teachyourselfbusiness.com

Sarah Carroll helps Powerbronze to a bigger global presence

tyb-admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:28:58 +0000

The race for a bigger global presence is on for a West Sussex firm celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year.

Littlehampton-based Powerbronze International designs stylised components for customising and enhancing motorbikes. As its name suggests, it is an export-focused business with an international dealer network.

In May this year, Powerbronze approached UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) South East for assistance with its export strategy. They were advised to join UKTI’s Passport to Export programme. This 12-to-18-month package of advice and support includes a full company diagnostic, development of an export action plan, subsidised training and up to £1,500 of matched funding.

The Powerbronze team worked closely with UKTI International Trade Adviser (ITA) Stephen Golding and Sarah Carroll, a Registered Export Communications Consultant, on an Export Communications Review (ECR). This provides a comprehensive on-site evaluation of how a business communicates with its export markets, including a review of websites, written materials and personal meetings with customers or agents/distributors.

Hazel Clifford, Powerbronze’s Sales Office Manager, said: “The Communications Review introduced a series of online marketing tools to help improve our global web presence. For example, we are using Google Adwords to help us monitor conversions, identify key words and assess the geographical success of our websites.

“Web forums now also play a major role in our marketing strategy and we recently joined eBay and set up a very successful online shop there, too!”

Powerbronze now has 11 websites, each dedicated to a country where they have a distributor. Work is in progress on Dutch, Belgian, Portuguese and Romanian sites – all due to be launched by Christmas. Funding from the Passport programme assisted with translation costs for several of the country-specific websites.

Sarah Carroll commented: “It was a pleasure to work with Powerbronze as they were already well advanced in their international website development. However, they were very receptive to the recommendations I made to take their global web presence to the next level. So much so that, when their ITA, Stephen Golding, went to see them a few days after the review, he reported that they had already implemented a number of my recommendations. This resulted in an immediate and significant increase in international web sales, and I am delighted to see that they are building on this success.”

After the ECR, Powerbronze purchased 42 domain names for countries around the world where they are planning to appoint distributors.

In September, the company took advantage of UKTI’s Export Marketing Research Scheme (EMRS) of free impartial advice on researching new export markets. Businesses can receive financial subsidies of up to 50 per cent towards their market research costs, including travel and accommodation while visiting the target country.

With EMRS funding, the Powerbronze team headed to California to research the best route to market on the West Coast. Meetings were held with dealers, magazine editors, superbike stores, real estate agents and lawyers. Plans are under way for establishing a West Coast showroom by Spring 2010.

At the beginning of November, Powerbronze attended the EICMA International Bike Show in Milan, now the capital of motorcycling in Italy. The 67th edition of the show attracted 450,000 visitors, and Powerbronze exhibited its latest product range alongside its Italian distributor Faster96 Srl. This resulted in a productive meeting with a potential customer from Singapore, who flew in especially to view the new products; and a packed order book from European customers.

Then at the end of the month, Powerbronze showcased its products at the Carol Nash International Motorcycle and Scooter Show at Birmingham’s NEC. This is the UK’s premier show for manufacturers targeting UK and global buyers. Powerbronze chose it to unveil its latest Rider’s Seat – a customised replacement seat.

Visitors to the Powerbronze trade stand were able to see 20 bikes, including the Kawasaki ER6-N and Suzuki GSXR1000, kitted out with Powerbronze products. On a separate retail stand, a range of products, from Airflow Screens to Mudguard Extenders and Swing Arm Protectors, was shown.

2010 is set to be another busy year for the company, with plans to appoint distributors in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Lithuania.

In the spring, Powerbronze’s web marketing plans will go up a gear when it attends UKTI’s “International Website Marketing and Development Course”.

To take a look at Powerbronze International’s website www.powerbronze.com>>

To find out more about the Website Export Communications Review to help you localise and optimise your website for international trade, please contact Sarah Carroll>>

La Nueva Gramática de la Lengua Española

tyb-admin — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:55:04 +0000

La Real Academia Española y la Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española presentan la Nueva gramática de la lengua española. La Nueva gramática de la lengua española pretende ofrecer un mapa del español en todo el mundo.

