Manage Subscriptions · Subscribe Now · F.A.Q.'s
HOME · Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Marketing & Revenue Growth
Exporting Your Products: Do It Yourself or Hire an Exporting Firm?
Both options have benefits
By: Hal Selim
Comments: 3
Once you have conducted your market research and made the decision to export your products to foreign markets, you must devise an international sales and marketing strategy. Your initial obstacle will be determining which overseas markets have the most potential for selling your products. Second, you will need to decide whether to market them via "direct selling" or "indirect selling." You may decide to apply a different approach for each market or simply use the same approach throughout.
Direct Selling
"Direct selling" means that you will be responsible for exporting your products to customers in foreign markets. You will be responsible for identifying the best distribution approach, complying with foreign market regulations and requirements, collecting payments, producing export documentation, appropriately labeling your product, shipping logistics, after-sale service and so forth. I recommended that you assign this task to a separate department within your company that is comprised of specialized personnel other than your domestic sales and marketing department. Once this export department is in place, your next step is to determine how to distribute your products.
You can distribute through local distributors, representatives, agents, salaried/commission-based sales personnel, or use local joint ventures. Each approach has its pros and cons financially and legally. Keep in mind also that each country has its own agency and representation laws and you must familiarize yourself with them first. As you travel from one country to another, the distinction between the different forms of representation may be different than in the United States or other developed countries. Ideally, if the local law permits it is always best to work directly with distributors for economic, logistic and legal reasons. You should also familiarize yourself with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as compliance is critical, at www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa/. Learn also from your competition and study how it has established itself internationally. For example, do your competitors have local presences internationally with their own offices or do they distribute through local distributors? Many U.S. companies set up local offices in key strategic geographic areas of the world to cover and service entire regions. For example, Singapore is considered a gateway to the Far East for U.S. companies, whereas the United Kingdom is considered a gateway to Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. You may also want to familiarize yourself with the major free trade zones (where tariffs and other barriers are usually eliminated) located throughout the world, such as in Hong Kong and Dubai.
Indirect Selling
"Indirect selling" hands over the entire burden of exporting to a specialized domestic company. It will be treated the same way as if you were selling domestically to a customer in the U.S. Such intermediary companies are referred to as export management companies (EMCs), export trading companies (ETCs) or foreign purchasing agents. EMCs typically represent manufacturers internationally with complementary products and offer a wide range of services. An EMC will carry out all aspects of exporting on behalf of the manufacturer. ETCs are very similar to EMCs but mostly function on a product demand-driven case-by-case basis. An ETC may be tasked by a buyer to source for a supplier of a certain product. An ETC does not assume any responsibility to either seller or buyer. Finally, foreign purchasing agents are mostly tasked by foreign governments to source for infrastructure projects.
Trade Shows
Attending trade shows in foreign countries is a great way to learn about the market, your competition and how it markets its products overseas. I recommended that you first attend as a visitor prior to committing as an exhibitor. You can pick up product brochures and talk to representatives about the local market. You may also discover that some of the exhibitors there are potential customers. A great number of them are distributors and importers/exporters and are always searching for new lines to represent. You may want to attend a show once or twice prior to exhibiting there. You need to make sure first that your potential customers will attend in numbers that will make it worthwhile to exhibit. When you are ready to exhibit you should get in contact with the local U.S. Commercial Service office of the U.S. Department of Commerce in the country you plan on exhibiting in to see if there is a U.S. pavilion at the show and how to become part of it.
There are many advantages in being part of a U.S. pavilion at a show. However, if the show is more industry specific (such as health products) it may be more advantageous to exhibit in the hall or area of the show that specializes in your segment of the industry (such as the pharmaceutical section). You may also find that you don't have to travel too far to exhibit. A great number of trade shows in the U.S. do attract foreign attendees in considerable numbers. It may be more economical to start there first.
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Reddit | Technorati
Published on Monday, March 03, 2008
Comments:
Dear PM
The government regulations depend on the product you are dealing in. You can look up the following website to check the regulations regarding the specific regulations that apply to your products.
http://www.access.gpo.gov/bis/index.html
As for DIY vs having an Export Management Company work for you, always figure in the cost of your time when working on the international marketing. If you are concerned about losing control of the brand or the process; there are EMCs, that remain totally transparent to the process and provide your firm the marketing support it needs to ramp up globally.
