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 Content Creation

I recently critiqued a blog to give advice on how to improve readership. One of the first things that jumped out at me was that the content did not match the blog title and tag line.

Without checking the blog statistics, it is reasonable to assume that the blog readers do not stick around very long.  There were just too many words on different topics.

This quick look at the words that jumped off the blog reminded me of something else…

A Graphic Keyword Tool

There is a fun tool called Wordle.  Here is the Wordle of this blog:

I find the Wordle pictures very useful. It is easy to compare the words on your Wordle with your SEO keywords

…and your core business categories.

…and even more importantly, with the keywords your readers use to find you.

A mind mapping evangelist I spoke with recently, said that more that 75% of us have stronger visual memories than any of the other forms.

These words in a picture can highlight the words we need to use more.

International Keywords

It is not always easy to identify:

• The keywords your international readers use
• The words on your blog or website that grab his interest

International readers probably respond to different words.

It is important to think about this because finding the words that capture the attention of your international readers can help you improve your international communication.

Observation To Find The Right Words

How can you find the best words to use to grab your international readers’ attention?

This usually involves researching the online places where your international readers hang out and observing how they respond there.

The more contact you have with your international readers the better you get to know them…

…and the more familiar you become with their vocabulary.

Cross Checking Both Sets Of Words

As an international marketer, it is important to cross-check the words you hear and see your international readers using with the words you use on your blog or website.

Yes, you can do this with SEO tools.  But you may not need to do as much analysis with these tools as you think, especially if :

• You are already connecting with the international readers you are targeting
• You already have a large amount of content targeting this audience

The problem is that the last time I looked into international SEO, this was a time consuming activity and not always as accurate as businesses want it to be.

Soft Skills And Visual Tools

Knowledge of your international clients is your best tool.  And your soft skills on how you use this knowledge can get you good online results.

Visual keyword tools can give you fairly accurate feedback on how you are doing.  These tools can be fun tools like Wordle.  And they can also include an intelligent content analysis of your what you have online.

If you would like to have your blog critiqued for an international audience, email me at cindy@cindyking.biz

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
• 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

What Are Your Words Saying To Your International Market?

Marketers are on the path towards more segmentation.  This is true today and it is also true for the years to come.

The Bad News

In an economy of downsizing and increasing job responsibilities, this is probably bad news for most marketers.

You see, segmentation means more number crunching.  You know, the roll up your sleeves type of task.

Segmentation will involve number crunching even if your company invests in good software to track the numbers.  These software solutions simply need to be used properly to get the right information out of them… and this also involves rolling up your sleeves.

Why Segmentation?

As a cross-cultural marketer segmentation is part of my world.

This is easy to understand.  International marketing has always inherently involved market segmentation.  The geographic segmentation is obvious and businesses rapidly understand the need for cultural segmentation.

But I also notice other marketing segmentation trends.  And there are a few of them today.

Generational Marketing

The generational marketing trends in North America talk about Boomers, Generation X’ers, Generation Y’ers.

This generational marketing can be challenging for some marketing segments where Boomers are tech savvy for example.  And it can be confusing for some international marketers where markets are not as clearly defined.

Segmentation can help you find the answers you need for effective marketing.

Ethnic Marketing

The election of President Obama has placed ethnic marketing in the limelight, even if this trend was well established prior to this.

Researchers have  recently highlighted how several leading countries, including the US and France, will have ethnic majority populations in our lifetime.

This means that marketers will need segmentation to improve their ethnic marketing.  Ethnic marketing will definitely be needed during this period of change.

And again segmentation is key to ethnic marketing.

More International Sales

The good news is that as marketers are being forced to the task of segmentation, budgets and processes will be aligned to meet these needs.

The improvement and development of segmentation will benefit international sales.  Businesses will be able to apply these processes to developing international sales more effectively.

And this is something I am looking forward to.  Several current marketing trends will help businesses in developing their international sales.

Earlier this week I wrote about the similarities between good international communicators and good social media communicators.  With the rise of customer-centric marketing and social media, this also means that more people will have the soft skills needed for international business development.

With soft skills and good measurement processes international sales will be easier to target.

