"A Serious Business"

The International Idea Letter for Small Business

 YOUR BUSINESS CARD; Worth its weight in gold.
 HOW TO CONTROL EMPLOYEE COSTS BEFORE MAKING THE HIRE
 TIP - How old are you?
 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT; creating a loyal customer base
 BUSINESS RESOURCE; Desktop Publishing Supplies
 INTERNATIONAL TRADE SOURCES - network
 GETTING HELP! alternate sources for part-time employees
 TIP - Saving your greatest resource!
 A STORY OF CHINA TRADE; a business parable
 HOW TO CONTACT US & HOW TO SUBSCRIBE

"A minute's success pays the failure of years."

Robert Browning  1812-1889


Your Business Card - Worth It's Weight in Gold 
by our staff

The business card is probably the lowest cost advertising 
any business does and one that can leave a lasting, 
favorable impression on a potential client. This simple 
little piece of card board can wind up in the next trash 
barrel. . . . or be the ticket to a multi-million dollar 
sale.

If you look at all the business cards you've collected over 
the years, you'll probably find that they all look pretty 
much the same.  Black type on white cardboard printed with a 
simple message. 

Most business cards include basic information about you and 
your business; your name, business name, address and 
telephone and fax numbers, perhaps a line or two about what 
you and your businesses does. Often there is a logo or 
drawing that is somehow related to what you do. 

Let's look at some different options that will make your 
business stand out, work harder and hopefully, get more 
customers and make more sales for you and your firm.

The Paper: Most business cards are printed on a white card 
stock. Not very exciting but very inexpensive. You can make 
your card stand out a little more, however, by having your 
card printed on a different color card stock. Tan, blue, 
green . . . even DayGlo orange . . . whatever fits with what 
your business is or the message you want to give potential 
customers. You can even test the colors to find out which 
one seems to produce the best results.

By using color stock, you are instantly going to make your 
card stand out from 60-70% of the others and do it 
inexpensively.

If you have an ink jet or laser printer, pre-perforated card 
stock is available by mail and at many larger office supply 
stores. Printing your own gives you a wonderful opportunity 
to experiment and to update information regularly. Don't 
print thousands, print only a one or two month supply.

Moving up the cost scale, you can also have your cards 
printed on a wide range or fine papers; linen, rag bond, 
semi-transparent onionskin. And they can be printed as 
Rolodex cards, already for attachment to a client's desktop 
Rolled.

I have also seen business cards printed on metallic foil, 
ceramic clay, wood and transparent plastic. You can even 
have your business card placed on a thin magnetic sheet. 
Imagine . . . having your business message used on a 
customer's refrigerator, holding up their children's art and 
seen daily.

The Ink: Often black ink is the best choice, but every color 
of the rainbow can be used individually or even full-color. 
And with today's low-cost ink jet printers, spot-color and 
full-color are well within the reach of most small 
businesses.

Picking a color that is compatible to the color of the card 
stock is vital. If you aren't sure, ask an artist, graphic 
designer or your printer.

The Format: Business cards don't all have to be the same 
size! Most are because that is what the printer is used to, 
but you can use your imagination and a paper cutter to 
create ANY size and even shape you can think of. 

That's right! You're card could be a square, a triangle, a 
trapezoid or  with a little help, even round. Creating them 
will increase the cost of your  card, but probably not as 
much as you think. 

If you want to stick with the basic rectangular format, you 
still have a number of options. You can make it larger than 
standard size so that it will stand out in a stack of your 
competitors' cards.

You can also have a card that is folded over . . . like an 
invitation or note card. This has a number of advantages, 
including twice as much room to sell yourself, your products 
and services. You can even add perforations on the fold and 
have a tear-off card. More on that later.

Want to be really fancy? Have the printer die-cut a box, 
oval or circle through the card cover so that it makes a 
cameo picture frame for the message inside.

The Message: Special inks, paper and format won't help you 
at all if the message doesn't work hard for you too. Now 
that you have spent the time selecting what your billboard 
is going to be made from, you have to do the most important 
creative work . . . create the message.

