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Breaking into Foreign Markets

by slowgain
6 replies
Has anyone had success breaking into foreign businesses? There are a lot of companies out their that are established in their own market, but have REALLY crappy English copy on their homepages and marketing materials.
Besides being bilingual, how would you offer your services to these companies?
#breaking #foreign #markets
  • Profile picture of the author The Copy Nazi
    Banned
    Originally Posted by slowgain View Post

    Has anyone had success breaking into foreign businesses? There are a lot of companies out their that are established in their own market, but have REALLY crappy English copy on their homepages and marketing materials.
    Besides being bilingual, how would you offer your services to these companies?
    I'd start by making sure my own English grammar is up to scratch.
    There are a lot of companies out their
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  • Profile picture of the author slowgain
    Oh, that's awful. You know, I'm actually a full time English teacher. Correcting papers and being a Grammar Nazi is what I do. Maybe public humiliation will help get me back on track.

    Anyway, I'm in Japan now with some decent Japanese skills. I'm wondering if I should:

    * Contact companies in English or Japanese?
    * Contact companies myself or hire a Japanese person to do it for me?
    * Do anything drastically differently considering the market?

    Just a few questions I had. I guess I can hope that most Japanese clients won't notice if I make a mistake with they're/their/there...
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    • Profile picture of the author Thierry Steemers
      Whenever you work with new foreign markets, always keep the values and norms of their business culture in mind. What works in Japan, might not work in the US and vice versa.

      Also, if the company's English communication is deplorable and your English skills will be an asset to the company (because not everyone speaks the language) then it will probably be best to contact them in Japanese. Chances are they will not understand your e-mail/phone call if you do contact them in English.
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  • Profile picture of the author rawandrew
    If you can speak Japanese at a good enough level to negotiate in it, then use it. If not, then use English.

    At first I wouldn't use a Japanese native to sell your services. You will have overhead going into the business without knowing if you have a viable business model. Try to get a few customers yourself to find out what works and what doesn't. Later on when you want to scale you can consider hiring a sales agent.

    I would also sell them using an American approach. They are conscious that the English version will be read by English speaking businessmen and clients who are familiar with the English business approach. They don't want for you to put a Japanese style in the English version of their website, because you aren't talking with Japanese. All you have to do is show them that you know what you are doing and the best way to show them is by approaching them like a Westerner. It also differentiates you.
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    • Profile picture of the author slowgain
      Thank you all for the advice. I think that I will go into this with a more "American" approach - it is what I know best, after all. Approaching business in Japanese and offering copy directed towards English speakers is something within my ability.

      Next step will be to contact some small businesses myself to test things out. I know that most big businesses in Japan only work with other big businesses, but I think that there must be opportunities a little lower on the ladder.
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      • Profile picture of the author Memetics
        Originally Posted by slowgain View Post

        Has anyone had success breaking into foreign businesses? There are a lot of companies out their that are established in their own market, but have REALLY crappy English copy on their homepages and marketing materials.
        Besides being bilingual, how would you offer your services to these companies?
        You could try rewriting some of the worst offenders' homepages into perfect english and sending them the re-edited versions by post. Include a covering letter explaining how -with your excellent english skills- you can redo their entire site for them for a reasonable fee.

        Originally Posted by Thierry Steemers View Post

        Whenever you work with new foreign markets, always keep the values and norms of their business culture in mind. What works in Japan, might not work in the US and vice versa.
        Have a look at this link for some basic pointers in cross cultural communication.

        Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
        Signature

        First we believe.....then we consider.

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