Louis
Since
the internet's becoming more and more multi lingual - by just having
web sites and products in English can mean we're missing out on a
whole other potential market.
But of course translating products and web sites brings up many issues, including:
How to translate a sales letter effectively where style and feel of the message must be maintained?
How to avoid any cultural no-no's when communicating/selling in another language?
How to support customers in different languages?
And even - is there a market for your product in those countries? Will it have to be marketed a different way?
If you figure in translation costs, multi-lingual support ... and other tasks that can cause costs to mount, how do you make reaching and supporting such markets cost effective?
One idea someone mentioned to me is to find a publishing house established in the country you want to market in, and make an arrangement with them where they market and publish the product and send you royalties. Of course international legal agreements can be expensive to arrange and to enforce so trust is an issue here.
Would you say it's best for the cost sensitive home business to focus exclusively on English speaking customers?
Or is there a big payoff for home businesses that find the right way to reach non-English speaking customers?
Just some things I've been wondering. I think it'll be really interesting as more and more people come online and it could be a good opportunity. :)
But of course translating products and web sites brings up many issues, including:
How to translate a sales letter effectively where style and feel of the message must be maintained?
How to avoid any cultural no-no's when communicating/selling in another language?
How to support customers in different languages?
And even - is there a market for your product in those countries? Will it have to be marketed a different way?
If you figure in translation costs, multi-lingual support ... and other tasks that can cause costs to mount, how do you make reaching and supporting such markets cost effective?
One idea someone mentioned to me is to find a publishing house established in the country you want to market in, and make an arrangement with them where they market and publish the product and send you royalties. Of course international legal agreements can be expensive to arrange and to enforce so trust is an issue here.
Would you say it's best for the cost sensitive home business to focus exclusively on English speaking customers?
Or is there a big payoff for home businesses that find the right way to reach non-English speaking customers?
Just some things I've been wondering. I think it'll be really interesting as more and more people come online and it could be a good opportunity. :)