Most companies, notes Sayre, would agree that even if their appetite for growth is satisfied at this moment, they have aspirations for future growth. Yet marketing to an international audience is more complicated than simply posting the fact that you'll accept foreign funds in payment. A Forrester research study in June 2000 found that 63 percent of Fortune 100 Web sites were available in English only. What these companies are finding is that there are technical challenges, as well as cultural and language barriers, to overcome on the way to internationalism. The service is already being used in 80 countries, thanks to the accessibility of the Internet, but currently, the service is English only.
Music is different in other areas of the world, and it has great cultural ties.
One of the most difficult challenges for the company is to address content issues, since site users currently create the content. The Web can become an important marketing tool, but it won't be effective if you just treat your global site as a pale imitation of your domestic site. Prior Planning One of the first decisions that you'll need to make is how your site will be displayed to your new markets. If the Web address will be listed in the language of the region, it will need a new registration. The test-bed is expected to expand eventually to support other characters, including Russian, Turkish and Arabic.