We Are the World Think only gigantic corporations can take part in the global village? Not so. Even for homebased entrepreneurs, international markets are only a click away.

Once upon a time, the global marketplace was an arena reservedfor the big players-companies that could afford access to theinformation and communications necessary to do business around theworld. Today, the power of the Internet and communicationtechnologies has made the global market just as accessible to thehomebased entrepreneur.

"The Internet is an unbelievable tool," says AbbyShapiro, co-founder and CEO of InternationalStrategies Inc. According to Shapiro, small businesses canaccess a wealth of country reports, market information andinternational business directories online, often at no cost."With a few good sites and a directory of folks to contactoutside the United States, you can do a lot just sitting in yourliving room," says Shapiro, whose Boston-based firm offers awide range of reports and materials for import/export businesses."Using e-mail and faxes, you don't even have to pick upthe phone."

For many homebased businesses, a Web site is the first portal tothe world. Steve Veltkamp, president of Biz$hop, a homebasedpublishing company in Port Angeles, Washington, that producesbusiness guides and newsletters, points out that you don't evenhave to translate your site into another language. "English isthe language of commerce, and the dollar is the currency ofcommerce," says Veltkamp, who began assisting other companiesin developing foreign markets through Biz$hop in 1986. Whatmatters, he says, is making your site "friendly" tointernational visitors.