Thoughts on Going Global
April 10th, 2008
Posted by: Bob King, CEO
A few weeks ago, I was reading what I’m sure was one of several exit interviews given by Meg Whitman. Whitman recently left her job as CEO of eBay after 10 years. By the way, I think she did a fantastic job in leading eBay and creating value for a lot of people. The founders of eBay made a brilliant decision in bringing her on board at that stage in their growth.
The interviewer asked Meg what the best decision was that she made while eBay CEO. She replied that she could narrow it down to two — one was buying PayPal (can’t argue with that) and the other was to expand internationally.
The interviewer then asked the obvious: what her worst decision was? She answered that it was not entering the Japanese market.
It’s kind of telling, isn’t it, that both her best and worst decisions, in her mind, related to global expansion and international markets? Her words also confirmed for me a strategy we’ve been working on for some time here at ClickBank. We recently released Spanish language capabilities and a currency converter, and plan to release a couple of other languages and full multi-currency capability over the course of this year.
ClickBank has made it this far offering only English language and US Dollar capabilities, but if you really want to unleash the power of the Internet, you can’t stay isolated. It is easy to stand pat. But you have to get out of your comfort zone. It’s not just the translation of products and customer facing pages and currency conversions. It’s also multilingual customer service, and recruiting new publishers and affiliates in those new markets. This may prove to be difficult, but I believe it is going to pay off for all of us in the ClickBank community. For both product publishers and affiliates, this can open up new markets.
Wish us luck as we get out of our comfort zone.
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44 Responses to “Thoughts on Going Global”
I don’t believe you will be in your comfort zone for long. You certainly would not have made it to this point from the time you had the first idea and formed alliances. You have done well and I pray you will continue to do well at the level of expectations you are known to exceed
As an affiliate, I will do my part to ensure Click Bank’s success in the gloabal marketplace.
I am so excited!
Going International is always a great idea. I have an ebook on clickbank that sells at 49$. Just for the heck of it I translated it to French and ran PPC ads in France, Quebec (Canada) and Belguim… Was I glad to see a 1:10 conversion ratio !!! Just FIY – my USA/Canada/Australia PPC ads convert at 1:40 – 1:50!
So yeah, going global is a money maker!
As you are giving going global a second taught, you should also remember to include all the countries in the World in Clickbank Sign up, Not just Spanish Countries.
Thanks as we embrace you idea of going global. The would is a global village
Going global does not only mean doing business in differently languages or in different currency. It also mean not restricting any national from registering as an affiliates with Clickbank.
Clickbank has excluded many countries in its application / subscription page. One of it is Malaysia eventhough there are many bloggers from Malaysia. A report recently stated that there 500,000 active Malaysian bloggers.
Why exclude any particular country. EBay does not exclude Malaysia. It even has a local sites in Malaysia. Its not that due to any payment issue. Clickbank pay via cheque and not through any banks. Cheque can be mailed to any country just like 2CheckOut from UK.
If Clickbank trully want to go global, start by opening up your registration to all country nationals in the world.
Fred
I am very sure that the global marketers will thank you big time for opening up clickbank.com for other languages aswell! Here in Germany the US-style marketing techniques are are totally at a starting point an as far as i am concerned, it will become more sufficient in future. To ours and yours success!
Kenan
The questions about opening up registration to other countries are fair. But, there are many legitimate business reasons why we cannot accept clients from every country in the world.
That said, as we continue to expand globally I think it is appropriate for us to reevaluate our policies regarding prohibiting clients in certain countries. At this point I can’t make any promises except we will take a look at it.
Going global definitely provides many more opportunities. The fact is, only about 20% of the world speaks English as their primary language and there is a huge untapped audience out there which speaks other languages. It is challenging, however, but I believe the benfits outweight the challenges in the end.
Clickbank also does need to open up affiliate and vendor registration to other countries. Some countries I can understand restricting, due to fraud incidences, but many affiliate networks allow affilites from just about every country and seem to have few or no problems.
I think that it is an excellent idea to go global. It will make clickbank that much more successful.
Hi – I truly wished that Clickbank would allow an alternative payment via Paypal (or similar). It’s such a hassle at our banks here in Australia depositing overseas checks. Not to mention the fees and delays for clearance. Please consider as other large sites e.g. like Sedo.com give the alternatives in their program without undue confusion or manhours their end.
