Mid America Health

Archive for April, 2010

There are 3 factors in finding the right marketing mix for expanding your international business

It is possible to get international clients with strong internet marketing. It is even possible to develop your international business through internet marketing.

There is one condition though. You will need to find the right marketing mix to use your internet marketing in your foreign target markets.

You will not be able to rely on a simple website or simplified internet marketing strategy. This may work to some extent, and it may work in your domestic market.

If you are serious about developing your international business you will need to add a little bit more marketing skills to the mix.

Three Factors To Find The Right Marketing Mix

In order to develop your sales in your foreign markets a variety of marketing techniques come into play. Here are the different factors involved:

Different Internet Marketing Channels

Your foreign market may well use the internet differently than your domestic market. You will need to test that and identify the channels that work best for both of you.

If you have a variety of different communication channels you will be able to play on them, and incite your foreign readers to interact with you.

You will be able to compare results and get to know your foreign markets better.

Your internet marketing needs to be good. It also needs to be varied. The different means of communication using the internet include: emails, websites, ezines, podcasts, blogs, and forums.

Different Traditional Marketing Channels

Increases proximity

Increases trust

Like other clients, they need many marketing touches before buying

Offline marketing may be the only way to get international sales

Chances are internet marketing alone will not give you the best results. As soon as you have collected enough foreign market information from your internet marketing, you should invest in a little traditional marketing. The different channels of traditional communication include: direct mail, radio, television, magazines, flyers, posters, billboards and event marketing.

Various Cultural Marketing Skills

International communication – which begins the step of adapting your own communication for international audiences, and can include all aspects of international communication.

Multicultural communication – where your communication speaks effectively across a wide scope of cultures, used on your international website for example

Cross cultural communication – where you target your communication to one particular culture, for effective target marketing for example.

International sales involves cross cultural communication. For more international sales you will need to have effective international communication. This involves the following:

If you integrate good cultural marketing practices throughout your international internet marketing you will increase your international sales.

Integrated Marketing Strategy

All of these factors need to come into play at some stage of your international internet marketing.

The extra effort is well worth it. Not only will you increase your international sales potential, but you will also be able to create a powerful international lead generation tool.

Using different marketing channels will make it easy to create an integrated marketing platform in your target markets.

One of the main benefits of an integrated marketing platform is stimulating feedback.

The more feedback you can get from your foreign markets the more valuable foreign market knowledge you will have.

And the more foreign market knowledge you acquire, the better you will be able to market your products to your foreign markets.

Including an integrated marketing strategy makes sense for any international business development.

Finding The Right Marketing Mix

The success of your international marketing strategy relies on your finding the right marketing mix. You will need to tweak your marketing mix, stimulate foreign market feedback and re-adjust your marketing mix again, until you create real communication with your foreign markets.

The right marketing mix for your particular markets gives you the right communication tools to get international clients.

Are you committed to speeding up your international sales cycles?

Learn how to combine cross-cultural marketing tools and international sales strategies for faster sales.

Join us on the International Sales Road Map

Would you like to develop your international business?

Are you a beginner at international sales and marketing?

Read the Beginners Guide Discover Your International Business.

Almost within an hour of the news breaking the US Airways corporate communications chief was able to introduce his CEO to the world’s media, and give an informed and prepared statement that demonstrated a corporation reacting swiftly and competently to the unfolding incident thousands of miles from the airline’s Arizona base.

This reaction was no accident. Airlines, like many other organisations across every sector, regularly practise responding to emergency situations. They never know when an incident is going to happen, what form it will take and how bad the crisis might be (imagine if the US Airways plane had crashed into buildings in Manhattan) – but they do know they will need to respond quickly, calmly and effectively demonstrating that they on top of the situation and responding appropriately. And they need to focus on communicating as much inside their organisation as they do externally.

Crises can come in any shape or form, usually when you least expect them. And they can hit any organisation, whatever the sector. Whilst airline disasters will be very public and high profile events, professional services firms can also be impacted by events that can quickly turn into a crisis.

Indeed, the crisis may not even come from an isolated situation but perhaps from a sudden change in business conditions – witness the number of well known retail brands going into administration right now – or other adverse trading conditions. Any firm that operates in the property sector will be considering all eventualities at present, with increasingly large scale redundancies being announced almost every week. For many no doubt their situation can be described as a crisis.

How the firm deals with a crisis will say a great deal about them – particularly to their employees. Recent years have seen a long period of business growth and relative prosperity. Many internal communications messages will have been bullish about the outlook, excited about the potential of the business and challenging employees to achieve great things in the future.

When we at Gatehouse talk to our clients we now advise that the messages need a different tone, a dose of realism, sensitivity, empathy and an appreciation that many employees will be most concerned about whether they will retain their jobs. In these times the firm needs more than ever to be open and honest with its people and live up to the values it espouses – the danger for not doing so is that trust will be lost and take years to build back up. Effective internal communications has as important a role to play in protecting your business – and your reputation. But how do you make sure that you are ready to address such a crisis? Outlined below are some of the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ of communicating internally during a crisis.