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

More Segmentation = More International Sales

International Marketing Basics

The need for marketing segmentation is all around us.  Here are several examples of segmentation in marketing:

Web Marketing

To get the full value out of your web marketing you need to test and track your results.

A/B testing is simple enough to put in place.  In fact, pay attention and you will notice that all of the most successful web marketers test their marketing results.  This is how they learn how to sell to their markets online.

A testing strategy helps you learn more about your markets.  It also shows you how to sell to your markets.

Just starting an international marketing campaign? Imagine starting your week with this question:

• What am I going to test this week?

And if you have more than one product to promote online, you can easily begin every day with:

• What am I going to test today?

The secret is learning more and adjusting your web marketing step-by-step.  This is how small companies take the online advantage over big companies.

Email Marketing

Effective email marketing also involves testing and tracking results.

Direct response marketers are now testing their campaigns online first.  Before investing in mailing their direct mail packages, they want to know what works best.

This is another example of segmentation for testing.

Multichannel Marketing

Today’s marketer has markets using different communication platforms, or channels.  Communication through different marketing channels is an obvious necessity.

But how do you choose which channel?  Well, you need to:

• Pick up the conversation with your market at the right spot.
• Or, continue the conversation further down the road.

This is more of a market segmentation.

International Marketing

For successful international business development you need country-specific marketing.  And even culture-specific marketing.

This is also involves segmenting your marketing.

Is Marketing Segmentation Easy?

Segmentation certainly appears to be a necessity.  But there is a slight barrier to segmentation.  It appears to multiply the work.

It is also interesting to note the trend to avoid extra work and look for easy solutions.

Does segmentation offer an easy business advantage for the businesses that make the effort?

You can also think of segmentation as bringing more clarity.  And clarity makes business easier.

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

Marketing Segmentation

International Content Creation

Many small businesses would like to develop their business internationally. But they always seem to put it off. The reasons for putting off international business development are varied and multiple.

All businesses have had to adjust to many different marketing channels. But are they using the different marketing channels effectively for their businesses? This is the challenge businesses of all kinds face today.

I am currently reading Akin Arikan’s book, Multichannel Marketing. Akin says there are very few businesses currently using the different channels available to them effectively.

When small businesses are still grappling with effective multichannel marketing for their domestic markets, it’s no wonder international marketing today appears to be confusing.

That’s when a simple marketing strategy works best.

• Are you a small business?
• Do you want to develop your international business?
• Do you lack money to invest and manpower?
• Do you have some time you can commit to an international marketing strategy on a very regular basis?

The simple marketing strategy that will bring your business into the international business development arena?

An International Content Creation Strategy

I will answer your questions about what type of international content tomorrow.

Writing Content For An International Audience

Today I want to tell you why I think an international content creation strategy is such a good idea for small businesses.

I just finished reading Chris Garret’s blog post on Flagship Content To Make Sales where Chris mentions my work on Get International Clients.

I have to admit, I read Chris’ free ebook Killer Flagship Content shortly after it first came out. This book greatly inspired my writing strategy when I launched my two blogs at the beginning of this year.

Let me be clear here. At the time I did not know just how easy it is to get online visibility with Flagship Content, and how this content could bring in international sales. The book just made good marketing sense to me.

Flagship Content is great content. Content your readers want to read, re-read and pass along to friends. It is also evergreen, which means it can interest your readers just as much years down the road.

Once I started creating my own Flagship Content, I discovered the key reason why small businesses should invest time in creating flagship content regularly on one subject and written to a defined audience.

If you also put your Flagship content in an article marketing strategy, the natural keywords in your articles will put you on the first page of Google fairly quickly. This means that if you write using the words your readers will put into their search fields on Google, it is very easy to come up in top positions on your readers Google search results page.

International Content = International Online Visibility

The key is to create your content for an international audience. If your content is targeted to the right audience it will get their interest.

The Google search engine results will get you visibility in just about the whole world.

• Most of the native foreign language search engines use the Google algorithms for their searches.
• Google has made great improvements in dealing with languages.

If you do implement an International Content Creation strategy, there are still a few things you should do to optimize your international visibility. I go through these in the Get International Clients Business Guide 2 – Plan Your International Sales Road Map.

What is essential to remember is that your International Flagship Content, in English, will get you international visibility.

