Bloggertone

This article follows on from my earlier focus on taking those first tentative steps towards exporting. On the assumption that your initial research into your intended destination has identified a gap in the market or a need for your product (other than its low price), the following criteria should be considered an essential part of your marketing endeavour. This article should be read in conjunction with my pieces on managing channel partners. Before I continue, I feel it’s worth…

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English is Just Another Language May 6th 2010 was one of the most important days in the 40 years of the Internet’s existence. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has launched domain names written in local scripts for local languages – so called ‘International Domain Names‘ (IDNs). English now has really become ” just another language”.  And here’s why: People  will now be able to type local language domain names into the…

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After almost a month’s absence here is another review of the business articles I enjoyed reading on BizSugar over the past week.  As usual I’m sharing the links with some of the thoughts they inspired related to international business. How to improve your communication skills Like this article? Sweet here. In international business you always need to work on improving your cross-cultural communication skills. This is why I enjoy reading articles on improving communication skills.  This…

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When most people think about globalising a website and social media presence, they think about translating text. Pictures and images it seems are universal.  Or are they? While most of us respect the fact that in different countries people speak different languages, we still seem to find it hard to grasp that people can speak different visual languages in different countries also. An exaggeration? Not Really.  The UK and the USA may share English as a mother tongue but they don’t share…

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I’ve been doing some research on the Irish SME sector and the role of blogging in companies’ international marketing strategy.  There aren’t many doing it yet so it’s not possible to draw many conclusions. From the outset I proffer three points: A blog is another channel to raise awareness for your company. A blog is a great mechanism to anchor your Social Media Marketing strategy. A blog can only be one of a number of your international marketing activities. Today I am looking at…

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Has recession in your home market hit the bottom line? Never fear, salvation is at hand. All you need to do is translate your web site into the appropriate language to tap into those lucrative foreign markets. In the ‘flat world’ of the internet, if you build a local presence overseas, they will come. Worried about telephone enquiries in a foreign language?  Just get your local call centre to manage those for you.   Email enquiries?  Google Translate can take care of those. Just sit…

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Here is another review of the business articles I enjoyed reading on BizSugar and some of the thoughts they inspired related to international business. How Will You Reinvent Yourself in Q2-2010? Like this article? Sweet here. S. Anthony Iannarino reminds us to take stock now to prepare for a successful second quarter of the year.  He asks us to review our results for the first quarter and to question our beliefs to see what has changed. There is a good analogy here with good international…

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Have you ever been caught out saying the wrong thing at a business meeting abroad? You wouldn’t be the only one.  We are so wedded to our native cultures that sometimes we just don’t think. Cultural references, something as simple as “How’s the craic” can leave our listeners with a blank stare.  For the non Irish craic (pronounced, crack) is Irish for fun and a colloquialism that trips off our tongues. I remember working in Amsterdam many years ago, barely out of college and…

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The last two weeks were busy with the Sugartone contest.  My weekly review of business articles on BizSugar resumes again this week. As always, here are the articles I enjoyed reading on BizSugar and some of the thoughts they inspired related to international business. Why You Should Start A Blog & Is There A Better Name Than Blogging? Like this article? Sweet here. The title of this article caught my attention because businesses often ask me why they need to blog. And I always answer…

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Here are the articles I enjoyed reading on BizSugar last week and some of the thoughts they inspired on international business. 7 Ways to Improve Your Business Acumen for Sales Like this article? Sweet here. S. Anthony Iannarino raises the important need for business knowledge in sales today.  Having a sound knowledge of business has always been important in international sales. The risk of losing control in the sales process is too great when you don’t understand how business works in…

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