When it comes to market research for international audiences, it’s tempting to outsource everything if you can afford it. And today many people today try to do their international market research online. But when you do lots of online research you can get complacent.

No matter what your business is, there comes a time when you must have direct contact with the people. People in your international markets.  You can pick up lots of useful information when you communicate with others in person. And this information can prove to be vital when it comes to people who live in a different country, have a different lifestyle and a different way of thinking. Unfortunately I meet a number of people who seem to avoid picking up the phone.

Here are the most useful tips I have found when connecting with people in your international markets by phone.

#1: Do Your Prep Work

First of all, remember why you are seeking direct contact. Take a few steps back and review your situation. You want to see the big picture and not get bogged down in too many details. You’ll hear more feedback when you are open to what could be of interest to you.

#2: Get Comfortable With The Phone

Get social!
(CC licensed Flickr photo by the waving cat)

 
Sometimes it’s easy to pick up the phone and call people located in your target country. And this is great!  Phone calls can be a great starting point.

And if you think it’s impossible to reach the right people by phone, try thinking outside of the box.  Look at the contacts you do have. Look at the social media contacts you already have, and the ones it would be easy to cultivate. With the notion of six pixels of separation, slowly start networking and look for a way to begin to get feedback from the right source.

#3: Who To Connect With

This is where many people jump into sticky mud.  In some cultures you could get away with reaching out directly to the person you’re interested in. But in many cultures this is not the best place to start.  And you could hinder relationships by Why not start with the outer circle of your contacts and gradually move inwards towards the people you are most interested in connecting with? This takes a bit longer, but if can give you insights into how best to proceed.

#4: Review Context Before You Call

Context is everything. Review the reasons why you are calling this particular person before you pick up the phone. Think of what you’re going to say. Now imagine the person on the other end of the phone. Will this seem normal to him?

One clear goal per phone call usually works best. Because if you ask for too much information or want to get too much out of a call, this can confuse people from different cultures or send wrong messages. You want them to quickly understand why you are calling them and the context has to be relevant to both of you.

#5: Stay Focused

There’s a balance to find in being clear about what you want and remaining open for helpful feedback. And this is how a few well planned questions can come in handy. But in order to get useful feedback from your international contacts you’ll also need to go with the flow because that’s where you can uncover some gems of information. So, you’ll need to remember to stay focused on the big picture.

#6: Keep A Mental Tab Of What You Can Say

I just mentioned having a few well planned questions, but you can also review a few other things you can say to get the conversation going. And when talking to people of different cultures over the phone you might find you need to adjust your usual communication tactics. Here are some good things to keep in mind.

• Confirm what you know, what you understand from this and ask if this is accurate.
• Ask if there’s more information you need to know
• Ask for suggestions and then try to understand the relevancy

When doing international market research by phone I like to cross-reference the same general questions with several sources. This makes it much easier to understand cultural differences.

#7: Get Over The Fear

It is normal to be apprehensive about calling someone you do not know.  And when you are calling to a different country it can even be daunting.  Add in the factor that you may not know if the person speaks English and you may not feel like reaching out. There’s no need to be afraid. People are basically polite.  Even more so when they feel they are helping you.

#8: Cultivate Curiosity To Open Communication

When you call someone thousands of miles away, they will be curious why. This can be a great way to start conversations and get the information you’re looking for.

#9: Create Better Connections With Your International Markets

Make these eight steps a habit. Whenever you interact with someone related to your international market be open to feedback and try to learn a little bit more. This is how you’ll learn to build stronger connections and ultimately have a better foundation for understanding your international markets.

A Better Understanding Of Your International Markets

The knowledge you can gain through simple phone conversations with your international markets can help you improve your international strategies and get more international clients. Of course you’ll need more research, and even in-person meetings, but connecting by phone is very easy to incorporate into your schedule and can help you to understand your international markets much better.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

9 Tips To Learn More About Your International Markets Over The Phone

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here and I’d like to share a little bit about what I’ve been up to besides spending time over at Social Media Examiner.

Over the last year I’ve been bouncing back and forth between my home in France and the United States.  Although I grew up in the Bahamas with American radio and television and traveled there quite a bit when I was younger, this is the first time I’ve really experienced the American lifestyle for over 20 years.

