#144 | Resources for US Exporters

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Hi, it's Wendy Pease. I'm the host of the Global Marketing Show and I am flying solo today. With all the talk about trade barriers and tariffs going on these days, I thought I'd step back and just talk about exporting from the U. S. So few companies in the U. S. export and they're missing out on huge opportunities. 

And most of the time, [00:01:00] business owners don't export because they're afraid of other languages and cultures. But I love the stories that I hear on this podcast about the small business owners who have exported and they've dramatically grown their business. Like there's, Walter Brooks in episode 81, he's talking about his barbecue sauce from Atlanta. 

He says there's a barbecue sauce company on every corner and it wasn't until he connected with a trade export that helped him make connections in Dubai that his company skyrocketed because American barbecue sauce in Dubai is a specialty item. And then there's episode 111 with John Coveyou of genius games. 

He creates games and sells them all over the world. And he shares a story about how he started out and then how he became known as an exporter. In episode number 59, David Oliva of Organomation talks about [00:02:00] selling internationally in person and building relationships, but he never leaves the U S. 

He's figured out how to make connections at trade shows in the US. It's a great story. And the point of all these episodes are in so many more on this podcast, the global marketing show, which I've loved doing for the last four years. The point is. Exporting helps small and mid sized businesses grow faster, and historically, the US federal government and the state governments help small and mid sized companies export because it helps balance out trade between countries. The U. S. imports so much more than it exports. It's been a real advantage for the government and for the American people and for the companies and everybody all around for the government to support exporting. 

And I think it's not good to put [00:03:00] restrictions on our imports. It's more important to help people in the U. S. export. And that's what's going to make the global marketplace grow and the American economy do better. So let's just look at the numbers. And despite the clear benefits of trading internationally or exporting. which companies that do have higher revenues, they have higher profits, higher valuations, they're much more stable and they pay higher salaries. 

And so with all this data that shows how good it is for companies to export. Less than 5 percent of America's 30 million companies export and that tiny percent of businesses that do export. They sell 1. 5 billion dollars in, goods and services. So why the small numbers? Well, the SBA has been trying to figure that out and what they have found from their research is that 45 percent cite a [00:04:00] lack of knowledge of the export process. 

28 percent face regulatory barriers, 20 percent are uncertain about being paid, they don't know how to collect the money, and 14 percent say the cost of exporting. The survey also showed that 53 percent of non exporting businesses would be interested in exporting in the future if these barriers were addressed. 

So, that's a lot of companies that want to export and that's a lot of money that we can bring into the United States. So let's look at it on the other side. 93 percent of international small businesses export to an average of 13 to 35 marketplaces worldwide. Well, you can imagine if you're in Belgium or Israel, you're a small country, , and you don't have as many people to sell to. 

So immediately you're going to start thinking about where the [00:05:00] bigger markets in and not even the small countries, a newcomer to the exporting arena is, India. And they're notable for its initial 58 percent of small business sales or cross border trade. There's plenty of people there to buy, but a lot of the small companies there go to exporting immediately. 

The Economic Times reported in July of 2023 that small businesses from emerging economies are excelling in international trade, outperforming advanced market counterparts in net exporters. Foreign countries are beating the U. S. in exporting. So, let's get on the ball here and start exporting some more. 

All right, so I mentioned earlier that the federal and state governments have historically, provided, free resources because the U. S. imports so much more than it exports. So, you know, that means our balance of trade is perpetually off balance. We bring in [00:06:00] container loads full of stuff and we ship out to Empty containers. 

And that's not even talking about professional services, which is the number one export from the United States. All right. So let's look at, I think I'm going to give you seven different categories of places, small and mid sized business owners and leaders can go to get help. 

So the first is the federal government resources. The U. S. Department of Commerce houses the International Trade Administration. It's also, called Commercial Services. And they have an office in every state to offer services such as, economic and demographic information from around the world. 

So you want to figure out who has, the buying power to buy your goods and services. Product classification database for export control information to find out if you can even sell your goods into other countries. Introductions to international and in market trade officials. 

There's people in [00:07:00] country who work for the federal government that help make introductions And do background checks on companies you're thinking about doing business with they provide commercial diplomacy to overcome obstacles for success. I know the woman in Boston that does that. She works with some of the larger companies and with the governments from the other countries to remove obstacles so they can do business. So our government will do that for you. 

They also have a global market finder to figure out where you should go into. There's all sorts of different strategies as to whether you start with a small country and prove yourself there and then go on to a large company or go into a larger company because your demands for goods or services are better there, you know, so that's all the strategy that they can help you with. One thing I have heard is a lot of us companies say, Oh, well, I'm going to go to the UK, Australia, maybe Hong Kong or Canada because they speak English and I don't [00:08:00] have to learn the language. 