Obviously, you need to include your name, title (if any), 
business name, telephone numbers (both toll-free and regular 
number . . . vital for international business), your fax 
number, your e-mail address (ONLY if you check your e-mail 
box regularly) and web site address, if you have one. 

If you have been in business for more than three years or 
so, be sure to put that information in. Or if you have been 
in an industry for a number of years, whether in your 
business, or someone else's, be sure to include that 
information. Say "Founded - 1991" or "Serving Texans for 
over 15 Years" or "With over 25 years of investment 
experience".

Your hours of business are also helpful . . . if they do not 
often change. There is nothing worse than telling a 
prospect/customer that you are open until 6:00 p.m. then 
closing at 5:00!

If you have room, you can also list ALL the products and 
services you offer including brand names where appropriate. 
You are not limited to printing on only one side. There are 
two sides to a business card . . . use them!

And, of course, you need a message that will set your 
business apart from others. I would heartily recommend you 
read manuals on writing advertising to learn how to get that 
message across. Newspaper and magazine classified  
advertisements (or small ads) have much in common with 
business cards. They need to pack a lot of information into 
just a few words and get results from them.

Your message can be visual as well. You can include black 
and white, gray-scale or full-color photo of yourself or 
your product, your factory/store, your staff, your customers 
. . . or anything that will sell you to the perspective 
customer. 

Full-color photos on business cards can be expensive if you 
don't do them with your own ink-jet, and that great expense 
can lead you to not give out cards as liberally as you would 
with the basic, inexpensive cards. If you feel this might be 
the case with you, then don't pay for this added expense.

Additionally, you can put a map of how a customer can find 
you. Or to make the card useful all year-round, you can 
include a 12 month calendar.

Make your card valuable with messages like "present this 
card for 10% on your first order" or "this card is your 
membership card in the XYZ Company VIP Customer Club . . . 
with valuable benefits", and spell them out.

You can even have two cards printed on one fold-over with 
perforations that allows your customer to tear it off and 
hand it to a friend later. One of the two can offer a first-
time customer discount. Savee these as they come, and be sure 
to thank the original customer for passing your card along.

If the literacy rate is low in your community, you need not 
have a lot of text on your business cards. You can use 
drawings, pictures and pictograph to express your message. 
And, you can have your message translated into one or more 
other languages and included on one of the sides of your 
card.

The Distribution: Now that you have this wonderful selling 
tool, you have to get it out to your perspective customers. 
Naturally, you will carry them with you at all times, as 
will your spouse, your immediate family (adult brothers, 
sisters, mother and father, aunts and uncles) as well as 
close friends.

Community bulletin boards are common in North America and 
may be available (or you can develop the idea!) in your 
community. If your product/service is of potential use by 
the general public, tack it up. You can even have your kids 
put them under the windshield wiper of cars in parking lots. 
Most will be thrown away, but it's an option.

If you sell food or provide services (secretarial, clothes 
cleaning, taxi, etc.) drop the cards at the reception desks 
of local hotels/motels. 

Drop off cards at each organization you belong to, including 
trade organizations, chambers of commerce, Rotary, etc. 

Put a business card n each piece of outgoing mail. Your 
customer may throw it away, or pass it along to a new 
customer.

Be sure to let each of your regular customers know that you 
would greatly appreciate it if they referred customers to 
you and offer to give them a liberal supply of cards if they 
express a desire to do so.

And  . . .

Well, you get the idea now. There are a million 
possibilities and variations to make this small inexpensive 
piece of cardboard sell for you . . . in an imaginative way. 
So look at your business card now and start thinking about 
recreating it into a more powerful selling tool for you and 
your business!


