Market-Entry

Exhibitor Tips, Market-Entry

SelectUSA 2022 Preparation, a Visit with Emily Smith, American Electric Power

Link to podcast found HERE Transcript to podcast found below: Bill : Hi, and welcome to belly to belly. And today we’re continuing in our series to help prepare you for select USA. We’re also welcoming on board, Emily Smith from American Electric Power. Hi Emily. And so it’s really great to chat with you today and I know you’re excited about Select USA. We had a chance to chat for just a moment before starting. So, um, can you tell me about you know what American Electric Power does to help companies that are coming into the US? Emily : Sure. So, AEP, so we’re one of the largest energy companies in the US and so we have kind of a unique role and how we help company so of course, power is our expertise. So anytime that energy is one of the drivers of where a company is located, of course, we get involved with helping and we bring that expertise to the table. But we have so we’re kind of unique in that we have a location advisory services arm to the business, it’s almost like think of us as a consulting business, a consulting arm of the business where we’re helping companies identify where that ideal site location may be, and, and because we serve such a large geography, we serve almost 2400 communities in 11 states. I think an advantage is that we can really help companies that may not, you know, already be drilled down on a specific region and they may be looking at, you know, multiple options across multiple states. We can help do those regional comparisons and some of the research that goes into, you know, identified the ideal site. So we get a lot involved in a lot of fronts, but I would say mainly on the site selection side, and then also on big time on the energy side, of course, identifying you know, is there capacity at the site. You know, where they’re the best renewable options and really comparing sites. And we actually do that nationwide. If a company is looking, you know, where’s the best options in terms of renewables and meeting their sustainability goals, so we get involved in a lot of friends. Bill : Oh, this is fantastic. Now that there’s so many companies that need that help. So let’s talk about so our audiences as I mentioned is a companies that you know, in some cases, are considering Select USA or have already made the decision to come. But you know, with AEP Why is it in particular that you think the event in the summit is so important? Why do you participate? Emily : Yeah, good question. So we’ve actually participated since the very inception. So we’ve been involved we’ve, we’ve exhibited there and have been a sponsor in some form or another every single year. And for us, it’s just been a really great opportunity to meet, of course, investors and they’re all in the same place. But not only investors, but we also meet some of our customers, they’re our suppliers, our state partners, our local partners, so it’s, it’s more to us it’s like we can’t miss out. We have to be there because everyone’s there. And we’ve just gotten a lot of we’ve actually gotten projects that have landed from companies that we’ve met there and so it’s, it’s kind of a no brainer for us. Bill : I love the way you put that is it everybody’s in the room at one time. It’s just sort of a place if you’re not there you’re really missing those all those great connections and the ability maybe to have a three or even four way conversation with a variety of stakeholders. Yeah, can can take place so no, I thought that was perfect. So you know, thinking about these companies this in some cases may be the first trip to the US may be the first trip coming in to you know, to promote this business. And, you know, especially with your experience, you know, over the last eight or nine years since Select USA started, you know, when you think about the companies that you see get the most out of the the participation in the event, what are some of the things that you see, that are the best practices in terms of company that’s coming in to get the most out of their us visit and particularly Select USA participation? Emily : Yeah, good question. I get because we’ve seen a lot, right. I would say, I would say definitely companies that do their homework in advance, right? It’s, it can be overwhelming. I always say that to companies there especially for the first time. I mean, everyone is there you can meet with a representative from nearly every state, and they’re all gonna say that they have the best place to do business and they’re all gonna woo you try to woo you. And so it can be really overwhelming. And so I think as much homework in advance, knowing who you’re going to meet with beforehand, setting up meetings in advance and so that, you know, you have a shortlist of who you want to meet met with in person and actually spend some time with them at the event in person. I, I’ve seen personally, you know, companies that have come in, we’ve had the meeting in advance of the event. then sat down in person, and because we pay things during the meeting, you know, pull up the screen, show them here’s what we think would make the most sense. And then oh, by the way, let me bring over our state partner. This is from the state, you know, X state X, and here’s the local partner and everyone’s there at the table. So I think just really doing that homework in advance knowing who you want to go and

Exhibitor Tips, Market-Entry

SelectUSA 2022 Preparation, a Visit with Kirthi Mani, CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP)