• If you target your content to international audiences.
• You need to write for your international audiences and use the language they use.
  

My Blogs Results In Google

I started writing an article 5 times a week. Trying to make these articles strong Flagship Content, not always succeeding.

I did not pay attention to my keyword use in the articles. I was so busy concentrating on simply getting the articles written and promoted online. I simply tried to cover all the aspects around my main subject area. I also wrote to a defined audience.

After about 3 months I was top of Google searches for all the keywords I wanted.

Now I want to target the keywords I thought would be difficult.

The top results in Google searches started bringing in a steady flow of customer inquiries directly to my email inbox at about the 4 month mark. These inquiries have been coming in steadily ever since. The inquiries come in from all over the world. I also get spontaneously calls on Skype since I put that link up.

And…drum roll… do you want to know the great news?

• Inquiries always come from my ideal customer profile.

International Content In Your Business Strategy

An International Flagship Content strategy is a great way for a new website to get visibility at no cost in a relatively short time.

I complicated things for myself by insisting on having a personal blog, here at Cindy King.biz and a business blog, Get International Clients.

Sorting out my two blogs has highlighted the importance of a good content creation strategy integrated into a solid business strategy.

Getting your business act together online is not as simple as it seems. Solid international business and marketing basics will help you develop your international success. If you would like to follow an step-by-step process for international business development check out the Get International Clients Business Guides and their International Sales Road Map.

More on International Content Creation:

• An International Development Template
• Foreign Language Communication Simplified
• 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

International Content As An International Business Development Strategy

International Content Creation

Who Do You Need To Write Your Foreign Content – Freelancer Or Agency?

I’ve come across a couple of articles recently on the debate of who you need to hire to translate your content.

Are Translation Agencies Better?

Both articles were written by translation agencies. Of course each long article stated that:

• Companies should never hire a freelance translator for their foreign content.
• Only an agency had the manpower to do everything.
• You obviously need a translator, an editor, a proofreader and…well there were a few other professions on the list.

I have not run across articles written by freelance translators stating they are the best option for companies needing foreign content. My guess is they are too busy. And they can’t all bite the hand that feeds them. They also get work through translation agencies.

It would be more appropriate to see comprehensive guidelines written by a third party. But I haven’t seen any clearly written by an independent third party.

Wrong Debate

I actually think that the debate is elsewhere.

The question is not whether you need a translator with a team of agency staff, or a freelance translator.

I’ve held different marketing and sales positions in companies of various sizes and budgets. I was responsible for cross cultural communication in some form or another in each of those positions. And I definitely know what communication I need out in the field.

Is It Translation You Need?

The word “translation” used in connection for any sales materials brings images of bad sales results and extra hours for me to put together my own sales materials.

Good sales materials need to be crafted in its original language to bring in the bacon.

There is a good market for freelance translators.

There is also a good market for translation agencies.

Define Your Needs

You need to define your foreign content needs before looking for a service provider. Don’t automatically assume you need a translator simply because this is your text and you want it in a different language.

Language is only a part of the equation.

• What sort of text is it you need in a foreign language?
• What is this text going to do?
• Would you hire a local agency to write this text for you in your own language?
• Who would you hire to write this in your own language?
• Why?
• Who wrote the original text?
• What were his qualifications?
• Were his qualifications important to write this?
• What were his personality traits?
• Were they important?
• What did he need to know to write the text?

Look For The Right Skill Sets Needed For The Job

Obviously you would want someone with the same background to write the same text in the foreign language.

But that’s utopia.

• Budgets restrict us.
• Deadlines interfere.

Not knowing where to find the right person also gets most people totally stuck. Why don’t they ask themselves where they would get the same text written in their own language? And then look in those places but in the right country?

Find The Right Translator

And then the choice of freelance translator or translation agency comes up.

Both freelance translators and translation agencies can give you excellent foreign content.

There are so many different criteria that come into play. It is all about getting the best person you can for the job…and working with them, and knowing when to give them freedom to get it done right.

Sales Copy Is Always Different

My choice? I would always plan for, and spend the extra time, to find the right person to do the job.

And it would probably not be a professional translator for any sales related materials. I would hunt down the best sales professional I could afford. Get as much foreign copy as I could afford.