HOW TO CONTROL EMPLOYEE COSTS BEFORE MAKING THE HIRE
by Robert F. Gately, PE, MBA  
GATELY CONSULTING


The best time to control employee costs is before bringing 
new people on board, rather than later when we discover that 
they do not work out and we have to fire them. When we 
acquire physical assets such as computers, automobiles, 
desks or chairs we often perform all types of analysis. Most 
companies, however, do not do anywhere near that kind of 
analysis before they invest in new people. Analyzing new 
hires before you make the commitment to hire is probably 
more important. If an employee does not work out, the 
potential for problems may be enormous. Just think of the 
lawsuits alone:

 -- Unlawful termination
 -- Sexual harassment
 -- Workman's compensation

Add to that what it costs to hire someone:

Recruitment. 

The cost of placing ads and working with executive 
recruiters and doing all the various tasks it takes to build 
a pool of candidates.
Selection. We then perform the various interviewing and 
screening processes.

Integration. 

Once we have found the ideal employees can we bring them 
into our company and expect them to become productive right 
away? We need to train them about the components of the job 
and our Company culture. Whether we use formal or on-the-job 
training, it will be expensive. Finally it takes time for 
the learning curve to bring the new hires up to speed. When 
we couple these costs with low productivity and poor morale 
that an employee with out job fit can cause, the potential 
for harm to the company is much greater than the losses from 
any inferior machine.

Despite all this, companies do not exercise as much care 
when selecting on new hires as they do when selecting new 
equipment and merchandise. Why does this occur? The answer 
is that we all have personalities that affect our behavior.

Some managers do not know how to determine if an applicant 
has the right personality for the job, so the problem is 
ignored.

Matching the People to the Job:

Companies will maximize their people assets when they match 
their employees abilities and personalities to the job 
rather than force the job on them. Have you ever wondered 
why certain people are better at certain jobs than other 
people even though their education and work experiences were 
similar? The answer is simple: Their personalities were 
different.

A study of 360,000 individuals published in the Harvard 
Business Review found that the most important factor in 
predicting job success is: how well does a person fit the 
job.

The study concluded that personality traits are the 
controlling factors in determining if a person will be 
successful in a particular job provided all other things are 
equal. To benefit from this knowledge, however, a company 
must know what personality an employee needs to be 
successful in a particular job.

Assessing Personality Traits:

The most effective assessments allow a company to match the 
right person to the right job, thus avoiding costly and 
frustrating hiring and training mistakes. A company needs to 
know the questions to ask and how to evaluate the answers 
received. Fortunately, software now exists that allows 
companies, in often less than an hour to:

Accurately assess an applicant's or employee's suitability 
for a particular job.

Make more informed training and management decisions

Judging and even understanding personal behavior is often 
thought to be an art, not a science, which means our 
decisions based on a number of factors, none of which we can 
easily quantify. Computerized assessments help us to do pre-
employment screening that allows us to:

 -- Avoid wrongful dismissal lawsuits
 -- Train develop and promote employees
 -- Conduct performance appraisals and reviews
 -- Counsel problem employees
 -- Motivate employees
 -- Reduce turnover
 -- Increase productivity
 -- Improve job performance

There are many assessment tools available, but be sure the 
one you choose is:

 -- validated in accordance with professional standards and 
procedures
 -- non-discriminator and 
 -- it complies with EEOC and other federal guidelines
 -- able to correlate mental aptitudes and personality 
dimensions
 -- objectively scored by Computer with printed reports

At a minimum, the assessment should measure these individual 
areas:

 -- Mental abilities, such as: 
     - general ability and working with numbers, words, and 
shapes 
 -- Interests, such as 
     - working with people, data, and things
 -- Personality characteristics

Different jobs and different companies require different 
combinations of the above three traits. The personality 
characiteristic of your most effective employees, such as a 
wait staff, may doom those top performers to failure if they 
are required to perform the job of a manager. If your 
company is very informal, for instance, a more rigid 
individual may not fit in as well as a non-rigid person.

