As the title suggests, let's do something fun and also... very simple:

This weekend, when you're enjoying the sun, bring your digital camera (on video mode) or camcorder, Flip cam, get in front of it and say any of the following:

• "Hi, my name is (name and surname) and I'm a Bloggertoner" or
• "My name is (name and surname) with (company name) and I Bloggertone" (yes, new verb) or
• "My name is (name and surname) and I blog at Bloggetone"

You may come up with your own creative sentence! We'll pick the best videos and will make a short institutional video for Bloggertone. Hopefully it will fit in our Home page!! (and make you famous

As you see, this video will be just a few seconds long. After you're done, please send your video file to fred@bloggertone.com . In the event that you can't send it by email, you can use You Convert iT (very easy and FREE!)

So, are you in?

Submissions close on Wednesday 14th.

Let me know if you have any queries

best
Fred

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 that if you need an online presence it’s based on content.  And the value of content marketing is perceived differently in different cultures.

Why blog?  Well blogs are the easiest content management system to use.  It also means you’ll need to publish content regularly and this is great for Google and being found by search engines. Without content you don’t have any online presence… and this is the same in all countries.

Do you use a blog to reach international audiences?

How to Use LinkedIn Effectively for Your Business

Like this article? Sweet here.

This is a good read on how to use LinkedIn.  I have to say that I haven’t found LinkedIn a universal platform for international networking.  It is mainly dominated by North American culture which can be a bit too direct and opinionated.   People from different countries have different networking styles.   This is probably why there are other professional networking platforms such as European Xing and the French Viadeo.

But as this article mentions, LinkedIn has been slowly integrating the use of other applications, such as Slideshare. And as this happens LinkedIn may evolve for international networking.

How do you like LinkedIn for international professional networking?

Why You Should Throw Out Your Marketing Tactics and Tools

Like this article? Sweet here.

The advice Susan Oakes gives here works very well for international audiences too.  In international business, you should question whether you pick up the marketing tactics and tools you use.  And the only way to find out what works best is to understand your international audience.

This is why international marketing is difficult and why there is a strong temptation to find a simple “one size fits all” solution.

What international marketing challenges do you face?

Knowledge Is Not Power—Wisdom Is Power

Like this article? Sweet here.

As I mentioned above it’s not easy developing an international business.  And the hardest part is often gaining a real understanding of your international customers.

S. Anthony Iannarino’s article makes this point very well. You need knowledge, experience and understanding of your international markets to really develop your business there,

How much do you understand your international customers?

10 Steps to Become the Greatest Salesperson In the World – Part 6

Like this article? Sweet here.

Jerry Kennedy covers the topic of how managing emotions impacts our sales.  And he also highlights that we often don’t realize others pick up our emotions.

In cross-cultural selling we have to constantly monitor our emotions and reactions because it is natural to react to cross-cultural differences. And we can easily react inappropriately to cultural differences when we don’t fully understand them.

How do you manage your emotions in cross-cultural sales?

Social Media: It’s about People not Tools

Like this article? Sweet here.

Frank Bradley gives us great advice for keeping a business focus when using social media. With this new media and the constant changes in tools, it’s understandable to forget it’s about connecting with people.

And when businesses look at using social media to reach international audiences, people often make the same mistake… after all the tools are even more unfamiliar. But staying focused on the people you want to connect with makes it easier to find the best social media tactics to reach international audiences.

How do you connect with people on social media?

Sugartone Winners

Like this article? Sweet here.

The Sugartone contest held by Bloggertone and BizSugar ended last week and it was great to see the winners are spread out across the globe.

Sugartone was also a successful exercise in international networking for several of the business professionals who participated. To be successful in international networking you need to be open to seizing opportunities and putting in the effort to connect with others. And this is what the winners of the Sugartone contest did.

What are you doing to open your world?

Great Business Articles With Lively Discussions

We would like to thank all of you for participating. The quality of the business articles was fantastic. There are some real gems. We hope you all take the time to read through all of the business articles submitted to Sugartone.

Networking Within Two Business Communities

Several of the participants said they were grateful for the opportunity of expanding their business networks... not just across one community, but across two lively business communities. And this is what resonated the most with us too: Sugartone was a great business networking event.

Sugartone Winners

Dozens of articles came in and there were hundreds of votes and comments.  The Sugartone team carefully gave their votes based on the most appealing article titles and took into account the total number of votes and comments. And here are the winners...

