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 The
fed are lowering the interest rates—again. The stock market is wobbly. Everyone is getting ready for the bad times. What can you do?
Here’s
a fresh piece of advice: jump right off
that sinking ship! No, I’m not actually
suggesting you give up on business in America, but do consider
diversifying. Sprechen sie
Deutsch? Parli Italiano? That’s okay,
you don’t have to—but consider hiring a freelancer who does translation for your
website.
America is a huge, wealthy
country, and Americans are used to thinking in terms of buying and selling from
one another, particularly in the small business world. Given the automatically international nature
of the internet (anyone can look at your on-line store, any time, from
anywhere) there is relatively little risk to expanding your market share of the
global pie. Check out some European web pages for examples of how to offer your
services in multiple languages.
The
dollar might be tanking, but the euro is looking mighty fine. It seems like just yesterday that the euro
was struggling to make par with our currency.
Now it’s worth over $1.56 and continues to rise. The American recession will likely affect
economies across the globe, but it’ll hit some markets much harder than
others. It’s a good time to go Old World,
and it’s a great time to open your wallet up to some Old
World euros.
I
recommend that you research the EU markets and, if you don’t yet ship
internationally, explore how doing so would affect your prices and bottom
line. If
you succeed in pulling in European business, you’ll gain an edge over your
competitors who focus on North America.
When
marketing to both Americans and Europeans, be sure to link your product to
successful sectors of business through SEO articles. (That’s Search Engine
Optimization, for you newbies.) People
need to visit your site to buy your product.
Keep your eye on the market as things change. Pay attention to who has money (no matter how
bad things get, somebody’s got it,
somewhere!) and market to them.
And
lastly, if you do expand into European markets, you might feel it is best to do
some field research. The kind of
research that is tax deductible. The
kind of field research that comes with delicious pastries. How can you best connect your particular
business and product line with European markets? There’s no better way to explore that
question than to go sniff it out yourself.
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