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Each week I share the articles I enjoyed reading on BizSugar with some of the thoughts they inspired on international business. Here are the articles I read last week.

50% Of Messages On Twitter Are Non-English

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This article on the Online Media Gazette gives some statistics from recent research on the number of languages used on Twitter and only half of the tweets are in English.

This is a great reminder to keep a tab on various social media profiles if you are interested in being an early adopter in using social media to reach international markets. Of course you also need to answer other questions before setting up a tweet plan in a foreign language.

Do you use Twitter to develop your international business networks?

The Little Fish Guide to Niche Dominance

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This is a good article on dominating a niche through business blogging.  But it is also appropriate for an international niche.  In this case, I would recommend modifying step 2, to adapt your content to your international audience.

Does your business blog target an international niche?  If so, what are you doing to dominate your niche?

5 Ways to Improve Your Empathy and EQ in Sales

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Anthony Iannarino has written an excellent article on how empathy helps in sales. All of the points here are important in international sales too.

I particularly like: “pause between stimulus and response and consider your outcome”. It’s so easy to assume we know what others are thinking. Pausing a short time before responding can be very useful in cross-cultural communication.

What do you do to improve your empathy in sales?

Tell Personal Stories – Sell More and Gain New Clients

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Chris Hamilton reminds us of the value of telling personal stories in sales.  This reminded me of how useful this is in international sales.  It’s often much easier to convey a message across cultures with a story.

And this also reminded me of the importance of not being too focused on telling your story.  You still need to pay very close attention to the people listening to you. Some people may find you too ego-centric. Some might find your stories too long or not relevant. There’s an art to story telling.

Do you tell personal stories when selling?

Blogging for Businesses Results in 55% More Traffic, 97% More Inbound Links!!

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SysComm provides some interesting graphs and statistics on the reasons why businesses blog. Search engine optimization and online visibility are obvious reasons.  And this is also an important reason to consider a business blog within an international marketing plan.

What goals do you have for your business blogging?

Sealed With a Kiss (The Art of Closing)

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Alen Mejor says the art of closing a sale is “the art of making decisions with which people agree”.  And of course when selling across cultures this is not always easy.  You often need strong cross-cultural communication skills to get people from different cultures to agree.

Alen’s article brings up quite a few of the roadblocks to closing a sale and it’s interesting reading this with international sales in mind.

Are you comfortable closing international sales?

Small Business Advice: How to Spot Difficult Customers

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I enjoyed reading Cynthia Myers’ article. I do think you spend a bit more time to work through some of the traits outlined here.  A customer from a different culture may first come across as a micro-manager, but this relationship might change once trust is established.

The one thing I would add for international customers is to always hone in the customers capacity to actually pay for your products or services.  It’s not only a question of whether they have money in their bank account, but also whether they can get the money into yours.

What do you look for in a good international customer?