Time magazine highlighted 37 countries that it feels are hot spots for doing business.   Where do you rank on the list?  Are you taking advantage of these new unforeseen customers?  Do you have the most efficient supply chain in place?  Can your freight costs be reduced?  Are you exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations?

3 Steps to international expansion

To explore strange new worlds – Explore

The first thing you need to do is your market research.  Take the list of 37 countries that time magazine has given in The Best Countries for Doing Business by Time Magazine .  You know your demographics, your ideal customer.  If you don’t know your ideal customer, that is an article for another day.  Find one country that fits your demographic and start with one country at a time.  Never try to expand to the whole world at once, you will lose focus, and lose your mind.  Just target one country at a time and keep expanding every 6 months to a year.

If you have never done business outside of the U.S., it might be wise to start with a country that speaks English like Australia, England, or Canada.  However, do not let language be an obstacle, I know many companies who sell “lights out” to Sweden, Norway, and Germany without speaking one word of any of those languages.  The bottom line is, if you have a good product people in other countries will crave and want what you have.  America has a great reputation for providing higher quality.  People in other countries love American products.  You already have respect, take advantage of it.

The classic example of doing your market research is Disney Europe.  Disneyland is based on fairy tales characters and movies produced by Disney.  When Disney was expanding they decided to build a theme park in Europe.  They invested and opened Disney Europe in Paris.  Let’s just say it never took off.  To put it subtly, it was a total flop.  What Disney failed to realize is that all Disney movies are based on fairy tales originating from European stories.  The European originals were mostly written by the Brothers Grimm.  They were grim, tragic, and often gory.  The little mermaid sacrificed herself for her love and they do not live happily ever after, the wicked step sisters get their eyes pecked out by birds etc.   Not only did the locals not like it, but travelers going to Paris, are they really going to forgo the Eiffel Tower for Disneyland?  Disney Japan was a phenomenal success.  Not all countries will be hot spots for your product.  The moral of the story is to do your market research.

To seek out new life and new civilizations – Seek

After you explore the best possibilities for your business, now you turn proactive and seek.  This means you target or advertise to these countries.  The first and obvious advertising method is online. Make your product available online.   Find a fantastic SEO (Search Engine Optimization)/internet marketing/whatever other “buzz” word it is called.  If you don’t have a great team behind you, feel free to check out our friends, they really know their stuff GravitateOnline.  Never forget the reality that, “It is not the best products that succeed, it is the best ‘marketed’ products, that succeed.”

Next, if you have contacts in any other countries, try to get them to start blogging about you.  I know a business that does mega sales in the Netherlands and the only advertising they have is a blog.  If you aren’t selling on the internet, you are missing a huge piece of the pie.  Basically you are limiting your product to local customers only.  If you really can’t manage the internet right now, try to find a magazine or other method in that country that you can use to find customers.  However, beware that phone sales will be difficult, language barrier etc.  Online is more straight forward and every person can understand a picture with a price.   The internet helps breach the language barrier.

If you are a wholesaler, look for distribution methods in that country that will work for you.  Many of their systems work the same as ours; find their retail shops that are comparable to domestic retail shops.  It is not as difficult as you think to sell internationally.  Seek and find a way to make it happen.

Finally, boldly ship where no one has shipped before – Reap your Reward

After you have done your homework and found new customers, this is the step where you make it happen.  Keep your customers happy, make great product, and you will see that word of mouth marketing will explode your sales.  I cannot emphasize enough the importance of reliability and customer service when selling internationally.  Trust is everything.  Once they realize you are trustworthy, they will buy again and again.  They will tell their friends to buy, that is why blogs and testimonials are fantastic.  Lastly, when you are super successful and need reliable shipping feel free to contact us and we will give you a quality online freight quote for any of your international shipping needs.  Feel free to use us to keep your reputation spotless.

Using USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes you can!

In a recent sitcom episode one character challenged herself to make her soon to be brother in law open his eyes to the wonders of the United States Postal Service.  She wanted him to fill awe and respect for the USPS.  Her argument was the USPS can virtually do anything.

She tried to send him a fish bowl with a live fish in it with just a few stamps and an address.  The delivery person wouldn’t accept the live fish.  It is not hard to imagine why shipping anything that is alive may take more than a couple of stamps and an address.