And several things stuck out since I’ve become accustomed to the European way of life.  What’s funny is that most of the cultural differences I first noticed are related to being “green”.  Here they are.

Over-sized Cars

The first thing I noticed was obviously the sheer size and the number of big cars and vehicles. Of course I knew this. But it still took some getting used to.

After a couple of months the size of the cars became “normal” because everything seems to be geared towards it.  There are parking spaces of course, but it also now seems logical to jump into a car to get to the next place on your list.

But still, the percentage of big vehicles feels strange when the press you’re used to talks about the world’s oil supply not being indefinite and the constant increase in the price of gas.

If I had a company here and picked up international clients from the airport, I’d probably give careful consideration to the type of car to use if this was their first (second or third) time in the US.

cc licensed flickr photo by TheMM

Lots Of Plastic

Here’s the second thing that took some getting used to. I am dumbfounded by the use of plastic in everything I buy at American supermarkets.  I’ve opened cardboard boxes to find plastic wrapped in yet another layer of plastic more than once.  It seems like there’s a competition on how much plastic manufacturers can use to package their wares and how creative they are with it.

And ziploc bags are definitely a hot trend.

This makes me wonder how businesses adapt their packaging for American markets?  And will this trend in using lots of plastic and more than two layers of packaging spread to other countries?

I’m definitely rethinking all of the packaging I use to send to American clients now.

cc licensed flickr photo by miuenski

Little Recycling

With this use of plastic and sometimes even multiple layers of packaging you’d think there would be a variety of recycling containers.  But there isn’t.

I have seen separate bins for cardboard boxes and similar materials.  But that’s it.

When I lived Switzerland almost 30 years ago I knew several people who even recycled their tubes of toothpaste and the tops from their yogurts in separate recycling bins.  That’s in addition to the one for cardboard.  And they cleaned everything before putting them recycling.  That was commitment!

After seeing that level of green recycling so long ago, I still feel things are slow in the small village where I now live outside of Paris. I have 3 different garbage cans.  And I’m expected to use my vegetable waste to make my own compost in the garden, carry my empty bottles and newspapers and magazines to the special containers down the road.

And you know what I noticed… The garbage can I use for cardboard and plastic in France would be filled in about 3-5 days based on what I throw away when living in the United States.  But when I’m at home in France this garbage can is only picked up once every 2 weeks, and it’s rarely full.

I’m sure the packaging industries are up to speed on these cultural differences in how too much or too little packaging is used. But I think this is something all international marketers need to take note of.

cc licensed flickr photo by ali eminov

Short Washing Machine Cycles

It’s not all bad for the American way of life. I did find something that I’d love to have back home.

The average length of the washing machine cycle I use in France is about an hour and there’s even a two-hour cycle on my washing machine. But in the United States all of the washing machines I’ve used so far have twenty minute cycles.  And that’s the longest cycle I’ve seen.

I definitely like the shorter washing machine cycles. This is so practical!

And speaking of washing machines… this reminds me of a great article in Interactions Magazine on cultural differences when adapting your products to international markets. It’s well worth the read!

cc licensed flickr photo by ny156uk

International Marketing Insights

These little differences may not seem like much, but they can help you with your international marketing more than you think.  They highlight:

• Just how important it is to understand how your international clients live
• How small assumptions can quickly lead to failure

This is why you need to get beyond the differences you see, scratch beneath the surface and try to understand the reasons why the differences really exist. Then you can apply this understanding to your particular markets for insights into how to begin adapting your marketing to different countries.

Now over to you:

Those were the top three things I noticed most.  What about you?

• What cultural differences do you notice between the American way of life and the European way of life?
• Have you become so used to the cultural differences that you don’t question them any more?
• What cultural differences have impacted your business?

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Cultural Differences In Lifestyles: Shades Of Green

One of the reasons why I started this blog 3 years ago was because I hear too many objections from businesses about why they’re not going international.

I live in an area outside of Paris where there are a lot of small and mid-sized businesses. And almost every time I leave my house I run into a successful business owner or local business man.  After the usual greetings, and given my international business background, this person almost always tells me they want to develop their business internationally…

But they always add an excuse.  And I don’t find most of the excuses I hear to be valid reasons to stop you from developing your business internationally if that’s what you want to do.

Here are the three excuses and objections I hear the most often.