Link to podcast found HERE Transcript to podcast found below: Bill : Well Hi and welcome to the next episode of belly to belly and today we’re going to be talking about Select USA and preparations kind of our next in the installment of how to get ready and ramped up. So we are welcome or I should say we’re joined by Kirthi Mani from Clifton. Larson and Allen LLP. And they’re sometimes known as CLA as well. Welcome, Keerthi. And it’s great to talk to you today. Kirthi : Awesome that yeah, likewise, I’m always pumped up and enthusiastic about Select USA love to be here. Bill : Oh, thank you. And so I want to make sure we kind of frame this. So our audience are all companies that are interested in US market entry. And I know you do a lot of work with companies in that in that way and who are interested in coming to the US. So maybe you could take just a moment or two and tell us about the services that CLA offers for companies that are coming into the US. Kirthi : Perfect So CLA we are a big eight US accounting firm. And you know, we offer a variety of services to privately held businesses, I lead CLA’s Global Advisory and outsourcing practice. So pretty much we act as a single point of contact for all their global needs, beat you know, entity creation, tax structuring bank account insurance, talent solutions, you name it. We’re the one stop shop, to help those companies come into the US scale and succeed. Bill : Ah, that’s so good and it’s such a critical part. And it just I hear all the time companies being challenged to form so I’m really glad for our relationship and the help you can provide companies in our network. So you know, you’ve been mentioned as we’re getting going that you’ve participated in Select USA, three or four times now and what is it about Select USA itself, the event to me and the community that really excites and interests you? Kirthi : Oh, yeah. So Bill I think of it like if you’re a football fan, it’s Super Bowl, right? So I would say if you’re in this global business, like helping global businesses or individuals come inbound, select USA is the event to be just the energy, just a mix of people from international businesses, entrepreneurs, the Economic Development Councils, all the service providers. I would say it’s the place to be don’t miss it. Bill : That is the best description. I’ve heard the Super Bowl of US market entry I love. I love that metaphor. It’s absolutely perfect. Yeah, and it totally fits. So if if you’re international, you don’t know the Super Bowl. Think of the World Cup. It’s the World Cup for US market entry. I love it. Or the Olympics, any of those. So and obviously you’ve seen and you’ve worked with many clients and you’ve met many companies who go to Select USA. When you think about the best practices that you’ve seen in terms of companies, not just maybe, you know, number one might be leveraging, you know, the Select USA event itself, how do they get the most of it because there’s so many components, but also these companies quite often will, you know, extend their visit to the US either come early or stay you know, an extra you know, extra days or a week or whatnot. But what suggestions have you have for companies that are coming over to attend this like USA event? How do they get the most out of it? Kirthi : That’s a great question, Bill. I would say three things. Network network network. It’s all about that, you know, benefit from that. I know we all have 100 million things going on. But don’t just come and be on your laptop even prior to as you very correctly said you could extend your stay meet some providers. For example, if you want to open a bank account, right you connect with a provider you extend that So make use of this forum to network, give it give it your all and be all and lean in and make use of this opportunity. I think it’s amazing if you network, that kind of wealth of information, wealth of service providers, wealth of other businesses that you can bounce off ideas. It’s just amazing. Bill : I love that. So just to give you a reinforcement of that. So last year we interviewed was probably a dozen founders who had successfully internationalized both into the US and then also in other cases from the US out. The number one thing and this is just asking an open ended question the number one thing each of them said that created their success in whatever country or countries they went to was the network they established. So your answer certainly agrees with the at least what we’ve heard from very successful founders as they as expanded internationally. So no, that’s, that’s awesome. And is there anything that CLA is going to be doing particular or a particular focus, you’re going to have it at select USA that we shouldn’t make sure our audience knows about? Oh, yeah. Kirthi : So we’re going to be all in right so we are going to have a number of speakers from CLA. I will be in the banking panel for any bank opening theme points. I know Patrick Hanlon is going to be talking about incentives. So you will hear all about it. We have a website on here. They’re all in excited to be there. Bill : Oh, that’s so cool, Kathy, and so we’re just to our audience. So you know, we’ll have courteous contact information in the description. And I’m sure you’d welcome contact from anybody who is interested in more information on

