Improve Your International Web Marketing
Last week I told you how I implemented one tip I read in the ProBlogger book and how it dramatically increased the number of visitors to this blog in March.
How To Get A Free Copy Of The ProBlogger Book
- The ProBlogger Book by Chris Garrett and Darren Rowse.
Would you like to get a free copy of the ProBlogger book? It is easy…
Answer this question:
What other series would you like to see here on this blog?
The series has to fall somewhere within the broad topic of getting international clients with better cross-cultural communication.
I have already written a series on:
- Watching Movies To Improve Your Cultural Skills
- Cross-Cultural Communication Tip Challenge
It is up to you to tell me which other series you would like to read here. You can have a look at the list of resources on the right for inspiration. It can be on a serious topic or a lighter one.
There are 6 books to be given away. So there is room for some fun suggestions and everyone has a good chance of getting a book.
Post Your Answer: either in the comments below or in a message to me on Twitter @CindyKing
Deadline: Wednesday April 15th.
Then on Thursday April 16th through Friday April 17th we will vote for the best ones and the books will be mailed just after that.
Thank you all for some great suggestions!
Winners to be announced soon.
More To Improve Your International Web Marketing
- 92% More Visitors In March With One Tip From The ProBlogger Book
- How One Tip From One Book Increased My Web Marketing Results
- How To Get A Free Copy Of The ProBlogger Book
- Winners Of The Free Problogger Book Contest & New Blog Post Series
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Cindy, I would love a copy of the problogger book and as for an idea for a new series, i think it would be cool if you maybe highlighted one tip or new thing you’ve learned about dealing with international clients, mainly what differences you see.
Hello Ryan, Thank you for your suggestion. This is definitely one I should do.
How about
“Writing your ezine and blog with cross-cultural sensitivity”
I once wrote about July 4th – US Independence Day – with a reference to the British. An English reader wrote back to correct me!
Another time I used the metaphor of an “arranged marriage.” Someone pointed out that arranged marriages were not the same as forced marriages.
And so on…
Cathy Goodwins last blog post..3 Twitter Copywriting Mistakes That Are SO Easy to Fix
Hello Cathy, Thank you for such a great suggestion! I know what you mean, sometimes it seems like it is just so easy to say something that can be taken differently or wrongly elsewhere.
Great tip Cindy.
How about something along the lines of “Seven Most Common Cross-Cultural Communications Mistakes” or something like that. The idea being that we often make these mistakes without even knowing it.
Sort of an expansion of Cathy’s points above.
Jim Lodicos last blog post..Technical Copy and the Power of an Outsider
Hi Cindy,
I would love to see a series on how different cultures handle typical sales and customer facing situations. I recently spoke with a prospect from the Netherlands about training for the Technical side of their sales force. I mentioned a typical problem that we see all the time here in the states: Sales and Technical Sales/Support having different motivations and ideas when it comes to what to say in a customer meeting. He said “You don’t know much about us, This never happens. The Technical people just do what they are asked to do.”
I was shocked as this is almost always an issues in the US.
I would love a copy of the book too.
Thanks
Pat
Thank you Pat!
Yes, people do have different job functions, responsibilities and boundaries in different cultures. This would be an interesting series. I would probably see this as a series of interviews though – to stay away from stereotypes and generalizations.
This reminds me…
Occasionally someone will ask me how to find out how to say “This Ultra Specific Job Title” in a different language. And it is really amazing. People don’t realize that the more specific the job title, the more you will have to describe the job function in the same way you would for a 3 year old… and then ask who does that in the other company. This also has further complications, because although many people know what “This Ultra Specific Job Title” is, they do not have a clear understanding of the job function to describe it so others know what they mean.
Some interesting thoughts…
Cindy,
I would be happy to read the ProBlogger book. I have my 7th blog blogiversary on May 7 and would love to read a book on how to become a “pro”!
Thanks for including me in the “Fun & Interesting People In Europe” in the resources section (Twitter People To Follow).
How about having a dictionary with “urban” (my brother’s name is Urban, “The man from the city”) international business words that you see used in social media?