#1: Fear Of Change

“We’d love to develop our international business, but you know what, our business is fine as it is. We don’t want to change anything.”

In order to get international clients you usually need to make changes in how you operate your business.  And although the businessmen I meet have successfully built companies they seem to be afraid of change when it comes to international markets.

Tip: Take things slowly.  The advantage to this is it will help you to acquire the change of mindset you need to adopt to develop your business in other countries.

A good first step is to ensure you don’t push away any international clients.

#2: It Costs Too Much

“We’d love to develop our international business, but we don’t have the money for it.”

This really depends on your particular business and the path you choose to take to get international clients. But don’t confuse things by making assumptions too quickly.

There are 5 different way to create an international business and 7 traditional paths to develop your international business.  You can sign a contract with an international sales distributor or open up shop in a foreign country and these options have different costs.

Do your research first and don’t assume you know how much it’s going to cost.

Tip: International content marketing for a broad international audience combined with proactive social media networking might be easy to include in your budget today… specially if you are already marketing online.  And this will help you find the best path to international sales for your business to take.

Strategic content marketing at this level can give you the feedback you need from international markets to make the right decision for your next step towards an international business.

#3: We’ll Do It Later

“We’d love to develop our international business, but you know what, we’ll do it later.”

Fair enough.  There’s a time to actively go after international clients.  You’ll need the right international resources and the right international business skills.  But there is something you can do beyond simply watching what your competitors are doing abroad.

Tip: Look for hidden opportunities to develop your international markets. If you’ve got an online presence the chances are that you’ve communicated with people from other countries.  But what have you done with this communication?  What have you learned from these interactions?

Many businesses don’t really do anything. In addition, so many businesses make the false assumption that a few international sales means they already have an international business and don’t need to do anything else.  But that’s not true.

Your business needs to learn how to market and sell your products and services in different countries before you can develop your international markets. And your initial communications are where you can begin learning how to do this.  You’ll figure out how to get more international business when you look for the opportunities that come to your doorstep.

Develop Your International Business

There are many reasons to seek international business and there are certainly some good reasons not to.  (I’ll write about those later.)  But as you can see from above, some of these excuses not to develop your international business can cost you sales.  It’s foolish to not do anything about developing your international business.

This is why I blog here.  To inspire and get businesses unstuck when it comes to getting more international clients.

Of course, it’s easy for me to think it’s simple. After all I’ve been in international business development for over 25 years in the field. And I know there are steep learning curves and some international markets are not always possible to develop and you need to recognize them.  But there’s no reason for you to add additional barriers.  And that’s where I try to help you here.

Please let me know more about you and where you’re stuck in your international business.

• What’s your excuse for not doing more to develop your international business?
• Are you learning about your international markets from the international clients you already have?
• What have you changed to get more international clients?

Please share your comments below.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

3 Top Excuses For Not Developing An International Business

Culture impacts international business in a wide variety of ways. I’ve been taken by surprise many times by the extent of its impact. It’s difficult to identify all of the ways culture impacts business because culture evolves over time. This means different cultures are evolving at different speeds and in different directions.

The advice given in books written only a decade ago can be counterproductive today. And the cultural insights we picked up on our trips after university may not help us in international business today.

So what can you do in an environment where cross-cultural miscommunication and blunders pop up unexpectedly. Well one of the best tactics to work effectively in an international environment is to develop an open mindset.

Open Mindset

What is an open mindset?  It’s not always easy to grasp and it can have a slightly different meaning to different people.  But I’ll have a try at explaining what an open mindset means to me in international business and the steps you need to get there.

Self-Examination For An Open Mindset

There are several steps in the process of self-examination. I’ve put these steps first, but in reality I believe our path to opening our mindset is an on-going one.

• It’s not really something you can pick up once and then assume you’ll always have an open mindset.
• It’s a learning process and some steps take more time than others to absorb.
• Sometimes we need more time or experience to be ready to be able to learn more.

So you’ll also need to come back and revisit these steps as you grow your mindset.

#1: Recognize Your Own Focus

It’s important to understand where you are, what occupies your mindset and how different your viewpoint can be when compared to other cultures. How you set your own vision will determine what you see and how open your mindset is.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong about having a narrow focus for certain activities. We might even need this.  But when you are meeting with people from other cultures it’s important to realize just how limiting your own focus or vision is. It’s up to you then to open up or alter your reactions and come back when you are more able to meet people on their level.

