St. Lawrence Seaway - Sail into success with exports!

Container Ships - Enabling Export Sales!

I had the fortune to hear Betty Sutton, Administrator of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation speak at the NW Commissions Exporting event in Erie, PA on 9/25/2014. Energy products like iron ore, coal and chemicals make up about 80% of all traffic. About 25% of cargo has international destinations or coming from abroad. 70% of American steel products are produced in this region and 1/2 of Fortune 500 Industrial companies are located in the region.

The Great Lakes economy could be considered the fourth largest in the world behind 1. U.S.A. 2. China 3. Japan. Sutton was very positive about our collaborative relationship with our neighbor Canada. She is reaching out to the public sector to enable growth and collaboration to build this valuable mode of transportation for our products, increasing global sales. 

4.7 Trillion in trade activities (20% of U.S. and Canada) are happening in the region and using the seaway to import and export products. With the energy boom in Marcellus and Utica Shale, the potential to continue to grow international markets utilizing cargo ships is increasing. Sutton stated that a cargo ship will move 30,000 tons of cargo. Moving the equivalent amount of cargo by railcar you would need over 300 cars, utilizing trucking systems would mean filling over 960 trucks with cargo. Using cargo ships can reduce costs, environmental impact an energy costs. 

Administrator Sutton’s excitement about the potential to impact growth for manufacturers with exports was contagious. She left the audience with high hopes of collaborative efforts to help them build international sales. The representatives there echoed her excitement about growth potential of world-wide sales. One rep told me, she has seen great success for American products in Europe. The one important caveat she mentioned was that American companies often underestimate the importance of translating their websites when entering new markets like Germany. Often a mistake, companies look at the initial cost and feel they can still open that market. Her point was would you buy from a German website? Then why would an American company think a German would buy from their American site?  I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Information on the resources at the conference:

NW PA Commission http://northwestpa.org/

St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation http://www.seaway.dot.gov/

Contact Linda@allcleartranslations for more information on international sales, translations, cultures, international market analysis and how to start a localization (translation) project.

About the Author

Linda Richardson founded All Clear Translations in 2010. Her focus is to enable American companies to grow and build their international markets.  Richardson is certified in Localization and Project Management for Localization, she has spoken on translation and localization to build sales at international and national conferences as well as regionally. In January, 2013, Richardson opened an office in Hermitage, PA at the eCenter at LindenPointe- a technology incubator. 

Why American companies should be focusing on the 

Chinese Market.

While in Detroit last week at the Discover Global Markets Forum, I came to understand the importance of eCommerce for international sales. The U.S. Commercial Service put together a great event filled with international representatives and much information to help companies build global sales. While in a break out session I learned some great facts about our third largest export market – China.

If you total the most 171 populous cities, they host 1 Billion people.  China now has one million millionaires (USD)!  Within these cities and smaller cities there is very little modernized retail. No large malls or department stores are in most of these cities. Ecommerce is utilized by many wealthy and middle income Chinese. In 2015 internet users in China should be around 800 million. These consumers love foreign brands especially American made products. They cited safe, quality, integrity and convenience as reasons why they love our brands.

Fakes or knock-offs are a big problem in China. Although the government is trying to crack down on fakes and fake retail fronts, there continues to be new illegal storefronts opening every month. Companies like Apple, Disney, Nike and Ikea have been duplicated as knock-off stores in China. I am sure you have heard about the fake Apple stores! http://www.tealeafnation.com/2013/06/chinas-copycat-phenomenon-fake-apple-stores-booming-in-southern-china/

The knock-off products have made eCommerce more attractive to consumers because they can do some due diligence to be sure to get the product they want. Many consumers must travel to get to a department store or mall. Storefronts are not seen as reliable or true brands and therefore make ecommerce even more attractive to savvy Chinese consumers. The feeling is they are getting a “real” item from the internet not a fake. Ecommerce sales are expected to continue to fuel the need for luxury and brand items from abroad.

Alibaba has been a catalyst of change for the Chinese consumer. Many have not shopped in department stores and rely on shopping with Alibaba online shopping sites like TMall. Disposable income has grown and the Chinese consumers in 3^rd and 4^th tiered cities are spending more of their disposable income on American products. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-11/alibaba-sites-drive-chinas-e-commerce-growth

How to grab your share of a multi-billion dollar market?

1.       Consult with your local U.S. Commercial Officer. They can help you with market analysis, connections to build, translators, feet on the street and more.

2.       Consult with your State’s Department of Economic Development. They also have resources to help you build your brand in other regions.

3.       Consult with your local Small Business Development Center. Their counselors will also help you understand your new market and help with sales growth.

4.       Cites like Alibaba, Amazon and EBAY offer assistance in getting online internationally. They do expect you to translate your information for the regions you are marketing to. But uploading translated information is easily accomplished.

These resources also offer training seminars to help educate you on commerce, compliance, and regional markets. Go online to www.trade.gov , http://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/osbdc , or your State’s Economic Development Center.

$$ Funding Available! $$

Have you been negatively impacted by imports? There is a matching grant to help you build your exports. Up to $150,000 matching grants are available to help you build an exporting process and plan. Contact us to find out more. We can help you determine if you qualify and help with the eligibility process.

About the Author

Linda Richardson founded All Clear Translations in 2010. Her focus is to enable American companies to grow and build their international markets.  Richardson is certified in Localization and Project Management for Localization, she has spoken on translation and localization to build sales at international and national conferences as well as regionally. In January, 2013, Richardson opened an office in Hermitage, PA at the eCenter at LindenPointe- a technology incubator. Please email her at Linda@allcleartranslations.com, visit her website, www.allcleartranslations.com, her blog – blog.allcleartranslations.com, twitter feed @allclearlinda or call her at 866-489-9109 for information on how translations can help you grow.