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 - International Business Blog

International Web Marketing Specialties

White Papers For International Sales

This past week several people have asked me questions about how to get business through your online presence. And it still amazes me that some people do not realize the value of online content.

You need to have content online simply to be present.  Look at what is in front of you.  Content.  Of course there are different forms of content, but it is all content.  Content creation should be big on your agenda if you want to develop your business online.

Content Brings In Business

Businesses also need to be strategic about the content they produce if they want to be better than their competitors.   And this is why I’m writing today. Like everyone else I’ve been thinking about my own content plan for 2010.  Yes, I know it’s hard to believe 2010 is just around the corner. Like me, you’re likely putting plans in place for next year. Better customers, more of them and so on.

I’m planning on using a proven content marketing technique next year. And it just so happens that there are some amazing marketing superstars I know putting on this really great event that will help us grow our businesses thanks to this proven marketing technique.

Before I tell you about it, I want to share a story to inspire you.

Back during the last market crash (the dot.com implosion), there was this guy—a small business owner—who really was hit hard. He lost his biggest clients, had young kids to feed and really wasn’t sure what to do.

He was thinking of spending a lot of money on advertisements. Fortunately someone told him it was a waste of time.

So here’s what he did and what happened.

He wrote a 10-page piece, sharing his tips and secrets to his craft. His friends said he was nuts and shouldn’t “give away” such great knowledge.

He ignored them.

Once his “masterpiece” went up on his website, he immediately started getting leads. The first week was 43 prospects. After 4 weeks it jumped to more than 400.

After only 8 months he had thousands of quality leads coming in, was landing huge projects and frankly had more work then he could handle.

Fast-forward to today. That document he wrote back in 2003 still brings him more than 30 leads each day (84,261 leads so far) and has helped him land millions in new business (from big names like Microsoft, FedEx and Dow Jones). And it led to a best-selling book.

His name is Michael Stelzner. And his super weapon was an educational white paper. MarketingSherpa calls him “The Grandfather of White Papers.”

And funny enough, times are tough again and the white paper is the top marketing tool used by businesses today (according to an Eccolo Media study).

Are you using educational white papers to grow your business? Would you like to know how?

About The Event

If you’re looking to attract more high-quality leads in 2010 and position your business as a leader, you’ll want to check out White Paper Success Summit 2010.

It’s a live online event that will empower you to attract quality leads and grow your business during this economic slump—all with educational white papers.

Not only can you gain amazing leads for your business with white papers, you’ll also grow your lists and establish your business as a leader.

The world’s leading white paper experts will show you how.

Here’s a sample of the presenters:

Michael Stelzner (author, Writing White Papers), Bob Bly (author, White Paper Marketing Handboo k), John Jantsch (author, Duct Tape Marketing), Brian J. Carroll (author, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale), Roger C. Parker (author, White Paper Design that Sells), Joe Pulizzi (author, Get Content Get Customers), Jonathan Kantor (author, Crafting White Paper 2.0) and many others! Together this team of “who’s who” in white paper marketing will help you succeed using practical tactics.

This is the world’s only event designed to empower marketers and small business owners to master the art of white paper marketing. And the great news is it’s a live online summit you can attend from your home or office.

Check it out here.

What’s In It For You?

First, you don’t need to be a techno-geek to create good white papers. White papers are really articles on steroids with a slant. The right person with the right direction can create a white paper that goes viral (yes, that could be you!).

Second, it’s not just technology companies that use white papers. Any business (big or small) that sells to other businesses should use white papers. For example, FedEx, Dow Jones, Monster.com, LinkedIn and thousands of smaller businesses all use white papers as marketing material. Even if you sell to consumers, white papers can be very effective.

White Paper Success Summit 2010 will help you discover the best ways to market your business with white papers. You’ll also learn how major white paper campaigns were executed and how you can achieve similar results (play-by-play steps provided).

It’s fully dedicated to empowering you. You’ll discover how to grow your business without the uncertainty of trial and error.

