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Here are the BizSugar articles from last week with the thoughts they inspired on international business.

The Simplest Secret To Business Growth

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Many businesses want to get more international clients and it takes a lot of hard work, done consistently. John Jantsch makes a great case here of reminding us to do more of what’s already working.

If you are lucky enough to already have a few good international clients or even good international networking connections, it’s worth spending the time to understand what worked well here.  In international business this may not be obvious, but once you understand what worked well it is easy to repeat.

How much time to you spend repeating what’s already working well for your business?

The Best Salesman For Your Small Business is a Digital One

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I don’t think the best salesman is always a digital one for developing your international business.  It depends on the country and the market. But a web presence certainly is helping many businesses reach wider international audiences.

Justan Brandt does remind us of how people now do online research online before they buy anything.  When marketing to different countries it’s a good idea to find out how different cultures do their online research and how this impacts their buying decision.

What do you know about the online research habits of your different international markets?

Work More Efficiently: Follow Your Body Clock

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Many people think a career in international business is glamorous. You often get to travel to different countries and see different places.  And it can be great fun.  But remaining professional at all times while adjusting to different time zones can be challenging.

Athena Goodlight suggests different activities for different hours of the day to make the most out of your body clock. It’s not easy to follow this advice when negotiating with people in different time zones, or when you lack sleep due to international travel.  But by listening to your body, and with experience, you can try to adjust your schedule to fit in with your body clock to improve performance.

What challenges do you have when travelling for international business?

Recession: The Mother of Innovation?

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Reena Jana writes on a thought provoking topic.  In a recession businesses are forced into action to survive.  Talent is more readily available and so is cheaper labor.

But are there more international business opportunities in a recession? Some cultures naturally prefer to stay focused on an environment they know well: their own.  And some businesses may be more willing to face the “risk” of developing an international business and actively look for cost effective solutions.

What do you think?

Twitter Launches Location-Based Trending Topics

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Ben Parr writes about Twitter’s new feature, Local Trends. More location based information from social media platforms will improve marketing for everyone, including international marketing.

And it’s just beginning. We are going to see examples of how businesses use this information. Be sure to keep an eye out for international social media platforms and how businesses in different countries use this technology.  You may get some good ideas for your international marketing.

What do you hope to get out of location based information on social media?

Social Networking equals Fake Networking

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The title of this article hooked my interest.  Listen to Seth Godin’s video on this article and keep your international markets in mind.  I think it provides some good guidelines for networking in international markets too.

I ran into a few people recently who asked me about international networking on social media and they were stuck into the “fake networking” referred to here. Social networking works on social media if you do your marketing groundwork.  You can do some of this before you begin networking.  But you need to keep up your market research while you are networking.

Are you happy with your international networking on social media?

What are you afraid of: Uncertainty or Losing?

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Andy Hayes talks about the concept where “we hate losing so much that we avoid anything that has even a remote risk of failing”.

Where I live I meet many business owners who say they want to go international “but…” And the prospect theory outlined in this article might explain some of the reactions I notice.

What is keeping you from developing your business internationally?