Conducting Business Online

Companies seeking foreign audiences with their websites will want to either localize or internationalize their site, or provide a mixture of both processes. Forrester Research notes that "visitors linger twice as long [on international sites] as they do at English-only web sites; business buyers are three times more likely to buy if addressed in their own language; and customer services costs drop when instructions are displayed in the user's language."

Localization consists of adapting one’s website to meet the linguistic, cultural, and commercial requirements of a targeted market. Internationalizing a firm’s website enables the company to be multilingual and to be sensitive to cultural conventions without the need for extensive redesign. Localization or internationalization must be part of the online exporter’s corporate strategy for website and business development.

Grants.gov is a free online source to FIND and APPLY for federal grants. Grants.gov does NOT provide personal financial assistance. Grants.gov is a central storehouse for information on over 1,000 grant programs and provides access to approximately $500 billion in annual awards.

Purpose: Grants Opportunities

Who should register in GRANTS.gov?

• Organization: An individual responsible for submitting a grant on behalf a company, state, local, or tribal government, academia or research institution, not-for-profit or any other institution

• Individual: A individual can register to apply for “individual eligible” grants

What is required to register?

• Complete a standard business profile that include, DUNS, CAGE, and MPIN numbers

• Submit an Authorized Organization Representative (AORs) application

• Have an E-Business point of contact (POC)

• Detailed application can be found on grants.gov

Who can access Grants.gov?

The U.S. Small Business Administration will host the fourth of its free Mentor-Protégé Matchmaking Conference series in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 21.  The program gives small disadvantaged businesses access to guidance on federal contracting, face-to-face meetings and opportunities to team with larger businesses and graduates of the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development program.

President Obama announced a new policy that will accelerate payments to small business contractors so they can reinvest that money in the economy and drive job growth. 

Small businesses are the primary engine of job creation and job growth across the country. However, in today’s economic climate many face tight budgets and limited resources. With these challenges in mind, last week in his address to Congress the President emphasized the need to take common sense steps to give small businesses the flexibility they need to invest and hire. And that is what we are doing today.