Nice to hear about this.
I might be able to help with Finnish translations if needed/wanted. And the we have euro’s, so that isn’t a problem eighter ;P
Check also the portuguese language market. It represents a good share with Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola and other countries. There’s no similar service like ClickBank for this language market.
Going global takes a lot of pre-requisites among which “Transparency”, and dissemination of relevant information are key.
I really think that ClickBank is a wonderful phenomenon among the Internet marketers, and it will succeed in its quest of the global markets; however a lot of work, and preparation is needed to make that a reality.
I will cheer you on at every step of the way, and will be glad to participate and make any contributions however small in making that happen.
Making Clickbank internationally friendly makes good business sense, not only for Clickbank but also for publishers and affiliates. I am a Clickbank affiliate and have been a customer, however, I recently closed my Clickbank products site as banking the commision cheques was problematic here in the U.K..
If Clickbank is serious about globalising its business then easier and more convenient ways of reimbursing it’s overseas publishers and affiliates needs to be addressed.
I would certainly re-open my Clickbank products site if I was getting paid in my local currency and getting the payments made directly into a paypal or my bank account.
One possible solution would be to have banking arrangements in certain countries to service the clickbank publishers and affiliates there and pay commisions monthly into their bank accounts. Only a suggestion but open to debate.
I do hope that a solution can be found as I would be more than happy to start promoting Clickbank and it’s products again.
I wish you luck in the venture and if I can offer any assistance then I’m more than happy to help.
Kenny
Scotland, U.K.
Thanks for the feedback regarding various options for paying our affiliates and publishers. We are currently exploring what choices are available to us and hope to be able to provide more detailed information in the future.
I’m very new to Internet marketing and just very recently joined Clickbank. I still have a lot to learn but I do know that I would love to see this come to Japan. I know it would be an instant success.
But I do share Kenny’s concerns on how affiliates and publishers would be paid. This is where an organization has to come out of its comfort zone and tackle issues that would lead to the global path.
Paying non-US based Publishers via PayPal (as a start) would be a helpful way of growing your international customer publishing base.
I joined Clickbank 6 years ago. BUT I am not active anymore. The problem is banking the commision cheques in Sweden.
Is it impossible to a solution for this? – Paypal, wire, debitcard (Payoneer – I get payments from other affiliateprograms in US and it´s working good!
When you find a solution for this problem you will get a lot of affiliates from the EU Countries.
Way to go, Clickbank. Make sure to look into your possibilities in Brazil. The economy is very strong right now and computers are all over the country. I am a Brazilian/US resident with a background in communications (and a clickbank member)and if Clickbank thinks I can be of help please email privately.
Thank you,
bebete
Way to go Clickbank, Why not tackle the hard one first and then the rest would settle into place.
China has so many people that are ready for this. I’m thrilled.
Russell G.
As a interpreter and translator i love to be part of this transition. I do have my own eproducts in other languages and I can see them going as hot cake… definitly we all profit with a global business extension.
Count on me !!
I received my first cheque from Clickbank value $26.00
approx’ £12.50. When my bank told me they were going to charge me £8.00 to clear it I tore it up and left it on the bank counter.
If I could be payed via PayPal I would be happy to return to Clickbank.
In the mean time I have various other ways of working on line.
Bob.
I want to mirror the comments made by others here by saying that you should also consider opening up to countries that are presently closed to you. I live in Saudi Arabia and, although I have managed to open an account, I cannot purchase any of your products but I can sell and receive cheques – strange!
How about setting up a subsidiary in Luxembourg so that Europeans don’t get charged unnecessary VAT. That would help.
Any way, if you don’t do it someone else will some already have. I guess we can’t wait for you to go global for ever. Selling in $us and living in Europe has become less profitable and we’ve got to make a move too if we want to survive.
Go big in Japan!
Although I am brand new to clickbank, my first instinct was to get your website in French (I’m from Paris) and open an office in France with the people I know(sounds easy too)!! And you have no competition right now. I will love to assit you in your European expansion!! You have to go soon or someone else will! I WANT TO HELP. LET ME KNOW.
It does not make sense to send checks in US dollars to European people, you need another way (check at: paydotcom.com). Can’t you get your own Paypal?
Talk to you soon.
Helena.
When you need help in populating the huge Russian-language market, just let me know. I think that not entering it would be as big a mistake as eBay not entering the Japanese market.
