Cindy King's International Business Blog » international lead generation

Get International Clients With The Right Content

Cindy King — Sun, 03 May 2009 23:00:23 +0000

Every week I speak to people from all over the world who want to develop their international sales. Many of these people are not taking full advantage of their online content marketing for:

Visibility
Brand awareness
And international sales

It Is Content Marketing

When you use a website to “reach” international audiences, you are in fact relying on your content to do your marketing. There are many different types of content you can use online:

Articles
Blog posts
And there are many, many more different ways to present your content… even with Twitter

But there is one type of content that stands out above all the rest with regards to lead generation, grabbing the readers interest and bringing inquiries from potential clients to you. This is the:

White Paper

Now, there is one thing you need to know:

Many people associate the term White Paper with boring reading material

This is why you will also find White Papers labeled:

Free report
Guide
And quite a few other more appealing terms

The essential thing to remember is that:

White Papers are written for people who have a problem.

White Papers are not sales materials. They use facts, useful information and expert opinions to present the reader, the same one who has a problem, with the solution he needs.

Think about that for a moment. It makes sense, doesn’t it? When someone has a problem they want to solve, they look for reliable sources of information to help them. No wonder people like reading White Papers.

This is why White Papers are an effective way of using content to attract potential clients… even international clients.

What About International Lead Generation?

Let’s be honest up front, it is not easy. There are many factors involved in international lead generation through online content marketing. And there are many different skills needed for content marketing to bring you international sales.

White Papers and content marketing will not bring in direct international sales for all businesses. But when used adeptly, and within a solid international marketing strategy, there are many very useful forms of content marketing that can directly influence your international sales results.

And once again, White Papers is one of these when it is used within a good international web marketing strategy.

Buzz Increases The Potential

In addition to marketing your business through online content and using good web marketing practices, there is one other element that you have to keep in mind, simply because it has the potential to dramatically increase your success. This is:

Social media

If you use the viral power of social media as part of your web marketing strategy, the results can be spectacular. Social media is in constant evolution throughout the world. People use it differently in different countries. You simply cannot ignore this potential if you are using content marketing to reach your international clients.

Getting Your International Web Marketing Right

The problem is that international web marketing has its challenges.

There are many layers to successful international web marketing. The same ones in all cultures, these include:

Content marketing
SEO
Web marketing
Social media marketing
Multichannel marketing

And then there are the challenges of international marketing:

Customized content
Cross-cultural communication
International sales practices

It is not always easy to see how these all fit together, or to decide on the strategy that is right for your business. This is why it is often easier to begin the process by looking at one piece of the puzzle at a time.

Mike Stelzner Talks About His Viral Marketing With White Papers

White Paper Insider Interviews
“Mr. White Paper” – Mike Stelzner

6 May 2009 – 2:00PM EST – US

BlogTalkRadio +1 347 237 4939

Join me – Listen – Ask questions

Find out how Mike used social media marketing to promote a white paper, make it viral and expand his business.

Want to hear about a recent example of how a White Paper went viral?

Tune into the White Paper Insider show I am co-hosting on BlogTalkRadio on Wednesday May 6th. Mr. White Paper himself, Mike Stelzner, will share his story. Although this is not a full story on international lead generation, it is well worth listening to. Remember, Mike’s viral report did make it over here to France!

White Papers For International Lead Generation

Cindy King — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:00:18 +0000

White Papers For International Sales

As an International English Copywriter I like to keep up-to-date with North American copywriting practices. That’s why I’m spending this evening listening to over 3 hours of an informative webinar.

It is the Copywriting Success Summit 2008 organized by Michael Stelzner from the White Paper Source.

In fact, this is the first event I have attended of its kind. You get the value of a 2 or 3 day live day event without the travel and hassle of hotel rooms. All of the attendees listen through the web or by phone. Content is delivered in several sessions at one time. For me here in France it is in the evenings. This maintains a good learning level without the travel.

Tonight’s presentations are given by Peter Bowerman, Michael Stelzner and Casey Hibbard.

Listening to these presentations tonight highlighted the strong reasons why companies targeting new foreign markets should create specific White Papers for these new markets.