On the other hand she wasn’t far off by saying you can ship almost anything with the right amount of postage and a legitimate address.

Just this last Christmas I was able to mail a gag gift to my brother through the post office.  I sent him a cupcake inside a piece of paper that said Merry Christmas.  I used one stamp and put his address on it and he received it just before Christmas.  He didn’t eat it because it wasn’t in its original shape but it was nevertheless delivered.

You may have many other stories about odd things that have been shipped.  Some people have mailed bowling balls by writing the address on the ball and taping the postage to it.  That may roll around in the delivery truck a little more than normal but it can be delivered.

Using USPS priority mail flat rate boxes you can ship anything that fits for one flat rate.  It is not recommended to test the Post Office to see what will and will not be mailed.  But for your business you can be sure that your package will make it from point A to point B.

The Post Office has a higher delivery percentage than both UPS and FedEx.  This means that if your package is more likely to be delivered even if there are problems with the address or some other problem.  The Postal Service truly does deliver.

USPS Priority Mail flat rate boxes make shipping fast and easy.  There is no need to worry about zones, dimensions, or weights under 70 lbs.

According to Transport Topics the national average of Diesel raised a few cents again this last week.  They say that it is a new two year high and nearly 50 cents higher than it was this week last year.  This can increase the cost of your online freight quotes.

Some reports have indicated that regular unleaded fuel will reach and pass the five dollar mark by the year 2012.  The cost of fuel keeps going up.  It will continue to rise as long as there is a demand.  A barrel of oil is a commodity much like LTL freight shipping one barrel is as good as the next.  The price is driven almost exclusively by what people are willing to pay for it.

In the world of trucking and LTL freight shipping the constant fluctuation in the price of a barrel of oil causes ups and downs in the price of fuel surcharges.  Freight carriers need to have the ability to cover their costs.  If their costs go up and down so will their charges.  Freight carriers always build in fuel surcharges to make sure they don’t lose money.

In the grand scale of economics, LTL freight shipping is grouped into the rest of the economy that suffers inflation.  Inflation is normal as long as it is not excessive.  Fuel is necessary to keep food, clothing and other products on the shelves.  The cost of these goods will continue to rise with the rising cost of fuel.

The best we can do to help improve the cost of fuel is to do our best follow green practices.  This means reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Only by reducing our own carbon footprints can we help to temper the rising cost of fuel.

Reduce your carbon footprint and the amount of fuel you use.  If you can work from home do it.  It saves you time, money, and fuel.  More and more companies are allowing employees to work from home.  If you fail to plan you plan to fail.  Plan your days and weeks and organize your time to reduce the amount of driving you have to do.

Reuse as much as you can.  I know that it is difficult to reuse fuel.  It is impossible according to my understanding.  But by reusing your other regular everyday goods you will reduce the amount of fuel needed to transport new goods to your local cities and towns.

Recycling is the all around general answer to becoming green.  More and more cities are encouraging recycling and providing the means to do it.  Find out from your local government how you can participate and become greener.

The United States Postal Service operates the largest alternative fuel fleet in the country.  By using USPS priority mail flat rate boxes and services you can contribute to reducing our nation’s carbon emissions.

There are several different types of freight and just as many different ways to ship them.  SpiderShip.com gives can give you access to instant online freight quotes from the best freight movers. The two most common categories of domestic ground freight are LTL and FTL.  LTL freight means freight that is less than a full load.  It doesn’t take up a full truck. FTL or TL means full truck load and truck load. Within these two categories there are various types of trailers and categories.

LTL freight shipping is generally confined to shipments less than 10,000 lbs and 1-10 pallets. The online freight quotes system caters to the LTL industry. LTL means that it is less than a full load. Or in other words it is not going to fill and entire trailer. LTL carriers have spent millions of dollars building their networks so they can accommodate LTL loads. The object of each freight mover is to fill each truck to its capacity thereby reducing the cost per pallet that they have to pay to delivery each load.

Shipping LTL freight can be simple. LTL freight is largely considered to be a commodity. The primary concern of any shipper is that the cargo arrives on in tact, and on time. Most national LTL carriers have worked hard to maintain certain levels of service and are very trust worthy. When you use the online freight quotes system you will receive the best 15 to 20 quotes from over 65 carriers instantly. You can then choose which carrier to use.

