Global E-commerce and Affiliate Expansion Part II – How to start.

Is international expansion the next piece of your affiliate marketing puzzle?In our second post in our series on Global Affiliate Expansion, When, Where Why How, our VP of Global Performance Marketing, Joanna Culbertson, provides a great checklist for you to use to get started.  Before moving forward on a significant and rewarding endevour such as this, you need to ask some serious questions.  Joanna walks you through that here.  Joanna speaks more than 8 languages, has been on both sides of the affiliate fence for over 15 years and has managed affiliate campaigns in 20+ international markets.  When she speaks about global, we learn so much.  We hope you will too!  To catch up on this series, start with our Why Global Affiliate Expansion.

How to get started.

In my previous post I shared the current financially healthy statistics for consideration of global expansion outside of your current country of business origin. Although the rewards are enticing and are projected to provide substantial growth and revenue opportunities, there is a lot of heavy lifting ahead to ensure a successful new country launch.

Global expansion – one country or multiple countries – should be approached with research, planning and consideration of the ever present Murphy’s Law concept. The reality is that country expansion is like starting your business afresh. Remember how long it took your company to achieve the recognition and status that you currently enjoy? This expansion will echo that undertaking with the added excitement of chartering new waters. Entrepreneurs are experienced and well versed in these challenges and also know that the adventure and payoff are priceless.

As a first step I would recommend that you consider these basic questions:

  • Does my brand currently have international recognition?
  • What are my best selling products in this region?
  • What is my company’s unique value add?
  • Who are my competitors in this country?
  • What do my competitors do better?
  • What does my company do better than my competitors?
  • How can I position my company to stand out from the competition?
  • How will I deliver my products to these consumers?
  • What are the additional taxes, laws and processes that will be required?
  • Will my current delivery methods be affordable and convenient?
  • Do I have the labor resources to devote to this expansion?
  • Do I have the budget for this expansion?
  • Am I willing to spend the time to develop this new business division
  • Am I open to testing new business partnerships and new ways of doing business?
  • Do I have the endurance, enthusiasm and sense of adventure?

These questions will assist you in creating your overall plan of action and allow you to formulate you initial budget, resource, service and labor requirements in preparation for the next steps. They are big questions that may take time to answer.  I recommend being as honest and thorough as you can.  Now is the time to subjectively evaluate it.

Having trouble answering some of these questions?  Share your obstacles in the comments and we’ll try to help you address every one.