Exhibitor Tips, Market-Entry

SelectUSA 2022 Preparation with Dave Roccio from Lando Anastasi

Link to podcast found HERE Transcript to podcast found below: Bill : Hi and welcome to belly to belly and we’re here with just a kind of a fun installment around the Select USA event, which will be happening in June in the US and it’s a great event for helping to really provide companies coming into the US with information and connections to help support their successful entry. So, today, we’re joined by Dave Roccio from Lando Anastasi. Welcome, Dave.  Dave : Hey, thanks, Bill. I appreciate it.  Bill : Well, this is it’s great. So we really get to kind of do this rapid fire just a couple of questions. And again, we’re trying to give companies coming into the us a sense of what to expect and how to advantage himself the most in coming to select USA. So can you tell us a little bit about what you do for companies coming into the US have you helped support them?  Dave : Yeah, great. Thanks, Bill Thanks again. Thanks for having me. So I’m with Lando and Anastasi. Like you said, we’re an intellectual property boutique law firm up in Boston. So we help clients protect their patents in inventions, trademarks, you know, all of that all of the above and so for for companies coming into the US, whether they you know, where they are in that spectrum and what they’ve protected so far in their home countries, whether they protected anything in the US, you know, there’s pretty strict rules and regulations and requirements to meet so I hope that when I attend the summit to connect to those companies learn where they’re at, and hopefully provide some information that can help them avoid you know, pitfalls down the line or making a decision that they come to regret, you know, when they actually enter the US. Bill : That’s awesome. So I I think this is if I’m not mistaken, the ninth year of Select USA, the this upcoming version. And so why do you participate? What it’s what attracts Lando and Anastasi to the event itself? Dave : Yeah, I think you know, for personal reasons and for firm reasons. I love making the connections. I like meeting companies. In know it’s always interesting to see kind of what types of technology are going back and forth across borders. But you know, one thing that became very clear as I, in my practice, really have met with different foreign companies, international companies, it became very clear that there was a really a disconnect between you know, the impression or you know, what was assumed to be the right answer in terms of intellectual property from a lot of these companies and what the actual rules are and requirements are. And, you know, when you have some of these discussions, it the surprise that some of these, you know, company owners and founders have is astonishing in terms of what they, you know, you tell them this one rule like wait, no, we thought it was this and you know, that that answer can have a really big impact on their business. So, I found in by attending events like the Investment Summit, and connecting these companies and, you know, hopefully be able to educate them and, you know, help them account like I said, in your first question, like, avoid those things, you know, one of the first companies I ever met at the first summit I went to, geez, three, four years ago now, you know, it was a it was a I think our Korean company, they were very excited to enter the United States. We had great discussions, you know, and then I asked him a very simple question to get a point with one of the very strict us rules and laws, you know, that the answer to that question had a very, you know, wasn’t a negative impact and what they were planning to do, and they had no idea and it just showed, like, you know, how it first you know, companies like this, there’s so much information they’re trying to process and consider, you know, so I’m just hoping just on the little small Friends of the IP that really helped them kind of avoid any mistakes, make good decisions early on, where they set this set themselves up for success. Bill : Well, and I think that leads us into the next question really well, which is, you know, thinking about, you know, in your three or four years experience it’s going to select USA and seeing companies who leverage the opportunity. Well, and obviously there are those that may not quite as well. But what are some of the things you’d recommend to companies that are going in terms of how to get the most out of the event?  Dave : Yeah, it’s a great question. It’s taken a few years for myself just to figure out like, know, what the best way to attend such an event is, you know, the first year I went, it’s a large event. There’s lots of people, there’s lots of programming, there’s a lot to you know, it’s almost overwhelming. So I would, you know, number one is go in with a plan. And really have at least have kind of surveyed who maybe who you know, who is attending, they have a great networking platform, maybe get some meetings set up ahead of time. So at the very least, you kind of have some structure around what you’re what you’re, you know who you’re meeting what you’re trying to do, if you go in and just you know, trying to do everything and you’ll do nothing, because you’ll just be overwhelmed by the information and it’s very difficult, you know, I I think the programming is great, especially some of the smaller group sessions where you can really meet people ask questions. But in

Market-Entry

Internationalization Strategy: The Difference between Nimble and Random

Link to podcast found HERE Podcast transcript found below: Bill : Hey, and welcome to the belly to belly podcast. In this episode I’m really looking forward to this is a topic that we see quite a bit. And it’s all around the difference between being nimble and random and your internationalization strategy. And we’re privileged today to welcome Karina Sotnik from World Upstart to help us to kind of dive into this topic. Welcome, Karina Karina : Thank you so much, Bill. I’m looking forward to this conversation as well. It’s near and dear to my heart. Bill : Well, yeah, let’s dive into it. So when you think about, you know, companies that you work with, and that you’ve worked with, over time, that are either nimble or random, or both, what kinds of things come to mind for you, as you sort of think about this topic? Karina : Yeah. So, you know, I worked over decades, on and off with helping companies come to different markets. And I see this, a lot of companies just take a really opportunistic approach. You know, they might be successful where they are, they start enjoying success in revenue, maybe in sort of scaling up their companies, maybe they’re well established companies have been in their country for 20 plus years. And they suddenly had a really good conversation with someone from us at the trade show, right? Or they might even have a first client in the US. And that usually triggers this, oh, there’s a big market, let me try to expand. And so without any sort of strategy, or any preparedness, they dive in. And we see not great results from that. Because US market is big and desirable. But really difficult. As we know, in almost any industry, I cannot think of industry where it would be easy. And so to have a fleshed out strategy becomes really important if you really want to scale here and not just have one more client to your to your belt. Bill : Yeah, so when you just talk about sort of the random approach, we just sort of are drawn in, and you’re looking at the shiny objects, and you say, oh, there’s, there’s an interesting opportunity. Let’s go there. And then the next week, you see another opportunity over here, and, and you just go, yeah. Karina : And the client that you might get first might not even be the client that you will end up serving in a larger scale in the US. So having strategy, and you can still be very nimble. But having strategy in what I called four buckets, is really important. You need to have your legal strategy. How do you incorporate that will affect you later, right? How do you bring people here from your country that has no how it will affect you later? How do you deal with your IP rights, all of this falls into this legal bucket, and then your industry specific bucket, you really need to have a strategy on regulatory, and we can talk a little bit about that later. But without that strategy, oh, my God, you can lose that one client pretty quickly and you cannot obtain others. And the thing to understand about us when it comes, for example, to regulatory is it’s not one country, it’s 50 different countries, right? And when it comes to packaging, when it comes to taxes, when it comes to regulatory, I deal a lot with med tech companies, when it comes to telemedicine, there’s still many states that don’t allow it legally. Right? So understanding that you’re dealing with 50 different regulations is important than your strategy. And then the third bucket is operations. And that falls into how do you hire people here because there’s so many mistakes in not bringing the right team to actually execute on that nimble strategy, right. And finally, you know, a lot of companies think that they don’t, they’re not going to fundraise in the US. They have revenue and where they are, and they’ve just like, naturally will expand to us. And then they understand that that expansion actually is expensive. And so they, most of the companies that I deal with, ended up trying to fundraise in the US, or companies come here, thinking that money will flow because us is so incredibly welcoming and rich. And that’s just not the case. Fundraising is difficult, no matter where you are, but it’s very difficult in the US because you face really stiff competition with so many other companies coming from all over the world. So those are the four buckets that companies need to think about and they can do very well. then vote and ah, but they need to address all for Bill : It. So I have legal regulatory operations funding, where does sales fit in? Karina : Oh, that’s really good question. So I think sales fit into operations when you start thinking, who to hire, and who is going to be in your team. And there you have your sales, your marketing, your people that know your product from your own country, plus people who know us market from this country. Plus, I always tell people to start thinking of adding to their advisory board with local key opinion leaders, because they can open doors. So it has to be a comprehensive strategy, strategy. You know, hiring one US person, and hoping that that person will bring sales, that never happens, it might be one client, but you know, in the larger scheme of things, you really need a combination, you need the team. And more often than not, the senior management person needs to be here, at least for the first few years, in order for the company to succeed. So thinking how to do that, while you still have your company in your own home country? It’s all

