The evolution of the Internet and lowering costs of collaborative, e-commerce and online meeting technologies, have given every business an easier access to a global markets. Never before has it been so easy to enhance the value of a brand, expand sources of revenue and increase return investment made in technology, resources and know-how. E-business strategist Deborah Collier of Echo E-Business looks at how small businesses can go global without breaking their bank balance.
E-Commerce, which is the element of e-business focused on the sale of goods and services over the Internet, has for many years allowed businesses to sell products and services to any country where legislation and tax rulings allow. The biggest challenge aside from delivery costs, language, tax and cross-border trade regulations has been global marketing. Until more recently the cost of international marketing has not been affordable to the average small business or start-up.
We are living in a wonderful digital age, where technology is growing at a monumental rate. Virtually anything and everything is possible. Technologies, which were available ten years ago only to those with money to invest, are now at the fingertips of virtually any organisation with even the smallest of marketing budgets.
The three biggest enabling technologies of today, aside from the search engines, are social media, web conferencing and online press applications. Social media which includes online video and audio networks, blogs, interactive press releases, business and social networks, is one of the most powerful channels for anybody who knows how to deploy and utilise it effectively. If done well, you can post your announcements, thoughts and ideas for next to nothing, and then let your global advocates spread the word for you.
Web conferencing has become ever more affordable, and is enabling SME’s to demonstrate their products, services and know-how to a global audience at an affordable price. The evolution of these tools to enable interaction and collaboration, are allowing us to engage our audiences around the globe, and generate business and strategic relationships.
We are living in a global world, which is getting smaller and smaller day-by-day, with every new technology evolving in the digital explosion we are all part of. What about you and your business? How can online business enable you to reach untapped markets?