#2: Identify Your Assumptions And Question Them

Many “mistakes” in international business begin with our own assumptions and culturally specific expectations being out of sync with another culture. Unfortunately it’s not always easy to identify the assumptions we make because we get so used to our own way of doing things and our own habits.

As you encounter a bit of cross-cultural friction, stop a second and question your assumptions.  Take the conversation slower and try to ask the other person the right questions to find out where the friction came from.

#3: Free Yourself Of A Negative Outlook

When we are confronted with different cultures human nature rears it’s head. We tend to view ourselves as being “good” and “right” while others who do things differently to us are quickly labeled as being “bad” or “wrong”.  Negative reactions are commonplace.

As soon as you recognize any elitist behavior recognize this and give others to the time you need for them to show you where they are coming from.

#4: Avoid Negative Judgment

People are usually good at understanding why it’s good to avoid quick judgment, but they have rather short definitions for “quick”.  In my international business experience I’ve learned to compartmentalize professional from personal expectations and to avoid all negative judgment of people from other cultures.  And this has come from making mistakes because there were too many times when I thought I was right passing a negative judgment only to discover my error much later on.

Most negative judgments stem from our incapacity of understanding another culture. Instead of focusing on the negative aspect I see in others, I focus on my own preferences and this usually leads to the right place.

Actions To Open Your Mindset

Once you have looked internally at all of the cultural baggage you bring with your own mindset, then you can work on opening and developing your mindset.

#5: Encourage Interaction

The next step is simply to cultivate interaction and open your mindset further. It’s also about cultivating an open attitude in your actions and making sure your actions are perceived as inviting interaction. So you’ll also hone your cross-cultural skills as you stimulate more interaction from others.

#6: Open Your Communication

When you interact more with people, you’ll probably see ways to open up your own communication a bit more to provide others with a deeper understanding of yourself and your ways of doing things.  This is fine-tuning your own communication to come across as more open to communication.

#7: Get Curious And Eager To Learn

An open mindset is a curious mindset.  It means you are eager to learn about others in order to understand people from different cultures fully and communicate on a truly one-to-one level. People from other cultures seem to do strange things, but often when we get to know the reasons behind their “strange” behavior, it all makes sense. Different ways of doing things appear normal when they are set in context.

How do you get curious?  Questions are important, but adapting your questions to find the right ones to ask people from different cultures is even more important.  You’ll need a broad international experience to fully develop your skills in curiosity.

Nurture Your International Talent

An open mindset is a sign of someone who can identify their own strengths and weakness and open their minds to feedback and question who they are.  And this open mindset can give you the upper edge in international business when dealing with different cultures. It’s not always easy, but it is always rewarding both on a professional level and on a personal level.

Now, over to you…

• What does an open mindset in international business mean to you?
• How do you develop an open mindset for international business?
• Why do you think an open mindset is important for international business?

More on Culture In International Business:

• How Culture Impacts An International Business
• What Is Culture? A Mind Map For More Sales
• Where Do You Want To Work?

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

7 Steps To An Open Mindset For More International Business

It’s easy to tell it’s the end of the school year because I’ve had several requests for international career guidance. As it happens, I recently attended my eldest daughters graduation from University and was lucky to be visiting her through the hiring process while she landed her first “real” job.

This reminds me of how starry-eyed life can be when you’re young and how this contrasts with the sometimes harsh world of international business.  But first let me answer the two latest requests for international career advice here.

Cross-Cultural Career

One reader asked me for advice on how to enter into a “cross-cultural career”. To me this seems like a bit of an odd question because cross-cultural skills are essentially strong people skills and can be used in many different careers. I don’t think there is really a “cross-cultural” industry which includes all “cross-cultural careers”.

As many of our country’s demographics change drastically in the next few decades it seems as if most of our working environments will become cross-cultural if they aren’t already so. And we’ll all need strong cross-cultural skills.

Cross-cultural professions therefore usually have dual competency: one traditional core business competency and a cross-cultural competency or what some people refer to as a “soft skill” or a “people skill”. So, cross-cultural coaches should have a core competency related to personal training. And cross-cultural marketers are marketers who apply cross-cultural competency to their trade for stronger marketing.