Top 10 Titles

1. 4 Badges of Liberation from the Cult of Orthodox Business Doctrine - on BizSugar
2. “Working Nine to Five, What a Way to Make a Living!” - on BizSugar
3. 5 Ways Small is Beating Big for Flagship Clients - on BizSugar
4. 8 Reasons it makes CENTS to give your content away - on BizSugar
5. Five Tips to Wow Your Audience with a Blow-Them-Away Presentation - on BizSugar
6. From An Absolute Blogging Beginner and I Absolutely Love it - on BizSugar
7. Managing Stress in the Workplace - on BizSugar
8. Achtung - Baby Businesses - on BizSugar
9. Timely FREE Advice 4 BizOwners: DO IT! - on BizSugar
10. Social Media, Definition, History and Scholarship - on BizSugar

Top 10 Commenters

1. Ching Ya
2. Collen Cole
3. Greg Fry
4. Barney Austen
5. Elaine Rogers
6. Bill Rice
7. Elli St George
8. Mairead Kelly
9. Susan Oakes
10. Catherine Connors

A Very Big "Thank You" To All Of You!

All prize winners will be contacted shortly with information about their prizes. It was great reading the articles and following the comment threads. We hope you'll continue to share your discussions and your articles both here and on BizSugar.

Oh and some very very important thank-yous...

The Bloggertone Team would like to specially thank all the sponsors & the BizSugar Team (Anita Campbell, Joel Libava, Staci Wood & Shawn Hessinger) for their help and commitment to the contest.

A big big thank you to Cindy King, a fellow Bloggertoner who happens to be a great Cross Cultural Marketer , was the brains behind SugarTone and put in a lot of time and effort to making this happen.

We feel SugarTone has been overall a success and can't wait to check out the online media analytics for the contest kindly provided by our friends at O'Leary Analytics

All the best,

The Bloggertone Team

Click here between Monday March 15^th at 4pm GMT / 9am EST and Wednesday March 17^th Friday March 19th (extended!) 4pm GMT / 9am EST to submit your articles on Bloggertone.

VOTE ON THE ARTICLES

Click here between Monday March 15^th at 4pm GMT / 9am EST and Friday March 19^th Tuesday March 23rd (extended!) 4pm GMT / 9am EST to go to BizSugar to vote on your articles.

Are you a busy professional who wants to create a strong online presence?
Do you write articles to share your expertise, establish credibility and gain online visibility?
Do you blog for your business? Do you read business articles online?

How would you like to win a few cool prizes for business professionals online?

Bloggertone is teaming up with BizSugar to bring you the Sugartone Sweet Business Blogging Contest. This contest helps give your articles extra online visibility and rewards your social networking. The Sugartone Sweet Business Blogging Contest is an opportunity for you to win prizes to help you promote your business.

• It’s free to enter
• Anyone can join the competition including current Bloggertoners and BizSugar members!
• You’ll have lots of chances to win
• Prizes total $6921

Yes, that’s right: $6921 In Prizes

How You Can Win These Prizes

There’s more good news: there are 2 ways to win prizes.

#1 Do you write business articles?

All you have to do is submit a business article to Bloggertone Between Monday March 15^th and Wednesday March 17^th Extended to Friday March 19th– but there are a few guidelines you need to follow, so carefully read the Sugartone Guidelines below.

All votes and comments for the articles will take place on BizSugar, the social bookmarking site for businesses.

#2 Do you like to read business articles?

You too can also win prizes simply by voting and commenting on the Sugartone articles posted on BizSugar.

Top 10 Titles & Top 10 Commenters

There are prizes for two different categories of winners:

• Top 10 Titles – for the articles with the best titles
• Top 10 Commenters – for the people who vote the most and provide the most insightful comments

Have a look at the great prizes we’ve got lined up for busy professionals just like you.

$6921 In Prizes

There are prizes for both the Top 10 Titles and the Top 10 Commenters

1^st Prize Winner - TOP 10 TITLES

Lead Page Machine

Lead Page Machine software runs on Windows XP, Vista and version 7.

(valued at 3500€ - this is about $5200).

Lead Page Machine is designed for the everyday non-technical small business to be able to create, launch and manage their own lead pages (aka ‘name-squeeze pages’) to help you build a massive list of email subscribers.

Within 15 minutes or less you can create and launch multiple separate lead pages for each category of customer or client you want to attract.
Advanced 'Clone' facility lets you create duplicates of your most successful lead pages and launch an unlimited number of variations for different traffic sources (e.g. different lead pages for Google Adwords, print advertisements, article marketing, forums, etc.)

Lead Page Machine is the brainchild of Ed Rivis, author of The Ultimate Web Marketing Strategy and E-Mail Marketing Dynamite.