I saw a tweet with a Da Vinci Personality Quiz. How about having a “gallery” with business leaders, inventors, and entrepreneurs with an international background? I recommend you to read Edwin Locke’s book, The Prime Movers: Traits of the Great Wealth Creators, if you want to get great inspirational fuel for your soul and mind.
Martin Lindeskogs last blog post..FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Hi Martin,
What a coincidence, I just read your latest article on the Open Forum – a good read for everyone in international business!
Thank you for 2 great suggestions.
I just had a conversation with a French social media expert about how the French are having a hard time understanding what a “Community Manager” is. I think a few French companies are beginning to wonder if they might need one – but no one knows what the job involves. “Community Manager” does not translate well. The preferred translation among the people I spoke with is “Attaché de Presse Web”. …I have to work on the international business words – My brain is set so wide open to understand everything anyone could say, that lots of these misused words do not stand out any more.
Also really like the gallery idea too. That is a good one to do during the holidays.
Thanks for the book recommendation. Sometimes I wish we could peek at people’s bookshelves. The “What I’m Reading” widgets are only good if you read a few books – it would take too much time to enter in everything from the interesting bookshelves.
Hi Cindy, In my opinion Cross-Cultural Communication will benefit greatly with use of visual rich communication. Images and visualizations are a powerful communication tool. Since images communicate more direct and are understandable without the knowledge of a specific language. You will bypass the translation and cultural issues. Visualizations can be a mindmap, visualization of the message, infographic or an animation. Good luck with the new post.
Hello Alexis!
Yes, a series with lots of visuals is a good idea.
I mind map often (a huge mind mapping fan), and I know that mind mapping is a great way for international teams to work together. I just got MindJet 8 with the mind map player. I’ll have some fun with it on the blogs as soon as I get some free time to play around with it… and sort out the technical challenges of working on a French computer with American software and anything that needs any Adobe product.
Hi Cindy,
I think that it would be nice if you could write a series on networking 101 for new businesses opening up in International Markets. Also, since you have vast experience in International Marketing, I am sure that you have had to do a lot of research regarding individual markets, so maybe a series of online/traditional resources that an organization could use/join to expand their knowledge when entering a new Intl. market? Lastly, (sorry) and this may be a stretch, but the technological breakdown of various markets. IE, I am sure that Internet penetration in many of the less-developed markets is a factor which needs to be addressed.
Thanks for all the info!
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Thank you for so many good ideas!
I do have a second website specifically for businesses just beginning to enter international markets (with market research resources too): Get International Clients
But, it is true, I can easily adapt something for this blog and should do that… now why did I not think of that myself?
I also like your idea of treating only a few countries and providing some resources. I actually like to talk more about the process of finding the right resources, because I hear from so many people who do not do anything at all themselves. The image of a McDonalds drive-in always comes to my mind with these requests. You can get this work done for you – and it costs a fortune. (I often think that’s what many big company executive did to avoid taking a risk.) But you can also do quite a bit by yourself, or in house and this will bring you tremendous knowledge about your markets. But most people seem to be looking for a “McDonalds drive-in” solution. And this is a very bad attitude to have when starting an international business – you are giving a huge competitive advantage to anyone that actually does the work. But I can see something combined with current news and suggesting avenues to research for business opportunities. That would be fun.
The web penetration and how different cultures use the different channels is of great interest to everyone. There are not many free statistics out there though, and it also depends on your industry and client profile. Internet users do not go across all of the population in many countries. I would not put my money on anything based on generalizations, you can really get it wrong. And I personally would not spend much time trying to establish these generalizations for businesses. It is just not worth it. You need specific information. But I would start the other end: first product, then country, then marketing channels. Having said that, let me think about it some more. There must be a nice angle for a series here too. Do let me know if you can see something I can’t!
Hey Cindy,
A series on multi-lingual twittering. How to find tweeters who speak English and French/German/Spanish etc. I would love to do an immersion program to learn a language like French, but can’t swing it now. How bout a twitter immersion in foreign language through multi-lingual twitter friends which would of course include their web sites, etc. Some suggestions on multi-lingual tweeters to follow/connect with and tips on how to find others. Links to “getting started” quides to reference foreign language words to use in twittering. Links to translation resources to look up definitions of words seen in tweets. Links to foreign language movies/videos. Through multi-lingual discussions, tweeters would learn about other cultures and doing business with tweeps and ppl in other countries.