You can ship almost anything you want with an LTL carrier using online freight quotes. It is best to always put your shipment on a skid or pallet and wrap it with shrink wrap or some other type of protective exterior. The keys to packing your shipment is to make it easy for the freight carrier to move it from one truck to another and to make sure it cannot me damaged in any way.

Full truck loads can be a little more difficult to use until you get the hang of it. The first problem is that there isn’t always a carrier that runs the lane that you need to ship every single day like an LTL carrier. Some FTL carriers are large corporations with many vehicles. Other carriers are individual operator owners. If there are more loads than there are trucks then the law of supply and demand will slide in favor of the truck drivers and drive costs up. Also if your load is an undesirable lane your may not get any offers at all to take your load.

Truck loads can also come in a variety different equipments or types of trailers. Some commodities are best shipped on flat beds or step decks. Some require refrigeration or freezers. Other loads need to arrive the next day or even the same day. LTL loads have the same options and requirements from time to time but it is more prevalent with full truck loads

To find a truck to take your load it is best to use a broker. The broker will post your load so all available trucks in the area can view it and then contact the broker to move the load. It is likely that each time you send a load you will have a different carrier take it.

The most difficult loads to ship and keep the cost down are the loads that fall in between a full truck and a less than truck load. These fall into the range or what is called a volume quote. But depending on the load it may be difficult to fit other commodities in the same load and thus you will have to pay for the full truck even if you don’t need it. It may be more economical at times to send the shipment in two parts and take advantage of the lower LTL rates.

Let’s be realistic.  All LTL freight movers, even the best ones, has damaged freight from time to time.  That is why you can find forms for claim on every carrier’s web site.  It is just like the famous philosopher Forrest Gump said “It happens”.

Damaged Freight Case Study

Just before Thanksgiving a young company made its first large shipment to a new customer.  The anticipation of a new and large customer is very exciting in any business.  The LTL freight shipment was made through the online freight quotes system.  A well known and respected national LTL freight carrier was chosen to make the delivery.

When the product arrived at its destination one of the cases was leaking.  This company sells a tropical beverage that will reduce stress, boost the immune system and increase focus.  The vast majority of the goods were fine but somewhere in transit one of the cans started leaking.  The vendor had no idea how much or what was damaged.  It was assumed that it was a total loss.

This is an unfortunate experience for any company.  The little damage to the can may seem minor but the concern of the relationship with the customer who is paying for the product could be in jeopardy.  Also the relationship of the vendor and the shipper could be damaged.

After the product is refused or partially refused begins the process of filing the claim.  Every single carrier has a different claims process.  Each can have its own advantages and disadvantages.  The best case scenario is that none of your LTL freight shipments are ever damaged.

But if you ever do have damaged freight be thankful if you are using the online freight quotes system.  When the freight was damaged the carrier contacted our corporate headquarters.  After that the account representative was notified.  He contacted the customer to find out what to do with the remaining goods.  He also directly contacted the receiving warehouse and the carrier to find out what exactly was damaged and what was not.   After those phone calls it was discovered that only one case out of 160 was leaking.  The loss ended up only being around $20.

When you use a 3PL and when you use the online freight quotes system you will have access to this level of service.  The amount of time savings you get by trusting a professional trained shipping expert can be incalculable.  The ideal situation is that you never have to make a claim during the entire lifespan of your business.  The reality is not if but when you will have a shipment damaged.

When this occurs you will sleep better at night knowing that there is someone on your side representing you to the carrier.  How motivated is an employee of the carrier to take money from the company that employs her or him?  How motivated is that company to assist you with the claims process?  As a 3PL the loyalty lays with the customer not the carrier.

USPS priority flat rate boxes allow you to ship anything you can fit in them under 70 lbs for one flat rate to anywhere in the country.  USPS discounts are available through SpiderShip.com.  The flat rate can be the greatest thing that ever happened to your company.  Some products are going to fit into this niche better than others.  Some companies shipping habits will also make a more ideal fit than others.