All the best with your exports.
Chris, SourceFromUSA.com
Posted by: Chris - SourceFromUSA.com
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
We are looking for importers from Africa to buy our Non - alcoholic malt beverage, juices & soft drink.
What is the best way to find those importers?
Thanks & best regards
Shazili/Mr.
email : shazili@alshahd.com.jo
website : www.alshahd.com.jo
Posted by: ABDEL FATTAH Shazili
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Ecommerce Articles
- Browse All Articles
- Browse our complete archive of ecommerce articles.
- Accounting, Management & Legal
- Ecommerce articles related to managing a small business including ecommerce accounting, business strategy and legal considerations.
- Conversion & Usability
- Online business articles about converting web site visitors into customers and how to gauge and improve your business website's usability.
- Development & Programming
- Articles to help designers, developers and programmers create successful, search engine friendly ecommerce websites and improve existing ones.
- Hosting, Infrastructure & Software
- Articles for ecommerce businesses about ecommerce web hosting, business infrastructure, business strategy and helpful ecommerce & small business software.
- Interviews & Profiles
- Interviews with prominent ecommerce business personalities and profiles of successful online businesses.
- Inventory & Shipping
- Ecommerce articles about inventory management, ecommerce order fulfillment and product shipping considerations.
- Marketing & Revenue Growth
- Articles relating to online marketing, email marketing and using the Internet to growing your business.
- Search Engine Optimization
- Search engine optimization articles for ecommerce business owners, strategists, marketers and developers.
- Shopping Carts & Online Payments
- Articles covering ecommerce shopping cart platforms and options for choosing an online payment gateway.
- Training & Education
- Tutorials and articles providing training and education for ecommerce business owners and developers of ecommerce websites.
Search Articles
Ecommerce Community
- Ecommerce Blogs
- Read our blogs about ecommerce topics written by industry professionals.
- Community Forum
- Connect with other ecommerce professionals to trade advice and answers in our community forum.
- Podcasts
- Check out our ecommerce podcasts covering topics ranging from interviews to tutorials.
- RSS Content Feeds
- Subscribe to our RSS feeds and have fresh ecommerce content delivered to you.
Ecommerce Resources
- Free Email Newsletter
- Sign up for Ecommerce Notes, our free email newsletter for ecommerce business owners and developers.
- Ecommerce Directory
- Browse our directory of ecommerce products and services, or submit your own listing in our directory.
- Ecommerce Glossary
- Familiarize yourself with terminology or submit terms to help others with our Ecommerce Glossary.
- Events Calendar
- Find out about upcoming ecommerce events or invite other ecommerce professionals by posting your own event.
- Press Releases
- Browse ecommerce related press releases and post your own press release for distribution.
- Ecommerce Store & Back Issues
- Pick up back issues of Practical eCommerce magazine along with other merchandise from Practical Ecommerce
About Practical eCommerce
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Look at frequently asked questions regarded using our website, subscribing to our magazine and more.
- Advertising Information
- Information about advertising in Practical eCommerce magazine, on our website, or in our email newsletters.
- Editorial Sharing
- Learn about options for sharing our content with your visitors, customers or employees.
- About Us
- Learn more about Practical Ecommerce magazine and meet our staff.
- Contact Us
- Contact Practical Ecommerce at any time for more information. We'd love to hear from you.
Copyright 2007 Confluence Distribution, Inc. and Practical eCommerce.
All Rights Reserved.
We want to sell directly and ship directly to individual customers any where on the planet.
What is the best way to ship directly from our on line store to a site from the USA to other countries?
Are there any regulations we need to deal with?
What is the best way to calculate shipping costs and have people be able to order on line? What is the best way to ship? So far we have done this on a very limited basis with the US post office after people have phoned in there order. Packages are usually less than 100 lbs and an order might be around $30 to 300 dollars. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
PM
Posted by: PM
Tuesday, March 04, 2008