Forum Moderators: LifeinAsia
Worldwide niche scenario: Perhaps it would make sense to focus on a very specific sector of companies and sell them services (no matter where they are based). Normally I would say "no chance" to this as face-to-face contact and word of mouth is soooo important, but in this case the firms within the sector are normally small and sell their own services internationally. 95% of the organizations in this sector haven't changed their brochure sites in about 4 years.
The question: Has anyone had success or war stories creating a boutique web design firm focusing on an international niche?
I think there are some things I've learned along the way:
Make sure your site clearly shows what currency your prices are in, so you don't get New Zealanders, for instance, getting sticker shock when their credit card statement comes. A lot of times, "All prices in U.S. Dollars" somewhere on the page isn't good enough; I've had much better results since I changed most everything to "15 USD" instead of "$15". If you don't have to charge folks VAT, mention this - it can be a big selling point.
Sometimes it's worth rewriting your site's content to be more approachable to the target markets. Assuming you're targeting English-language speakers outside the U.S, you may get a better response if your site is in "british english". This has certainly worked for me; I think a lot of people overseas may, for example, skim "about us" pages looking for the pertinent bits, which, for them, include phrases like "trading since", but not "in business since".
As much as you might like to, it's going to be hard, if not impossible, to do business successfully in some countries - the exchange rate and local economy is just too unfavorable. Russia, and most of the former USSR, is this way. A $25 setup fee is a LOT more to them than than you might realize.
Try to make very clear, in your page titles, page copy, ad copy, or directory descriptions, that you do business internationally - even on the web, a lot of places don't, and someone browsing the ODP, for instance, or Jayde, may be more inclined to visit your site if the description ends "...to businesses and individuals worldwide".
Modesty does not really work in the international marketplace - you really need to talk up your products or services, because a lot of times you have to overcome someone's reluctance to "buy foreign", when they could be "buying Swedish", for instance, just like the U.S. and "buy American".
It can be done, but it can also be a hassle. Europe's business day starts as most of us in the States are getting up in the morning, and Asia's starts as most of us are going to bed. You're going to get "urgent" phone calls, emails, and faxes at the oddest hours. You're going to be told that someone needs a quote by 1400 CET. That said, I think that the benefits (business customers in Denmark, France, England, Switzerland, Australia...) far outweigh the inconveiences of phone calls with bad connections at 3:30am. :)
If it's a really small, specialised, incestuous niche, people will talk, and you can still get international referrals. This has actually happened to me in the meteorology field (and my services have nothing to do with meteorology, but I really pleased this customer in that field, and...) The professor in Bahrain might email his buddy at the University of Oslo and mention, offhand, how much easier his life has gotten since he got so-and-so in the U.S. to do such-and-such for him.
It can be hard, but it's a rewarding market, and it can be done.
Really? But didn't I just hear that the law has been changed and EVERYONE has to charge VAT if they're selling to consumers? I think there's a B2B exception, but otherwise my reading of the news is that anyone in any worldwide location selling online to consumers in the EU has to pay VAT, so I'm just not sure that will work as well as a selling point any more.
See [tax-news.com...] . This article only talks about online downloads (software, music) so I'm not sure where webdesign fits in the latest ruling (since we're probably doing more uploading to the client's server), but I guess if a web designer is also providing templates clients could buy & download, then they're in the "must charge VAT" bucket (at least if the EU thinks your clients are consumers, that is. Gah...all this tax stuff is complicated enough to make my brain explode.)
The British English bit is interesting...my last name probably gives me good advantage over some folks in that area (Heathershaw-Hart -- the Heathershaw part is actually Scottish but together with the Hart it sounds very British) but I'm afraid that other than the name I'm pure "American pop culture" and probably would have problems writing my site copy in a different style. It's definitely not a sales technique I would have thought up on my own.
Good tips....really interesting reading.
The point was really that there are certain pricing/cost things that some people may take for granted, such as a price not including VAT or P&P. Letting prospective customers know that your price shown is all they're going to pay (instead of paying an extra 17.5%, for instance), can only be beneficial.