Yes, attending this online event (and applying the techniques) will grow your business. But there’s much more. You’ll also join a community of like-minded peers who’ll share their experiences and wisdom.

Go here now to learn more.

You can get 50% off if you act now. There are 12+ original sessions on using white papers to market your business. Be sure to check them out. I know that each of the presenters has created NEW content for this event.

Remember, the experts teach the sessions live (and it’s all online). These are big names, including Michael Stelzner, Bob Bly, John Jantsch, Brian J. Carroll, Roger C. Parker, and Joe Pulizzi. And here’s the cool part: you don’t need to leave your home or office!

As a way of saying “thanks” for checking out the summit, there’s a gift just for marketers (valued at $42) waiting for you here.

My Second White Paper Success Summit

This is the second White Paper Success Summit I’ll be attending. And I’m really looking forward to it. I enjoyed the lively community and interaction with other peers. I learned a lot last year. And I want to keep my skills current. There are different types of content, different forms of viral ebooks and reports. And I want to know what is working today so that I can craft a great content plan for 2010.

I’ll hang out in the member forum quite a bit. I learned lots there last year and made several good business acquaintances. Please reach out and say hello if you do join.

More on White Papers For International Sales:

• European Versus American White Paper Marketing
• Get International Clients With The Right Content
• The Best Sales Tool In A Slow Economy
• White Papers For International Lead Generation

More on International Lead Generation

• How To Avoid Wasting Your International Potential
• Create Front End Acquistion Information Products For International Sales
• International Lead Generation With An Information Product Strategy
• Up-Sell Expectations Across Cultures

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

A Proven Marketing Technique

Membership Sites

The first WishList Member Training & Certification sessions took place earlier this week and it really sank in how you can use this membership plugin in many different ways.

If you have followed me for the last couple of weeks, you’ll know just how jazzed I am about the WishList Membership Plugin. I’m always on the look out for ways to use content marketing and thus web marketing to reach international audiences.

This new membership site software does provide some very interesting options for international marketers. Of course international marketing is complex and takes a fair amount of skill and effort. But I’m up to the task and just can’t wait to set up a few membership sites to start playing around with the free membership options for some international market research activities.

Different Memberships Models

But after listening to the first Wishlist training calls I came away with a very clear vision of how I wanted to set up all of my websites and the sales funnel I want to make in 2010.

By using a variety of different membership sites and by repurposing content I already have I can create a strong product series that makes sense for my business. All of my niche sites will soon be on WishList.

Here are the different membership site options I’m looking very closely at for my business:

• A “Modular Membership Site” where you pay everything up front (maybe with payment options) and where content is delivered over a few months. This means once you create the content and set it up, you leave it.
• A “Combo Membership Site” with “Private Access” + “Micro Continuity Membership” + “Protected Forum Membership“. Sounds familar? Well, I’m dropping my Ning group project and setting it up on WishList.
• A “Coaching Site” with both common access areas and specific membership levels for each individual clients. Using a membership site plateform makes it easy to work with international clients.
• A “Project Management Site” for launch management.  This is similar to the Coaching Site except the content delivery will be set up differently. And again, it will be a big help in international launch management.
• A “Protected Download Site” for some niche specific marketing activities.  My ideas are still bubbling on this one, but this will be for targeted marketing tactics.
• And I’m also extremely interested in the “Free Membership” options for international marketing research tactics. This should play a huge role in my international market research, or should I say international community research.

Choose The Right Membership Model For Your Content Creation Commitment

Now you may not have noticed that I am not yet including the more popular membership site models just yet.

• The traditional “Publisher Membership” site and sister “Monthly Content” model. These require a long term commitment to creating content every month over a long term.
• The “Micro Continuity Membership” programs. These are short fixed-term membership programs with a monthly payment and they are getting a lot of buzz right now.

The reason for this is because I already have lots of content I want to use for at least one Modular Membership Site.  All of the membership options I’m looking at do not require heavy content creation.

