Selling products on the internet means you can easily reach out to customers from other countries. Read this article for some useful tips on how to develop a presence on foreign markets.
Start by researching different markets and making sure there is an audience for your products there. You should be able to join different online communities and look for blogs on topics related to your products: talk to potential customers from different countries and find out how likely they are to order these products online and how much they would be ready to spend. Offer free products to the people who take your surveys if you need more participants. If necessary, take a trip abroad or find a partner located in another country. You also need to find out more about your new competitors and make sure you can offer better prices and more original products.
You will probably have to create a new website or blog for this new market. If you sell your products to English-speaking customers, you should be able to use only one website but make sure you extend your campaign to new search engines and perhaps slightly different keywords. For marketing purposes, you might have to choose a new brand name and create a new logo. If you sell your products to non-English speaking customers, hire a professional to translate your site. You might have to make changes to your design and to the organization of your foreign language website for those viewers.
Find out which social networks and blogging platforms are popular among your new target audience. Do not assume your target audience will use these sites: you might be selling products to people who belong to a sub-culture. The best way to find out what these people do online is to have them answer to surveys to win prizes, join online communities to get to know these people or work with a partner who belongs to this niche. Keep in mind that your products might interest more than one niche and that you could launch a new trend and reach out to more target groups.
Find a reliable way to ship your products abroad in a timely manner. Give detailed information about your shipping service and prices on your site, and give customers several options if possible. Compare different solutions and familiarize yourself with the services and prices offered where your new customers live. Invest in quality shipping supplies and take the time to prepare your orders carefully. Find out about taxes ahead of time: make sure selling your products abroad is legal and make sure you pay the necessary taxes. If your online business is successful, think about hiring someone abroad to store products and send them. This should help you cut down on shipping fees and provide customers with a quicker service.
Use these tips do start your research on new potential markets. Take the time to explore different markets and to plan your new campaign in details before you launch your new site or blog.