Something I also forgot to mention is that it's often useful to post prices in other currencies than your own (or the one you bill in), even if they're only "approxomate" prices; People in the EU know that a USD is *roughly* one Euro, but an Indian might not know how many rupee are in a dollar... and this is especially important if you're not in the U.S. or U.K., or your prices aren't in a major world currency, i.e. your prices are listed in Roubles or somesuch. Even if it's only a ballpark figure, let people know "roughly" how much whatever it is will be. Saying that #3.50 is roughly $5 USD is probably close enough; what you want to do is help the people (and they're out there) who are "blind" to all mention of currencies, or don't know what a GBP or CAD is, and just assume that they're going to be billed in good ol' Yankee Dollars.
Too, it only seems to be "shipping and handling" in North America; the rest of the english-speaking world seems to use "postage and packing", and some I've talked to from the UK and Australia are strongly appalled at the thought of paying "handling" fees. "Packing" fee, sure, but "handling"? Yes, they're basically the same thing, in practice, but one sounds less objectionable than the other...
Someone will doubtlessly correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you can direct-dial a 1-8xx number from every oversea country, so I'd thing it would be a good idea to have, somewhere, a non-toll-free phone number. I *know* you can't dial a UK "freephone" number from (at least some, again) countries. Not having a toll-free number, I don't have to worry about this. Some people like to talk, international charges be damned.
Building two sites seems to make sense:
1) American - in USD, with US English
2) European - in Euro/Sterling, with UK English.
I could build a site in Spanish & French, but I don't speak either well enough to follow up by phone. No point in leading people on.
The Euro site should use simple English so that ESL (English as Second Language) people can easily follow it.
Smart companies can flip between the two price lists and feel they are getting a bargain.
Also, in terms of SEO putting up two versions of the site allows a doubling of spider food.
Central Decision, Local Influence
Even with small local offices in developing countries, the decisions to buy the services will often be done in Europe, North America or Aus/NZ. BUT as an international niche player, it will be important to show that I understand each market/country. This will be reflect throughout the site and so as time allows, I will create an information page for each country talking about the country and it's sector / web site related issues. This will be SEO focused as well. (SEO isn't a large factor in this niche, but it doesn't hurt to try)
Niche-focused, Comprehensible, Compelling copy
Your comments about "trading since" vs. "in business since" also hit a cord. I've been an IT-related marketer on both sides of the pond and man, there are still sooo many small phrases that I don't get. Getting a review from both a Brit & an ESL member of the sector will be dead important. Actually, I've worked in the web marketing aspect of the sector for over a year, but still, I need to learn from them the "hot buttons" so that i write good copy from the beginning.
Local Currencies
After hearing your point Ankheg, I would like to put a link beside prices to a currency conversion board like fx.com. I would send the variables to the currency board, and have the popup window show the conversion. Even better would be to have a drop-down saying "change prices" that could use those variables to dynamically estimate the prices in the local currencies, as well as, of course the 3 fixed currencies.
Again, if presented well, this is a good way to show off respect & understanding for local conditions.
Channel Partners
One thing that I am also going to explore is trying to get partnership deals with other organizations in that sector. These organizations sell services via the web to the sector, but they are always hungry to make more money from their installed base. They don't actually build sites or communiation services themselves. The idea is that they have a relationship with their installed customers and it is relatively easy for them to communicate the new service offering to them. Doing this, of course, means that they get a cut. Well, it should be win-win-win for everyone involved. As long as I can make enough to eat the first while, then that's cool.
There are a lot of interesting marketing ideas I could do (i.e. free services), but they conflict with these potential channel partners' business models. I won't, therefore, do them. At least for now.
Modesty
Not sure about the modesty aspect. I understand it is very important to be clear in the US, but I thought other cultures required different levels of modesty. I guess putting up feature/benefit/you appeal listing of services, with quotes from happy clients, and "problem/solution/results" oriented case studies as proof is the route I will take. Comments?
VAT
As an "independent" living in Belgium, I have a VAT exemption due to perceived low revenue. (hcstudios, the idea is to free one-person/small companies from the VAT complexities.) Something I just found out though is that I can claim VAT back from company-related purchases I make. That is a very important, very profitable find.
Even though I'm based in the U.S., I target the overseas market very heavily. By creating a site that has a very strong "former commonwealth" (English, not Soviet) flavour, I've managed to get listed in quite a number of "UK only" directories, even though I'm upfront and open about where I'm located. People visit my site from these directories, and seem unconcerned by that fact that I'm not in the U.K., because (I like to think) it feels comfortable and familiar to them, even if the telephone number looks a bit off.
The web is an international medium; with a little extra effort, you can reach potential customers in any niche anywhere in the world. Who says technology's all bad? :)
