How to scale your tech startup globally

by | 11 Jan, 2021 | Business Tips, International Business, International Expansion

People working together around a table

Founding a startup is one of the most exciting yet terrifying moments in most entrepreneurs’ lives. You have many goals and dreams, but at the same time, there is a level of uncertainty about how things will move forward – especially bearing in mind the state of economic uncertainty the events of 2020 have caused.

When it comes to scaling a tech startup globally, there are many things at stake. One of the most common challenges tech startups face is finding the right talent. Hiring top tech talent is difficult, not because there is a developer shortage, but because talented developers in the U.S are expensive. Therefore, you either pay high salaries, which most startups can’t afford, or you hire developers who charge lower prices but whose skills aren’t as strong.

So, what’s the best way to scale your tech startup globally without spending all your investments? Take a look at these four strategies:

1. Start with the basics: The right tools

Currently, we are facing the so-called remote work revolution. Telecommuting was, of course, a thing before 2020, but due to the pandemic, most businesses had no option but to arrange remote work policies. What were the consequences? Many companies realized all the benefits that working remotely has and decided to make it permanent.

But to get results and achieve goals, these companies had to significantly alter their structure. This meant they had to adapt their old methods and start working with new tools that allowed them to communicate better and manage projects efficiently. For many, remote work was a total success, and now companies want to scale their tech startups by hiring remote developers from around the world.

However, there is one common problem that most companies face when hiring remote employees: language and communication.

Companies tend to specify languages and time zones to make things easier when hiring employees internationally. However, if you want to expand your location ratio, language shouldn’t be an excuse. With the right tools, such as translation services, you can scale your tech startup at an affordable cost, without language being a problem.

2. Find and hire top tech talent fast at an affordable cost

If you want your startup to be successful, you need to have the right people by your side. When you are just starting a business, you require employees who understand the essence of your company. Usually, startups don’t have enough money to spend on high salaries, however, hiring talented developers, money should never be a problem.

One of the biggest benefits that remote work has, is that it opens a world of possibilities when it comes to hiring and recruiting tech talent. You can find exceptional tech talent for your startup (or in any other industry) at an affordable cost. You don’t have the limitations of hiring in a determined area, so you can find and hire employees that live in cities with lower costs of living. Going remote equals more tech talent for less money.

3. Enable full transparency in your business

Startups often struggle to launch and be successful because they are not fully transparent. To enable full transparency in your business, it’s fundamental that you cover the basic but most important aspects at an organizational level.

This means knowing what your core values are. Why is your startup so valuable? What do you stand for? Keeping in mind these principles and transmitting them to your employees will help them understand why their job matters.

Besides the core values that should be collated in a culture book, it’s also critical to establish the communication channels from day one. Whether your startup business is remote or not, it’s fundamental that your new employees understand how communication works in the company.

Other aspects such as regular meetings, feedback sessions, work policy, and team building activities are valuable foundations for your startup.

4. Focus on customer retention

Another key to scaling your tech startup globally is to keep in mind the big prize: customers. Without loyal returning clients, as well as new customers, your startup will never succeed.

Your employees should believe in the product or service your startup offers and use that passion to sell it well. It all starts from inside to outside. Imagine having salespeople who think your product is garbage – they would never be able to sell it successfully! This highlights the importance of hiring top talent that actually believes in your startup and in your core values.

Focusing on customer retention, will help you find constant ways of improving what you sell, and gaining even more customers. Marketing is a powerful tool but negative customer reviews can kill a business so make it your goal to keep your clients satisfied.

Key takeaways

Scaling a tech startup doesn’t come overnight; it requires passion, vision, and a lot of hard work. This is why having the right tools, a solid team, and a transparent business that focuses on its clients are four key strategies that will help you succeed.

If your startup is planning to expand its operations globally, and you need the right tools to do so, you will need the support of an experienced team of native translators. At BeTranslated we specialize in a wide range of languages from Chinese to German. Get in touch today for more information or a free, no-obligation quote.

Sales funnel tips to increase international revenue

by | 3 Dec, 2020 | Business Tips, International Business

international business expansion

The internet has created an endless amount of opportunities for selling all around the world. Gone are the days where you’d have to drive or fly just to meet people and shake their hands. Now you can generate leads and make sales from the comfort of your own home. To make matters even better, now there’s software that can help you when it comes to selling internationally.