The very first criterion is if your product fits into the box.  For exact measurements of all the flat rate boxes available visit the USPS website for information about USPS priority mail flat rate boxes.  There are three different rates and sizes, small medium and large, medium has two different shapes and so there is a total of four different boxes.

If your product fits into the boxes the next step is to figure out how much it weighs.  Try to fit as much weight into the box as possible because the price will be the same.  If you can fit 20 lbs into the box try to compare the price you are paying with USPS discounts to what your price will be with UPS or with FedEx.  Compare the prices in zone one or two first then compare the prices in the highest zone you ship to.  The great thing about the USPS priority mail flat rate boxes is that your price will not change from zone to zone.  Your price to zone 8 with FedEx or UPS will probably be higher.  Your price to Hawaii or Alaska will be laughable by comparison to the flat rate.

An ideal product for this type of shipping is drilling supplies or electrical construction materials.  Directional boring

drill bits or heads are solid, very dense, and very heavy.  If you need to send multiple in one box or can only fit one in a box you will have a significant savings.  Take advantage of your heavy products by using the USPS priority mail flat rate boxes.  Any hardware bolts, nuts, or screws can really add up.  Other companies will ship ball bearings, liquids and even sports drinks.

If your product needs to be delivered quickly without spending an arm and a leg USPS priority mail could be your perfect match.  Priority mail reaches over 90% of the United States within 2 days.  This will give you the confidence that your product will be delivered in a timely manner.

Chocolate can be a sensitive product to ship.  You may be worried that is will melt. If you ship with a regular ground service it could take up to 5 or 6 days to reach the destination.  How fresh will the chocolate be after 5 days in the truck?  It is less likely to melt and it will be fresher if you can deliver it faster.  A two day service from any other parcel shipping company will not compare to the price you will get using USPS discounts.

Your customers may also dictate which shipping methods are ideal for your company.  If you ship to residential customers the USPS Priority mail gives you a huge advantage.  The post office does not have a residential delivery fee.  That is an automatic two dollar savings per shipment.  The post office has fewer additional charges than all of the competitors.

There are many reasons to use the post office for your shipping needs.  USPS is a viable option and is dependable for all of your business needs.  USPS priority mail flat rate boxes will give you the best rates for fast heavy shipments that need to travel far.  Not all products and packages are going to fit the mold for priority mail shipping.  Take the time to try USPS discounts and see the difference.  You will be surprised at how convenient and easy it is and how much money you can save if you do “fit the mold”.

When choosing a logistics company there are several things that you should be looking for.

Shipping is a commodity.  As long as your package gets from point A to point B according to the desired service agreement and it is not damaged it does not matter which company actually moves it.  One of the most important factors is going to be your rate.  Online freight quotes will give you very good LTL freight shipping rates.  The internet is turning more and more products into commodities.  The shipping industry is no different.

After you have established a great freight rate through your online freight quotes the most important consideration is customer service.

Does the freight shipping company have 24 hr customer service?  Not that you will need to use it, but it is nice for the rare exception when you need to call a human in the middle of the night.

When you call your freight shipping company do they answer the phone?  Nothing is worse than needing some customer service and getting a phone tree.  A good account manager will give you their direct line and or their cell phone number.  Perhaps the most important part about customer service is the actual human to human interaction.

Are you treated as well as all their customers or do you feel like small potatoes?  Loyalty is a two way street.  Your logistics company or freight movers want you to be loyal to them and give them all of your LTL shipments.  Are they also going to be loyal to you and give you the fairest price possible?  Do they treat big customers better than the small ones?  Your logistics customer should treat you like his only customer regardless of if you are the biggest customer or the smallest customer.

Is your logistics company willing to bend over backwards for consistently to keep your business?  Or do they give you great rates just to get your business and then gradually raise them hoping you don’t notice.  Do they work like crazy to get your business only to relax how much attention they pay to you after you have shipped with them for several months?

Choosing a freight carrier or any company that you will be doing business on a regular basis can be an important decision.  Be sure to choose to work with people that you like and also that trust.  Make sure that the service they provide is a quality service.  If you care about the bottom line choose a company that has great rates.  Spider ship has great customer service for online freight quotes and great USPS discounts as well.

I was reading a book last week that asked the question how long it would take to make breakfast without large corporations that invest huge amounts of money into fabrication, production, development, freight movers and logistics.