Good luck!
We need your help. There are a lot Filipinos who want join Clickbank.
I was informed today that Clickbank has allowed Malaysian to sign up as an Affilliate member!
That is great!
It looks like Bob, you had really listen and relook at Clickbank policy. I will give credit where credit is due and posted an article in my blog on Clickbank accepting Malaysian.
With that, I hope Clickbank will also consider adding Paypal as one of your mode of payment to affiliate.
Right now, I will be signing up as an affilliate and start promoting all the great products that you have to my reader in all my blogs.
Thanks again, Clickbank. This is really a happy news to all Malaysians.
I am pleased with the ClickBank thoughts of going Global inline with the recent action to remove the restriction from Malaysians to register Clickbank account.
Indeed this is the biggest joy for Malaysian Internet Marketers and they are celebrating it now.
You can check out many blogs and websites from Malaysia talking about this issue.
Hi Bob,
Thanks for the reply comment to my earlier post. Glad to hear that your company is looking for solutions to paying it’s international affiliates/publishers.
Electronic payments would be my suggestion. Electronic payments are safe, fast, and easy to track. Funds are accessible to your workforce quickly. Most importantly, electronic payments can save your company money. You issue paper checks but what happens when they are stolen or lost? Also, tracking paper checks around the world must be an expensive administrative nightmare.
Forward thinking businesses are using both international debit cards and global direct deposit to pay people around the world. With the advantages of international debit cards and global direct deposit, you are able to automate your operations and increase productivity that will help you retain your competitive edge.
If you have traditional direct deposit, workers must have bank accounts into which the money can be deposited. International debit cards and global direct deposit allow you to pay your network of world wide employees in their own currency. This solution eliminates currency conversions, fluctuations, and confusion.
Across the world, debit cards are the fastest growing way to disburse payments. Cards can be used by those that do not have bank accounts. Today, you’ll find workers with bank accounts often prefer to be paid on a debit card instead of direct deposit.
International debit card funds on the cards are easily accessible at any ATM or point of sale location around the world that accepts bank cards. The small fees associated with the use of cards are more than offset by the convenience and immediate accessibly to cash provided by the cards.
Plus if Clickbank issues more than 10,000 international debit cards, you receive the added benefit of branding your debit card. Each time a new card is issued anywhere in the world, the company brand is expanded.
Your business needs global payment solutions in a technologically advanced marketplace. International debit cards and global direct deposit can enable your business to move forward and expand well beyond your CEO’s wildest dreams.
It’s worth a look at and as before its just my opinion and open to debate.
I look forward to hearing what your future plans are,
Best Wishes,
Kenny.
Scotland.
I just hope that, I will wake one day that Filipinos, just like Malaysians are now allowed to create a clickbank account. Thanks.
Clickbank has excluded many SouthAmerican countries in its application / subscription page. One of it is Argentina, where we are from, eventhough there are many bloggers and Site owners here in Argentina waiting to be included as affiliates.
We don´t know why are you excluding US?
2checkout and other similar merchants accounts allow ALL southamerican countries without ANY or big problems at all.
If you has now the ability to include Spanish language products to the system (which is Great!), it´s a BIG contradiction to avoid registration as an affiliate to the people from the most of the spanish language countries. You only accept Chile and Uruguay, but you don´t accept even Argentina nor brazil, the 2 Biggest countries in South America??
Anyway, If Clickbank trully want to go global, start by opening up your registration to all country nationals in the world. Just an opinion.
Thanks you for your answer!
Daniel
Buenos Aires
Argentina
I read with alot of happiness the idea that you guys at clickbank were planning on going global. Then when I was about to leave a comment that you should include all countries in the world on your sign up page, I found that many a people had already addresses this issue. So I thought that there was no need of puting the same comment. Boy how wrong I was, because it seems that when you were making a decision on which more countries to include, you looked at where most of the comments came from for example Malysia.I was very happy when I checked on your sign up page and found that you had added more countries. But this happiness died slowly as I moved down the list and did not find my country Uganda.
In 2004, I sent an mail requesting for Uganda to be included on the sign up page and since many other countries were not included that time, your rejection was understandable. But what excuse can clickbank give now for not including uganda on the signup page. I believe that we could benefit alot from your services.
