How International is your business?

[Harold Mansfield]

From time to time I get calls from outside of the U.S. which still amazes me since I don't speak any other languages.

Looking back over the last year I have had clients from Australia, England, Jamaica, Iceland, Spain, Canada and New Zealand.

We all know that the internet makes it easier to do business with people around world, but I never expected that I would actually be doing business with anyone outside of the United States and when you think about it...it's kind of fascinating..for 2 reasons.

1. I always assumed that search results were normally localized, so someone searching in the U.K will get results from Google.co.uk. I actually searched for my self/keywords in Google.co.uk and there I was. I didn't know that.

2. I don't have a toll free number, nor do I solicit business from anywhere else.

Pay Pal, Email, and Skype have been the only tools needed and every one has worked out just fine.

I was wondering how many members here do business outside of the U.S. or outside of the country they operate in and are those communications in English or do you speak any other languages?

[Spider]

Quite often, I don't know where my clients reside - it's not always relevant to our discussions. I have had clients known to be in Slovakia, Italy, Britain, Australia, Canada, as well as the US. Always in English. Always e-mail or online discussion.

[vangogh]

My clients are pretty much in the U.S. and Canada. I've been contacted by people outside of North America, but none have turned into clients. That's mostly how I expected it would be. I only speak English for one so it would be hard to do business with anyone who doesn't. I can't say I actively promote myself in other countries either. I'd certainly be happy working with people anywhere on the planet, but it hasn't come to be.

I would think the international thing more common if you sell products rather than services, though clearly you've sold services around the globe.

[Blessed]

My clients are all in the US - most of my work comes from local clients too, although I hope to see that customer base expand over the next year as I learn more.

[billbenson]

I would think international people would look for web designers here if they wanted to sell here. You could promote that by pitching the results of the sites you built tailored for the US market. If I wanted to sell in Japan, I would look for a designer who not only knew the language, but know how to develop a site that sells to the Japanese culture which would be very hard to find here. Also, remember that English is the language of business internationally. You will find that a lot of businessmen from other countries have degrees from the US. There are a lot of English speakers even if its broken English. Speaking with people that are only ok in English is a skill but you can learn it. You just need to use simple words and phrases, speak slowly, confirm information to be sure the prospect or client understands.

There is definitely a market there if you want to go after it.

[Patrysha]

Most of my clients have been in North America...I'd have to analyze to see what the mix of percentages between US and Canadian is and it would totally depend on the segment of time...last month was primarily Canadian but there are times when it is more skewed to the US. I have had one client from Australia before, but nothing international in the past six months or so...

[Harold Mansfield]

This may sound stupid, but I consider the U.S and Canada so closely related that I barely consider Canada another country. If there was a place that I feel just as safe and have the same trust to do business with people, it's definitely Canada.
I'm from Detroit and spent a lot of time in Windsor, Toronto and few trip here and there to other places, so yes, there is a definite difference between the 2 nations, but I feel just as comfortable in Canada as I do in the U.S. Even more so at times.

[Patrysha]

Yeah except for the money and tax issue...dealing with US clients and Canadian clients is very similar. I just got back from a trip to Northwestern Ontario and I was struck once again by the amazing differences we have within our own country though. I experienced that so many times...most strikingly from our time in First Nation communities and in the Arctic - but it's so easy to forget.

[Harold Mansfield]

Strange, yesterday I got a contact from my website completely in German. I can't be sure that it was business but all of the right boxes were checked and there were a few words within the message that were recognizable.
I don't understand how they expect me to respond? Nothing on my site is in German. It's all English on a .com, not .de domain. Strange.

I used to get that sometimes in Spanish. People would call and speak Spanish to me when there was no indication that anyone could speak Spanish. The only thing I could understand was them asking "Do you speak Spanish?"

Very strange. Why would anyone make that assumption?

[KristineS]

We do business primarily in the United States although we're starting to branch out. We've had inquires from Canada and South America, England, Scotland and Ireland.

I think some people just automatically assume that most companies have bilingual people on staff now days. We get asked primarily if we speak Spanish or French. Luckily we do have people in our plants who speak those languages, so we've been able to deal with the questions. It's a little more awkward, but it can be done.

[Dave Landry]

Well, first of all I need to know if you are working with a team or totally alone, because you can hire people who speak those languages since learning a foreing language demands great time. Not necessarily has to be one person per language. there are pleople who speak 2, 3 and more languages and you also have to consider how regularly you receive calls with certain language and make that a worthwhile hiring. About the toll calls, you can make contact some telecommunication companies, some have great international plans for business or you just can simply keep using the tools you have been so far since are still working just fine for you.