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

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

Who Do You Need To Write Your Foreign Content

International Content Creation

I just got a newsletter in the mail today from a great internet marketer out of the UK, Chris Cardell. I really enjoy reading anything Chris puts out. Today, there was a quick guideline for creating good websites in his package.

There were basically the same 4 key points you hear non-stop as soon as you get into creating websites:

1. Clearly defined. Your websites goal has to be clearly indicated for immediate recognition. Be careful of any graphics you have – they must directly correspond to what your website is about. Confusion leads readers away.
2. Headlines are critical. If they don’t grab your readers attention they will move on.
3. Easy to read. If your website is too busy, too messy, too hard to read – readers will move on.
4. Compelling offer. If you don’t make your offer interesting to the reader, he will move on.

But Chris left out the most important key element in my eyes, and the one thing almost everyone forgets.

There is something you have to do before any of the key point above:

You have to know where your online visitor has just come from. Better yet, did he get here from a banner ad, an article or a Google search, and which words did he put in the Google search to find you.

This is absolutely vital information if you want your internet visitor to do something: read your page, sign up for a newsletter, learn about your product, or even buy it.

The more smoother the link between all these stages the more success you will have:

• your internet visitor’s mental frame of mind
• the motivation behind his search
• the language on the the text that lead him to your website
• his expectations of what he is hoping to find on your website
• and how your website corresponds to his previous experience and desires

I only understood the full value of this after studying good web copy in great depth. This is something trained copywriters will not leave out – they are trained to think of the reader from every possible angle. If you want your reader to do something you need to know how to convince him.

Imagine a huge department store with doors opening onto every different department. If someone found your store because they were hunting for shoes and they came in through the door they thought lead them to the shoe department only to find a mixed batch of articles nothing to do with shoes. Confusion.

Now imagine they found the door to the shoe section through a poster describing incredibly stylish red boots and they opened the door to find a large display of the boots immediately as they walked in. And there is a big sign saying they could get the matching handbag for half price as well, and there is a pay plan available.

Your online visitors have the same contrast in experience. It is not always easy to know where your online visitor are coming from. And visitors often come into your website through the side door, not the home page. Are you other pages clearly defined, or would they be confusing?

“Landing Pages” are popular because they help website owners to categorize and set up paths for specific visitors. This allows the website owner to say the right thing at the right time to the visitors that come in through different specific doors.

It is possible to make your “Landing Page” part of your current website, if you are asking your reader to sign up for a free newsletter for example. If you are moving in for a sale you may want to use a specific URL domain and keep your reader totally focused on what you have to say. Again if you start waving other distractions in his face when you are trying to make a sale, you will not make that sale as much as you can.

This first step of understanding and identifying your readers frame of mind at the moment he finds your website is also vital for international marketing. Cross cultural communication is often a trial and error process.

If your communication is lined up with your foreign reader’s search expectations and represents a smooth continuation in the communication he is expecting from you, he will be more likely to forgive any slight errors in cross cultural communication.
Now I am sure Chris knows the importance of this key step. His newsletter is an excellent resource for internet marketing.

Chris has a seminar coming up with a few celebrity speakers including the successful American marketer Dan Kennedy.

More on International Content Creation:

• An International Development Template
• Foreign Language Communication Simplified
• International Content As An International Business Development Strategy
• 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

The One Important Step Missing In Many Guidelines For Good Websites And Landing Pages

International Content Creation

This information is for my French visitors

As an American trained copywriter living France I have often been frustrated when trying to translate the word “copywriting” in French. The English word encompasses much more than any French translation I’ve come across.

My French E-Business friends love to talk “copywriting” with me, simply because it has this larger meaning in English. One of my friends told me about a free conference in Lille on Web Content – in French, run through the university there. The only problem is that it is on Tuesday March 18th, and my car is still in the garage.

The speakers and round table animators will be worth listening to:

Cédric Doucet the French Web Content company Dixxit,Thierry Klein from Speechi,Lionel Barbe, University Professor and involved with the GERIICO research laboratoryArnaud Meunier from the French company Dikson-ConstantAnd last, but not least Gilles Dognon, Eric Delcroix and Joël Ronez.

I hope to hear some of them later on.

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?
• 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

Web Content Conference In French