On Top Of The World The Web can bring the world to your door - but your site had better be foreign-friendly.

Armed with little more than a modem and access to the Internet,today's homebased entrepreneur can become an instant contenderin the international marketplace. But it takes more than a modemand a Web site to become an instant success in thatmarketplace.

Pitching your products to the international community involvesthe same marketing issues you're concerned with domestically:What concepts, images or slogans will attract customers? Whatstrategies will work best in this market? Unless you're at oncea linguist, an anthropologist and a diplomat, you may find thesequestions difficult to answer. Successful international marketingdemands an understanding of language as well as cultural issues,sensitivities and symbolism. Something as simple as the colors ofyour Web site can mean the difference between a sale and a culturalfaux pas.

One solution: "Localize" your Web site and any othermaterials you intend to distribute to the international marketplace(including brochures, sales literature and product documentation).Localization means more than acquiring a word-for-word translationof your materials; it means developing a marketing approach that isboth internationally effective and culturally correct.