How important are LTL freight shipping and online freight quotes?

I like to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast but I actually eat cold cereal more than I would like to admit.  How difficult would it be to make cold cereal without the shipping industry?

First I would have to travel to the nearest wheat farm to harvest some wheat.  There wouldn’t be any online freight quotes companies to get the good to my city.  I could probably crush it and grind it with some stones but I don’t know how to do that.  I would use the electric wheat grinder.  But without trucking my electric wheat grinder wouldn’t have been in the store so now I am back to the stones again.

After I have harvested and ground the wheat I would need to dig a well to find some water.  All of my plumbing pipes and fixtures were delivered in some sort of supply chain by some sort of freight mover.  I can’t go to the hardware store for a shovel so I could use my bare hands or fashion some sort of sharp object out of a nearby branch and the same stones I am using to grind the wheat.

If I want to sweeten the cereal I am about to make I need a sweetener.  Sugar cane is grown in the Caribbean.  There wouldn’t be any freight forwarders willing to give me a good price on container rates.  It is a long swim to get there so I am going to try some home grown sugar beats.  They are a natural sweetener that grows in my part of the country.

I don’t have a cow so I will need to buy milk from the nearest dairy farmer which could also be several hundreds miles from where I live.  I haven’t seen a dairy farm where I live or crossed one in my daily travels so I really wouldn’t know where to start.

After all of these travels which would take hours if not days to accomplish on foot, because my truck was never delivered to me, I would certainly have missed breakfast.  If I did manage to collect everything that I needed I wouldn’t have any appliances to cook with because they were delivered as well.

This small exercise can be repeated with almost any daily task that we as Americans undertake.  The entire shipping industry including LTL freight shipping and small parcel shipping like USPS priority mail flat rate boxes in all actuality make our world go ‘round.  Try and follow any product you have in your house and count the number of times it was transported from the time it was a raw material to the finished product in your home.  For that matter how much transportation went into the construction of you home?  The life blood of our society and our economy rests in the transportation industry.

When you chose to use SpiderShip.com’s online freight quotes system you will stream line your LTL freight shipping supply chain and save money at the same time.

The online freight quotes system will instantly give you the top rates from over 65 different LTL freight carriers.  You have the ability to choose which carrier you want use based on several parameters.  If you want to save money you can simply choose the lowest rate.  If you prefer to use a carrier based on a name brand take your pick.  If your cargo needs a guaranteed delivery you can choose that as well.  Having the power to make this decision yourself will give flexibility to your supply chain.

You will have a single point of contact for all of your shipments.  If your company ships a variety of commodities to multiple locations, using the online freight quotes system will be the Excedrin to your aches and pains.  If you send a pallet on FedEx National and have a question simply call your account representative.  If you send 9 pallets on YRC and need some help just call your same account rep.  Your representative will be your single point of contact for any and all questions you may have.

Unless you only ship one LTL freight shipment to the same place every single time one carrier will not give you the best rates consistently.  On the other hand an online freight quotes system has all of the top national and regional carriers.  Some carriers will have lower minimums allowing better prices for your lighter shipments.  Other carriers will give you better LTL freight rates for heavier shipments.  Also each carrier has certain lanes that are their strong suit.  Whether the hauls are regional or national online freight quotes can give you a good freight rate.

SpiderShip.com can give you 24 hour customer service and 24 hour access to rates.  Some business owners suffer from compulsions and neurosis that compel them to work and work and work.  If you are in the middle of a stroke of genius at 2 am and need to know what it is going to cost to send seven pallets of your newly created special frozen organic fruit smoothie to New York you can do that.  Or if you are in desperate need to find out where your shipment is and don’t have access to track it on your computer you can call the 24 hour customer service line.

All of these benefits will add up to a tremendous savings of time.  Many companies still use the old method of comparing rates.  They call each carrier individually and to get a rate from each one.  How many hours could it take to call 65 different carries to get a rate on a shingle shipment?  An instant quote sounds much better than 65 phone calls.  What if you have multiple shipments every day?  It could take all day to make that many phone calls.  Or you could use the online freight quotes system and get every quote instantly.