My advice is to focus on these two aspects in parallel. Learn a profession and build up your cross-cultural competency. This is how you’ll add on the cross-cultural dimension.

International Sales Career

Another reader asked for advice on how to start an international sales career. Well, it really does come down to… looking… and being a good fit to fill the job.

My advice is to jump in and work hard at it.

Start From The Bottom

And I think this leads to the biggest problem for those who want to immediately land a full blown cross-cultural or international career right out of school. There are no short cuts. You have to start wherever you can and this can mean:

• Taking any job you can get with cross-cultural or international exposure to develop your skills
• Picking up your bags and finding opportunities elsewhere

It may sound daunting when you are settled in a lifestyle you are familiar with, but you can only truly acquire cross-cultural and international skills by leaving your comfort zones. And for most people, it takes time. You can’t pick up these skills by reading a book or following someone else’s recipe for success.

Learn The Personal Skills

The work you need to do and the time it takes will depend on your own personal makeup and baggage. And it really takes work on a very personal level. You’ll be confronted with processing and digesting things about yourself you can’t begin to imagine because doing business with different cultures raises all sorts of personal questions.

It’s only after you’ve truly learned about yourself that you’ll begin to develop strong cross-cultural and international skills.

Give Yourself Time

Look for the opportunities around you to learn more about different people and get the most out of these opportunities as you can. You may need quite a bit of time to be able to see things from another culture’s perspective.  Everyone is different and we all have our personal baggage that gets in the way of understanding others.

It’s easy to recognize strong cross-cultural skills in others. And you’ll probably find other opportunities open up as you gain more and more cultural competency.

Manage your career in parallel to building your personal skills, and you’ll end up with your dream job before you know it.  Have faith that employers will recognize in you the personal qualities and skills they need to get a job done that requires cross-cultural and international skills.

Now it’s your turn…

• What actions are you taking to develop your international career?
• How do you think cross-cultural competency will help your profession?
• What do you like most about your international career?

More on International Sales Professions:

• 12 Reasons Why International Selling Is Harder
• What Is An International Business Development Executive?
• What Is An International Sales Specialist?
• What Makes A Good International Sales Specialist

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International And Cross-Cultural Career Advice

In international business your clients will look for you online because they expect a certain form of communication online from an international business. But they’ll need to find you online first and this is why search marketing is critical for your international marketing success today.

I recently came back from a trip to Toronto where I attended the Search Engine Strategies Conference. At the summit much of the talk on international search was about language and how many people fail to get the “translation” right for search marketing and this causes businesses to lose money.

But international marketers know that language is just the visible part of the challenge. Mastering the navigation among different languages while keeping your business focus requires a deeper skill set. And beyond this, there are the fundamental cross-cultural challenges of doing business with people who are different to your home market. This is where businesses are challenged to deepen their knowledge of marketing and how to learn about their own markets.

With this is mind, here are five tips for successful international search marketing that go beyond language skills and translation.

#1: Get To Know Your International Audiences

This is where your international business begins. People from different cultures are different. There are often opposing differences in how people like to do business. You can’t expect to connect with people in any meaningful manner unless you understand them well.

First you need to research your market. You also need to stimulate as much feedback as you can from each of your international markets. And while doing both of these you need to adopt a sort of cross-cultural lens to ensure that you come to the right conclusions.

Understanding your international audience starts with language and communication, but you also need cross-cultural competency to connect on a level deep enough to develop an international business.

#2: Get Your Research Right

There are a few ways where you can get your research wrong right from the beginning.

• How you carry out your international search marketing campaign will depend on your business objectives. You’ll have different strategies for branding, selling products or qualifying leads. And you’ll need to adapt the research you carry out for each of these different business objectives.
• There are a variety of reasons why it’s not always easy to interpret statistics and research in an international context.  Most of these reasons relate back to cultural differences, different ways of doing things and differences in markets.  Although you may get more traffic from one country, your best business opportunities may be within another country.
• These cultural differences also impact language translations.  The translations you use may not be the ones you need to obtain the information you need. This is why you need a local marketer to help find the right keywords to use. There are jobs where you absolutely must use humans… and humans with the right professional background.
• And to complicate things, you also need to have a good understanding of how local markets use the web in your particular industry. The web continues to evolve for everyone and you need to have this local knowledge to get your international search marketing right.

