Marketing Your Business within a Global Environment
by: Marvin Nolan Moore

The Language Barrier

Individuals and companies churn out web sites left and right – there is no end in sight – and the common goal is to sell to the whole world. However, the world houses hundreds of different languages.

Let’s say you’re selling hairbrushes and combs. Certainly, every country in the world could be a potential market for your products. However, your site is in English. Do you think a man in Barcelona, Spain, will buy your products? If your site offers a Spanish translation, your chances are improved.

If you are truly planning on selling to the rest of the world, you will need a multi-lingual web site. The big languages to consider are English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese and Hindi. For example, Germany is approaching 17 million Internet users -- that is a huge market.

Methods of Translation

A good starting point is the Alta Vista web site. Alta Vista offers a way to translate documents and web sites. The translation can be done instantly online. All you need to do is cut-and-paste the text or URL (web site address) you want translated. The function translates the text from one language to another, and vice versa. Go to http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com/.

Numerous companies offer translation software. You can write a document or web page in your native language and then convert it into multiple languages. There may also be places on the web that offer downloadable free trials of software to evaluate and compare.

Translators

Another option would be to hire a translator. The translator can write or proofread text. If you’re planning on conducting lots of business in a particular foreign country or language, a translator can also be useful in negotiating contracts and other business aspects. The Internet, of course, is a great source in locating a translator; you may even find students at your local college to assist you. A retainer fee for future services might be required to keep the translator readily available.

If you plan on marketing heavily in a certain country, I would definitely recommend hiring someone from that country. What you may think is a great marketing and advertising campaign may not be so great in the country you have targeted.

One problem you may encounter with the software is that your meaning may be lost in the translation. You may be able to translate the language, but is the translation going to be regarded in the way you intended? This is where a translator can help you. One important aspect is not to culturally offend a person; what may be humorous in your culture may be perceived the wrong way in another culture. An example of translation services can be found at http://www.assistantship.com/multila/.

Register Your Web Site in Foreign Search Engines

Yahoo! is the largest directory in the world. It has attained this honor by offering search engines in multiple languages. If you glance at the bottom of Yahoo’s home page, you will see links to Yahoo’s other web sites in many languages and countries. You will want to register your web site in some of these other sites.

Even if you don’t want to go to the trouble of having a multi-lingual web site, you should still register with the various Yahoo! directories. Go to the Yahoo! web page of your language, and go through the motions of submitting your site. Write down all the questions and your answers. Again, you can use Alta Vista to translate this information into the language that you desire.

Using the translator at Alta Vista:

1. Go to another country’s Yahoo! directory.
2. Cut-and-paste the URL into the translator box. After you hit the Submit button, that country’s home page should appear in your language.
3. Repeat this process several times for each web page on Yahoo! until you get to the submission pages.
4. With the information you have saved in your document, you can submit your information in that language. When you are able to submit your site, mention that your web site’s text is only in your language. You will be able to do this in the comment section of that particular Yahoo! web site.

This method should increase your site’s web traffic from other countries. At the bottom of Yahoo, you will see a list of other countries’ search engines: http://www.yahoo.com/.

Monetary Considerations

If you are truly going to take your business to the international level, consider the financial aspects. How do you plan to accept foreign currency? Will you take checks, money orders or credit? What about the exchange rate? Will you only accept certain credit cards? You will need to plan this aspect of your business very carefully.

Foreign Correspondence and Your Expectations

How might people contact you? By telephone, fax or e-mail? Are you able to translate any foreign correspondence, or will you only accept communication in one language? Only you can decide the best approach for your business.

Are you planning on having a form to fill out on your site? Is it in multiple languages? Does your form allow enough space for foreign names, addresses and phone numbers?

Shipping Products to Foreign Countries

What will happen when you do get an order from another country? Have you considered how you will ship the product? Are you going to use FedEx, the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, or some other carrier? Have you included the cost of shipping into the price of the product? Will you have different rates for different countries? There is much to be planned in a global operation.