The following provides a comparison of personality traits 
that are commonly used:

 -- Diplomatic versus Independent
 -- Cooperative versus Competitive
 -- Submissive versus Assertive
 -- Spontaneous veras Conscientious
 -- Innovative versus Conventional
 -- Reactive versus Organized
 -- Introvert versus Extrovert
 -- Self-sufficient versus Group-oriented
 -- Reserved versus Outgoing
 -- Emotional versus Stable
 -- Restless versus Poised
 -- Excitable versus Relaxed

Conclusion:

When we learn what mental abilities, interests, and 
personality traits allow our best employees to be so 
successful, we can increase our chances of hiring more 
people with the same set of characteristics. This is a 
simple concept that is elegant in its application.
                          ***
About Robert Gately & Gately Consulting:
There is a new, innovative, easy-to-use, cost-effective 
method for determining: the best job applicants to hire; the 
right employees to promote; the best method to use to 
improve performance of current employees; the best colege 
major or career choice for people over 15 years old. The 
people with this state-of-the-art method is Gately 
Consulting/Profiles International, Inc. 

Robert F. Gately, PE, MBA  
GATELY CONSULTING
115 Dutcher Street
Hopedale, MA 
01747-1006
(508) 473-0955 
(508) 634-0670 Fax
72673.1504@CompuServe.Com
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gately


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
 Creating a loyal customer/prospect base
by Our Staff

Whether your customers come from your home town, your 
country or around the world, your local community plays a 
important part in your business's success.

Even if your customers are scattered around the globe, most 
of your employees are probably going to be local, as are 
suppliers and the government bureaucrats you are going to be 
dealing with. How they see you and your business can help 
spell success or failure for your small business. 

This makes it vital to create a favorable, friendly, caring 
image in your home town, a genuine one, of course. Not only 
is this an advertising/public relations effort, it is a 
rewarding way to pay back your community for it's support.

And, becoming involved with community activities is a 
wonderful way to meet potential customers, vendors, 
employees and centers-of-influence for your business.

Being involved will greatly improve your quality of life, 
the image your company presents to the community and 
directly improve your bottom line.

Public Service as a Marketing Tool

First, identify the key institutions of your community. What 
are the areas that appear to be the most important to the 
most people, ones that create the most emotion and community 
response. Possible candidates include:

Business Groups (Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, etc.)
Children's Activities (Scouts, Guides, 4H, Little League, 
Jr. Soccer)
Civic Groups 
Community Centers
Hospitals
Libraries
Places of Worship
Schools
Seniors' Centers

Because many families have young children in school, your 
public (government-run) schools may be  most important. 
Parents generally want their children to get a good 
education, one better than they, the parents, had received. 

Next, probably would be places of worship, civic and 
business organizations.

Find ways for you and your business to help your locals 
schools. These acts don't have to cost a lot of money or 
even time. And they are wonderful investment in the future 
of your business and the children of your community.

A few examples that I've seen include; a home 
remodeling/paint firm that offered to paint the school gym 
free. The firm received much free local publicity and the 
appreciation of the school staff and of all the families 
with kids attending the school. 

Another business donated automobile bumper stickers that 
said "I love Hometown Elementary School!" with a small 
message "Donated by XYZ Plumbing". The staff and 
parent/teacher organization were thrilled. There was free 
publicity and, of course, hundreds of cars are driving 
around the community with this message on it. And . . . it 
gives the company owner and staff a very positive feeling 
each time they see a car with the stickers go by.

This type of donation can be applied to several of the 
target community groups and activities. And, they cost very 
little.

Another win/win way  to help and receive free publicity is 
to donate surplus computers, office equipment, outdated 
supplies, etc. to the schools and other civic organizations. 
They are almost universally under-funded and can normally 
use whatever you can give.

You can also offer your business products, services and even 
possibly your staff for fund-raising activities. Many groups 
now have auctions to raise money. Be inventive!

And most valuable of all is to give your time. It may be 
limited, but it will be the  most appreciated gift and one 
that doesn't directly cost your business money. For example, 
one business person offered to read to 3rd grade children in 
the school's library. Not only did the school staff come in 
contact with this business owner, but more than a hundred 
children, their parents and library staff, people who may 
not have even known what this entrepreneur did.

One of the reasons huge firms like McDonald's have been so 
successful is that they understand the principle of 
community involvement as a marketing tool and provide a 
variety of "feel good" help in their local and national 
communities. 