It’s not easy to research international markets without actual international business experience and local expertise in both your particular market and in search marketing. You can save time and avoid potential blunders by working with people with these skills. If you don’t have this option, start small, take your time doing your international market research, and above all question all of your own assumptions. (Learning how to recognize your assumptions is a skill by itself.)

#3: Learn About Local Search Engines

The Google algorithm is used by most of the search engines out there. The only exceptions are for a few countries with non-Latin alphabets. It’s easy enough to find out the leading search engines in the countries you are targeting. But don’t assume that just because they use the same Google algorithm as you are used to in your own country that everything’s the same.

Spend a bit of time looking at how the local search engines work and monitor this regularly. Keep your search marketer’s hat on while doing this and you’ll probably notice some little differences.  Use these little differences can help you strengthen your own international search marketing campaigns.

It’s often easier to rank for keywords in countries outside of the US, simply because there is less content, which means less competition for those keywords.  So you need some fine skills in analyzing which keywords to target in different countries.

#4: Use Multiple Competencies

Language competency is essential to getting good international search results. But so is are good marketing skills, and marketing skills are needed both in understanding the local market and also in how this is applied online specifically for search marketing. This is why a successful international search marketing campaign is the fruit of good:

• Translation
• Search marketing
• Local marketing expertise in your industry

Keep this in mind. You don’t want to rely solely on a translator or a search marketer or a local marketing expert.  You’ll need to find the right balance within your international marketing team.

#5: Invest In Localization

This is just a reminder… For best results you’ll always need to have a localized web presence and this means:

• Local language content
• Local web host
• Local domain registered locally
• Local currency
• Local address and shipping practices
• Local physical address
• And anything else that’s specific to your industry that needs to be local

Although it’s usually not possible to begin with 100% localization, you should keep striving towards this goal. Think local until it becomes second nature and you’ll get better results from your international marketing.

Now it’s your turn…

• What tips can you share for successful international search marketing?
• How important is search marketing to your international business success?
• How does language impact your current international search marketing results?

More On International Web Marketing

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

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

5 Tips For Great International Search Marketing

Have you got a great idea for an international business? It’s not always easy to find specific how-to information for international business development and this is why I provide some international business resources here on this blog, simply to help others.

But this leads to my getting emails with all sorts of odd international business requests. You see, I only help businesses at the point of new market entry, which is a very specific moment of time in the process of creating an international business… more about that below.

This is why I thought I’d share with you here the 3 main reasons why I won’t be able to help you with your international business. Here they are.

#1: Export Business Model

• “My grandfather has a cement company in Japan and I want to import his products in the US”
• “We are in Turkey and sell industry-specific pipes to manufacturing plants all over the world”
• “We are based in Mexico and produce large scale artwork and want to sell directly to international buyers”

In short, these examples are all about exporting and importing products.  To put it bluntly, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you here.

To be perfectly honest, I find import and export a bit boring. I do find this easy enough to do, but it’s just not what I like doing.

Besides, it’s a waste of my particular skills which allow me to get a much deeper understanding of:

• What would make people from a different country buy your products or services
• How to get them to buy
• What you need to do to get more international sales.

This is how I help businesses to adapt their products, marketing and sales tactics to get more international sales.

Now, I do occasionally help export businesses with general tips to get unstuck. But I can only do this if there is a real business functioning in the background, and most of these requests are only based on an idea of exporting products into a new market. There’s no actual business up and running yet, so I can’t help them get unstuck if they haven’t even started.

I can’t help people with ideas simply because it’d take up too much of my time, cost too much money and my interests are at another level as you’ll see below.

Tip

Get on the phone and talk to the people listed on my international business resources. Find the international trade lists for your industry. Talk with the Trade Commissioner from your country’s embassy in the foreign country involved. Listen and follow up the advice you get.

That’s just a starting point.

You’ll probably need to travel and meet with the right people.  You’ll need to hustle and learn how to ask the right questions in the right places. You’ll also need to develop your business knowledge. Commit to doing this preliminary business research properly.

#2: Unclear Business Model

Some requests are so fuzzy I have no idea what industry is involved and cannot get a good picture of where the business is and even if there is a business involved at all.