After blogging for two years and on two different blogs, I have enough material to put a few different packages.  Of course, I do need to edit and repurpose existing content and I will have to create some new content.  And this will take some time. The launches of these membership websites will be staggered out throughout 2010. And right now I am busy drafting:

• Editorial Calendars
• Communication Schedules
• Promotion Plans

Once these membership sites are up and running I’ll go back and look at the membership site models that require a bigger commitment to content creation.

Fun With Membership Site Marketing

But quite frankly, I’m expecting to spend time tweaking my membership site marketing.  I don’t anticipate launching any of the bigger content heavy models next year.

You see, technically these membership site options exist because you can control many different things on the different levels of your membership site. You can drip feed content, change sidebars & dashboards for different membership levels.

There are New Marketing Opportunities With Membership Sites and these are worth spending the time exploring. Besides once the developers have access to the Wishlist API, there will be more fun plugins to play around with.  Next year there will be more creative options to beyond the traditional membership sites models to check out.

What about you?

• What other membership site models do you want to try out?
• How do you think a membership site can help you research your online community more?
• What would you like to get out of a membership site and what model would be best for you?

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 - International Business Blog

Different Membership Models For Your Business Needs

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 - International Business Blog

New Marketing Opportunities With Membership Sites

Membership Sites

I’m tired of hearing the word “risk”. This is one of the top excuses most of the business owners I speak with use for not developing their international markets.

Of course, I fully understand and appreciate the “risk” involved in developing international markets. Honestly I do. I’ve been in international businesses of various sizes for over 25 years.

But risk should not keep you paralyzed. Not taking action means losing business opportunities in today’s world.

Read more to find out how I believe the WishList Member Training can help you get a handle on the risk elements involved in international business development.

Learn More About Your Markets

Instead of complaining about risks, you need good market evaluation tools. You need to find out more about your international markets and within a good international web marketing strategy.

Today’s social media and web marketing environment enables us to get more relevant feedback from international markets than ever before.

I know this first hand from how I am developing my own international business.

WishList Membership Plugin

There is one tool I want to talk to you specifically.

• WishList Membership Plugin

Full disclosure: I own WishList Membership Plugin and all the links on this blog are my affiliate links.

It’s a solution built for “everyday people” – that means you don’t need to be a technical genius to figure it out.

Marketing Possibilities Using Membership Site Software

I have a particularly interest in using WishList Membership Plugin within an international web marketing campaign as a tool to learn more about my own international niche markets, but you could easily use it to market to your own audience.

I’m writing this blog post because I’m excited about the marketing possibilities it offers. Of course it is a tool to create membership sites. Using the popular blogging platform: WordPress. And this has three great advantages:

• It’s super easy.
• You can create different membership environments using different mixes of other WordPress plugins.
• It’s just started, there’s going to be many more marketing possibilities this time next year.

WordPress Can Do This?

There are some fabulous plugins out there but you had to “tweak this” and “tweak that” and if you aren’t technical, it becomes very frustrating. That’s why I was very excited when I saw WishList Member. It’s a membership solution that was specifically built for WordPress.

The best part is, it has all the features you would want in a membership solution AND it is compatible with all of your other favorite plugins! So you get the best of both worlds

Plus, they’ve added some very cool features to make running and managing a membership site a whole lot easier.

Free Membership Sites For More Effective Market Research

I’m much more interested in the free membership sites right now. I’m starting to change all of my niche websites into free membership sites. I’ll use the membership site capabilities to learn more about my audience and market to them in a much more effective way, than simply with a blog or website.

And after I learn more about what my audience wants?

Then there is always the possibility of easily adding in paid membership levels.

Building Your Community

With the WishList plugin you create a membership site. This membership site is about creating community. And if one thing can be said about the web today, it is that it is quickly moving towards a greater sense of “community”.

That’s why membership sites have quickly begun to experience a tremendous resurgence. It gives people with a shared interest a place to connect, discuss and share their thoughts and ideas on a topic of interest.