Dos:

1.    …agree key messages – and stick to them

Agree what your business stands for, what it believes and what it wants others to know about it. A clear articulation of your key messages will help your leaders stay focused and consistent – whether they are talking internally or externally, and will support your front line staff who will need to fend off client enquiries. Your brand and your reputation depends on it.

2. …be sure you know how to get in touch with your people quickly

It is one thing agreeing what messages to send out but can you be confident that your distribution channels are sufficiently robust? If most of your communications are currently sent via email or intranet but a crisis meant people couldn’t get to the office and won’t have access to blackberries or laptops do you know how you will contact them? Ensure that channels such as telephone cascades and emergency hotline numbers are regularly updated and can work at a moments notice.

3. …make sure internal and external channels are aligned

You only want one articulation of what is happening and what you are doing about it. The credibility of your internal channels will soon be lost if the firm is saying something else in the media.

4. …be creative and use the best channel for the situation

Consider every scenario, however unlikely and ask yourself whether your existing channels are sufficient. A crisis can actually provide an opportunity to use new channels, especially social media, as you might find you need to keep people aware of what is happening more frequently than the daily intranet news headline that you are used to posting. You might think about starting a blog that can be updated quickly and easily or creating a message board to encourage colleagues to share their feelings, ask questions or offer support.

5.    …keep communicating

Once people know their firm is going through a crisis they will want to know what is happening – constantly, until the crisis is resolved. And they will, before long, want to know the longer term implications.

6.    …offer a place to go for answers

Offer people a place to go for answers or reassurance and then listen to what they tell you. You will need to be able to respond quickly – your people will thank you for it.

7.    …ensure your leaders are leading

Leaders set the tone – without their buy-in your communications can only go so far. Leaders have a prominent role to play internally as well as externally. Involve them in your plans as they need to know in advance what will be expected of them and how they need to react at such moments.

Don’t:

1.    …think it won’t happen to you  Crises can come in any shape or size without warning. They can happen to anyone. I worked for a large financial services organisation in the 1990s whose head office was blown up by a terrorist bomb – it could have been any bank or any building.

2.    …leave it till tomorrow

There will always be something more pressing, something needed yesterday. Unfortunately the crisis won’t wait quietly in line. Your people won’t thank you if you were too busy to be ready.

3.    …‘sugar coat’ the message

There will always be a temptation to tell everyone things are under control even when they are not. Honesty normally pays. Remember people may see events unfold on television or through the newspapers. If you are giving a different, more positive perspective of what is happening then make sure your messages are rooted in reality.

4. …restrict communication to those directly affected

In these days of global firms, your colleagues in other offices across the world will know you are suffering a crisis. So will their clients. Don’t forget them – they will be concerned about people they know, people they are working with and want to help.

5.    …assume people know what to do

Most crises are one-offs that will suddenly strike. Employees will look to the organisation for guidance – that means you. Never assume the solution is obvious, particularly during times of stress.

6.    …panic

You need to be calm even in the eye of the storm. Be like the vice-president of corporate communications at US Airways, take responsibility, be in control of the situation. If you can do that, when the crisis passes your senior management will thank you and the reputation of the communications department will be greatly enhanced.

Asthma symptoms, like many illnesses is not the easiest thing to diagnose. The symptoms can be caused by many different problems. It’s up to the professional who understands bronchial and pulmonary illnesses to accurately diagnose asthma symptoms.

To fully understand the symptoms of asthma, it is important for you to understand that it’s more than simply – difficulty in breathing and coughing.

But these are not really the only symptoms of asthma, because mostly everyone (including those that don’t have any asthma related condition) to occasionally have difficulty in breathing and also sometimes experience cough.

Does this mean they have asthma? Not at all.

So, it is not enough to say the symptoms of asthma are mainly difficulty in breathing and coughing.

Agreed, these two could be some of the symptoms but not all the symptoms. A medical doctor can understand the other symptoms including the construction of the bronchial air passages that keep the victim from being able to breath.

Below are the general symptoms of asthma… in order of their occurrence:

. It can start with very severe sneezing and cough,

. Runny nose and itchy throat.

. Shortness of breath that gradually builds up and leads to difficulty in speaking,

. Gasping for breath while talking,

. Tightening of the victim’s chest,

. Loud wheezing (raspy or whistling sound when breathing) and a more intensified coughing,

. Flared nostrils of victims and tightening of the neck muscles.

. Bluish lips of the victims and fingernails.

At this display of these last symptoms of asthma, it is a serious indication of danger. Blue lips and fingernails are an indication that the person isn’t getting enough oxygen to deliver into the bloodstream.

Whenever you experience any 3 or more of the above symptoms of asthma, then you should know the situation could be dangerous to the victim.

Be vigilant however as many of these same symptoms can be caused by simple allergies. Once again however, it’s important to recognize the symptoms and the severity to determine the right course of action. If in doubt, immediately seek medical attention for the person in distress.

Some people are very lucky to notice the early symptoms of asthma before it becomes critical; while some don’t even see it coming until it suddenly hits them… and brings them to their knees.

Be on the look out for the above symptoms of asthma… so that you can stay protected all the time and be able to quickly take the necessary medication when it occurs.