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This is a guest post from Cindy King. Cindy King is a Cross Cultural & International Sales Specialist based in France. She has rare first hand experience in international sales combined with expertise in cross cultural communication, international marketing, internet marketing and international B2B copywriting. Cindy writes a business directory and a weekly newsletter on how to Get International Clients at www.getinternationalclients.com.

Are you an internet marketer? Are you here for the business opportunities? We have all heard of the success stories. Many internet marketers make a good living. As an international marketer, I often wonder just how much money these successful internet marketers are leaving on the table.

Different Approaches

Businesses approach international web marketing differently. Based on my personal experience, how you approach international web marketing depends on where your primary business is:

• Brick and mortar businesses with a website are very interested in international web marketing, almost right from the beginning. International exposure is one of the big calling cards for getting a business online. These businesses already have a marketing role within their company. They often realize they need international marketing.
• The successful internet marketers I follow do not have a specific international web marketing strategy. They already have international sales. Yet they do not try to develop these international sales further, through international web marketing. Some do limited off-line marketing, through presentations and courses in different countries.

Off-Line Companies With International Marketing Strategies

Companies with a primary business off-line try to improve all sources of revenue. They have traditional marketing strategies in place.

A website with an international web marketing strategy is a logical step. These businesses evaluate an international web marketing strategy as a business investment. They define guidelines and strategies suitable for their company.

Online Companies Without International Marketing Strategies

An online company usually does not have the same reasoning.

• Does the buzz about instant global markets make standard business practices obsolescent?
• Is it simply because the online e-business does not have the same company structure?

Many online businesses sell downloadable products as a way to reach international audiences. International product delivery is not an international marketing plan.

Find The Right International Marketing Plan For You

Successful e-businesses have international client bases. The size of these international client bases can be significant. With such large volumes of international clients, it makes sense to create a much more targeted marketing plan to these audiences. Effective marketing to different international clients involves adapting your sales message to each different culture.

You do not need to jump into the deep end. International business development goes through 5 marketing steps.

1. Domestic Marketing
2. Export Marketing
3. International Marketing
4. Multinational Marketing
5. Global Marketing

I think you can see where the challenge lies for internet marketers. Most people assume that just because a website has global reach, they can jump from Domestic Marketing right into Global Marketing.

The fact is that businesses need to go through each of these steps one after the other. Jumping over even one of these steps is difficult and usually expensive.
You need to identify the marketing step where your business is. Only then will you be able to create an international marketing plan.

Target Specific Cultures

Once you have identified which marketing plan is suitable for your business, you can then go about finding the suitable way for your business to market to your international clients.
International marketing will help you to adjust your offer and your products to get more sales from different cultures.

There are three advantages to taking a systematic international marketing approach.

• You will get more sales from this one market.
• You will learn the full potential your product has in each different country.
• This process increases your own international market knowledge.

Sales Left On The Table?

Many online businesses make fast money selling one product with one marketing system, and then they stop there. A few successful internet marketers do start an international marketing plan when they:

• Give presentations at live events in different countries
• Go into joint ventures in different countries

The problem is that few internet marketers use any traditional international business development tactics.

A First Step

What can you do to improve international sales?
Remember to first identify which one of the five marketing steps is best for your business. Then, a good place to start is with your communication.
One first step is to adapt your websites and sales pages to target different cultures.

• You can start with one multicultural communication.
• For best results, you then need to move into culture-specific websites and emails, for example.

Read more about how you can develop your international business on Get International Clients.
Do you know how many sales you are leaving on the table in your international markets?

This entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 7:30 am and is filed under Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.