International business development still remains risky and expensive in the minds of most brick and mortar companies. And that is if they are even able to envisage markets for their current products abroad.
This article is part of the Guide To International Lead Generation, which is just one of the marketing strategies in the Business Guide 4 – Build Your International Marketing Strategy essential for effective international business development. Be sure to check them both out.
Information Products To Create International Sales
And yet, any business can use the internet for international sales and lead generation. Brick and mortar companies of all kinds can create their own international business using the internet from their physical office.
There is always a way to use information products distributed on the internet to either get international leads or make international sales.
Here is how information products are used to generate sales on the web.
Easy Information Access
The Internet is a communication channel and a giant source of information. The maturity of the market of international internet users is such that people do not want to pay for information any more.
When you need information, you simple go online. You can find everything there. Why pay for information? Why spend time looking for information elsewhere when it is so easy to get online?
This holds true throughout many countries and many cultures.
Types Of Online Information
Here are the two main categories of information you can find on the internet:
- General content
- Information formatted into various types of information products. given away for free, as an incentive to subscribe to something, or for sale online.
General content is the basis of good organic SEO. People create content to put online in websites, social media directories, blogs, forums, information directories and other sites such as YouTube, DailyMotion or Wikipedia.
Information products come in various formats:
- EBooks,
- Teleseminars,
- Video training in online format or on DVD
- E-Courses delivered automatically by email in text, audio or video formats,
- Membership sites in various formats
- Subscription based online training
Information For Sale
Infopreneurs use these information products to create product funnels with products at varying price points. From the initial free incentives through low priced front end products and on to packages sold at thousands of dollars.
Infopreneurs use information products as a stand alone business. There are several online business models that create an automatic stream of income once in place.
Other offline businesses typically use front end information products online to either:
- Create an online lead generation tool for their offline business
- Create a new stand alone business model
Information Product Business Changes Continually
The information product business has changed a little since it first started. Here are two current trends:
- EBooks so longer sell as well above the $50 mark.
- Low priced incentives are being used to get people to sign up on forced continuity membership programs.
There will continue to be changes in the information product business. But internet remains fundamentally a source of information and a communication channel.
Fundamentals Of Online Information
But these changes do not affect the fundamental business opportunities for international development through information products.
People all over the world expect free information on the web. And when they need information they look for it on the web.
If you want your business to be seen online, you will need to provide free information there. You can use this free information to establish:
- Your company’s credibility,
- Need and desire for your product
What You Can Sell Online
People will spend money to implement the knowledge they find on internet.
They will also spend money to learn skills, get ideas, and for quick solutions on how to use this information. You can sell this to your prospects in other forms of information products.
- Create one set of content to give your company and products visibility and another set of information products to sell.
International Sales
In international business development information products are:
- An effective tool for international market research – creating authority, online visibility, inciting feedback – when used with the right online channel, and with the right content.
- An international lead generation tool – in an integrated marketing strategy, and with the right content.
This is the reason why brick and mortar businesses interested in international development need to implement an online content and information product creation plan.
The easy tool for international market research you can do in-house is almost worth the time alone.
The real time testing, adaptations, and readjustments you can do also eliminate a large part of risk in traditional international business development.
You can run your own international market research right in your current office location. An online information strategy gives you:
- Flexibility on how you run your own international market development.
- Control over risks in traditional international business development
- Control over the pace at which you want to expand
- An international lead generation tool which you can tweak real time, at no cost.
Brick and mortar businesses can create more than just a simple online presence.
Commit to a real online content strategy and create a platform for your own information products.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Great post, thanks! It is something to think about