Of course, they have more resources and money, but they use 
it wisely . . . and you can too. 


TIP: How Old Are You?

Well really, how old is your company? If it has survived for 
more than the first years most small businesses fail in, be 
sure to include this information to your customers and the 
community.

For example, you can say:

founded - 1989
serving you since 1989
relied upon by consumers since 1989
serving the community for over 7 years

well, you get the idea!


BUSINESS RESOURCE: 
from our staff

Supplies for creating advertising pieces, stationery and 
mailings can be very expensive. One firm charges $20.00 per 
100 sheets for it's pretty papers, and you can spend up to 
$30.00 for a 1000 or so pressure sensitive labels. 

But there is an alternative . . . Desktop Publishing 
Supplies. We've used them for two years, and they offer 
consistently lower prices on a good (although not huge) 
selection of desktop publishing/mailing/printing supplies, 
plus fast, friendly, personalized service. And they ship 
worldwide.

To contact them for a free catalog:

Desktop Publishing Supplies
web: http://www.enterweb.com/dps-inc/
e-mail: (ksmith5871@aol.com)
425 Washington Ave. / North Haven CT 06473 
800-443-3645 / 205-239-3372


Do you have a good international business resource? E-mail 
      it to: Editor@EarthOne.com                       Thank you!


INTERNATIONAL TRADE SOURCES 
contributed by: Marlene H. Gaberel, MBA

The following trade leads are submitted by subscribers of 
each organization. The organization, in turn makes it 
available to its subscribers via e-mail and through their 
respective web sites.

Please note that the organizations discussed below provide 
their services for free. Your only charges are your online 
connection.

TRADENET WORLD SERVICE: This company based in Beverly Hills, 
CA can be accessed at http://www.TradeNet.org. On the site 
you can post your own buy/sell. If you prefer to receive 
their trade leads  via e-mail, send a message to 
list@TradeNet.org or by leaving a  note at the web site. It 
is possible to receive and to browse only the categories 
that are of interest to your business.

Trade leads are available in 12 categories, from consumers 
goods to services. A summary of each buy/sell is presented 
at the beginning of each listing. This makes it easy to 
check only the ones that seem interesting. TradeNet has no 
archives to search though. 

TRADEWINDS is available on the web at 
http://scbbs.com/~tradewinds. To subscribe to these trade 
leads, send a subscribe request to trade-l@intl-trade.com. 
Please note that this is the letter l not the number 1. On 
Tradewinds web site you can post your buy/sell request, 
access the current offerings and search the archives by key 
words of past trade leads. Tradewinds site also has many 
links of interest to Importers/Exporters. Like TradeNet, all 
listings have a summary or table of contents classified as 
announcement/sell/wanted.
 
However, unlike TradeNet, commodities/products/services are 
combined together. The web site organizes offerings on a 
daily basis while the e-mail messages include several days 
of posting. For Internet users that do not have web access, 
it is possible to get the guidelines on how to retrieve 
TradeNet archives by sending an e-mail to Trade-L-
Request@intl-trade.com by adding in the subject "archives 
help."

Contributed by: 
Marlene H. Gaberel,
Import/Export Consultant
Sandy Hook, CT  06482 (USA)
Tel. 203-426-4846
FAX  203-270-7195
e-mail: mgaberel@nai.net

Self-employed import/export consultant since 1989. Assists 
small/medium-sized firms in the export process. Bilingual 
French/English. Worked previously in Swiss banking and 
trading. MBA and International Traffic & Transportation 
degree.


GETTING HELP! alternate sources for part-time employees
by Our Staff

You've worked hard and built your business up to the point 
where you simply can't do all the work yourself. 

Hopefully, the cash flow is good and you've efficiently 
organized your day to get the most done that you, by 
yourself, can do.

Now you need help! You simply can't do it alone. But you are 
hesitant to hire a full-time employee. The responsibilities, 
costs, and legal requirements are daunting.