So what is a sales funnel and how can you properly leverage it when selling globally? Keep reading to find out.

Sales funnels: making more sales and selling internationally

A sales funnel is a step-by-step process that generates traffic to your business and nurtures those new customers. It turns website visitors into leads and then leads into customers. Sales funnels are also created by simply connecting landing pages in a specific order.

Let’s look at a simple example: a visitor might stumble upon your lead generation page where they enter their email address. After opting-in, they might get sent to a sales letter where they can read about what you have to offer. If they like what they see, they can continue on to the checkout page and make their purchase.

This is just one example and sales funnels offer many more possibilities. In the meantime, allow us to give you a few tips when it comes to making more sales and selling internationally.

Sales funnels and checkout pages

Checkout pages, which are commonly referred to as shopping carts, are where a lot of the marketing magic happens. The good news is that when choosing your sales funnel builder, most of the popular options come with checkout pages. This is helpful because you won’t have to purchase separate shopping cart software.

Now, the checkout page is important for a few reasons. First, this is one of your landing pages that you’ll want to split-test in order to maximize your conversions. Again, just about every popular sales funnel software comes along with a split-testing feature. Consider adding testimonials to help you increase your conversions, as everyone loves to see social proof when it comes to making a purchase.

In regards to increasing sales, it’s highly recommended that you implement an order bump. An order bump is a little box that sits on your checkout page and it allows your customers to make an extra purchase. The beauty of the process is that your customers only have to check off a box in order for it to work.

These are some of the most significant tips when it comes to increasing sales both locally and internationally, however, we’ve only just begun when it comes to making the best of your checkout pages.

Offer shipping on your checkout pages

While many of the features that we previously mentioned come with sales funnel builders, shipping is a perk that not all sales funnel software comes with. On the other hand, you can always integrate with other tools to make it happen. Examples of tools that offer to ship include Shopify, Shipstation, Disc Delivered, to name a few.

Adding shipping to your checkout pages is all it takes to not only reach customers internationally but more importantly, to sell and ship internationally.

Add the possibility of taxes

First, you should always seek expert advice when it comes to the topic of tax. Nevertheless, the possibility of adding sales tax on your checkout pages is also a nice option to have. For example, Avalara is a great choice for simplifying tax compliance with automation. They even integrate with the popular sales funnel tool, ClickFunnels. The process is pretty simple too. It comes down to adding your account details, and then turning on the setting if you want your checkout page to include a taxable product.

Sales funnels and one-click upsells

Most sales funnel software tools also come with the ability to utilize one-click upsells. After your customers make their purchase (or purchases) on your checkout page, they will then get directed to your one-click upsell page. This page features an offer that is highly related to what they originally purchased, and is usually a tad-bit higher priced. What makes this page so special is that your customers can make a purchase with a single click of their mouse.

When it comes to traditional upsell pages, customers would usually have to add in their name, email address, home address, and credit card information all over again. But not with a one-click upsell page. This makes the purchasing process much easier for your customers, and because of that, it can significantly help you make more sales and increase your overall revenue.

Final thoughts

So there you have it; sales funnels will not only allow you to sell internationally, but they’ll allow you to utilize a wide variety of tools for increasing your sales. You now have the ability to sell anything to anyone all around the world, and you never have to leave the comfort of your home. Talk about an amazing opportunity.

To make your sales page truly accessible to international clients, you should consider working with a professional translation service. The experienced translators at BeTranslated will help increase your sales by reliably translating and localizing your website. Get in touch today for more information or a free, no-obligation quote.

 

 

Copywriting tips for international markets

by | 27 Nov, 2020 | Copywriting, International Business, Tips and Tricks

copywriting tips for international markets

Writing for a global audience can be a challenge. Whether an entire country or a smaller region, each location has its own cultural norms, sense of humor, and approach to business, work, and play. All of which need to be taken into account when writing content for them. Below are our tips for writing effective copy for international markets.

Write in the native language

A seemingly obvious directive, people simply assume that there are enough English readers worldwide that it is unnecessary to go the extra step of having content translated. This is actually a reasonable assumption in some ways. English is a prevalent language worldwide, particularly when it comes to business and financial matters. Many countries offer business English classes, and young students tend to learn it early along with their own languages.