Well, as an owner of a translation company. I say that's not always the best, way to do it because you can spend a little bit of money on, translating your marketing materials and your legal contracts. Spend a little bit on telephone or video interpreting to connect with people. And you can go into a country where you have a lot less competition because all the English speakers are going in there. 

So, don't use language as something that's going to rule out a highly profitable, country to enter just because you're afraid of the language. We'll help you figure out ways to do that. And then the federal government also offers export control information and, support on how to do that. 

There's trade data on. Ports values of products and import regulations. So you don't have to blindly, look it up on chatGPT or Google. You can go, and get some real numbers that you can trust and that have been tracked and people that are really working with [00:09:00] it. And then they have a, fee-based program that's called the Gold Key Service. 

Where they actually set up matchmaking appointments with pre qualified, prospects. So it's a way to, actually leverage relationships, for sales calls. So embassies and consulates both fall under the Department of Commerce as of right now, and they can assist with market entry. If you want help with business expansion, you contact the embassy and ask for the commercial attache. 

And if you need personal help with visas, travel documentation, passports, or, you know, something is going on in the country and you need help, that's when you'd call the consulate. So the embassy for the commercial attache, the consulate for help on personal matters. Okay, so those are all the services that the federal government has historically provided to exporters. 

[00:10:00] They're a wealth of knowledge and the people that I know, the trade advisors are so smart, so kind, so connected. They're really, good people that you want to work with and they'll help your businesses. All right, so let's move on to the state governments. This is resource number two. 

1. S. companies who don't know where to start can look to a local U. S. Export Assistance Center, otherwise known as a USEAC. They have offices in every state and they're supported by the U. S. Department of Commerce, the Small Business Development Centers, otherwise known as the SBDCs, the EXIM Bank, and the Small Business Association, the SBA.

And the USEACs can help. Companies, access capital for expansion, you know, when you have to do your application to get funding for that, they can help you do all the financials and the spreadsheets for that they can help you develop and launch new technologies. They can improve your export [00:11:00] business planning strategy and operations. 

I've seen people really go in deep to identify markets and areas to go to and try to figure out their strategy. I know at Rapport International, we've helped them with, , global marketing and global outreach, so they'll pull in other resources as needed. 

 They can help attain financial and human resource stability across markets. So what that means is if, you're trying to figure out whether to hire or whether to subcontract or whether to use an international PEO or employee leasing firm, they can give suggestions on how to manage your human resources there, whether you're going to partner. 

 All different ideas of how to make it work. There's not one size fits all. They can initiate global marketing and sales. You know, with translation, cultural adaptation, I'll talk about, step grants a minute, and then they can expand digital marketing reach. They do have a kind of analysis of how [00:12:00] your website is poised to do international business and give you suggestions on that. And provide introductions to your federal and state personnel at the international offices. Some states actually have trade organizations in other countries that they'll connect you with. 

But whether it's state or federal. These trade advisors really work well together. so I mentioned the step grants in most states, the USEACs, or the organizations that manage the step grants. Those are the state trade expansion program grants. That, can offset international and business development and marketing related costs for small businesses. 

So you can apply for a STEP grant to pay for translation. We've actually had people use STEP grants to pay for our services at Rapport International. And I've heard of people using STEP grants to assist with going to trade shows or on trade missions if they're going to other places. People have used step grants to help [00:13:00] develop, you know, or tweak the website for helping it make it more international. 

So these grants have been a tremendous resource. I know, some states don't even, use up all their grants. So, check in with your local USEAC and find out about the grants. , and they do work real close with the federal commercial services and international trade office. So you know, small and mid sized businesses can access supports and get introductions. 

So, uh, definitely look the USEAC up. Then we have the district export councils. This is resource number three. So I happen to sit on the, I was appointed, it is an appointment from the department of commerce and they do a background check. And so it's not everybody can just go join the . I sit on the one for Massachusetts District Export Council (DEC), and I serve on the board there and the district export councils, there's a national association and then each state has their own DEC and they are [00:14:00] responsible for increasing awareness and understanding of the importance of exports to the U S economy. And the DECs do it through education, legislative outreach and engagement with, other people on the local DEC. 

And the DECs will work, across states too to help make sure that, people are connected and get the information that they want. So as part of, the District Export Council in Massachusetts, it's up to us to start spreading the world, uh, word about the benefits of exporting. And so I do this through other organizations that I belong to, like EO (Entrepreneurs Organization), which is a global organization for business owners, and many of them, do cross border business. 