Ideas On How Your Business Can Use WishList

They key as a business owner is to identify how you can create a community around your product or service.  Here are links to 3 different videos.

• 10 of the most popular kinds of membership sites (and some of them don’t even have content inside!).
• Micro-continuity membership sites
• Get a deeper idea of how you can incorporate WishList into your business.

After watching these videos you’re bound to have lots of “membership site” ideas – I know I did.

WishList Membership Training

To be honest with you, although I appreciated the benefits of having a membership site, the marketing lightbulbs did not really go off until after I listened to the recordings of the WishList Live Training Event.  This is when I realized WishList was opening great possibilities for me to use in international market research.  The kind of market research that would help get rid of the paralyzing effect of the fear of “risk” in international business development.

To set up a membership site, all you need is the WishList Membership Plugin.  It is very easy to set up and use, especially if you are used to WordPress already.

To really get the fully marketing potential quickly out of the plugin, I think it’s worth investing in some extra training. And I know you like a good deal so I wanted to quickly share this link with you in case you want to jump onboard full throttle this year and learn how to use this great membership tool.

The WishList Member Training & Certification is starting very soon and there is a $500 Early Bird discount which ends on Tuesday December 1st 2009.  From what I’ve been told, they won’t be doing the Training or the Certification for at least another 6-8 months so now is the best time to get in.

The WishList Membership Plugin is easy enough to use without this training.  But if you are a marketer you might be eager to get all of the little bits of inside information that can give your own marketing a leading edge.

You can see how excited I am about this. What about you?

• Are there any examples of WishList membership sites you would like to share?
• How do you use free membership websites for market research?
• What experience would you like to create with a membership site?

Please leave your comments below.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

WishList – A Great Marketing Tool To Get To Know Your Market Better

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 - International Business Blog

7 Reasons For Different Online Content

International Copywriting

Communication skills are vital at many different levels to be successful in business. And they are always essential in good sales and marketing.

Although communication may appear to be natural and easy, it is not as simple as it may seem.  There are in fact many different facets to good communication skills.

One of these is cross-cultural communication which is one of the main topics of this blog.

When we think of different forms of communication we often break it down into verbal communication and written communication. It is easy to notice people who excell in verbal communication, because when business is done face-to-face verbal communication skills come into play.  But on the web written communication skills are just as important.

The truth is business professionals need to be skilled in many different forms of communication.

Copywriting For Business Communication

If you were to ask passers by in the street, many people would not know what copywriting is, or what copywriters do. And yet, when you seek to improve your communication skills for business, you quickly hear the word “copywriting”. And if you look up how to improve your web content, you will also quickly run into the word “copywriting”.

Although copywriting is a sales skill at its core, it is a fundamental business communication skill.

Copywriting developed with direct response advertising in the US, it expanded into many different specialties.  Good copywriting skills became even more important with websites, web marketing and online businesses.

You see, copywriting improves your written communication skills for business.  And although good copywriting skills can make you a better communicator in most areas of business, it is in sales and marketing where it makes the biggest difference.

As you can imagine copywriting takes practice.  It takes a little time to be able to recognize good copy from bad copy… and to understand why something is good or bad.  And it is a skill that is best practiced with continuity. Is it worth this time and effort?

Improve Marketing & Sales Results

Copywriters were able to hone their craft in the US because of the size of their direct response market.  American companies could mail out huge campaigns, they could do split tests to compare results using 2 different texts and monitor feedback.  Sales determined the best copywriting.  It was easy to see what worked and what did not work.

Copywriting has always been used to create results-oriented sales and marketing materials.  Online you can also test and compare the results from 2 different pieces of copy to find out:

• What gets a reader to read your web page, your blog or your online report?
• What gets your reader to click through and read another page?
• Is there anything on your website that stops your reader from buying?