However, think of how it feels to travel to a country like Spain or Italy and see English signs. You feel welcome. Like they are taking the responsibility of communicating with you seriously because your tourism and business are important to them. They made an effort to ensure you are able to understand business communications, maneuver around the area without getting lost, and know that your presence is of value to them. Showing the same respect and care in return can earn you a lot of goodwill.

Even for a US audience, having your online content translated into several languages is a good idea; around one-third of the US population has a different primary language than English, predominantly Spanish, Chinese (including Cantonese, Mandarin, and others), Tagalog, and French. Translation can help you tap into those markets.

Hire professionals to translate your online copy

The creation of target language content does not have to fall to the copywriter. Even if a copywriter is multilingual, it is somewhat unreasonable to expect a writing service who only focuses on English (for example) to create multiple versions of the same piece in different languages. Many copywriters spend their lives developing their writing style and perfecting their content written in their native language; expecting the average copywriter to master translation is totally is unrealistic.

As such, you will need to find someone to perform the translation for you, which can be easily done online these days or by searching locally. Remember that the version of your text that you give to your translator should be the final draft; any source text mistakes will affect the final translation. Remember to use grammar checking tools to make sure there are no mistakes, and your style is consistent.

Is machine translation good enough?

It’s tempting to use machine translation programs instead of hiring a professional; however, in most cases, this should be avoided as these tools can still not achieve the nuance necessary to produce a high-quality text. If you do decide to work with machine translation tools, work with a professional proofreading and editing service in the target language to avoid costly mistakes, such as the disaster the bank HSBC experienced in 2009.

HSBC spent millions on the ad campaign “Assume Nothing” that was poorly translated to “Do Nothing” in a number of countries and ended up costing them an additional $10M to change. Make sure you work with an experienced translation service to avoid these kinds of mistakes.

The term “international audience” is a misnomer

There is no specific international audience; each country, region, district, and town has its own distinct cultural identity, including language, humor, and ethics. In Japan, it is considered extremely rude to be even one minute late, while in India, arriving 15 to 30 minutes late to dinner is completely acceptable. These attitudes can affect how business is approached. For instance, a company selling timepieces in these countries would need very different strategies for each of those countries.

The first step is performing a little research on the area. Here are a few questions that can help identify the most salient details:

  • What are the demographics of the area?
  • Is humor acceptable, and if so, what kind? Puns and clever twists in English rely on common knowledge of the source material, which will most likely not be known in other countries.
  • Will your product appeal to the same target market in each place?
  • What are the most common consumer tendencies? Such as, do women or men perform the majority of household goods shopping?

Be sure to follow the law

Just as there are regulations in the US about making false advertising claims, there are similar rules in place in most countries. The healthcare industry, in particular, can be very strident in some areas about what can be implied compared to what can be proven. Seek out local legal advice and never assume that the rules are the same as in the US.

Focus on a multilingual SEO approach

If you are going to the trouble of translating your website to be read in another country, then it is equally important to know the right SEO approach for that location. Like the problems literal interpretations can cause for the people reading the text, a search engine algorithm can confuse poorly translated keywords. They may not even register as the keywords you thought they were.

This is also an area where employing a human translator can be very beneficial. Or using a keyword tool from Google translate, for example, can tell you if the literal translations are the same as the colloquial terms most likely to be used.

Adjust the visual as well as the written

Images included in your posts or on your website are usually painstakingly selected to convey the exact message you want to get across. This is also an area where you may need to make some changes to suit a location better. Images, symbols, and even colors have different meanings from culture to culture. Consulting with a localization expert will avoid making a faux pas and offending your audience.

Your digital text layout may also need to be altered after translation to accommodate for different script directions or text expansion or reduction. It’s a good idea to build in some flexibility to your content templates from the start.

Final thoughts

Overall, there are many moving parts when it comes to creating copy that can be effectively distributed around the world. Be sure to invest the appropriate time and resources into making sure you aren’t losing anything or projecting the wrong message in the process. A good translator and some additional research can give you a handle on most of the challenges.

When you’re ready to reach out to a professional translation service, consider getting in touch with BeTranslated. Our team of experienced translators has a broad range of specializations from marketing translation to website translation, and our efficient project managers will guarantee that you are satisfied with our work. Call today for more information or a free, no-obligation quote.