International Lead Generation

White Papers are a great lead generation tool. They can easily be used online. And they are also a great communication tool for live events, conferences and exhibitions.

International business development based on web marketing needs strong lead generation tools. And there are not many strong lead generation tools available when targeting foreign markets primarily through international web marketing.

This reason alone is why companies selling abroad need to use White Papers.

White Papers Go Viral

White Papers have great viral potential with the right online marketing.

And this viral potential is even more valuable if you are developing a new market with limited content available to target your new audience.

All online marketing can be tracked. This means you can calculate the results your White Paper brings to your business. Another great advantage when discovering new markets.

Adapting White Papers To Specific Cultural Behaviors

Now…

Let’s take this a little bit further.

Imagine you take a closer look at the cultural behaviors for the country you are targeting. And imagine tweaking your White Papers to appeal more to your specific foreign market.

This makes your White Paper a powerful international lead generation tool.

And what are the different cultural behaviors to look for?

There are 5 different scales of cultural behaviors:

Individualism/Collectivism
Femininity/Masculinity
High Uncertainty Avoidance/Low Uncertainty Avoidance
High Power Distance/Low Power Distance
High Context/Low Context

When writing a White Paper for a specific culture, you can take all of these different scales of cultural behavior into account. In writing your White Paper. And also in how you format it and how you market it.

By adapting your White Papers for specific international markets you can generate more international leads.

Let’s Write Write Papers

Many of my French clients believe it takes months and months to write a White Paper. They are surprised when I say I can easily write one a month for Get International Clients.

It does take a lot of work. But this is where good copywriting skills come in.

According to this evenings summit:

Businesses spend on average 50 hours over a period of months write a White Paper.
A copywriter spends on average 25 hours over 4 weeks to write a White Paper.

Writing a White Paper involves:

A series of interviews
Research
Writing

In today’s world of information overload the best length for a white paper is between 6-12 pages. And the tendency is towards the lower number of pages.

And the price? The average price for a 6-10 page White Paper is over $4000. But you need to compare this with the value of what you are selling.

White Papers provide credibility and authority. These elements are usually missing when targeting new markets.

Are you interested in a White Paper for an international audience? I write for both European and North American companies and I work closely with both North American copywriters and French writers. Contact me to find out more.

Up-Sell Expectations Across Cultures

Cindy King — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:00:15 +0000

International Customer Expectations

My phone rang last night. It was just as one of my favorite TV shows was starting. Now the show was on a DVD, as I answered the phone, I heard the introductory music start…

….the caller spoke to me in English.

Now this might not be significant to you.

But I live in France. And my family lives in various parts of North American.

So phone calls in English at night are usually not good news.

The caller got my attention immediately. Because he was speaking to me in English.

The introductory music ended on my TV show. I hesitated about going over to stop the recording.

…I could always re-start it again later

The caller was not anyone in my family.

…what did he want?

…If this call is going to take too long I will not be able to finish the show tonight…or it’s another late night again!

A Sales Pitch Late At Night

What?

The second sentence from my caller is “now you are interested in earning an extra $50,000 a year, aren’t you?”

A sales call? From an American? On my home phone in France?

– “Where did you get this number?”

– “Well you must have bought one my Mr. Get Rich Quick Internet Marketer’s products at one time or another”

No Relationship With The Company Intruding On My Privacy

Hmm, this Mr. Get Rich Quick Internet Marketer did have a $1 offer with a semi-hidden membership plan a while ago.

– “Do you know what time it is where I am?”

– “Uhhhh. No”

It’s not that a semi-hidden offer gets under my skin. But I definitely prefer very clear up-front information when it concerns my credit card.

Besides, Mr. Get Rich Quick Internet Marketer’s follow up emails talked so much about how his Mom thought he was great that I never stayed around on his membership plan. I am sure he is a good guy. It’s just that I was too busy to get beyond his mother.

…So after a $1 offer good enough to spark my interest, but with a semi-hidden membership pulling you in, I now get a call late at night.

This is an up-sell?

– “Do you know that it is late at night my end?”