Online content marketing has given copywriting a whole new sphere of action.  Everyone online should understand copywriting basics because an online presence is based on content.  Why take the time to write content and publish it online unless you know how it impacts your readers? This is where good copywriting skills come into play, to:

• Improve the click throughs and results you get from your website, blog, landing pages, emails, videos.

Copywriting Success Summit 2009

Could you get away with not studying copywriting basics?  Of course you can. Some people are natural communicators, born marketers and gifted salespeople. They do exist.

Should you try to get away without studying copywriting basics?  Not in today’s economy.

• Good copywriting skills help you to get better results out of low-cost marketing methods.
• Good copywriting skills also make it easier to approach multicultural marketing, because you learn to understand your readers and stay focused on what you need say to them for effective communication.
• Good copywriting skills improve your sales and marketing. Period.

To be successful in sales and marketing today, you cannot afford not to keep up-to-date with current copywriting best practices.

To find out what the world’s leading copywriters have to say today, I recommend you attend the Copywriting Success Summit 2009 below.

I attended last year’s Success Summit, and I have to say that I love this training format.  It was almost like attending a live training event, except I was seated comfortably in my own living room. The presentations were spread out over several weeks, which was easy to schedule, and gave me time to digest the information at my own pace.  I asked questions and had great conversations in the private forum. And the experts were always there and very helpful.

It is an event well worth attending if you are serious about improving your copywriting skills.

How to Improve Your Marketing And Sales: The best writers are actively marketing their businesses using the latest low-cost methods. The big question is this: What do successful writers know and do differently that makes them so successful? How do they generate quality leads and win better clients? Now you can learn their tactics. Discover how to grow your writing business during this economic slump at Copywriting Success Summit 2009 — an online professional development conference for freelance writers.

Presenters include bestselling authors and copywriting experts such as Peter Bowerman (Well-Fed Writer author), Steve Slaunwhite (Start & Run a Copywriting Business author), Michael Stelzner (Writing White Papers author), Marcia Yudkin (Persuading on Paper author), Nick Usborne (Net Words author), Chris Garrett (Problogger author), Casey Hibbard (Stories That Sell author), Chris Marlow (the original copywriter’s coach), Pete Savage and Ed Gandia.

No travel required. This online summit allows you to attend sessions, meet the experts and network with peers, all from the comfort of your home or office. This event is sure to sell out quickly.

Learn how to qualify for a $200 savings (expires September 24) and lock in your key to success. Visit and get an immediate gift valued at $42 entitled “How to Be a Highly Paid Copywriter as a One-Person Business.”

Brush up your international skills…
Read more on International Copywriting:

• Marketing Is An Integral Part Of Copywriting
• What Is Copywriting?

Use these skills in your international strategies on the…
Get International Clients International Sales Road Map:

Step 5 – Connect With Your International Markets Connect… • With culture customized content • With trust and empathy • With strong cross-cultural communication

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Learn How To Improve Your Marketing And Sales

Internationalize Your English

Yesterday I mentioned the current trend towards International English in white papers. Susan Oakes asked whether International English was American or British language. And I thought this merited a longer reply here.

First, let’s have a look at this video:

• Allyson Stewart-Allen On Working The Differences Between British & Americans: Business Etiquette

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British & American English Have More Differences Than Just Spelling

As you can see from this video, when you live and work in both of these countries, you usually notice the cultural differences between British English and American English. These cultural differences go beyond different spelling.  In many cases you need explanations, or interpretations and even a British-American dictionary to explain both:

• Country specific vocabulary
• Different meanings for the same word

In addition, there are a series of cultural differences in how British people use their language and how the Americans use theirs.  Even if both languages are called English there is a learning curve to go through to become fluent in the communication used on both sides of the Atlantic.

For native English speakers this learning curve is not usually a big deal.  There are few areas where mistakes in interpretations can have serious consequences.

But for non-native English speakers who learn English one way, these cultural specificities add on another layer of difficulty and are not easy to translate into other languages.  In some cases, these extra difficulties can have serious consequences.  For example, when complicated machinery or health issues are involved any possible misinterpretation can have serious consequences.