Click Millionaires

6 month membership (valued at $174)

This friendly social network is dedicated to helping solopreneurs and small business owners upgrade their online marketing efforts to make more money online.

• “Ask Scott Fox”: Private online access to best-selling author Scott Fox
• Click Millionaire Resource Bank with money-making strategy documents, skill-building articles, research reports, and publications.
• 24/7 Success Coaching Forum personally moderated by Scott Fox
• The e-Riches 2.0 MP3 Interview Library:
• Click Millionaire resources to help online entrepreneurs worldwide to attract more customers.

Click Millionaires is Scott Fox’s private online marketing success coaching community.

5 Critical Tactics for Business Blog Success

1-Hour CD plus 33 page Report Reveals Exact Tactics You Can Easily Implement to Make Your Blog a Winner! (valued at $97)
When you study this program you will discover:

• Why you need a blog for your business
• 4 keys to creating compelling content
• How to manage your blogging time
• 3 sites to syndicate your blog content to drive more traffic
• An essential tactic for attracting business with your blog

Denise Wakeman is an Online Marketing Advisor and Founder of The Blog Squad. She helps service professionals and small business owners leverage blogs for their business, as well as strategically use social media tools to boost online visibility to get more traffic, leads, customers and opportunities.

1^st Prize Winner - TOP 10 COMMENTERS

Animoto

1 Year Subscription (valued at $249)

Animoto.com is a web application that creates MTV-style videos with the click of a button.

Users simply choose a song and images. Animoto then automatically generates a unique video for them. No two videos are ever the same.

Many of the post-production techniques that the founders used while working as producers for MTV, Comedy Central & ABC are used in Animoto's patent-pending Cinematic Artificial Intelligence developed to think like an actual editor and director. The resulting video is produced in a widescreen format, containing the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer.

Animoto Productions is based in New York City with an office in San Francisco.

Traction Call With Gary Barnes

45 minute call with Traction Coach Gary Barnes (valued at $175)

Gary helps you to quickly get some “sand under your wheels” so you can move forward toward the life you want to live.

• Stop running your business with “one foot on the gas and the other foot on the brake”
• Live a life of vision and purpose, instead of exhausting yourself on the same old treadmill
• Create more financial success and abundance (without working yourself into the ground)
• Learn to market your business with integrity and authenticity
• Have a lot more fun in your business and your life!

Gary Barnes is called The Traction Coach and his mission in life to help people find more creativity, passion, fulfillment, and, yes, wealth in their businesses.

Click Millionaires

6 month membership (valued at $174)

This friendly social network is dedicated to helping solopreneurs and small business owners upgrade their online marketing efforts to make more money online.

• “Ask Scott Fox”: Private online access to best-selling author Scott Fox
• Click Millionaire Resource Bank with money-making strategy documents, skill-building articles, research reports, and publications.
• 24/7 Success Coaching Forum personally moderated by Scott Fox
• The e-Riches 2.0 MP3 Interview Library:
• Click Millionaire resources to help online entrepreneurs worldwide to attract more customers.

Click Millionaires is Scott Fox’s private online marketing success coaching community.

2^nd – 5^th Place Prizes for both TOP 10 TITLES & TOP 10 COMMENTERS

Start-Run-Grow

All you need to start, run, and grow your business included in one software package (valued at $49.95)

Over 45 essential business tools and services for 3 different phases of your business.

Start Your Business: From designing your logo to getting set up online, all the information you need to get up and running is just one click away.

Run Your Business: Improve your productivity and run your business more efficiently. Proven resources and tools help you stay on track and on budget.

Grow Your Business: Good marketing is essential to the health of your business. Bring in more customers, and more profits, to continually grow your business.

Start-Run-Grow runs on the Adobe Air platform so it’s both PC and Mac compatible and can be seamlessly updated as more tools are added.

These prices were kindly donated by Formspring.com

All Winners - TOP 10 TITLES & TOP 10 COMMENTERS

Books

All Top 10 Titles and Top 10 Commenters also get a mini library of 3 books/ebooks which will be chosen at random from this selection

Wordtracker Masterclass: Blogging For Business - 50 Steps to Building Traffic and Sales by Chris Garrett (5 books valued at $39)
Sociable by Shane Gibson & Stephan Jagger  (5 books valued at $25)
New Community Rules by Tamar Weinberg (5 books valued at $16.49)
Guest Posting by Chris Garrett (5 ebooks valued at $10)

Badges

There’ll also be some nifty badges for all of the winners to display on their blogs or websites.