– “No, can I call you back in a couple of hours?”

– “No, I’ll be asleep by then”

…You know what, I don’t want to go to bed late because of someone like this.

– “Look, if you do not know how to check time zones for international calls, just take my name off your list.”

Bad Timing For An Up-Sell

Apart from the bad choice of time to call me, there was also one other major flaw with this call.

It was also a very bad time to call me with an up-sell.

First, I never hooked up with this particular Get Rich Quick Internet Marketer:

The shady membership sign up was a turn off
The “my mother loves me” series of emails bored me

Second, even if I had been hooked, the timing for the up-sell was all wrong:

Jumping from $1 to several hundred dollars creates barriers in me
Jumping from a massive launch campaign to the privacy of my home is too much, too soon

Different Personal Expectations

Let’s look at the personal point of view…

Depending where you live, and your own cultural background, you might have responded just like I did. And you might not have. You might have immediately bought into the “you are interested in earning an extra $50,000 a year, aren’t you?” pitch. And you might take phone calls later than I do.

Different Marketing Expectations

Now, let’s look at the marketing…

The “my mother loves me” series of emails were obviously trying to stimulate a positive reaction. As I said, it is fairly credible that this guy is indeed a great person. So this first series of emails may have been enough to prepare for a direct home call for an up-sell for some people. But it would certainly not work in all cultures.

I have often noticed how the big Get Rich Quick Internet Marketers assume they have international businesses and that they do not need international marketing.

After all, they are popular enough to get large quantities of international orders. Their products and their sales and marketing appear to be working just fine.

Just A Little Thought Is All It Takes

Now what if…

…this Mr. Get Rich Quick Internet Marketer had…

Targeted his original “my mother loves me” email series to markets culturally open to this sort of approach, and then used another set of emails with a more appropriate approach for other cultures.
Given more thought to the timing and appropriateness of his up-sell strategy.

It would have been a different story my end.

But, right now he comes across to me as:

A little bit of a simplistic jerk
Definitely a person who wants to both waste my time and take my money before proving to me that he has any value to give me.

You need to give a little thought to how you go about marketing to your international clients.

It is not rocket science.

It is simply stepping down a moment to try to see things like they do.

And remember, selling products and services over the internet does not mean you have an international business.

In order…

To develop,

To up-sell,

To use sales funnel, or sales pipeline strategies,

…to your international markets…You need sound international marketing practices.

Customize Your Content For Different Cultures

Cindy King — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:00:10 +0000

Internationalize Your English

International web marketing and online based international business development rely heavily on culture customized content to create effective lead generation funnels and get sales.

Very simply, if you want to communicate effectively with different cultures in different countries you need to adapt your communication and your content. This is how you can begin to build cross-cultural relationships through your online business.

Reaching Clients With Content

There are a few different names used to describe the same basic type of marketing:

Content Marketing
Educational Marketing
Information Marketing

How To Get The Content For Your Marketing

There is a trend in businesses outsourcing content creation. As Junta42 said recently, content outsourcing is getting the second largest marketing budget today.

This trend in outsourcing content creation is estimated to expand.

International Content Creation

The question is, how will businesses that outsource their content approach content for international audiences?

Will this international content be outsourced to:

Content creators, or
Translators, or
Culture-customizers?

Choice Of Communication

First lets, look at another question. The choice of customizing your content to foreign markets.

I am often surprised by marketing managers who take the easy road of using a translation service.

Most of the large American companies I have dealt with will have their communication go through their American corporate communication or public relations Vice President and then translated.

This translation might be forwarded to the marketing manager based in the foreign country for input as a courtesy measure. Unfortunately I have yet to hear of any recommended changes being implemented.

This results in very little communication being culturally customized to the local culture.

Large companies have a very difficult issue with their corporate branding. This leaves their foreign marketing departments more work to catch up.

Loss For Some, Opportunity For Others

It is also a wonderful opportunity for the smaller, or more flexible businesses, to create more effective communication in foreign markets.

Culture-customized content will always resonate more than content created for your own domestic market.

Different cultures respond to different things. The communication you need to get the most out of one specific market will be different to the communication you need in another one.

