Why aren't the new small business owners of today trying to globalize their businesses? Making your business global is not a hard task to overcome. Providing your business in the Native tongue for the international public is what your business needs to become global. 

Large companies currently that are trying to have a global existence see more than half of their business coming from International resources. Expanding internationally can significantly inpact your sales. This impact can only be affective if both parties can communicate. You can not market your business if both parties speak different languages. If they can not read and understand your message, how can they buy in to it? Having as many documents and literature translated into the languages understood by your potential customers will significantly increase your business potential. 

You need to decide which language you will make your web site and documents accessible in.  The most popular and effective choice, in my opinion, would be the Spanish language. The Spanish community holds the highest percentage (25%) of Non-English speaking people on the Internet with the Asian community following behind (22%). There are different Spanish dialects but they are all very well understood between them. The most used Spanish dialect is Castilian and the most concentrated population in Southern California would be Mexican Spanish. It all would depend on which part of the country you are located in. 

If the thought of having your whole web site translated into another language seems too much for you when you are getting started, consider which are your most effective pages and have those translated. Get in touch with the people that read this section and get their feedback. The sections you have translated will end up needing more of your time. This is when you want to consider contracting a document translation service to assist you in this new endeavor. This service will assist you and your business to become viewed globally.  All of your press releases, correspondence, manuals, brochures, catalogs, newsletters and publications are important items to have translated to the target language chosen.  A good document translation service can assist you with deciding which documents you should translate first. 

There are many bilingual resources that can assist you to make your site visualized by the Spanish community: 

Latin America's Professional Network: http://www.latpro.com 
1 2 3 - otros buscadores: http://www.mundolatino.org/computacion/busca.htm 
Buscador Mex Master: http://www.mexmaster.com/espanol/index.asp 
Going Global: http://www.going-global.com 
InterGuia: http://www.interguia.com 

Remember that the Internet is a marketing tool that has endless potential. Don't stop the potential of reaching every aspect of the Internet with only concentrating in one market place. The numbers show for themselves that English speakers are not the only ones surfing the web!

Written By: 
Marci Heaton 
West End Connection Company 
P.O. Box 1948 
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729-1948 USA 
Telephone : (909)899-0747, (800)277-8227 
Fax : (909)899-1017 
URL: http://www.westendconnection.com/main.htm
e-mail: sunalbm@gte.net