La Nueva gramática, publicada por Espasa, estará a la venta a partir del próximo viernes 4 de diciembre. Es la primera gramática académica desde 1931 y ofrece el resultado de once años de trabajo de las veintidós Academias de la Lengua Española, que aquí fijan la norma lingüística para todos los hispanohablantes.

Read about La Nueva gramática de la lengua española in Spanish>>

Read another article on BBC News about the new grammar for the Spanish language in English>>

French Business & Culture Workshop

tyb-admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:44:08 +0000

Sarah Carroll, author of Teach Yourself Business French, is speaking at UK Trade Investment’s Business and Culture Workshop on France in London on Tuesday 13 October 2009.

The workshop will explore the business challenges faced by existing UK exporters to France and will help exporters discover practical solutions and business advice to overcome potential language, communication and cultural barriers when trading in the French market.

France and the UK are long-term trading partners. Exports to France amount to c.£20 billion per year and account for nearly 10% of UK visible exports worldwide. Despite a wealth of trading opportunity across a range of business sectors, many British companies find France one of the more challenging EU markets to enter.

This workshop will include an introductory presentation about the UK Trade & Investment Export Communications Review (ECR) service, by Sarah Carroll, a registered export communications consultant. John Gleave, Vice-Consul at the British Consulate in Lille will also be presenting.

To find out more, please contact Sarah Carroll>>

Teach Yourself Business Mandarin Chinese hits the USA

tyb-admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:55:31 +0000

Teach Yourself Business Mandarin Chinese was published in the USA on 12 June 2009.

It gives you a quick-and-easy path to the language confidence you need to do business in China.

In the global market, you need to be able to say more than just “hello” in another language. You need to talk about money, trade, labor, and more. Teach Yourself Business Mandarin Chinese will give you all you need to feel confident about doing business in China.

On the three audio CDs, you get the essential Mandarin Chinese you will need for all general transactions as well as some industry-specific jargon. The recordings feature native speakers, so you will hear how the language really sounds and have ample opportunities for practice.

Find out more about Teach Yourself Business Mandarin Chinese>>

Any questions about Teach Yourself Business Mandarin Chinese? Contact Sarah Carroll>>

Buy Teach Yourself Business Mandarin Chinese now>>

Doing Business in Japan

tyb-admin — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:55:43 +0000

Sarah Carroll, author of Teach Yourself Business Japanese, presented a session on how to communicate internationally at the UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) Doing Business in Japan seminar in London.

If you are doing business in Japan, Sarah can review all of your international communications to make sure you have the best possible chance of getting your message across in Japan.

Take a look at how Sarah has helped a music company in Brighton get their marketing materials ready for a business trip to Japan>>

Get more business the Japanese way

tyb-admin — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:26:39 +0000

We selected the Maneki-neko for the front cover of Teach Yourself Business Japanese. A cat with its right paw raised is believed to bring in wealth. There is also a cat with its left paw raised, which is believed to bring in customers.

There are a few origins of the story of the Maneki-neko. One of our favourites is that one day in the seventeenth century, Lord Naotaka Ii was taking shelter from rain under a tree at Gotoku temple and saw a cat waving at him. He was amused and stepped out of the shelter to get closer to the cat. As soon as he was out from under the tree, lightning hit the tree. The cat saved his life. He was so touched with the act of the cat that he donated a lot of money to the temple where the cat lived. Lord Ii is now buried at the temple.

To find out more about Japanese business culture and to learn Business Japanese, buy Teach Yourself Business Japanese>>

Coming to the USA in June 2009

tyb-admin — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 16:52:03 +0000

Teach Yourself Business Mandarin will be available for you to buy in North America from June 19, 2009. You can get your hands on it direct from publishers McGraw Hill Professional or through other on-line bookstores. It gives you a quick-and-easy path to the language confidence you need to do business in China.

In the global market, you need to be able to say more than just ‘hello’ in another language. You need to talk about money, trade, labor, and more. Teach Yourself Business Mandarin Chinese will give you all you need to feel confident about doing business in China.

Pre-order Teach Yourself Business Mandarin Chinese now>>
Find out more about Teach Yourself Business Mandarin Chinese now>>