Yes, it takes more effort to get the culture-customized content. It also takes more expertise and experience in your foreign markets.

But it will bring in more sales and will give your company a stronger presence in that culture.

How To Customize Your Content For Different Cultures

Now let’s go back to my question about how businesses will outsource the content they need for international markets.

There are two problems:

Marketing managers in one country find working with a translation company easy to do.
Most translation companies say they have translators with specific industry knowledge.

I have been one of those marketing executives.

Always get a mother-tongue speaker of the language you need. If your translator speaks the language you need as a second language and it is for communication with your clients… well you have just given your competitors a nice present.

I’ve hunted down the good translation agencies, bought the translations and had to work with the results.

Now, I have worked with a few large multinational companies with in-house staff capable of writing the documents needed in the foreign language. But time is a big factor when it comes to translations.

There is something I noticed. Translated documents were rarely as good as when they were done in-house with the right person.

Inside experience and expertise count enormously when creating culturally customized content.

Get Rid Of The Risk

After about 10 years in international business I decided on another tactic. My language skills will good enough for me to see the difference in marketing and cross-cultural communication needs and the best work any translation service could offer me.

My new tactic required prior planning in the beginning and some creative thinking. Afterwards I learned to keep my eyes open. I also began to know exactly what I wanted from a business and marketing point of view.

Whenever I need a document in another language, I look for the perfect person to do the job. I pre-select the person I want to work with.

We have to have the same business outlook.
The person has to have excellent writing skills.
The writing style in the foreign language has to be right for the job.
The person has to understand the objectives.
The person must be able to communicate these objectives into the other language.

I often now turn to a professional friend or colleague. I also have my favorites.

Just because you

Speak the language does not mean you will write what the market needs.
Work in the same industry does not mean you will know how to communicate what the market needs.
Have the right qualification does not mean you will get the communication right.

You might think I’m fussy with translations. No it’s not fussy.

It’s a question of eliminating risk. I do not like risks.

A marketer wants his campaigns to be successful. In my past experience, I have often eliminated at least 30-40% of the international marketing risk by having content written by the right person.

Eliminate a very large percentage of your risk.

Find the right person to create your culturally-customized content.

Need International English content? Drop me an email.

How To Avoid Wasting Your International Potential

Cindy King — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:00:11 +0000

International Lead Generation

Internet marketing can open your business to different countries. But it is not always easy to actually get foreign sales.

You need more than a website and basic internet marketing.

International Lead Generation System

You will only be able to make international sales if you have a good lead generation system.

This is not the only thing you need.

Marketing Pipeline

In order to get sales-ready leads from abroad you also need to set up a marketing pipeline in parallel with your lead generation system.

Good marketing combined with a solid lead generation strategy:

Gets you international sales
Save your company time and money chasing the wrong “leads”.

Combine both a lead generation with a solid marketing strategy to focus your actions for faster results. Without focused actions, you will not have a strong enough impact on your international markets.

International Market Research

You also need to learn from your international markets and adapt your strategies to fit your foreign prospects real desires and needs.

This means you also need to implement an international lead generation program with a marketing pipeline you can document, measure, track and refine.

Define What You Need To Measure

Tracking and measuring your results is vital to international online success. It is easy to misinterpret statistics and jump to the wrong conclusions. This happens even more often with different cultural markets.

It is important to prepare what you are going to measure and develop the right tracking process for your business.

An Online International Lead Generation System Right For You

Lead nurturing does take time. The earlier you create and nurture a relationship with your clients the more likely you are to sell to them when they are ready.

This nurturing process also gives you the time and space to get to know your international markets. A good tracking and measurement system will pay off.

Is an international lead generation system is right for you?

Create Front End Acquistion Information Products For International Sales

Cindy King — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:00:06 +0000

International Lead Generation

International internet marketing goes a long way to help you get international visitors to your website. But you also need a good international sales strategy.

Most businesses using internet marketing to reach international audiences do not have overseas offices and staff. Many of these companies, and probably the vast majority, do not have any real sales strategy to get more international leads and clients.