Hi Kent,
Thank you for the great idea. I’m having fun with Twitter for my business.
There are only a few people that tweet to teach others their language, and I have not seen many that really work on Twitter. I think you need more space.
But I’m not the expert here – I do not teach languages. That is not the angle that interests me. Mine is more about showing people that it is easy enough to go out and do the things that usually stop them from developing their international business. Languages come into it as a barrier.
You can easily do a Twitter search to find people that tweet in other languages… and then make the first step to become friends, just as in face-to-face situations, it’s best to seek out people you can talk to on subjects that interest both of you.
I have had a few people approach me on Twitter saying that want me to teach them French on Twitter. They sort of hang around and say “oh this is a wonderful language and I want you to tell me how to say things”. They forget to ask why I’m on Twitter and if I want to have those sort of conversations and even if I want to Tweet in French. My answer would be no to all three. It’s the wrong approach to just think about your desire to learn a language when you approach people on Twitter. Find someone who is interested and is already tweeting about the things that interest you… and is already tweeting in the other language. Yes it is a little work with Twitter search and a dictionary, but easy enough to do. You will soon find friends and conversations that interest both of you.
I have a few website resources listed that are fantastic though – they are on the Language Skills page under Useful Resources in the right side bar. Take a look at them, you can study for free and at your own pace. And I’ll keep adding new ones as I stumble across them.
But it’s true, this could be a short and fun series. Let me try to think of a way to keep it more business focused…
Cindy I would love to see something more on two subjects:
1. how to effectively enter the U.K. market – right now I’m getting attention but not nearly enough especially responses.
2. how to manage the social media promotion more efficiently
love your tweets!
thanks so much
Jackie
Jackie Coopers last blog post..More about client loyalty.
Hi Jackie, Thank you for your suggestions.
Let me give it some thought. Do you already follow the UK market closely? How much do you feel you “get” them? Coming from a former British colony and growing up with American television, I am often struck by how much the UK is influenced by it’s class society origins. Many people fail to see this and yet it can give you a clue as to how to approach certain markets.
Social media? Apart from the gadgety aspects, don’t forget it really is just another form of communication… with a new set of standards, or rules, or etiquette (or something like that).
A couple of good ideas for series.
Hi Cindy, great site and great postings!
As a designer/developer/visual “problem-solver” who has worked in multi-cultural and non-US markets, I have often run into a lack of knowledge about the meanings of color/visual symbols/metaphors and even historical typeface associations that can make or break communications as looking authentic/appropriate for various markets. Books like “Designing Across Cultures” and “Global Graphics:Color” are great starters. There are cultural heritages for typefaces and fonts (such as Blackletter, which comes out of a German tradition, with both good and bad connotations), and language metaphors and expressions that translate into visuals that might only be understood in a specific cultural/national framework.
I think this would be a great large topic to cover on a regular basis, with examples (good and bad), etc.
If nothing else, this can help the “visualization” and mind-mapping ideas suggested above.
Keep up the great work on this site!
Dean Meyers
http://www.deanmeyers.net
Dean Meyerss last blog post..Close your eyes to see
Hi Dean,
Thank you for such thought provoking suggestion. It’s true, I really do not know of any cultural resources for visuals. I usually impregnate myself with cultural environments to pick up “cultural design”, this was enough for me to choose different designers work for different international marketing projects. But it is not a very good approach. I would expect cultural design to be quite difficult to assess culturally – dealing with both the design and the words to explain the difference makes it easier to get it wrong.
Interesting, isn’t it?
I’m not sure if I’m allowed to submit something since it’s past the deadline but I want to see a 31 Days About Cindy series. It would be assume to get to know you as a fellow blogger.
I am also offering a Problogger Book… check out my contest below!
Dan Mirandas last blog post..Free Problogger Book
Hi Dan,
You are lucky! My work schedule ate into my blogging schedule again. I did not get a chance to officially end this contest until now. So your submission is included.
Nice idea – Not sure if I’d like to talk about myself for so many days though
I’ll be over to see you on Twitter shortly too.
good post, I’ll be back