Brainstorming international business ideas can be fun, and I do enjoy this from time to time, but you need to articulate your idea well to get any value out of a brainstorming session.

If you are having trouble conveying your idea to others, you need to work on it some more. You should ask yourself whether you have a business idea at all, and if there is a business model somewhere behind this idea and one you can take abroad.

I often hear from people who do not have a clear understanding of the business model for their international business.  This is usually a company which “does everything” and wants to develop their international business on the same scale. This fuzzy bunch of “everything” translated into a big nothing. This just isn’t going to work. You need to start with a very clear business model.

Tip

Strengthen your primary business first. Before thinking about developing your international business you need to get a clear understanding of what you do, why it works in your country, who you sell to and why.  It’s scary the number of business professionals who contact me who do not know this. How can you expect to take your business into a different culture if you don’t understand what it is in your own culture?

And how well does your business work? If your business isn’t working in your own country, what makes you think it’ll work in another country? If you haven’t been able to resolve the challenges in your own cultural environment, how will you be able to do so in a foreign cultural environment? Hone your business skills first.

#3: No Business Model

Here’s my favorite “international business” request which comes in frequently:

• “I have a book and want to get it published in many different foreign languages.”

A book is not a business model. I’m sorry I can’t help you.  

Tip

Your publisher can probably point you in the right direction.

Bonus Tip

If you don’t have the money to invest in a professional translation by a native speaker, living in his native country with specific industry knowledge on the topic of the book, then don’t bother.

Where I Help Businesses Get Faster International Sales

I help established businesses at their point of new market entry when they are connecting with their new international clients for the first time. I help them to adjust their international business development strategy based on the initial feedback from this first connection with a new market.  I get sales and marketing tactics fine-tuned to bring in results from a new culture enabling faster international market penetration.

I usually only intervene for the first 6-12 months of a new market entry with the aim to provide the best operational guide to get sales in the new international market. I get involved in the international sales and marketing as this is where my cross-cultural and international skills enable me to interpret the real market feedback and learn how to adapt business tactics for best results.

Risk when managing the unknown and risk in cultural blunders are critical factors when entering new markets. So I also coordinate with senior management and other key players to closely monitor the risk factor. It’s valuable for risk evaluation to have people with strong international and cross-cultural skills involved at both the operational level and at the decisional level.

I have extensive experience in new market entry in traditional international business environments and I also have a few years in new media for international business development.

New media is taking up most of my time now. And to further develop these skills I also take on a few clients to hone specific marketing tactics such as blog editing, social media promotion and online community building.

So, if you have a new international business idea:

You’ll need to:

• Get a clear understanding of your business model
• Do all of the preliminary research for your new international business.

Look at the links under the resource section to get you started. But you’ll still need to dig further and do the groundwork needed to start your international business.

When you’ve done all of this preliminary work, set up a company and are just beginning to make sales in your new international market you’ll probably find that you need to adjust your tactics. You’ll find that all of the research you’ve done is not quite right, things are taking longer than expected, you’re not getting the results you expected. You might even hit a barrier or two. What works on paper and looks good in research usually needs adaptation when you start your real business.

And this is where my particular set of skills and expertise can help you.

Now, over to you…

• Do you have a clear understanding of your international business markets?
• What are you doing to develop your business into new international markets?
• What are your favorite resources for international business research?

Please share your comments below.

More On International Business Development Strategy:

• 3 Reasons Why I Won’t Help Your International Business
• 5 Actions To Start Developing Your International Markets
• Action Strategy For International Business Development
• Aligning Your Questions To Build Your International Business
• Are People In Small Countries Better International Business Developers?
• Are You Outsourcing Too Much?
• Define International Business
• Global Or International Business?
• Is The Expense Of Foreign Travel Stopping You From Getting International Clients?
• Market Research For International Business Development
• New International Business Development Phase Today With The Right Marketing Mix
• Online Success? Study Traditional Paths To International Business Development For More
• Plans With Adaptability, Flexibility And Agility
• Small Businesses Need To Take Action To Uncover International Business Opportunities
• When Discrimination Is Useful In International Business

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

3 Reasons Why I Can’t Help Your International Business

International Links

This week I came across a number of interesting links on cross-cultural topics, international business and international social media. Please let me know what you found recently. And be sure to share your comments either here or on the Facebook… the links are below.

