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"Michael, you are very lucky that you speak English and live in Australia". This comment came from one of the merchants I regularly deal with. He's an Israeli, based in Israel. He has an excellent product, also excels in customer service but faces challenges breaking into Western markets on a daily basis. Nearly every day I'm approached by companies from Eastern Europe, Asia or India wanting to utilize my web marketing services or Taming the Beast.net as a virtual office or intermediary for their own products and services because of our "western connections".
But even operating from Australia still provides some barrier to what is still a US-centric mentality (and to a lesser degree, the UK). This will change in the years ahead as burgeoning markets within Asia and Europe gain a firm foothold on the Internet and the tables are actually turned (see article links below). But in the meantime, if you're a business operating outside of the USA, the UK or Australia, you would probably understand what I am referring to. Here's the scenario:
What could be wrong? On your "about us" page it shows all the office contact details apart from an email address pointing towards an Eastern European or Asian country (or India). In fact, any non-US/UK/Australian origin can lose you points with prospective customers immediately. Australia is still on the fringe with some clients and even the usually adventurous Americans can be insular - especially during these troubled times. Prejudice is still alive and well on the Internet and even though the USA is suffering some loss of popularity on the international front at present, it still commands instantaneous business respect. Unfortunately, some of this xenophobia that foreign businesses experience is well founded as regions such as Eastern Europe are currently a major source of online fraud. Some of the prejudice is also based in cultural misunderstandings, perceived language barriers and the illusion of distance, which really isn't very relevant these days. Some lucrative affiliate programs I have wanted to join over the past few years I haven't been able to as I don't have USA or UK based office contact details - even though 85% of Taming the Beast.net's visitors are from the USA. It can get very frustrating for international online business owners. What's the solution to location prejudice?One of the worst things you can do is to not provide any real details about your company on your "about" page in an effort to fool prospective clients. So many sites I have visited have very generic information about their company on this very important page - they tend to just state "we are the best" - that does nothing to encourage discerning buyers to purchase. Their must be some point of contact and not just an email address. But it's a case of being caught between a rock and a hard place isn't it? Virtual Office SolutionsEnter the virtual office - rapidly becoming an affordable solution for many small businesses. In the last year, this industry has flourished, especially as telecommunications and generally speaking, anything connected with the relay of information has dropped substantially. What is a Virtual Office?In a nutshell, companies offer their own street address or can arrange post office boxes for your mail to be sent to in their country. They will then forward your mail on to you. You can also send mail to these services and they will repost it from their own address. The addresses they offer are not "care of" addresses, there is no mention of the virtual office company name in the address. Virtual Office Management services can also organize and monitor voicemail or call center type operations on behalf of your business. They will then either forward phone messages to you via telephone or (and usually the cheaper option) via email in the form of mp3's or proprietary file formats optimized for compression. Without a huge capital outlay, you can appear to have offices established in New York, London, Rome, Paris, Hong Kong, etc. etc. Not only will this help your clients in relation to xenophobic type reactions, it will also provide a cheaper means of them contacting you through, for example, toll free numbers in their country. The following are a selection of companies that can perform these services for you at a reasonable price. Earth Class Mail allows you to expand your business presence by adding new US business postal addresses - without having to hire staff. Get your first month free! Access USA can provide your business with a U.S. mailing address (Florida) and also a remailing service at very reasonable rates. Access USA Members can also have their own USA telephone number, enabling them to record a personal greeting and receive voice mail messages. These messages can be retrieved 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world. Fax services are also offered. A well established company, Continental Relay is a reliable and secure re-mailing and mail forwarding service, along with voicemail fax and mail services. They offer one low fee for a Street and PO box maildrop address. Continental Relay also offer free voicemail and fax number in US, UK, and AUS plus free anonymous email forwarding. With a virtual office in London, you can use Ofiz.com's prestigious London address for mail forwarding or post diversion. An Ofiz.com Virtual Office also provides a full range of telephone services with national and international call diversion that allows you to answer your phone and fax calls wherever you want, plus 24 hour voicemail in your company. USA phone/fax number - 800-Works Further learning resources: eCommerce, Communications and the Global Internet Community Outsourcing web development projects Click here to view article index
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