Let's discuss ways how you can get just the right help 
without committing yourself to a long-term, complex, 
employee/employer relationship. Some may be self-evident, 
but some may give you new ways to inventively solve being 
under-staffed.

FAMILY: Most likely, you have already dipped into this 
"labor pool". Most small business people do. Your spouse has 
probably already put in many hours helping you make your 
business grow. Other adult family members can be asked for 
help in an emergency.

Perhaps you could get your children (and/or those of a close 
relative) to help too. Younger children can lick stamps, 
stuff envelopes, and other routine chores that don't require 
a lot of supervision. Older, more mature children, can do 
more complex tasks and even help customers while you do some 
other task or are out of the office/store/factory.

LOCAL AT-HOME PARENTS: There is a vast labor pool in most 
communities that many businesses of all sizes overlook. It's 
the mothers and fathers who have taken the option to stay 
home with their young children rather than go outside the 
home to work.

Many have college degrees and years of experience working in 
offices and factories before they "retired". If you can be 
flexible in the hours your part-time/temporary employees do 
your work, you can have excellent people help you within 
your limited budget. 

Normally, these people are available after their children 
have gone to school and before they come home. Often, they 
can do much or all of your work at their home, reducing your 
liability and the office space you need. 

A small anonymous HELP WANTED ad with a reply box address 
will often result in a stack of resumes from people in this 
category. We have had three excellent long-term employees 
that came to us in this manner. 

STUDENTS: Local high schools and full-time colleges are also 
potential sources for young people looking for work on a 
part-time/short-term basis. Many schools have counselors or 
even an entire office to work with you to provide you with 
possible helpers.

Again, you must be flexible to make this work. And, since 
you are dealing with youth, you have to supervise more 
carefully. You also need to be sure that they are working in 
a safe, risk-free environment.

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS: There are a number of 
organizations (Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc.) that can do 
contract labor under supervision at their locations. You 
must be willing to work with their staffs and maintain an 
well-established set of standards for work done by the 
workers they supply.

SECRETARIAL/OFFICE HELP SERVICES: Not to be confused with 
Temporary Employee firms. One successful method that we have 
used is locating people who provide services (typing, 
database entry, mailings) for a fee. Unlike at-home parents, 
they are organized to provide specific services, usually to 
other small businesses and can often do what you want to 
have done, when you need to have it done at a fraction of 
what even a part-time in-house employee would cost. 

TELECOMMUTERS: If the work can be sent/received by computer, 
then it really doesn't matter where your employee is located 
. . . as long as you can both speak the same language and 
can work together via e-mail and the occasional telephone 
call. 

We've found this a very effective way to have people help us 
with work we either can't or won't undertake ourselves. It 
is also an excellent way to get professional assistance for 
our business that we couldn't afford to bring into our 
business as staff.  We've been doing this with people all 
over the U.S. for the last year, and it is extremely cost-
effective. 

Another of our "finds" is  Sarah Ruona in Illinois. Sarah
has done a variety of mailing list design and data entry 
chores and can do a whole host of creative office work at 
highly competitive rates via the Internet. 
(74064.1366@compuserve.com)

TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT SERVICES: This is the most expensive 
alternative to having in-house part time employees, but the 
one designed expressly to serve your needs quickly. A 
temporary service can normally provide trained 
office/factory staff on a day or two's notice for as few or 
as many days as you need help and at a fixed per-hour 
charge. While their charge is not low, it is usually 
considerably less than what an on-staff part or full-time 
employee would cost when you factor in benefits, taxes and 
tax accounting.

((( IWire recommends MCSS for your staffing needs! )))

By using a little inventiveness, you can have just the right 
amount of help without creating a significant drain on your 
finances. It will also give you vital experience learning 
what you need and want from your employees for the day when 
you hire full-time staff.

TIP - Saving your greatest resource!

Are you letting a valuable resource slip through your hands?

Many small-business people do! They don't keep a customer 
list.

Almost all large businesses do. They know that their 
customer list is one of their most valuable assets. They 
guard it, use it, and profit from it regularly.

We have all visited a small business, a shop or service 
business and no one asked our name or how the business might 
contact us again.