Uganda is one of the fasteds growing countries in Africa with a very vibrant Banking sector that can accept clickbank cheques, the postal system is honest and many people have access to the internet. Many online giants such as paypal ( Which is your partner) accepts ugandan online marketers. Google sends us cheques and It would be a very big boost if clickbank would include us and I believe this would help in fighting poverty among some of our people. Please look into this and I will be greatful to check again on your sign up page and find my country Uganda.
And by the way we are exposed to internet marketing and we can make some good sales through clickbank.
Can you address why Argentina, with a population of 40 million, has been excluded?
ClickBank uses fraud detection systems that take a wide variety of factors into account when determining from which countries we can accept publishers and affiliates. Unfortunately, at this time Argentina, among other countries, does not meet one or more fraud prevention standards we have in place to protect ClickBank, our publishers, and our customers. However, we are constantly monitoring and evaluating every country so that we can allow more publishers and affiliates into our network when fraud levels in a particular country become acceptable, as recently happened with Malaysia. We apologize for any inconvenience, and hope that we will be able to add Argentina and other countries to the ClickBank network soon.
I can’t believe they are not accepting Argentina! Such a great service like clickbank.
Fortunately Google checkout is coming here among others.
Pablo from Buenos Aires
PLEASE ad Argentina to your list. We are waiting to work with ClickBank since 5 or more years ago. If you have problems with click fraud you must take control of the fraudulent people, not the good workers. You will always have problems with that in different countries around the world, you can’t go global with that kind of policies. You have frauds even in your own country, but the you can’t stop your operations, you must take other kind of decisions like protect good users and punish the bad ones (not punish everyone!)
“Unfortunately, at this time Argentina, among other countries, does not meet one or more fraud prevention standards we have in place to protect ClickBank, our publishers, and our customers.”
I am from the Philippines, a country where English is spoken widely in Asia. I have sent you emails as I am sure other Filipinos have, too, requesting that the Philippines be included in the list of countries acceptable to you. The answer has always been always the same standard, vague reply that you gave the folks from Argentina (hola primos!) above.
Maybe folks do not notice that you mention that it is “fraud prevention standards that WE (you are referring to yourselves, Clickbank) have in place” so my question now is, how long do we have to wait until will you put those fraud prevention measures in place?
Otherwise, it may lead folks to think you are discriminating against the poorer nations of the world and all this talk about going global is simply paying lip service to the concept.
Lisa, JD, and others,
You’ll be happy to know that ClickBank has added Argentina to our country list, so you can now become ClickBank clients. We also added 29 other countries, including Brazil, Russia, and the Philippines, so be sure to check and see if your country has been added!
Thanks,
Beau
Hi,
I’m very happy to know that ClickBank’s CEO has a global vision. However the way Clickbank operates and treats its affiliate is way too American oriented. Think for European affiliates, there are thoudsands of them out there and Europe is a massive entity, however the balance is still in only US dollars and we have to receive checks.
I have received 2 checks so far and none of them are accepted at my bank. I’m from Finland so I cannot receive direct wire transfer either (Clickbank does not support direct wire to Finland yet). This is a big loss. Now I don’t know what to do with the incoming Clickbanks checks as no bank accepts them. They said that it’s from a private company, they can only cash in checks from banks.
Please Bob, consider the situation of European affiliates and at least open the wire transfer service to more European countries.
Thanks and regards,
Jannie from Finland
ClickBank offers XACH (International direct deposit) payments to the countries offered by our bank, Wells Fargo. We work in close contact with them to send payments via this method to as many countries as they offer, and hope to continue to add more countries as they become available. Unfortunately we’re not currently able to send direct deposit payments to Finland.
While XACH is a different method than a wire transfer, in some cases we are able to make other payment arrangements. If you are unable to receive XACH at this time please email paychecks@clickbank.com and ask that we review your account.
I hope clickbank would offer international paying direct to Western Union. It very fast payment than a check because it needs more time to wait for clear the check…
I’m Colombian and my country is now listed in clickbank. This is great. However, I can’t get money from a US cheque in my country. I don’t know why it’s just not possible. Please offer one different payment option for latin america. Think of western union, for instance. Google now send us ,money through Western Union which has help the number of adsensers to grow in this part of the world.
Wire trnsfer or direct deposit are also possible. Smaller companies like Plimus offer direct deposits to Latin America.
Just my two cents