reserved for your home audience, and English to target your main international audience.

Business Opportunity: This is a no-brainer.  All non-English speaking companies targeting an English speaking market should have an English language blog, more on this below.  A blog and social media makes it easy to conduct a variety of different international marketing tasks.  If what you offer appeals to people in English speaking countries, it is foolish to not invest in an English language blog.

3 – English speaking companies targeting audiences in non-English speaking countries

There are a few additional points to consider. The most important ones are:

• Whether blogs are common in the country you want to reach
• How people in this country use blogs

You need to be a bit more methodical in your research. And a few other tasks important in standard international marketing practices are critical at this first stage:  risk analysis and monitoring, flexibility and adaptability to new environments.

Business Opportunity: There are almost always opportunities for international business research.  Instead of thinking about a blog all about you and your sales pitch, think about market research possibilities.  If you use your blog to try to look for international business opportunities, there are many possibilities with a little research and some thinking outside of the box.  Remember, today a blog does not need to look like a blog and it is much cheaper than on-site research.

Opportunity To Reach English-Speaking Markets

Many businesses in English-speaking countries realize the need for a blog now. Unfortunately this is generally not the case for businesses on continental Europe and other parts of the world.  If only they knew how publishing a few blog posts in English each week could open international audiences for their business.

What do you think?

• Are you interested in reaching international audiences with a blog?
• How does your blog engage international clients?
• Who should use a blog to develop international business?

Please share your comments below.

More on How To Create An International Business Blog:

• My International Blog Promotion Secret
• Investment In An International Business Blog
• Business Blogs For Sales Conversion
• Business Blogs To Get International Clients
• Business Blogs To Open Foreign Markets

More on International Social Media

• An International Business Blog To Discover New Markets

More in these Get International Clients Business Guides

• Build Your International Marketing Strategy
• International Web Marketing
• Connect With Your International Markets
• International Market Research

Copyright © Cindy King 2006-2010 - Cindy King

3 Different Communication Challenges Of An International Blog