Eventually it all comes down to the bottom line.  Using the online freight quotes system will save you money.  Instead of receiving a discount based on the volume of your business alone will not give you the best discount you can get.  Combine your volume with all the other who use the online freight quotes system and you will save money.

Using the online freight quotes system will give you the buying power to get the best rates possible.  Do your LTL freight shipping with the same freight rates as a fortune 500 company.  Receive the same customer service as the big guys.  Make all this happen and make it quick and easy.  Simply click, print, and ship.

This list was taken from the 10 Major causes of Failure in Leadership adapted from Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

As an LTL freight shipping company, we work mainly with business owners.   We specialize in offering instant online freight quotes and USPS discounts.  We see a wide variety of leadership styles from the various freight movers we are associated with.  We see many different sizes of business, from the owner operated, to the hundreds of employees.  All companies have their own leadership styles.  Here is a list of qualities to avoid when giving good customer service.

These characteristics also can be the downfall of any technology system, online freight quoting system, or any company you ship with.  Make sure that you are using a company that is working for you and not against you.

INABILITY TO ORGANIZE DETAILS

When a company is too “busy” or too inefficient to address emergencies they do not have all their ducks in a row.  To provide good customer care they should have the resources to be organized and deal with any situation that may arise.  A good leader will organize and not be inconsistent and chaotic in decisions or choices.

UNWILLINGNESS TO RENDER HUMBLE SERVICE

I have seen many companies fall into the invincibility category.  As soon as business thinks it is infallible, that is when sales decrease and numbers drop dramatically.  Customers can tell when you humbly care about them and when you consider them just another paycheck in your pocket.  Humility is crucial for good customer service.

EXPECTATION OF PAY FOR WHAT THEY “KNOW” INSTEAD OF WHAT THEY DO WITH WHAT THEY KNOW

Great companies will back up their products with hard work and guarantees.  Great companies will also be confident enough in their abilities that they will give full disclosure of what they do and not try and hide behind smoke screens, difficult terminology, or lock clients into long term contracts forcing loyalty rather than gaining loyalty from customers.  A good online freight quotes system will be free to access and have no other fees, and have no minimum volume requirements.

FEAR OF COMPETITION

Businesses who are afraid of losing clients to competitors are not confident in their products.  This means they have some doubt as to their ability to meet the needs of their clients.  Steer clear of any company that is overly concerned with their competition.  A good leader will train others with their knowledge knowing that it will free them up to gain more knowledge instead of worrying that an understudy will usurp their power.

LACK OF IMAGINATION

Imagination is critical for coming up with good solutions in sticky situations.  A good company can use their imagination to create a custom plan for unique needs.  For example, some logistics companies have a customizable web-portal that can be changed specifically to meet special needs.

INTEMPERANCE

Intemperance means excess in anything, usually booze, but for our purposes it can mean excess of lifestyle in any form.  A good leader will be disciplined and not over indulge in any activity.  Likewise a good company will not over indulge in anything that does not benefit its customers.

DISLOYALTY

If trust is the main ingredient that builds quality and reliability, disloyalty will destroy a customer base faster than a speeding bullet.  All good business is built on trusting relationships, if your customers cannot rely on you or your products, they will leave quickly.  Loyalty is one reason it is so crucial to have products delivered on time and to trust the LTL freight carriers who are delivering your goods.  Your customers will appreciate your extra effort if you know and trust who is shipping your products.

EMPHASIS OF THE “AUTHORITY” OF LEADERSHIP

Efficient leaders encourage, they do not lead by threats and creating fear.  Likewise, a good business practice is not to threaten to revoke discounts for not meeting volumes.  A better marketing strategy is to encourage good behavior by offering rewards.  For example, if you don’t meet your monthly shipping volumes many companies will not give you their discount.  This is a disadvantage to working directly with a carrier.  If you work with a 3PL or online broker, there are no minimum requirements to receive your discounts.  A better practice for LTL freight carriers would be to charge a regular rate and incent more shipping volume by offering additional discounts for higher volumes rather than revoking discounts for not meeting pre-established quotas.

EMPHASIS OF TITLE

Leaders who make too much of their title generally have little else to emphasize.  Likewise a good company will emphasize their added value, not boast of accolades.

Call SpiderShip.com today and receive the best LTL freight shipping rates through our instant online freight quotes system. (801) 618-5609.