Here’s How It Works

Everything starts on Monday March 15^th at 4pm GMT / 9am EST.  This is when you can:

• Submit your articles on Bloggertone
• Vote for them on BizSugar.

Article Submission Deadlines: Monday March 15^th at 4pm GMT / 9am EST through Wednesday March 17^th Friday March 19th (extended!)4pm GMT / 9am EST

And to give some extra time to vote on all of the articles, the voting will continue on for 2 more days after the article submission deadline.

Article Voting Deadlines: Monday March 15^th at 4pm GMT / 9am EST through Friday March 19^th Tuesday March 23rd (extended!) at 4pm GMT / 9am EST

Sugartone Guidelines

Here are the steps to follow:

#1: You submit your article to Bloggertone, the business bloggers community.

• Your submission must follow Bloggertone’s standard guidelines outlined here.
• If you are already a Blogger at Bloggertone, simply submit your article as usual remembering to categorize it as "Sugartone". If you are new to Bloggertone simply attach your article and we'll post it for you. You'll also get a login and password after the event to make regular contributions.
• Articles must be original content. Articles that have been previously published elsewhere are not eligible to be submitted for this Sugartone contest.
• By submitting your article you grant Bloggertone exclusive rights to your article for 2 weeks after the publication date on Bloggertone.  What this means is that you have to wait a full 2 weeks after publishing your article on Bloggertone before you can publish it anywhere else.
• Be sure to craft a great headline for your article this is what we’ll be voting on to win the contest
• Submissions open Monday March 15^th at 4pm GMT / 9am EST
• Submissions close Wednesday March 17^th Friday March 19th 4pm GMT / 9am EST

#2: Bloggertone submits all of the articles you enter to BizSugar, the social bookmarking site for business articles.

• You don’t do this step. Just sit back and wait until your article is up on BizSugar.
• This may take a few hours, especially when it’s night time in the UK. But we’ll get it done for you as quickly as possible.

#3: You and your friends vote & comment on the Sugartone articles on BizSugar

• Vote for your favorite article titles.
• Comment on the Sugartone articles. Winners will also be selected on the value of the comments they leave.
• You can vote and comment on more than one article.
• Voting begins Monday March 15^th at 4pm GMT / 9am EST
• Voting ends Friday March 19^th Tuesday March 23rd at 4pm GMT / 9am EST

#4: Prizes announced Friday March 19^th Wednesday March 24th at 7pm GMT / 1pm EST

• The winners of the Top 10 Titles will be decided on by the Sugartone team and will take into account the total number of votes and comments.
• The winners of the Top 10 Commenters will be decided on by the Sugartone team and will take into account the total number of votes and comments as well as an appreciation of the value the commenters bring to the community.
• Video webcast to be announced later.

Participate In The Sugartone Sweet Business Blogging Contest

Don’t miss your chance to win these great prizes.  Anyone can enter the Sugartone Sweet Business Blogging Contest.  All current Bloggertoners and BizSugar members are invited to join in too!

Start writing your business articles now and be sure to craft an attention grabbing title. Then come back starting Monday March 15^th.

SUBMIT YOUR ARTICLES HERE

Click here between Monday March 15^th at 4pm GMT / 9am EST and Wednesday March 17^th Friday March 19th (extended!) 4pm GMT / 9am EST to submit your articles on Bloggertone.

VOTE ON THE ARTICLES

Click here between Monday March 15^th at 4pm GMT / 9am EST and Friday March 19^th Tuesday March 23rd (extended!) 4pm GMT / 9am EST to go to BizSugar to vote on your articles.

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 other cultures. And in practice this is something international sales professionals continue to learn in the field.

Anthony gets us a few ways to improve our business acumen.  I particularly like letting clients teach you about their business.  Although you need to establish the right environment first to do this, it is an effective way to improve your sales skills.

How do you think your general business knowledge impacts your company’s sales?

3 Ways to Improve Your Ability to Diagnose for Salespeople

Like this article? Sweet here.

Here’s another great read by S. Anthony Iannarino. This time Anthony writes about diagnosis during the sales process.  It’s useful to think about your own process of diagnosis because in international sales you spend a fair amount of time and effort making sure you get it right.

I can easily equate a couple of the points he makes with international sales: building a diagnostic tool and suspending judgment.  But in a cross-cultural environment the ability to understand how your actions impact the different aspects of your client’s company is crucial… and it’s not always easy to do. This is why thinking about the tactics you use is a great exercise.

How well do you understand how to sell to your international clients?

What Consumers Expect When Visiting Your Website

Like this article? Sweet here.

David Siteman Garland gives us some insights into the changing expectations for North American websites. Given how these trends in online marketing impact many other countries I find the title interesting.

Different cultures have different expectations. Although it’s easy to assume the North American trends will also work well across an international audience, this may not be the case.  Identifying the cultural differences in expectations for your product or services is crucial for international web marketing.

What do your international clients expect on your website? What does not work as well as you would expect?

Online Business And Revenue Models

Like this article? Sweet here.

Caelen King says the web is democratizing business and the lack of high cost investment means that many online businesses are also forgetting to do their homework.  This is a common problem I encounter with regards to international business. People seem to forget basic business research before setting out on the assumption that a website opens a door to a global market.

Caelen gives a breakdown of the different online business models and possible revenue generation models.  It’s a good reminder to carefully think about your business model and how this will impact your online success.

What type of business model interests you for your international business?

Stop Being the Idea Guy and Just Do It!

Like this article? Sweet here.

I love ideas and hearing different perspectives on a variety of topics.  In this article Bill Rice raises the question of getting beyond ideas and taking action. This reminded me of a few incidences recently where someone wanted to get more business, but was not willing to roll up his sleeves and start taking action.

Early in my international marketing career I was confronted with a very ungrateful task of crunching numbers. It was a week long chore which no one wanted to do even if it was essential to the company’s marketing.  I bit the bullet and never regretted it.  Jumping in and doing the work that needs to be done to move your business forward can give you insights you just can’t get elsewhere.

Do you make the right choices in how you spend your time?

Creating Resonation Points in Your Customer: Six Sales Tips to Sell More

Like this article? Sweet here.

Here is another great article by Skip Anderson on improving your sales skills. This time it’s about creating resonance with your clients. This is one of the first things international sales professionals are confronted with.  You almost always need to adapt your communication with international clients.

Skip shares how to find the resonating points when selling and his last point is the most critical one for international sales: understand your customer. This takes the most amount of work in cross-cultural sales.

How well do you know the resonation points in your international customers?

Why Size Matters & Smaller Is Better

Like this article? Sweet here.

Lisa Barone’s article got my thoughts going in a few different directions with regards to international business. First of all, just like Lisa points out here, a small targeted audience can be worth much more than a bigger, less targeted audience.

Next, the idea of size brings up the importance of adjusting your actions to the context involved. In some countries you need to communicate more with the group as a whole and in others it’s more important to find the right person to talk to.  Awareness of size and it’s relevance to your business is important.

Are you happy with the size of your international audience?

What articles have you read recently? Have any of them inspired you with regards to international business?  Please share them in the comments below.

50% Of Messages On Twitter Are Non-English

Like this article? Sweet here.

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

Like this article? Sweet here.

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

Like this article? Sweet here.

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

Like this article? Sweet here.

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!!

Like this article? Sweet here.

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)

Like this article? Sweet here.

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

Like this article? Sweet here.

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?

Businesses Adopting Social Media At Greater Rate (Video)

Like this article? Sweet here.

In this video Abby Johnson explains that small businesses are now using social media to find new ways to attract new business as businesses are recognizing the importance of being social.

There are parallels in how small businesses need to get creative to survive and how businesses sometimes need to get creative in the methods they use to enter new foreign markets. This is why I like to closely watch the creativity businesses use on social media.

Have you noticed any businesses creatively using of social media?

Find Alternatives And See If You Can Gain Business

Like this article? Sweet here.

Chris Hamilton gives some examples of how a creative approach helped him to find alternative solutions and bring in more business.

A creative mindset and the ability to find alternatives are two survival tools in international sales.  These are skills you’ll always need.  So I always like hearing about other stories of different ways people brought in the business. You never know what ideas this may spark in the future.

What do you do to stimulate your creativity in finding business solutions?

Salesperson And Prospect: Differing Perspectives

Like this article? Sweet here.

Skip Andersen shows different perspectives of both the salesperson and the prospect.  And he summarizes “The law of incongruity of expectations can work for you or against you, because it is neither good nor bad, it just is.”

Different expectations always present a challenge in international business.  And you need to understand all parts of the business process well in order to adapt to the different perspectives.  This was a good reminder to look at the whole story of what’s happening.

How do you navigate the differences in perspectives in international business?

Success In Sales Is Managing Outcomes: The Ability To Achieve Results

Like this article? Sweet here.

S. Anthony Iannarino has reviewed 10 skills needed in sales and this is the last one in the series. It’s also my favorite when applying these skills to international business.

There are many pitfalls linked to not understanding the outcome your international prospect is buying and aligning this with the outcome your business wants.  When you begin an international sales process you may not have a good understanding of the outcome your prospect expects. So managing outcomes becomes an important part of the sales process in cross-cultural sales.

What skill do you find important in international sales?

Business And The Media With Rupert Murdoch (Video)

Like this article? Sweet here.

In this video Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institution interviews Rupert Murdoch about the Wall Street Journal.

I find it interesting that one point made is that content is the emperor.  New technological devices rely on content. When you take a step back and look at content for international audiences, it’s easy to see the importance of cross-cultural communication.

What are you doing to adapt your communication to different cultures?

3 Little Things Potential Customers Will Check About You

Like this article? Sweet here.

Douglas Idugboe brings up some good points here about adding a personal touch, making sure you highlight current skills and providing the right website links.

When your international customers visit check about you online, they will probably look for information you would not expect.  Different cultures have different approaches to doing business. When selling to international customers you have to deal the cultural differences in your own communication as well as establishing credibility differently.

Do you know what your international customers check about you?

Ten Web Strategies To Implement In 2010

Like this article? Sweet here.

Matt Gibson gives 10 great web strategies for small businesses. I particularly like #6: Stay on the ball. And it’s easy to understand the importance of this with the examples Matt gives here.  Small businesses have the advantage of being more flexible when implementing new strategies than big businesses.

Flexibility is also very important in international business. Cultural differences can create issues where you need to be flexible and adapt to different environments.

Do you think your business is flexible enough to take advantages of opportunities?

The Value in “Raising The Bar”

Like this article? Sweet here.

There is a time when businesses are thinking about what they can do to go international when mindset plays a big role in success.  This article from the Five Forces Group shows how to rise to the task.

“It’s about standing out in a very crowded space.  It’s about paying attention to what is happening around your business not just within your business.  And most of all it’s about proving to others that you are able to be flexible and inspiring.  These create experiences and these experiences will immediately set you apart from your competition or it may even allow you to create your own market.”  This part particularly resonated with me.

What is your company doing to stand out?

The 5 Most Innovative New Online Business Models in 2010

Like this article? Sweet here.

Rohit Bharghava looks at some new business models online.  When working with different countries you notice differences in how companies do things.  It’s a great source of ideas to bring back home.

With online businesses often come up with interesting business ideas and different business models.  Remember to keep a tab on what’s happening online in different countries.  This can be a rich resource to help you with the challenges you face in your own market.

Where do you find interesting business ideas?

Avoiding humour in Business or Job Hunting. Then the joke’s on you ….

Like this article? Sweet here.

Just to be clear, Paul Mullan actually believes humour is useful. Even in business and job hunting.  And I also agree with him in when communicating with international clients.  Now, most people will advise you not to use humour in cross-cultural communication.  And they are right.  Humour can backfire very easily.  This is why I never attempt being light hearted in writing.

But there are times when a gentle touch of humour in a person to person conversation goes a long way in strengthening cross-cultural relationships.  You have to choose your subject carefully, you must pay attention your humour goes across well and you should only use it sparingly.  But I’ve always been very happy I added a lighter touch to the conversation whenever I did.

What is your experience of humour in international business?

5 Ways to Share Content to Create Referrals

Like this article? Sweet here.

This article by John Jantsch got me thinking about international web marketing.  The different ways of sharing content outlined here are good tactics.

But when targeting different international markets some methods work better than others.  And it might take some trial and error to find the best approach.

What international content marketing are you doing?

Niche Website Ideas

Like this article? Sweet here.

John Crickett talks about the value of creating niche websites.  And of course you can also create international niche websites.  I wonder how many businesses are doing this.

Marketing to a highly targeted international niche through a website can help you learn a lot about your international business opportunities. With a little effort you can also create a solid business network in a foreign country.  Of course, this takes some effort, but it’s still a lot less expensive than doing this offline.

Do you know of anyone using niche websites to target international markets?

Building Products for Mass Adoption

Like this article? Sweet here.

I enjoyed reading Mark Suster’s article on creating products for 2 different groups of buyers: Techies and Normals (or Muggles).  My first thought was that there are definitely countries where there are more Techie buyers than others.

This is a great read to get you to think of how to create products for different markets.

Why do your international clients buy your product?

Marketing Lessons From Changing The Look and Feel Of A Brand

Like this article? Sweet here.

Susan Oakes gives an example of why you need to get feedback from your markets as you tweak your brand for a better fit with your audience.

This is also a great reminder for businesses adapting their brand to different cultures.  It’s easy to assume you are making the right decisions. You have to always listen to your market very early on before you make any wrong assumptions.

Do you know how your brand comes across in different countries?

Here are the articles that stood out for me this week with some of the cross-cultural and international business thoughts they inspired. Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below.

9 Tricks to Receiving World Class Customer Service

Like this article? Sweet here.

David Grenda gives some good tips on dealing with customer service representatives located in different countries. This article highlights the challenges of growing into an international business.

As a native English speaker living abroad I’ve also noticed inconsistencies between the information available on company websites and the information given by customer service representatives based in different countries. International coordination is not always easy to implement across all levels.

Have you had any international incidences with customer service?

5 Marketing Lessons From The Festive Season

Like this article? Sweet here.

Susan Oakes shows businesses what they can learn from the festive holiday season.  There is also a good parallel to be made between the points made in this article and international marketing.

It is often worth spending some time looking at the marketing practices in different countries for idea inspiration on what you can do in your own markets.

I am always surprised by the “Happy Holiday” wishes I receive from people in my business network who do not celebrate Christmas. This reminds me to ask them what big national holiday they celebrate and whether they send wishes to each other in the same way at this time or not.  It’s a little extra effort to incorporate these personal touches into your marketing, but they often help to deepen the relationships.

What do you learn from your observations of this holiday season?

Christmas: For Making Biz Connections

Like this article? Sweet here.

Tony Johnston also makes a good suggestion to get a business advantage out of the holiday season.  This time it is to strengthen relationships and connect with people.

Most people all over the world are receptive to connecting during the end of year holiday season. Unfortunately, no matter how good my intentions are I never seem to be able to reach out to everyone I’d like to over Christmas.  There is just too much going on.

So for several years now, I have changed the date to do this. I now make it a point to personally reach out to all of the people who matter to me just before Easter. I take more time to do this and others also have more time for me too.  And I also remember to reach out to the people I missed connecting to at Christmas.

How do you use holidays to connect with your business network?

Done Deals: Stop Analyzing and Start Experimenting

Like this article? Sweet here.

Chris Brogan talks about one of the common mistakes I see people make with international business.  As he points out there has to be a balance.  You do need to do thorough research before entering a new international market.  But I see too much paralysis.  Besides with a little thought, many businesses today can apply the small marketing experiments Chris outlines.  And you can also experiment with international markets… with special attention to segmentation and adapting your communication to connect with different cultures.

In fact, the process Chris outlines here could be the base of a marketing plan to test the right way to connect with different foreign markets. These practices may not yield great results in all countries.  But they may be worth a try.  And all English speaking businesses outside of North America interested in reaching this market should be doing this already.

What are you doing to learn more about your international markets?

The Social Listener

Like this article? Sweet here.

This is an interview with Shashi Bellamkonda, Social Media Swami at Network Solutions LLC. I found this story inspiring.  Social Media Swami is his actual job title.  What I find interesting is how Shashi sees his job function beyond that of a social listener.  He uses the cultural meaning of the word Swami to give his job function a much broader role.  He compares it to being more of a customer evangelist within his company.

It is interesting to see how different cultures impact these new job functions and I wonder what the future has in store for us as social media becomes a bigger melting pot.

What other cultural influences have you noticed in social media in business?

Don't Let Sales Skills Atrophy

Like this article? Sweet here.

This short post from Skip Anderson has a great message.  We must not become complacent with our skills.  In international business you need to continually make the effort to build cross-cultural skills to be successful.

I occasionally hear people claim to have good international skills because they “lived” in a foreign country for 2 months 15 years ago.  The trouble is people change. Cultures evolve. And the skills you pick up in one context may not fit very well in another one.

The actions Skip mentions here are all important.  But I think self-analysis plays an even greater role in learning how to adapt to different practices. And you need multiple international experiences and time to digest them before you can go deep enough in self-analysis to build strong international skills.

How complacent are you about your international skills?

7 Ways Posterous Improves Your Social Media Presence

Like this article? Sweet here.

This is an article I wrote about Posterous on Social Media Examiner. As the comments started coming in I realized that as an international marketer I am particular interested in easy publishing solutions to segment content marketing.

International marketers can use segmentation to find the best way to communicate to different markets.  It takes time to carry out an international content marketing plan, even on a small scale. So a quick and easy publishing platform can help you to experiment with some segmented market research.

I’m definitely going keep my ear open for other easy publishing platforms popular in different countries.

Are you interested in laser focused international market research through easy content publishing platforms?

What About You?

Which articles got you thinking this week and why?

How have you improved your international marketing this holiday season?

What international business insights have you acquired recently?

As always, I’d love to hear how these articles inspired you.

And again, just for the record, I am not part of the bizSugar team. BizSugar is simply one of the places I visit regularly to keep up with business articles online.

Iranian Cyber War Against Twitter

Like this article?  Sweet here.

When you are in international business you need to be aware of international news. This is because you often gain cross-cultural insights from incidents and blunders whenever there is an international component, even when they happen outside of your own industry.

As it happened, I only found out about this incident through bizSugar.  This incident raises concerns about being online and having international visibility.  And it also reminds us to have the right emergency plans in place for international online crisis management.

Do you know what you would do if your website was hacked?

Start an Affiliate Program to Increase Your Sales

Like this article?  Sweet here.

I’m always amazed by the lack of action taken by businesses who say they want international sales but never actually do anything about it.  In days gone by, the only real option for companies no international budget was to find local representatives or importers interested in their wares. This is comparable to online affiliate marketing today.

As more companies learn how to use social media and new web marketing tactics, I expect they will also use more affiliate marketing as a way to approach new international markets.  Many companies should be able to learn how to create an online affiliate program, widening their offer at the front end, just for international market research.

Can you see affiliate marketing as a means to open international markets for your business?

How To Explain To Clients That They Are Wrong

Like this article?  Sweet here.

This article resonated with me on two different levels: the challenges in understanding people from different cultures in a professional setting and also the need to adapt on a personal level and the frustrations this can involve when dealing with clients.

Although this is aimed at freelancers, most of the points here can also be applied to international business.  This is not a surprise as many freelancers today work with international clients.

I particularly like the first point made here: try to understand your client’s point of view.

The one thing I would add here is that good questioning skills can also come in very handy.  When you ask the right questions, you can often lead clients to meet you in an area of mutual understanding from where it is easy to move forward.

What’s your favorite tactic when dealing with clients who think differently than you do?

Customers Reduce Risk by Buying from Experts. Are YOU One?

Like this article?  Sweet here.

This article got me thinking very deeply about how complex it is to build trust with international clients and raised quite a few important questions for successful international business.

What makes an expert? Do different cultures go about crafting expert status in other ways? How is this expertise perceived by different cultures? How is your expertise linked to the trust you build in your international clients?  And do international clients buy from the same experts?

How does this article inspire you? Do you think it is easy to transmit your expertise to international clients?

Business innovation: Developing an entrepreneurial mindset

Like this article?  Sweet here.

For me, this article highlighted the similarities between an entrepreneurial mindset and an international business mindset, especially when first entering a new foreign market.

I’ve used all three types of thinking outlined here, (abstract, business intellect and creative thinking), when looking for solutions to international business problems.

What similarities do you see when cultivating an international mindset?

What free or cost effective Business tools did you use this year?

Like this article?  Sweet here.

Many free and inexpensive business tools are also great for international marketers too.  I also particularly liked the selection Greg Fry shares here.  There are some good tools if you want to begin adding video to your content mix.

It is great to add video to your web marketing, but when marketing to international audiences you also need to adapt your video skills for effective cross-cultural communication.  This is why I liked these inexpensive tools.  They seem like a good way to test what works best in different markets.

I use Wisestamp on all of my email and this brings in a fair bit of traffic to my social media platforms.  And I have seen Animoto close up, it is very interesting.  Screenjelly and Eyejot are new to me and also look useful. I’ll definitely try them out in 2010. These small video touches can help to create a more meaningful connection with other people.

The best business tools I used in 2009 were Twitter and Skype. I used both of these as international networking tools.

What about you? What business tools did you get the most value from this year?

Social Media Strategy: 6 Areas of Focus for 2010

Like this article?  Sweet here.

Doyle Slayton shares his 2010 goals and strategy for his social media plan here. Many others are publishing theirs this month too.  But I particularly liked Doyle’s because the goals are Simple, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

Many businesses struggle to come up with SMART goals for their social media strategy and Doyle makes it look easy. In looking at Doyle’s goals it’s easy to see that he has been in social media for some time already.  And he also states his struggles for figuring out how to use Facebook.  I suspect that he will figure this out before setting his goals and strategies for 2011.

In 2009 I used social media to reach my international markets and develop my international business network successfully.  The first thing I notice when comparing my tactics with others, is that my SMART are much simpler than many others.  And I do think it is important to keep your goals simple when using social media for international business.  Very simple.  This is the only way you can then also adapt to different cultures.  If you start off with anything but the simplest of goals, you will come to a halt as soon as you encounter any cross-cultural hurdles. And on social media you can feel the cross-cultural differences very quickly.

How simple are your international social media goals and strategies?