 I've also seen people saying, Hey, I'm interested in going to this country. How do I do that? And I've connected them into the USEAC and, Then EOs are connected amongst themselves too. Also in Massachusetts, there's associated industry of [00:15:00] Massachusetts where, they're big in lobbying and HR training. 

 They do have an international business council at the IBC, which helps to, spread the word with the support of the DEC, about exporting and how beneficial it is. So, if you're listening to this and you're interested, you can search just district export council (DEC) in your state and you can get connected in and the people who sit on the council are usually exporters or service providers and they have a wealth of information and connections to help you.   

 So number four is the world trade centers. There are over 300 world trade centers around the world in almost 90 countries. And the centers belong to an association that focuses on stimulating trade and investment opportunities. They work with property developers, economic development agencies, international businesses looking to expand. 

 The service offerings and the activity level for each location [00:16:00] varies quite a bit as to what they're responsible for. In some states, the local world trade centers act as a connector to the state USEACs and the international trade office. The Federal International Trade Office, where in other states, the World Trade Center is the driving force in educational networking events, managing step grants, and trade missions. 

 Once you've checked out the District Export Council, also check out the World Trade Center and what you're doing. I know the one in, Georgia has a tremendous, education platform that they do a lot of work to help exporters. Number five. There's the global trade communities, associations, and networks. 

You know, once you start venturing into global business, you'll learn that the world is small. After joining a few organizations that focused on exporting and trade, I found that I was running into a lot of the same people, and they're very Fascinating, helpful, [00:17:00] interesting people. They've got a global outlook and so they're more than willing to give introductions and help others in their journey.   

 There are chambers of commerce like the French American Chamber of Commerce, the British American Chamber of Commerce, the Latin America Chamber of Commerce. The Netherlands Chamber of Commerce, these are just some of the ones in, Massachusetts that they bring together the home country and the local community. 

So they have all sorts of, events to network, people together that are from the country or interested in the country or have been to the country or do business in the country. So it's a nice local gathering area. Another great way to make connections and get the inside scoop as to what's going on in the countries you're focused on.   

 There's executive groups that focus on managing international companies. I know IERG is one, the international executive resource group. There's women or minorities in trade organizations. There's, the air and seaport and logistics [00:18:00] associations. There's industry groups, that focus, like I mentioned, AIM, and then they have the international business council. 

But if you look at almost any industry that you're in, that you're interested in exporting. Tap into your industry group and say, Hey, what are you doing to help with international trade? There's U. S. export management companies, and there's training companies that are focused on international, topics. 

 You can go and get like the NASBITE, N A S B I T E certification, and they have all sorts of topics that you can go in and learn about. So I talked about people will overlap at the events, but each organization has a slightly different focus and provides different resources, might have a different culture. 

So it's certainly worth checking out some. You can, anything that I mentioned, you can Google that in your state and you can, find what you're looking for. Number six, you've got books, podcasts, and [00:19:00] website. You're not alone and struggling with the same issue. Somebody else has probably come across it before and luckily access to information is easier than ever to find a resource. 

So ask the people that you're meeting with as you're networking around. I know that when I. first went and Googled or searched on Amazon for a book about global marketing. I came up with textbooks. So you'd have to spend a hundred dollars to find a book that will walk you through how to do global marketing.   

So I wrote a book. It's a 200 page how to book that is written with real life stories. All of them are based on, stories that I've heard about. Clients that I've worked with. So the name of that book is The Language of Global Marketing. And, then we built out a resource center on, the website. You can go to rapport, I N T L dot com or rapport translations. com and rapport is spelled R A P P O [00:20:00] R T, translations. com and you can go to the learning center and you can search for whether you want a podcast, whether you want a blog, whether you want a video. You can search by the topic that you want. But I'm not the only one. 

You can go on to Spotify and you can search for exporting or, globalization. Those are a lot of them that will come up. And I know there's been some of the trade exports that have launched a podcast. So start looking around for books. If you know, I know there's books on logistics and export controls if you want books. So whatever way you want to access information, you can certainly do that. 

Number seven, the final area that I wanted to talk about today is service providers. Service providers are going to all these networking events. They're tied into all the people and they have such experience that's well beyond the one thing that they want to [00:21:00] do. Just talk to the right person. 

You'll get insights, resources, and you'll get a supportive network. There's all kinds of service providers. So let's list some of them. Or let me remember some of them. You've got, of course, to start with language service providers, also called LSPs, short for language service providers, or otherwise known as translation agencies. 