If you are not doing it now, start immediately collecting 
the names and addresses of your customers. You don't have to 
demand it, but explain to your customer that you send out 
special money-saving mailings or new product announcements 
to your customers from time to time.

You can have them fill out a "Guest Card" when they visit 
your business. Then either you or someone on your staff can 
copy the information to a computer file for later use. You 
don't even need to know immediately what you are going to do 
with.

Remember these are people with whom you have a business 
relationship, who hopefully have a positive feeling about 
your firm (they bought from you), and who use your products 
or services.

Business may be so great now that you simply don't have time 
to mail to these VIPs. If so, congratulations! But most 
businesses have an off-season. That's the time to pull out 
your list and do a little creative direct-mail advertising 
to your valued customers.

Or perhaps you or someone on your staff might send X number 
of postcards or letters out each week with a special offer, 
new product announcement or just a "Thank You" for doing 
business with your firm.

Even if you have no immediate plans to do any of this, begin 
compiling your customer list today.


A BUSINESS PARABLE OF CHINA TRADE
by an anonymous Asian trader

"You see that yacht on the right.  Look at the registration.  
Yes, 'Miami'.  Just imagine crossing the Atlantic in  a 
small yacht like that.   And look, there's one from Canada . 
. . . and wow, another American one there . . . .  Just 
imagine the amount of time, energy, determination and skill 
each one of these crews must have, to take their craft all 
the way here to Paris".

It was a beautiful sunlit day as we walked along the 
yachting marina just off the main waterway of the Seine.   
As the twin towers of Notre Dame cathedral came into view, 
we walked across to a riverside café, to sit down in the 
sunshine, quench our thirst and admire the architecture, the 
ambiance; and especially the sights and sounds of the six 
beautiful ladies at the next table.

As I leaned over to catch the waiter's attention, I saw one 
of my friend's products in the hands of a lady at the next 
table.  "So, just how are the sales of your products in 
China?" I asked my friend.

"I just don't get it.  After I said goodbye to you in Hong 
Kong last month, my Hong Kong agent took me to Canton to 
sign the contract with the big buyers from the north.  They 
simply didn't turn up.  I can't even get a word out of them.  
They won't reply to my fax, and my Hong Kong agent either 
ignores my fax and phone calls or gives me the most 
ridiculous answers.  Just think how many times have I come 
to Hong Kong during the past twelve months.   I hate to 
think of all the money I spent on flights in China, and all 
the hotel bills.   I've got nothing to show for all that 
money, time and energy I expended".

"Hmmm . . . . you forgot one important ingredient.  Remember 
a few minutes ago, when you talked about the time and effort 
the North American yachtsmen put in to come here?  Well, 
before they set sail, they spend a lot of time looking at 
the charts and in simply planning each and every detail of 
their voyage, right down to the number of coffee cups.   I 
was really surprised when you came to me in Hong Kong and 
said that you'd found a big buyer, after just a casual chat 
with a so-called agent who's never sold this type of 
product".

"That agent's cost me over US$15000 in all those flights and 
hotels for me and him . . . .  and I haven't even counted 
the costs of all those enormous banquets for the prospective 
buyers and their entourage of a hundred each time we went 
there.  Now, I just want to forget all about exporting to 
China," my friend spoke ruefully, finishing his drink in one 
long gulp.

"You really should have spent that money on market research . . ."

"What's the good of that," my friend interjected.  "Here I 
have a product, that to all intents and purposes is the same 
as the market leader in China, and I export it for half the 
price.  My packaging is at least as good as the market 
leader, if not better.  All I wanted was a buyer who had the 
money and knowledge to import even a small quantity, just to 
get started".

"It's almost the end of May now.  Next week I go to 
Singapore.  By the end of June I should have a little spare 
time to do something for you in Hong Kong.  Meet me there in 
July," I said as my friend turned to talk with the girl at 
the next table, who'd 'accidentally' spilt some iced 
beverage on his sleeve.

