First Brainstorming Questions To Determine What To Sell Abroad

The basic sales principals for your domestic market also apply to your international markets. Don’t forget them when planning for your international business expansion. You might feel overwhelmed when you contemplate the process you need to go through to take your business abroad. Don’t be.

8 Steps To Your International Business

Here’s what you do:

1. Start with the basics. Identify them.
2. Take one step at a time, and follow international business best practices. Plan your process.
3. Use international internet marketing to its full capacity. Get international visibility.
4. Add cross cultural web marketing tools. Build an international communication strategy.
5. Apply a Ready Fire Aim strategy and repeat until you get it right. Get started.
6. Cultivate foreign market feedback consistently. Learn about your foreign market.
7. Create your international sales procedures. Start selling internationally.
8. Track, test and repeat the process. Adapt your product and your business to your new international markets.

Product To Fill Market Needs

First, let’s start with the basics. You need to have a product in equation with the needs of your foreign markets. Many small businesses get stumped here and never get any further.

I have not come across a single business that cannot develop some form of international business. Of course there are certain limitations.

For example, bakers are not be able to sell their fresh bread across the world. But they have other options:

• Sell fruit cakes style products through mail order
• Sell recipe collections or how-to instructions online
• Coach foreign bakers in one of your methods through video or teleseminars
• Actively promote regional specialties online to get foreign tourists to visit your store locally and then look for foreign franchise opportunities
• Ask an international web marketer to help you

The right idea with good marketing practices will get you international results.

But what if you have no idea what to sell abroad. What can you do if you have just decided to actively pursue international clients?

Brainstorm

The answer is to brainstorm. This will help you to get the ball rolling.
To brainstorm effectively you need to open up and lighten up. Let new ideas come to you.

Here are a few brainstorming questions to get you started.

1. What would interest you to sell abroad?

If you are motivated to sell something in particular you will put the extra effort into your research. You will not get tired if you have to adapt your product to different markets, adapt your sales and marketing campaigns to get your foreign markets attention.

2. What previous sales success do you think could be duplicated abroad?

If you already have a few international clients, duplicate what has already worked. Follow up with your previous international prospects and clients to get their feedback.

3. What have others told you could have international market potential?

Feedback might come from your local contacts. They might have an international experience or outlook you don’t have. Feedback might also come from your international clients, or industry contacts.

4. What do you know or what expertise do you have that you think foreigners will be interested in?

You might be able to leverage this, through articles on your website to gain an international presence. And you might be able to develop a front end product for lead generation.

5. What emotions do you have about international products similar to yours?

If it annoys you, it might annoy others, dig into this to find the answers.

This can be tricky. You will have to test and research. But if something is creating emotions in you, the same thing is sure to be affecting others. How? Is there an angle you can exploit?

6. What product line do you have with an international appeal?

Try to have an objective look at your products. Can you determine whether they might have a good market in another country? Can you ask for some feedback around you.

7. What products or services do you think you could sell abroad?

Make a list and find the one product or group of products you would like to concentrate on first.
The idea is to start with small marketing and foreign communication campaign to get as much feedback as possible from the foreign market on your product. And then to adjust your offer, your marketing and your sales processes.

How To Make The Right Choice

First of all, don’t expect to be 100% sure.

When you feel 100% sure of your choice you are often wrong. Multicultural marketing can be full of surprises, or should I say delays. It is better to feel 80% sure of your ability to sell your chosen product and learn the skill of adapting to different cultural environments during the process. The less sure you feel the more time you need to allow for testing and adapting.

This is where the 8 Steps To International Business above comes in. It is designed to be repeated. It is also designed to bring your forward towards international business at your own rhythm. The better you do each step the more progress you make.

So you simply need to decide on a product or service. Run through the 8 Steps To International Business and repeat the process. You will continue to move forward. As you move forward you will gain feedback from your foreign markets. This feedback will tell you if you have chosen the right product and how you need to adapt your sales pitch, your product and your business to your international markets.

International web marketing makes this possible. Web marketing combined with cross cultural marketing gets you the international feedback you need to go further.

The decision on which product to sell should be a reasoned one. You should aim at feeling about 80% sure your product fills the needs of your foreign market and that you would be able to sell them in that particular environment.

So brainstorm product ideas. Come up with the best you can. And run it through this easy process. Repeat the process until you feel you are ready to move on to the next step.

What If You Are Still Stuck

Look at the simplified outline for the international business process in the first section above. Read the First International Action Plan. The main thing is to start the process. As you learn more about your foreign markets product ideas will come to you.

Start your product brainstorming. Get on to the other steps in the 8 Steps To International Business.

1. Identify the basics - start by deciding a product or service to sell abroad.
2. Make a general plan - yours will involve repeating these steps until you feel comfortable.
3. Get international visibility - have a look around, ask questions all over the place, let others hear you.
4. Build an international communication strategy - simply by finding the places where you can get the information you need right now.
5. Get started - and keep moving, ask those questions.
6. Learn about your foreign market - as much as you can.
7. Start selling internationally - even if it is only in your mindset.
8. Adapt yourself to international markets - make the changes you need and repeat the process.

Go through the whole 8 Steps To International Business once. Learn from it. Repeat the steps until you feel comfortable you can pick a product or service to sell abroad. You will see your product options. Then it is a question of choosing one and continuing the process.

Brainstorming Leads To The Right Mindset

The act of brainstorming different product ideas will get you to open your horizons to different markets.

Having the right product to market in a foreign country is key to success.

Brainstorming now will get you to question the possible avenues. You will need to question your product and how to better adapt your product later on.

You should develop your willingness to question how your product is perceived in your new target markets. Question the possible uses, different uses, or misuses of your product in a different environment.

Here are some other reading materials to get your international research started:

• Take Action To Uncover International Business Opportunities
• 7 Initial Market Research Ideas To Define Your First International Expansion
• Target Your Global Market With A Good Understanding Of Their Demographics
• Different Consumer Habits In Different Cultures
• International Marketing Strategy For Small Businesses - The Right Mindset
• Initial International Market Research Can Feel Like A Cliff Hanger
• International Market Research - Don’t Get Stumped When Digital Age Communication Fails
• 5 Success Keys For Small Businesses Developing Into International Markets
• How To Learn From Intercultural Communication Difficulties
• 5 Factors To Consider When Marketing To Different Cultures
• Music In Cultural Differences

There articles are part of the International Market Research Guide. Check back here for more updates.

• International Market Research Guide