Get International Clients Newsletter

Your International Business Development Idea Publisher
“If we had to do everything again, we would have to start with culture.” – Jean Monnet

In This Issue:

Regular Weekly Columns:

• Recent Get International Clients Blog Topics
• Foreign Trivia
• Example Of Websites With Global Business
• Q & A
• Are You Missing International Business Opportunities?

This Weeks Feature Article:

Consistent Communication Program
Builds Trust In International Prospects

Recent Get International Clients Blog Topics

• Building Trust With These 3 Changes In Your Communication Will Get International Visitors To Listen To You
• Get International Clients The Sunday Blog Carnival
• Why You Need To Choose Different Internet Marketing Channels For International Business Expansion

Read more on www.getinternationalclients.com

Foreign Trivia

Of these universities, which is the newest: Salamanca, Paris’ Sorbonne, Oxford, Bologna?

Send your answers to cindy@cindyking.biz with “Foreign Trivia” in the subject line.

Answer to last week’s trivia question: What do the hot air balloon, the parachute, the submarine and photography have in common? They are all French inventions

Feature Article

Consistent Communication Program
Builds Trust In International Prospects

Last week we looked at how it is vital to continually work at building trust with your international prospects and clients.We saw there are two elements to building trust:Clarity And Consistency

Last week we looked at applying methods to make our communication consistent.

This week we are going to look at providing consistency through regular schedule of distribution of information.

There are several formats with which you can communicate with your prospects on a defined schedule. We are going to look at the two most popular ways of setting up regular communication for your international prospects and clients.

Blogs

Having a blog specifically for one foreign market is a great tool, if:

• Your foreign market reads blogs
• You have the right person to write the blog
• You can invest the time needed to make a blog successful – at least 6-12 months.

The advantages of having a blog specifically targeting one foreign market are strong:

• Can create real presence with the investment of a brick and mortar store
• Stimulates a community environment
• Creates feedback so you learn about your foreign market faster

The disadvantages are:

• You have to be sure in making the right choice in country targeted
• You will need to have carried out previous market research to take this decision.
• You really need to blog several times a week to create a presence.
• Your blog will take at least six months to gain a small audience.

Newsletters

Newsletters can be distributed in different formats:

• An email
• On your website
• A printed version

Newsletters are a bit more versatile than blogs. There can be two different types of newsletters:

• You can start with a newsletters targeted at a wide international audience, and publish this by email, on your website and in print.
• You can then create a more country specific newsletter once you know where your biggest potential for growth lies. This may simply be sent via email, or on a localized website.

The advantages of having a newsletter for international markets:

• You do not absolutely need to define one target country – you can start with a wider target audience and move onto a narrower target once you have some market feedback
• You can distribute your newsletter on a schedule that fits your budget – monthly, bi-weekly or weekly.
• You can take time to develop your international communication plan.
• You can often re-purpose the content and distribute it in other formats, such as online articles and case studies. This keeps translation budgets down while reaching out a maximum.
• You can choose a 2 page newsletter, to print out recto-verso for client distribution, and create a useful catalogue of foreign marketing materials – especially if the newsletters are not dated, but rather go by subject titles.

The disadvantages of using newsletters instead of a blog to communicate with your foreign markets are:

• You will need to give more thought into creating interaction with your international readers. It can be done. But you will need a little strategic planning to get the most out of your international communication.
• If you do not apply, and test to find the best way to incorporate tools for interaction, you may feel it a one-way communication.

Choose One Communication Method

The important thing is to find a way to communicate with your foreign markets on a regular basis.

Whether it is a blog or a newsletter distributed by email or on your website, the important thing is to create a consistent source of information.

• Create a format and stick with it.
• Create a schedule and stick with it.

Of course you can change your format and your schedule from time to time, but let your readers know what you are doing.

Be consistent in what information you share with your foreign readers. Keep them in mind. Give them information on the subjects of interest to them.

Next week we will look at other communication tools to try in cross cultural communication.

Example Of Websites With Global Business

It can be daunting when starting out. How do you go about creating a good global website and then culturally customized websites?There are many steps a company takes to become totally international.To give you an idea of what is recognized as a global website, have a look at another company website:

American Express
American Express is in 12th position for the best global website in 2008 according to John Yunker’s report.If you enter the American Express website from their home page, I personally find the wording of the “Global Sites” link on the top hand corner a little weak. Yes, I understand where this will take me, but I’m not sure how well this works in other cultures.

This Global Sites link takes visitors to a page to select the country websites.

There is both a list of countries and a world map. There are speech bubbles next the countries with websites translated in the local languages.

This is not the first time we have come across the speech bubbles.

In clicking through several countries, it is obvious that the speech bubbles are not always clearly indicated.

American Express appears to use two different website templates throughout the different country websites.

This may be linked to delays in converting and translating all of the websites into the appropriate language.

John Yunker researches and publishes a list of the best globalized websites.

Q And A

Question: Can you use a blog as a communication tool for international audiences?

Answer: This is an excellent question. The short answer is yes.

And companies are using blogs for specific foreign markets more and more.

Creating a blog for one specific foreign market is a great way to establish consistent communication. And we have looked into the value of consistent communication for international clients here in the Get International Clients newsletter.

The difficulty is when a foreign language is involved. It is easiest to hire a foreign native to write the blog in-house. This will allow companies to adapt and learn from their foreign readers.

And yet this solution has two drawbacks.

Foreign language content can seem expensive and blogs require commitment.

It is often advised to stick with a blog for at least 6 months before evaluating any degree of success. And it often takes a year.

The good news is, blogs can really create a sense of community. This can break through the barriers due to lack of trust. In some countries blogs are great forms of communication. They can be very appropriate culturally in certain markets.

This is the case for Abercrombie & Fitch who started a blog in France before any retail outlets. The market fit the communication channel.

It is all about establishing the right fit. Communication through blogs must be appropriate for your particular markets and this will depend on many factors.

Read more on Get International Clients.

If you have a question on how to get more international clients, leave your question at cindy@cindyking.biz .

Are You Missing International Business Opportunities?

King Business Tools makes International Communication Affordable even for Small Businesses

Stop missing opportunities! King Business Tools’ Monthly International Content Creation Packages integrates Internet and Traditional Marketing Strategies for international lead generation. We provide companies like yours with an affordable way to create a business presence in foreign markets fast. Or are you unsure of the opportunities you are missing? Do you need ideas? If you need help in defining how to focus your international business expansion, sign up for a 39 point international analysis of your current internet presence and get an hours live phone session with the King Business Tools Idea Factory.The International Business Idea Factory run by King Business Tools covers expertise in North American and European business expansion. Get started today — contact me by email or give me a call at cindy@cindyking.biz or +33 6 98 91 86 11 Contact me now to learn more about how I can help you Generate More International Leads For You Today.Cindy King is based just south of Paris, she runs King Business Tools, a French Company, to provide European and North American companies.

How to subscribe to this newsletter

If you are receiving a forwarded copy of this newsletter and would like to subscribe, click here.

This newsletter and all content and information contained herein are the property of King Business Tools Sarl and may not be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.