3 Quick Positioning Wins

Here are 3 small quick wins to position yourself for international opportunities. I've learned these painfully over the years, and now that I use them automatically, it has made a complete difference to how I communicate with people outside of my country. The first is when you are sending out your proposal, your pitch, responding to a call for speakers, arranging meetings, you want to use your international dialling code for your cell phone or landline number. You want to add in your currency name when you are quoting figures. So internationally, I might use US dollars, and then I would say ZAR, which is South African rands, not just the R for local people. And then the third one is to add in your time zone when you're trying to set up meetings. Without those 3 things, you look like you only do business at home with people who have the same information and data as you. But the addition of those 3 small steps— your dialing code, your currency, and your time zone— imply that you expect to or already do have clients outside of your own country. The minute you do that, you are positioned better, but you're also opening up your mind to have a global perspective, and that in itself starts to make you and the content that you share with your clients that much more valuable. 3 quick wins: position yourself for international opportunities.