"The old folks in my village back home say that when you see 
that, it's going to rain the next day."  My friend was 
pointing to the distinctly red moon as we looked back east 
along the deserted kilometer-long overhead walkway from the 
Star Ferry pier to the Macao Ferry pier.  The red moon 
almost looked like just another of the millions of lights 
which shine out across Hong Kong harbor every evening.

"Red and gold are considered by many as the luckiest colors 
in this part of the world.  I'd never have noticed the red 
moon if you hadn't pointed it out to me.   I've heard of a 
blue moon, but . . . .".

"Yes, when in China, do as the Chinese.  A red moon and a 
gold moon in one night can only be a good omen.  Let's go to 
Macao some other night and take a taxi right now to Repulse 
Bay Beach," the red moon had certainly put my friend into a 
very cheerful mood.

It didn't rain at all that evening, as we talked late into 
the night by the beach, occasionally gazing at the few 
swimmers enjoying the water's edge, and at the other folks 
ending a long sweltering summer's day with activities around 
barbecue fires and coming out of the restaurants and music 
establishments.

My friend listened intently as I told him the news:

"Last month, I was introduced to a person who has had 
extensive experience selling to duty free shops and other 
establishments specializing in imported products, in one 
particular province in China.  Now this province is enormous 
- - its land size and population is around the same as that 
of France.  I gave him several of your samples, and I told 
him to just go and talk to his old friends in several towns 
and counties, and find out precisely what they think of your 
products.

"I have a long written report for you in the office.  But 
basically, I believe that the reason why your prospective 
buyers up North were at first so enthusiastic about your 
main product and then refused to talk to you is quite 
simple.  Yes, your main product is just right as far as 
tastes and other subjective factors are concerned, and yes, 
your packaging is excellent.  When you offered your product 
for half the price of the market leader, your prospective 
buyers must have jumped for joy.

"But my researcher found out that there is a large import 
tax.  Once you factor in import costs and inland 
distribution costs in China, your price advantage changes 
from half price to just fifteen or twenty per cent.  And you 
have no budget for advertising . . . .".

"Hold on there, our advertising will come immediately after 
the first sales," my friend interjected.  "I was going to 
use all the profits to print posters, give away French 
crystal glasses and a whole host of other things".

"Even then, when you consider the massive advertising budget 
of the market leader, your price advantage is simply not 
going to get you anywhere".

"OK, so it's time to give up.  There's no future for my 
products in China," my friend said glumly and got up to help 
a little boy back on to the bicycle from which he'd just 
fallen in to the soft sand.

"Ahhh, but there is a future.   My researcher showed some of 
your lower end range to one wholesaler who specializes in 
sales to tourists.    Your price is right and you have next 
to no competition.  He says that you should jump right into 
this niche".

"But I don't want a small niche . . . . I've come to China 
for the biggest market in the world.  1,200 million people . 
. . ." my friend was intent on focusing on the big numbers.

"Just set your sights on one step at a time.  Once your 
brand becomes familiar because of sales to tourists, then 
people in the trade, from bartenders to shopkeepers are sure 
to recommend it to locals," I explained.  "You know just how 
much word-of-mouth advertisement is worth, especially if you 
strategically reinforce it with much of your profits going 
into mainstream advertising.  I will not be too surprised if 
your brand name becomes hot property in a very short time".

"But what about my main product?  That's the type of product 
that's most in demand in China right now.  Just look at the 
fantastic sums the market leader is achieving in sales," my 
friend demanded.

"When your brand name is famous because of the lower end 
product, then it's time to step in with your main product.  
Effectively, the sales of your lower end product will mean 
free advertising for your main product".

"And do you have any news about my most expensive product?" 
my friend asked.

"According to this researcher, there's not much demand for 
your product in this province.  But I have spoken to another 
researcher who works in another Chinese province, about two 
hours flying time from here, with a population about the 
size of Spain.  I authorized him to conduct a limited market 
research project there.  His Market Survey Report is also in 
my office.   He has identified a small niche market for your 
most expensive product.  Only problem is that your packaging 
is too cheap . . . . ".

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