Cross-Cultural Topics

• China’s Gray Revolution – China always fascinates me. Here’s a look at the changing demographics there and what this will mean for them.
• Google, Bing and Babelfish – What’s the best translation engine?
• Country Codes of the World Cup – There are 32 countries participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup — which means 32 ccTLDs! You can download the free poster.
• The difference between race and culture; what is a microculture? – From abroad, it’s fairly easy to see some of the consequences of the confusion Americans have with Race & Culture. This article gives some insights.
• The New Americans: Bilingual, Bicultural, Global – Joe Kutchera provides some great insights on into globalization and how the US demographics are changing.

Join the Cross-Cultural Communication Business Page on Facebook

International Business

• The Best Countries To Do Business In – It was fun to see that I’ve live in 3 of these countries, visted 3 more and I’ve had regional business responsabilities at some point for all except New Zealand and Iceland. I don’t have a favorite though, although lots of great memories of Switzerland. What about you? Where do you like doing business?
• Leveraging Baidu to Reach the Chinese Audience – some great tips here for businesses who want to open ecommerce opportunities in China.
• The Most Important Leadership Quality for CEOs? Creativity – This study was done across a wide range of countries and talks about the differences in what people think is important to a successful business. Of course, creativity is important in international business too, sometimes it’s the only way of getting beyond difficult cultural barriers. But do you agree it’s the most important quality for success?
• Cross-cultural M&A Communications in China – A look at the cross-cultural challenges in mergers and acquisitions. It’s always interesting to see just how deep these differences can go.
• Case Study: Attempting a Global Merger – A great story of making an idea work through strategic collaboration.
• 6 Ways to Be Innovatively Global – In the words of Pulitzer prize-winning author Thomas Friedman, sometimes “Just doing it” works in the world of global business.
• Special Report BRIICS economies facing different challenges amid a global economic recovery – Here’s a look at the business opportunities and challenges faced by Brazil, Russian, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa. The overall share in world trade in these countries is expected to continue to rise. Are you monitoring your business opportunities here?

Join the International Business Page on Facebook

International Marketing

• Targeting by Language or Country: What You Need to Know – This is a great read for anyone interested in web marketing to different countries.
• Can This Bicycle Save Lives In Africa? – A good story on how one company adapted it’s business to serve new international markets

Join the International Marketing Business Page on Facebook

International Sales

• Global e-tailers pinch local fashion dollars – are you worried about losing local sales to e-commerce sites abroad? Do you think European e-commerce sites will sell more to the US as the Euro remains low?

Join the International Sales Business Page on Facebook

International Social Media

• Facebook Around the World – Brian Solis has a great review of how Facebook is doing around the world and says, “Facebook is far from reaching its potential and as its new “Like” architecture hits the WWW with over 50,000 publishers already in place, its 400 million strong army of social curators will only increase its relevance around the world.”
• Mapping global mobile telephone subscriptions: the world’s biggest markets – Developing markets still have room to expand their mobile markets. And world mobile phone subscriptions will reach near universal levels in 2015-2020. Some interesting stats here.
• Tweet In Local Language To Ensure Worldwide Twitter Success – Is this your experience too?
• Beware English Keywords That Aren’t Really English – Search Engine Land shares why you need to get your keywords right before investing in an international marketing campaign. What other examples of English words used differently in other countries?
• World Economic Forum – Global Information Technology Report – There’s a lot of data by country here for those interested in comparing the “networked readiness” of other countries. Thanks to Amadou M. Sall for sharing this report.
• Groupon Europe! – Great news for European businesses that want more options in their social media strategy. Groupon is now in Europe.
• Internet-inspired drinks parties spread panic among authorities – A look from Scotland at the dark side of the new trend in Twitter meetups in France. Are there other trends highlighting cultural differences in Twitter meetups?
• A Five Step Guide to Cross-cultural Web Design « Web-kreation – Of course these tips also apply to blogs and many of them should be applied to social media marketing. Do you try to integrate cross-cultural design in your social media profiles?

Join the International Social Media Business Page on Facebook

Now It’s Your Turn

• What do these international and cross-cultural links inspire for you?
• Which of these reads did you most enjoy?
• What interesting links on cross-cultural topics did you find recently?

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International Links: Week 20 2010