So that's like us at Rapport International. You reach out to us, and if you're talking to the owner of a smaller company or somebody who's in business development, they're out meeting the other people in global trade all the time. So, you know, talk and find out who to connect with. 

You've got payment companies like Zonos or Corpay. They're the ones that are going to be able to help you with accepting payments, whether to accept in the American dollar or whether you're going to deal with currency exchange or whether you're going to, keep a bank in the country that you in or, and just. 

Do business in that currency. So there's all sorts of [00:22:00] ways to do it. And you can reach out to payment companies to ask them about that. I've got introductions to all these vendors. So if you're listening to this and you want to introductions, I can certainly, figure out who would be best for you to talk to.   

You've got shipping and logistics providers. You want to make sure that you're getting somebody that actually has the capabilities. One of the podcast episodes, it's a logistics company that helped ship medical products that had to be kept refrigerated or frozen. So they had a very particular service that they were providing, and industry. 

And you've got other ones that just ship and do business in the United States. We actually had a podcast. With somebody who focused on international shipping and was a real consultant on that. Insurance companies, there's all sorts of payment insurance, good insurance, liability insurance, terrorism insurance, but you tap into the international, providers and they'll be able to guide [00:23:00] you on what you might need to insure or not. 

Tax, legal and regulatory services. Dave Roccio was on a podcast. He does, patent law. He talks about how you protect your patent, get a patent and protect your patent when you're doing international work. There's all sorts of regulatory companies like, TÜV SÜD. Another podcast episode, about getting CE marks and, how they do international outreach because they're working with companies around the world that are trying to enter into Europe and what kind of regulatory requirements they have to follow.   

There are international, tax advisors that you can talk to. There's a ton of trade consultants and they specialize in different industries, different countries. So again, screen down into what you're looking for. There's actually business incubators. If you want to go into another country, I know somebody who runs an incubator in [00:24:00] Spain.   

 We have all sorts of incubators for coming into the United States. , there's the SelectUSA conference that's coming up that happens every year in May in D. C. where companies from around the world are coming in. And incubators in each country will help, guide the people that are coming into that.   

And then I talked a little bit earlier about employees. So you can decide to provide your business from your home country, you can, partner with somebody, you can, also hire people in country directly. But then you're going to have to follow the laws and the tax and HR.   

 You can hire a professional employer organization or employee leasing that they can actually manage your international employees. So you don't have to deal with all the logistics and legal parts of having employees around the world. And then banks. tapping into the right bank. The EXIM bank of the United States is the [00:25:00] official export credit agency of the United States. 

They also have a conference every year in, DC where you can go and meet, but the, EXIM, bankers are tightly tied into the USEACs and the federal trade offices. So they, will advise people who are beginning to export. So this is a ton of information for you. You don't have to reach out to them all. 

I wanted to. You know, expand the scope of what's out there to support you in exporting. You don't have to reach out to them all. You just have to reach out to one. And if that person is networked in, well, they're going to be able to point you in the right direction. So as a member of the Massachusetts DEC, I'm tied into the DECs across the nation. 

I am happy to make introductions to any one of these seven categories or subcategories that you're interested in. You just have to reach out to me at Wendy Pease at [00:26:00] rapport international. I'm all over LinkedIn and social media, so you can reach out there too. All right. So if you're still not convinced about exporting. Here's some sage advice from an export consultant. He says, always be thinking about exporting. The advantages are huge. You offset a domestic home market, find new customers. Get unexpected new ideas, discover product improvements, employ more people, and beat your competitors. So, final key points to remember: companies who export enjoy more opportunities and higher revenues than their non exporting counterparts. Number two, many resources exist for companies that want to venture into exporting. 

I just went through the whole list. Number [00:27:00] three, people at your local government trade office, global networking groups, or even at your current vendors. want to help you with global growth. It's a hugely supportive network. And finally, contact us at Rapport International if you want help connecting with resources. 

All right. I have another update for you. My second book is headed to the publisher next week. My co author Hannah Pentz and I co wrote it based on episodes from this podcast show. We picked episodes that we thought made good points that I haven't covered, that I hadn't covered in my first book. And it gives insight hints to people that may already have experience with exporting. 

We're planning for the book launch in August or September of 2025. Keep an ear or an eye open for it. I'm excited as this process has been really fun to create it with Hannah. That's all for [00:28:00] now. Thanks for tuning in. If you found this episode helpful, please forward it to a business owner or a leader who's trying to grow their business.   

And of course, give us a five and subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss any other episodes. Thank you so much for tuning in. I really appreciate you