The problem is that these misinterpretations increase with the use of culture specific English:

• Whether it is American English for people who studied British English,
• Or British English for people who studied American English as a foreign language.

Why Are Businesses Moving Towards International English?

Website globalization does seem to be a big factor behind the trend.  Here are three reasons why:

Global Website Templates. Businesses are having their website translated into more and more languages.  The number of languages available on websites is steadily increasing.  This brings the need for website templates to make multiple translations easy.  And multiple translations mean that you need to start off with text that is easy to translate into multiple languages.  If you do not “clean up” your English before sending it for multiple translations you will have:

• Translations which say different things in the different languages
• Increased translation costs

To avoid this the original text in English is made very easy to understand for non-native English speakers.  The grammar is amended to get rid of any possible misinterpretation during translation. Some people use the term “Global English”.  This process usually also improves the original text in clarity and consistency.

Wider Audiences. Globalization also brings English speakers with different cultural backgrounds, and different ways of speaking English.  Companies also feel the obligation to improve their English for these wider audiences. This is what is happening with white papers. And even if British English is the official version for the EEC, many large companies are choosing American spelling and an internationalized English. This is simply because that is the best way to communicate with their global markets.

Politically Correct. One translator who works for a large Swiss multinational company, told me that the company directives to implement International English was initiated to avoid favoring one way of speaking over another within an international environment.  This  might be a sign in global awareness for being polite to all English speakers.

Should You Use British Or American Spelling?

The spelling really does not matter as internationalization your English is about improving the understanding of your content across a wide number of different cultures.

You can choose either British or American spelling. Most businesses choose to use the spelling that is easiest for their biggest, or most important, client base. But any decision process that makes sense works well.

I think that the choice of spelling used to have more of a political reason before.  Companies in Europe or in former British colonies used to always opt for British English.  But now with website globalization and widespread American English software it is often easier to consider American English.

International English is more about taking out the cultural quirks that make it difficult for other cultures to understand. I always think of it as aseptically treating the content. When you navigate between cultures non-stop and actively seek to connect with people (some people don’t try), your language changes naturally over time. You learn what to avoid and what to say and how to say things to make it easier for a wide audience to understand.

Where Can You Find International English Guidelines?

This is a problem.  I have not found a good set of guidelines.  And I believe this is because we are in the middle of this movement and there are different players.  There are:

• British English evangelists and American English evangelists.
• People who only see the need for Global English with translations in mind and others who only want to communicate with as many people as possible.

You can find guidelines written by a few people in these different groups, written from their particular viewpoint.  All of these groups of people would benefit from taking a more global understanding of the issues at hand.

This is why I like to look at the non-native English professionals who do not have any guidelines to follow.  They need to be understood in today’s world, so they simply jump in, and learn what works and what does not work.

The main reason why people adopt International English is to improve communication across a wider international audience. There are no definitive rules and guidelines for International English currently available.  This is an area where you need to apply a good dose of common sense and flexibility.  An international background does help too. You can find a link to the guidelines I use below.  Keep in mind that you will need to adapt these guidelines to your business.

• Are your marketing materials for one specific culture, or an international audience?
• How do you decide whether you need British or American spelling to reach an international audience?
• When would you think of using International English for your website and marketing materials?

More on Internationalizing Your English:

• A Multicultural Writer Gets More International Readers?
• Adjust Your Own English Communication To Meet Other Language Levels
• Americans Need International English Too
• Culture-Free Communication
• Customize Your Content For Different Cultures
• English For International Appeal
• Focus On Your Cultural Communication
• Global English To Avoid Miscommunication
• Internationalize Your Own Communication
• Is International English In Your Future?
• Translation Friendly International English
• What Flavor Is Your English?
• What Is International English?
• Where To Learn How To Write International Or Global English

What you need to know about International English:

• International English Guidelines
  

More in these Get International Clients Business Guides

• International English
• Culture Customized Content

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International English For Better Communication With Global Audiences