There are two different sales strategies often referred to online:

Front End Acquisition
Back End Sales

The internet marketing strategies are very different for each of these.

Businesses usually learn how to go after international back end sales. This is usually as easy as customized emails and phone calls.

A good front end acquisition strategy can open up international markets for your business. Without the expense of overseas offices and foreign travel.

But international front end acquisition sales are harder. They need more international market knowledge and marketing savvy. They also take longer to put in place.

Brick and mortar companies with an online presence will often not even think they have a way to create a front end acquisition strategy.

And yet, information products offer every business the ideal opportunity to create a front end acquisition strategy. Persistent internet marketing with good tracking and testing practices offer every business the way to adapt to international markets.

International business expansion is available for those who put together a good front end acquisition sales plan and work with it to learn about their international markets.

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Create Front End Acquistion Information Products For International Sales

International Lead Generation With An Information Product Strategy

Cindy King — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:00:03 +0000

International Lead Generation

Developing an international business or getting more international clients has never been easier with international internet marketing. And yet so few companies are using the tools they have available to them.
One of these tools is Information Products. Companies have always used information products. In their printed versions and even PowerPoint versions.

Maybe companies are stuck in the old way of using information. Information tools in the past were used as a static form of sharing information. The sales team did almost all of the leg work. The main exception being the use of printed coupons to incite readers to come into your store.

Today information products also provide a platform to send your readers to the next step in the dialog you want to have with them. Hyperlinks embedded in your information products are a little like the printed coupons, except they are much, much more versatile.

The selection of information products has also more than doubled with the internet. This also gives greater capacity to steer your prospects along and gives them the opportunity of getting to know you better.

This change in the function of information products explains why so few companies are taking advantage of the internet marketing possibilities.

There are more types of information products available today, both online and offline. Combined with a little internet marketing and a little market research, you can create effective international lead generation strategies.

Information products used strategically throughout an international lead generation program cuts out a large portion of the work normally done by an international sales team. This gives small businesses the possibility of expanding internationally without the travel, without hiring overseas staff and limits much of the risk.

The other good reason to use an international lead generation program based on information products and an international internet marketing plan, is it allows businesses to start developing internationally on the smallest of budgets. International budgets can grow as your international market knowledge grows.

International business promotion can be created to fit your budget.

Start with free online promotion for your international markets. Add some offline promotion wisely, during one international event for example and increase your promotion budget as your international sales increase.

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International Lead Generation With An Information Product Strategy

Cindy King's International Business Blog » international lead generation

Get International Clients With The Right Content

It Is Content Marketing

What About International Lead Generation?

Buzz Increases The Potential

Getting Your International Web Marketing Right

Mike Stelzner Talks About His Viral Marketing With White Papers

More on White Papers For International Sales:

More on International Lead Generation

More in these Get International Clients Business Guides

White Papers For International Lead Generation

International Lead Generation

White Papers Go Viral

Adapting White Papers To Specific Cultural Behaviors

Let’s Write Write Papers

More on White Papers For International Sales:

More on International Lead Generation

More in these Get International Clients Business Guides

Up-Sell Expectations Across Cultures

A Sales Pitch Late At Night

No Relationship With The Company Intruding On My Privacy

Bad Timing For An Up-Sell

Different Personal Expectations

Different Marketing Expectations

Just A Little Thought Is All It Takes

More On International Customer Expectations:

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

Customize Your Content For Different Cultures

Reaching Clients With Content

How To Get The Content For Your Marketing

International Content Creation

Choice Of Communication

Loss For Some, Opportunity For Others

How To Customize Your Content For Different Cultures

Get Rid Of The Risk

More on Culturally Customized Content:

More in the Get International Clients Business Guides

How To Avoid Wasting Your International Potential

International Lead Generation System

Marketing Pipeline

International Market Research

Define What You Need To Measure

An Online International Lead Generation System Right For You

More On International Lead Generation articles:

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

Create Front End Acquistion Information Products For International Sales

More On International Lead Generation articles:

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides:

International Lead Generation With An Information Product Strategy

More On International Lead Generation articles:

More In These Get International Clients Business Guides: