By Laurel Delaney

When I started my exporting company, I had second thoughts.  Could I succeed selling American products abroad?

I had a few friends in local sales.  They called on customers constantly. They'd often call to tell me how their businesses were doing and ask how my exporting was going.

It wasn't.  I hadn't sold a thing for months. I  struggled to find good products to export, and diligently searched for customers overseas.  My great idea – going global right out of the box – wasn't working, and I was scared.

Meanwhile, my friends kept calling with their sales stories…

Competing in the global marketplace can be intimidating, and you need lots of gumption.  Besides, you do not want the "big boys� to beat you at the game.  In today's global market, it's the small-business owners who are turning to international trade, discovering vast potential for growth and profitability, and changing the shape of the world economy.For these independent, highly motivated and action-oriented entrepreneurs, it’s an ideal time to pursue international business, particularly now with the Internet to help foster sales and run your business.

Yet for large- and small-business owners alike, going global demands a new way of thinking and acting.  I take great pleasure in the joy of going global.  You can too.  Here are 10 ways:

1.  Discover why going global is important.  The potential of overseas markets – through exporting, importing or outsourcing – remains largely untapped, even among the world’s most prosperous nations.  In the United States, for example, only 10 percent of all businesses export, and most export to only one country.  Yet, 95 percent of the world’s population lives outside the United States. Thus, current exporters could reap higher profits simply by selling to additional countries.   

2.  Build your foundations.  Entering the global market is not a lifestyle; it’s a “mind-style.�  You have to have a positive attitude and an open mind.  Once you understand this, you can develop and indulge in a powerful worldview – your prerequisite to taking on the world, and your foundation for starting and running a profitable global business.

3.  Map out your global journey.  First, get organized.  Explore your territory, conduct market research, choose a market, segment your product and market, keep yourself on track and create a thoughtfully crafted strategy that forces you to take action.  Then, make sure your product or service will stand on its merits globally.

4.  Develop sales and distribution.  Finding customers for your products can be accomplished through a range of programs (largely government-sponsored) such as trade shows, trade missions, and related trade-networking services. 

Define your cross-border customer.  Make contact, consider low-cost advertising, exhibit at trade fairs and make the customers’ experiences ones they won’t forget.  Your objective is to initiate, cultivate, and maintain productive customer relationships and, ultimately, build an enduring global empire with customers for life.

5.  Make it happen.  Congratulations:  You’ve got a customer!  You’re ready to follow through, put a deal together, and make it happen.  The next steps, I have labeled the six P’s:  Price your product.  Prepare a quotation.  Pick a payment method.  Pack it up.  Put transportation to work.  And plan to document everything.  You are now well-positioned to form relationships with the rest of the world. 

6.  Build your business.  The relationship between you and your overseas customer shouldn’t end with a sale.  If anything, after a sale, the buyer requires more attention.  Once you’ve completed the initial transaction, expect to provide a broad spectrum of “free� services to encourage repeat business.  I call it the “care and feeding� of customers, which keeps them coming back. 

Set an unprecedented standard of professionalism.  Your customers will be deeply impressed, and they’ll never again want to settle for less.

7.  Keep learning.  That’s what makes life rich, diverse, exciting -- and, at times, unnerving.  In the fast-changing world of international business, on-the-job education will play an increasingly important part in all our lives. 

Selling a product or service overseas takes particular sensitivity to the values and concerns of overseas customers.  The greater your commitment to expanding your cultural consciousness, the more comfortably and effectively you will function within business and social environments beyond your country’s borders.

8.  Create your future.  As you take your business into the next decade, you’ll find keeping ahead of the competition takes more than getting your product into export markets.  You will also need to use the Internet to boost your global reach.  

The Internet’s virtually instantaneous worldwide communications capabilities can transform your small business into a global powerhouse and enable you to find customers fast.  If you’re not already online, get connected.  Create a web site.  Build a blog.  Get a free email account.  Explore eBay.  Join social and professional networks and research everything thoroughly.  You’ll be on your way to a competitive edge in the marketplace.

9.  Manifest new frontiers.  Over the next five years, trade barriers will continue to fall, and fresh opportunities will open.  Stake a claim to your share of the action now.  Countries realize they need one another to survive economically.  So seek out alliances, partnerships, joint ventures and new markets in economies unlike your own.  New and experienced global business enthusiasts alike will benefit from reaching out to the world.

10.  Reap the rewards of global trade.  Sure, there will be additional sales, profits and market opportunities.  But first, expect to find yourself reinventing and redefining the way you do business.  Global customers are the most demanding customers you will ever have.  To service them, be smarter and produce faster than ever to keep up.  Will it be worth it?  You bet.  And never forget that you are the most important and valuable business asset you have, and the human touch is even more crucial in our age of cyber-technology.

Now you are ready to blaze your own trail and indulge in the simple joys of going global.  Good luck, Godspeed, and if you need my assistance, don’t hesitate to contact me.

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About the Author:
Laurel Delaney runs GlobeTrade.com http://www.globetrade.com...

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