On the 23rd of September, EMITA, an independent trade association promoting international trade amongst businesses in the East Midlands organised the International Communications Masterclass 2011, which took place at the National College for School Leadership in Nottingham.

The aim of the Masterclass was to provide practical advice about doing business abroad, stressing the importance of cultural awareness and how to exploit the internet to communicate well on a global scale. The event included three cultural surgeries based on Russia, the Middle East and China. These markets are currently booming and have great business potential, however they are also tricky markets to tap into due to their cultural differences to the West.

• What would your Muslim client think if you took him out to a pub and offered him a meat dish and a pint?
• How embarrassing would it be to go to China and see the horrified faces of your counterparts after you have taken their seats?
• How apprehensive would you be if your Chinese client drinks bottle after bottle of strong wine without even starting your business negotiations when it’s nearly 9pm?
• If you were asked “How are you?” by a Russian, are you expected to give a long response? Russian people would feel insulted or think that you are unhappy with them if you answer in just a few words.

To maintain a long term, healthy business relationship with any foreign clients or suppliers, it is of paramount importance to understand, respect and be aware of the cultural and linguistic aspects of the working environment you are in. At SanTranslate we are not only cultural experts, we will also use local cultural knowledge and language translation expertise to convey your message into great communication. To learn more about all of our languages, visit our Language pages.

The site has recently launched a mobile application available on Wap, Android, Blackberry, iPhone and Windows Mobile 7. It allows users to purchase deals on their phones and use the screen to present the coupon for use.

Worldwide, there are over 500 similar sites including over 100 in US. However, by December 2010, only one of them, LivingSocial, could be described as a serious competitor. Interestingly, according to a survey of BusinessInsider in March 2010, 72% of people that use Groupon said they subscribe to LivingSocial as well. Other notable firms operating in the same market include BuyWithMe, Plum District, Jasmere.com and Saveology.

Hunting out the best deals is truly a global activity: ComScore reports that in April 2011 Groupon received more than 1 million unique visitors (age 15+ and located at home or at work) in 12 markets across the globe. The U.S. saw the largest audience with 10.4 million visitors, followed by France with 3.6 million visitors and Brazil with 2.5 million visitors. In Asia, Japan and Taiwan made the list of the top 10 largest markets for Groupon, reaching nearly 1.6 and 1.2 million visitors respectively.

The strength of deal-of-the-day websites is that they don’t need to be localised. Any on-line business can participate in Groupon’s service around the world. What you need to do to reach a wider audience is have the terms and conditions and marketing information of your products translated into the languages of your potential customers. SanTranslate is here to help you!