Market Access Pitfalls 10: German Business Culture
Many of my Canadian clients felt their business interactions with their German targets would be very easy. After all, „Canadians are just like Europeans!“ They typically said this to differentiate...
View ArticleHow to Prepare a Great Sales Presentation for the German B2B Market
During my time at the Canadian Embassy, I was often asked to comment on my clients‘ marketing materials. These were mainly sales presentations (slide decks), two-pagers and brochures that my clients...
View Article5 Reasons Why I Love (International) Copy Editing
Copy? You mean xeroxing? No. I mean a text that is used to advertise a product or service. This can be a brochure, a presentation, a website, or an actual advertisement (about which, in all honesty, I...
View ArticleHow Good Are AI-Powered Translations? Case Studies Website vs. Novel
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being put to many beneficial uses, including translation. But how good are these AI-powered translations? Among the tools available are Deepl and ChatGPT. We sometimes...
View ArticleWhat to Expect at a German Trade Show
Germany hosts a large number of international trade shows. These are important, if not leading, industry events at which major players and smaller companies congregate. They are focused on B2B...
View ArticleWhat are the Costs of Exhibiting at a German Trade Show?
Many of my clients interested in the German or EU market shied away from exhibiting at a trade show in Germany. Their main argument? „It’s too expensive.“ And it’s true, trade shows are expensive. The...
View ArticleExhibiting at or Walking a German Trade Show?
Is it better to exhibit at a trade show, or to just walk the show? This depends on what you are trying to achieve. The great advantage of a trade show is that it brings together industry...
View ArticleHow to Do Business at a German Trade Show
Trade shows are a great place to explore business opportunities with German and other international partners. But how to actually do business at a trade show? Advance Preparation There are two central...
View ArticleWhy Exporters Should Get In-Market Advice: My 5 Top Reasons
In the course of 6+ years at the Embassy of Canada, I saw many aspiring exporters who had started their international expansion without much preparation. They certainly had never consulted us. They...
View ArticleWhy „I’ll get a distributor“ Won’t Work – And What You Should Do Instead
Let’s look at some of the reasons for why it’s hard to find a distributor in Germany, and at some alternative routes to selling your product. Most of my clients had a simple international strategy:...
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