Market-Entry

Responding to YES or NO Questions

Link to Podcast: HERE Transcript found below: Bill : Hi and welcome to the next episode of belly to belly. And we’re here today with Lanie Denslow from Worldwise Inter Cultural Training and Communication and it’s just great to have you here Lanie and welcome today. Lanie : Thank you. Thanks, Bill. It’s always fun to be with you and have a conversation. Bill : Thank you. Well, today we’ve got I think a really interesting topic and it’s something I think we both see happening. And it’s I think it’s an American problem that happens as we communicate with each other. But as you know, when people come into the country it’s also a challenge for them. And this is about yes or no questions and these are questions where whoever we’re speaking with access, you know, a simple yes or no question something like, you know, is it does this have color options as an example or can I get it and my size or are there you know, whether is the, you know, price in a certain range or anything and and quite often we hear people respond to these yes or no questions with an explanation as opposed to yes or no. And so, Lainey and we’re going to probably peel this back just a little bit, but you know, how, as you think of yes or no questions, and particularly thinking of people coming into the country and maybe not knowing sort of our level of patience or impatience as Americans, how do you how would you coach somebody coming in? And let’s maybe just so there’s context, let’s just say we’re in a sales context or a sales meeting, and, you know, maybe you’ve given a somewhat of a presentation, and potential customer asked you a yes or no question. Yeah, maybe let’s start with that scenario and talk through. Yeah, how somebody would appropriately respond to it. What are the things that they should consider? Lanie : I’m starting to laugh because I realized that I want to back it up. Because what you’ve asked me is sort of get to the bottom line. Do what I need to do, tell me now and I’ll do it right. That’s why you asked me and that’s our American approach, because we’re very time focused for us. It all goes back to this concept that time is scarce. It’s a resource, there’s not much of it, and we’re in a hurry. We want to make a deal and move on. Right? But if, if you were my client coming from someplace else, in a perfect world, we would have done some coaching and talking before you ever walked into this meeting. So that first of all, you had some understanding of this American beyond time we’re in a hurry, let’s just do it. And there are several things that play into that conversation. First is understanding that because we’re in a hurry, we would rather hear yes, I can do it clearly. Or no, I can’t do it clearly. We listen for data and facts, tell me what I need to know so I can make a decision. And I had another thought that just flew off which we’ll come back in a minute. So and that is quite different than many parts of the world, let’s say the Middle East, China, where there’s a different sense of time and the importance of the relationship between the parties. So communication is as much about nurturing and not disturbing the relationship, as it is about communicating data and facts. Everybody wants to make the deal. It’s how you approach it. So it’s hard for somebody, especially if there’s a no or a maybe it’s hard for somebody to understand that they can tell you say to you know, we can’t give it to you in 10 sizes. We can only give it to you in this range, because they don’t want to lose the deal. Lose the relationship and so you and they don’t have an idea that of saying well right now we only do it in these four sizes. But if you can give us an extra two months we can get the sizing adjusted, you know, we’re kind of accustomed to, well, we can’t quite get there. But this is what we could do. Which is a long way from still more clear than a long explanation that you stopped listening to. Because you hear it as no, you don’t hear them. Maybe we could get there. You have to ask us some more questions. Hmm. Bill : So I’ll throw out another scenario and I my guess is we can probably get to set you up after a little dialogue here. We can get to some maybe some, some suggestions, but the next thing I’d like to throw out is so let’s just imagine now I’m pitching to an investor and an investor asks me a yes or no question about my you know about the business opportunity and whatnot. And I guess my observation of investors and also potential customers, and particularly investors is quite often investors are asking you questions somewhat because they want the answer, but also because they have a point to make. And, and what I’ve seen people do is again, respond to that yes or no question. And quite often, there’s very limited time to respond to investors you’ve made have, you only have five or 10 minutes to pitch and they maybe have five or 10 minutes to ask questions. I mean, it can be very curt, and you know, so the longer you respond, the less questions you get, and the less interaction you get. But the I quite often look at questions from investors almost like it’s that tip of the iceberg of what they’re really what they really want to know about. And I’m wondering, you know, that, that in that

Market-Entry

5 Keys for Trade Show Success This Fall

Link to Video: HERE Podcast Transcript below: Bill : Hi there Bill Kenny here with MEET and it’s great to see you today. Welcome. Our topic today is five keys for trade show success this fall. And you know, certainly the last 18 months have been crazy and trade shows. We’ve gotten totally virtual. Looking ahead. We look ahead 18 months it probably a bit clearer than it is looking ahead, you know, for the next four or five or six months in terms of what the marketplace will look like. But we have to plan for the fall we have to think about how do we leverage the current and dynamic environment to help our businesses grow to get the right number of high quality prospects which is really what trade shows are about is how do we generate a consistent and growing volume of high quality prospects? So we’re going to offer these five keys that we think will really help us stay focus through this process.  Number one key [to trade show success] is to affirm your goals and targets and this is something you should do on a quarterly basis not just going into the fall in a kind of an unusual year. It should be done quarterly because this is as again, what we learn as we do events as we do our marketing. We should be learning all the time doing small experiments, and continuing to refine who we’re focused on. And certainly our goals should change based on what we accomplished in the first half of the year. We should be looking at how you know accomplishing our ultimate annual budget goals and quite often our performance in the first half of the year sort of dictates that we have to have a certain focus and a certain addition or a certain change in how we go about accomplishing our goals. So again, number one is affirm your goals. And targets.  Number two [key to trade show success] is confirmed event opportunities and schedule. Again, we’re in a very dynamic situation here. Some events are going in person, some are going virtual, some are going hybrid. Some are going off the schedule, new ones are always coming on the schedule, and so we want to make sure this isn’t about just going and doing what we’ve always done. It’s about saying what is the current landscape and how do we most efficiently accomplish that flow of high quality prospects that we want to get? And so it may be a totally different set of events than what we did before hybrid or virtual allows us to go much further than maybe we would have done before. On the other hand, in person events are beginning to come back. And those are certainly highly effective. If the focus is correct so number two confirm event opportunities and schedule. Number three [key to trade show success] is execute effectively. This is always critical but as things are dynamic, we there are different techniques we need to use when events are virtual. There are different techniques we need to use when events are hybrid. And certainly there are different techniques when we’re in person and it’s really about how are our people prepared. How is our plan for this event and the type of buyer that will be there are we very focused on a specific buyer persona and do we have a relevant and salient message for that buyer persona that attracts and converts them? These are all real important keys and certainly we can have the best plan possible, but poor execution will ruin that and so making sure that we’re continuing to understand the event and audience that we’re going to and making sure that that gets executed effectively, so that we get the best return. So number three was execute effectively.  Let’s go into number four [key to trade show success], measure and assess always critical so we want to make sure that we have a key one or two key metrics that we look at that are leading indicators of trade show return or event return. So you know one of the ones that we go to quite often all of our focuses with b2b companies is appointment set with decision makers. So again, there it’s gonna vary a bit depending on company, but that’s one that has been a very strong standard, because we know if we have a certain number of first appointments with decision makers or with prospects, people who have a need have money and are urgent, then we know a certain number of those will garner contracts or close and so it’s really just a formula from there. And obviously, depending on the sales cycle anywhere from six months to two years with most of our clients, we don’t want to wait six months or two years to know our ROI from events. So looking at things that are we know we’ll be able to measure within a week or two extra three weeks from the event, or it’s going to be a much more consistent and effective way to have a sense of return from these events in a much more effective way. So number three, measure and assess and so that obviously allows us to compare not only this event versus others we’ve done recently, but also this event versus this event last year and the year before and so we can look at these events in a variety of different ways. So number four was measure and assess.  Number five [key to trade show success] and to close this up, be nimble, continue to look for ways to leverage the current events seen and and and obviously we’re going to fairly quickly have our eye to 2022, which we probably already have a little bit because they’re already events being planned. We need to be cognizant of that. But make sure that

Market-Entry

Myth vs Reality for Life Sciences Companies Entering the US Market with Mark Lesselroth, BioPort USA

Link to video HERE  Podcast Transcript  Bill : Hi and welcome to the next episode of Belly to Belly. It is great to have you here with us today. So today we’re actually going to spend a little bit of time in the life sciences space and we’re joined by Mark Lesselroth from BioPort USA. Welcome, Mark. Mark : Thanks for having me, Bill. Bill : It’s great. So the title of this conversation is around the myth versus reality of life sciences companies entering the US market. We certainly want to kind of dive into that conversation. And just as a for context here, our listeners are both companies, b2b companies that are looking to enter the US market plus also a variety of Trade Representatives that are helping and support organizations that are helping these companies come into the US. Just for a moment before we hop into that really interesting conversation. It’d be great to know more about you and about Bioport. Do you mind just kind of giving us a little thumbnail of your background and also what you’re what you’re doing today with bio port USA. Mark : Absolutely. So first of all, I want to thank you. I appreciate this opportunity. You know, anytime I have the chance to spread the word so to speak, or spread the gospel, if you may. It’s a wonderful thing. So I am the president and CEO BioPort USA. Which was established in April of 2018. And the impetus behind it was, I wanted to identify innovative life science technologies, be a biotech medtech pharma in vitro diagnostics for around the world that could really improve our healthcare system. I know it sounds somewhat altruistic, but I’ve been around the world for a number of years. I was originally born in Germany, and lived throughout lived almost 15 years throughout my life in Germany. So both as a child as a student and then work there and as a result I you know, I not only learned the language, thanks to mom, who’s German but is also experiencing a lot of different cultures, not just the German culture. I was traveling a lot and I was exposed to a lot and and I recognize that while I love the United States, I think it really is a great country, that there are some amazing things happening outside and, you know, I don’t know how much longer I’ll live but I thought with the remaining years here, I want to do something good and, you know, find a way to introduce this technology just to make it easier on patients and make it easier on health care providers. Bill : That’s really cool and amazing. So oh, you know, I guess I’d start with our thesis here, which is the myth versus reality so I guess what, what’s the sort of paradigm that where you see companies that are life science companies are coming into the US? What are the myths that they’re is sort of holding closer or embracing that are challenging Mark : I’m glad you asked. I think one of the number one miss is that they know the US market. After all, we are a Western nation. Many of the International life science companies speak English. Many of them have traveled here either for pleasure or business. Some of may even studied here and work here. And so you know, the thought of well, if I went out to business here, how hard can it be? versus you know, China for example, I’ve met many people who think oh my god, I don’t speak the language. I don’t understand the culture. I definitely need help. There’s no way I can do this on my own. And with us, they think no problem. We can do it. And frankly, nothing further could be from the truth. They really don’t understand the US market in terms of how we make decisions, whether it comes to buying something, selecting something, the nuances associated with the regulatory process, they sure as heck don’t understand our reimbursement system, because most of them come from a country that offers universal health care. So that’s a big one in terms of a mess. Bill : That makes a lot of sense. So yeah, I would venture to say that many people in the US don’t understand the reimbursement system. So the idea that someone from outside the US would understand it would be difficult. So when companies, you know have these challenges where they maybe don’t understand this the sales process or the regulatory system, what challenges does it create for them? Well, how does that handicap them? Mark : Well, you know, it’s problematic because if they think they know the system, and then they go through and go about doing business as they’re used to in their home country, many of them will invariably fail. You know, they think it’s good enough to, let’s say, exhibit at a trade show and industry trade show, find a sales rep or distributor, sign an agreement and pay we’re off to the races, and nothing further could be from the truth and that holds true for American companies as well. But I think American companies for the most part, know better. Now those companies that are more successful United States are the ones that understand what you need to do in terms of developing a sales strategy, what you need to do to support a distributor how important your brand is in terms of influencing the purchasing decision. These are all concepts that for the most part are extremely foreign to the international life science community. And so many of them either fail outright or they do not achieve the success that they had anticipated. Because they weren’t prepared to adapt and adopt the US way of doing business. Bill : So, in sort of thinking about that, which would you say

Market-Entry

5 Steps to Launching a Virtual Trade Show Plan

One outcome of the recent explosion in virtual events due to COVID-19 is the unprecedented opportunity it has created for companies that are expanding internationally. Truly, the “cheese” has moved. By lowering barriers to entry, the ability to confidently and skillfully navigate virtual venues is more valuable than ever, particularly as entire industries move their trade show and events online. How long will it take for things to return to normal? Tech giants like Microsoft and Facebook have already announced they are not planning any physical events until July 2021. Other industries are testing virtual platforms for the first time, but making no commitments. In essence, there’s no way to know. Regardless, the question every market-entry firm should be asking themselves NOW is, given the lower barriers to entry and unique opportunity to differentiate, do virtual events make sense for our company? If so, what is the best path to leverage the opportunity? Here are five steps to help you get started. Step 1: Avoid Overwhelm For many companies, particularly those endeavoring to scale into new markets, the dynamics of moving to a virtual trade show strategy may feel overwhelming. You may be asking yourself: How can I market to prospects I can’t see? How can I train my staff if I’ve never participated in a virtual trade show event myself? Is it possible to translate our branded booth display to the virtual format? Outside the booth, how can I take advantage of trade show content and virtual hospitality events? Don’t get paralyzed by fear! At MEET, we specialize in helping international B2B growth companies soft-land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and events–even those that are virtual. Step 2: Get Focused The good news is that regardless of whether an event is virtual or in-person, the strengths of a highly effective trade show strategy are the same. They’re also the same as fishing. You must know: Who is your target prospect, i.e. what type of fish you are trying to catch Where to find them, i.e. in which body of water they live What type of call-to-action will prompt them to self-identify, i.e. what type of bait will attract them to your line The first step to adapting your in-person trade show plan to a virtual format is identifying where your existing strategy is strong and where it needs to be strengthened. After all, the likelihood of catching the right kind of fish is zero if you’re looking in the wrong body of water no matter which type of bait you use. Think it might be time to take a closer look at your existing trade show strategy and how to optimize for better results? Check out MEET’s Trade Show Performance Assessment today. Step 3: Set Goals Undoubtedly, there are certain features of the virtual platform that you and your team will need to learn. Some opportunities to consider include: Spend time getting to know the conference platform and booth features before the show. Design a virtual booth display that is clean, easy to navigate, and brand-aligned. Train your team not only on how to use the technology but how to be active and engaged on the platform. Begin with specific goals for each event and align your preparation to those goals. Step 4: Test Your Hypotheses At MEET, we always advocate for testing your strategies during events and measuring results. None of that should change when you adapt to a virtual platform. In fact, it may even be easier and less resource-intensive to A/B test your marketing messages with a virtual display. Additionally, don’t be afraid to do some competitive intelligence. For better or worse, it’s now easier to visit your competitors’ booths and see how they are using the platform. Step 5: Ask for Help The vast majority of virtual trade show participants are new to the platform and it’s safe to say that exhibitors, hosts and attendees are all learning together. Now is a great (and easy) time to stand out. At MEET, we support international scaling companies to leverage all the unique capabilities of virtual platforms while laying a stronger foundation for in-person events when they come back online. If you’re looking to: Prepare and train staff on how to navigate virtual platforms Adapt your integrated marketing strategy to fully leverage virtual booth displays Identify and engage prospects in and outside the booth Gain visibility during live sessions Host virtual hospitality events MEET’s Virtual Trade Show System can help. Now’s the time to claim your “cheese” and get a leg up on the competition in a new market. Plan, Prepare, and Preform. Launch your virtual trade show strategy TODAY. About

 MEET (meetroi.com) helps international B2B growth companies soft-land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward.  Contact Bill Kenney for a no-obligation conversation: bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Market-Entry

Q&A with Bill Kenney on the Future of Trade Shows

Are in-person trade shows gone forever? That’s a good question. It seems pretty unlikely that in-person trade shows and events are gone forever. We’ve already seen some events come back on the calendar and believe that the advent of a widely available vaccine will be a big milestone in the general return of large in-person gatherings. That said, the industry may forever be altered with so many more virtual platforms now on the market. What type of new opportunities exist in virtual trade show platforms? Virtual trade shows are an interesting space. We just surveyed about 35 platforms to get a sense of the industry. Some have been up and running for 20+ years while others haven’t been around for 20 weeks. From a functionality standpoint, there are definitely some differences. Some platforms offer many of the same functions as a typical trade show – main stage, breakout rooms, exhibit booths, sponsor promotion, and networking functionality. Others are more focused on specialty functions such as networking. These platforms typically emphasize matchmaking and reduce much of the trade show functionality and capacity. Has anything been lost? There are some really good platforms today but it’s hard to imagine that anything will replace meeting people face-to-face. Shaking someone’s hand and looking them in the eyes, for most people, is a fundamental part of relationship building. What’s the best way to adapt an in-person trade show strategy to virtual? We wouldn’t necessarily suggest adapting an in-person strategy to virtual. Rather, we suggest looking at an integrated strategy. As much as we are confident that in-person events will come back, we believe that virtual events are here to stay and believe that many organizations will need to augment their in-person schedule with more frequent, more targeted virtual events. The efficiencies are just too great. When looking to develop an event marketing strategy, we suggest three basic steps: Identify your target and be super specific – the more narrow, the better Identify the events and/or create events that attract your target Identify the value proposition and offer that attracts and converts your target How can MEET help? MEET can handle the process from A to Z, from strategy to execution to measurement and continuous improvement. For about half of our clients, we are their first employees in the U.S. so we are adept at operating independently to establish early traction and a sales system. The other half of our clients have existing U.S. offices and operations and we come in much more as an accelerant and force multiplier to help the company scale quickly. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps international B2B growth companies soft-land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward.  Contact Bill Kenney for a no-obligation conversation: bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Exhibitor Tips, Market-Entry, Workshops and Webinars

Digital Marketing Strategies for Market Entry How to Test, Gain Traction, and Scale

Jeffrey Cohen, Vice President at Imageworks is interviewed by Bill Kenney, Founder and Client Advocate at MEET about Digital Marketing Strategies for Market Entry How to Test, Gain Traction, and Scale on the Belly2Belly podcast. Listen on iTunes or Spotify Watch on YouTube Bill : Welcome to the belly to belly podcast where we explore in-person business to business marketing. This episode is brought to you by MEET, the company that helps international companies exhibit at US trade shows. Check them out at meetroi.com Welcome, everybody. My name is Bill Kenney, and I’m here with Jeff Cohen from ImageWorks. This is the belly to belly podcast. It is a product of MEET and we help international companies exhibit at US trade shows. So one of the things that is so important with trade shows and really any marketing is is to have an integrated approach and to look at really a variety of ways that you can amplify what you’re doing and really nothing speaks to that more than what you can do today with in terms of digital media and we’re so excited to have Jeff Cohen here with us. That’s Jeffrey, welcome. Jeff : Thanks. Hey, everybody. Bill : So we have people, Jeffrey. So you know, we have people watching this from all over the world, what they’re concerned about is, you know, how do I get into a new market is effectively and efficiently as possible. And these are all b2b companies typically looking to attract, you know, that executive buyer who certainly is going to have specific needs they’re going to need, they’re going to have certain language opportunities and whatnot. So we’ll let’s get into that in just a couple minutes. But first, before we do, let’s make sure people know who you are your company, so that there’s context to your comments. So do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself? I know you’ve got a company called image works, but how did you get here? Jeff : Yeah, how long do we have for this? Bill : maybe a minute. Jeff :Very storied past I actually have two different degrees, because I made a career change 30 years ago. So I have a degree in graphic design and then I have I went back to school to become a computer programmer, because I wanted a career change, not because I was smart enough to know that well if you wait another 10 years graphic design and programming are going to merge and this thing is going to be called the internet. So yeah, I found myself uniquely qualified once the internet was born. Bill : Cool, thanks to Al Gore and all his hard work. Jeff : Yes, of course. Bill : So, let’s talk about imageworks you all and I’ve known you for many, many years now. And you know, it was originally a sort of web design firm. You all have you know, bolted on as the internet is developed as really digital media is develop, you have bolted on significant additional capabilities, but do you want kind of walk us through what you all do? Jeff: Yeah, Sure. So that’s that’s actually I forget how long we’ve known each other. But it used to be that probably for the first 10 years, we were in business and we’re in our 23rd year, just to give some perspective. launching the website was the end of the project, we would shake hands, we would get paid, we would launch the website, we’d all raise a glass and good luck and they call us once every whatever if they needed update to the site. The launch of the website now has become the beginning of the digital marketing process, not the end. So we sort of and I don’t want to diminish the importance of a good website, but that’s sort of the window dressing. And I can hear a lot of people in my industry groaning at me saying that, but you have a lot of options now for getting a simple website. Done. Especially if you’re in a small service business, if you’re a restaurant, you know, you need five pages, a map with directions, pictures of your food, your menus, how to order. simple stuff, you have a lot of options of where to go. Now if you want to get that website found, that’s a whole different discussion. And that sort of begs the question now what? So about 10 years ago, we started adding the now what services in those are it’s a huge array of paid search and inbound marketing and reputation management, social media, and search engine optimization and retargeting and remarketing. It’s a really big bucket. But that’s sort of, that’s our growth area. That’s what we focus on online lead generation getting people’s phones to rank. Bill : And how long have you been working with international companies? I know you’ve worked with Many over over several years long, Jeff : yeah. Um, so I would probably say maybe 15 years. Hmm. And that has changed even more dramatically than our industry. But yeah, there’s there’s It comes with certain complexities. But yeah, for a long time, we had companies who came into the US or opened up the North America division of a German manufacturer for quite some time. Bill : Hmm, cool. So let’s then that’s an awesome segue to really hop into our topic. So I know that you’ve seen some sort of the good, the bad and the ugly of market entry with regard to digital media. Let’s talk about some of the challenges that you’ve seen. international companies have when they’re when they’re entering a new market, and Kind of pitfalls that maybe have happened on the way? Jeff : Yeah, so, um okay, so there’s the language and cultural barrier and these are in no particular order. But really having someone on your

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