eddy's Blog

Change is something that's always going to happen, no matter how hard you try to resist it. The world is shrinking as a result of technology making it much easier to communicate across national countries. The internet has made multilingual advertising a strong possibility. In order to market a business's products and services to the international market, the internet is your best and most useful tool.

English was once considered the main language that people spoke around the world, but if you're operating in a local market and want to expand internationally, this is irrelevant.

* In Asia only around 10% of the searches done on the internet are actually in English.

* In the European union 87% of the searches are not in English - Remember Europeans speak German, French, Italian and many other languages.

* 70% of trade from the UK is to countries which do not speak English

* The English language now accounts for less than 13% of internet searches within the EU and less than 10% across Asia. Businesses who only market themselves with web sites written in English are clearly missing out.

When an internet user visits a web page in their own language they are 4 out of 5 times more likely to stay reading that website. They are also much more likely to buy from that website as they feel far more secure and confident.

If you take the worldwide market then you will realize that over 75% of the available markets on the internet do not speak English. Any business which doesn't develop multilingual website marketing strategies will be losing out on this extra revenue. The businesses which adopt these strategies will be the ones that survive in the long term.

Multilingual website marketing is a very powerful strategy which can allow you access to many more people. If you built a website for 5 different languages then this would allow you potential access to a staggering 412 million extra users of the internet! This means that you could potentially quadruple your sales and with a well crafted roll out campaign this figure is more likely. Using multilingual website marketing it is possible to increase the number of people that can be reached. This is why it is so important for businesses to spend time developing their own international market strategy paying special attention to non-English speaking markets.

The United States was seen as being the most important country concerned with international internet marketing, however now the UK and Canada are now seen as the most active countries in this field. Europe and Japan are two of the main hubs with foreign internet trade and spending occurring at around 37% of international internet purchasing activities.

This shows that international internet marking is continually evolving and changing in line with the market demand. Multilingual website marketing is one of the most important and useful tools that global businesses possess to market their products and services to the entire world. Multilingual marketing allow these international businesses to enter new markets which were previously out of reach due to a number of barriers. Using the internet is also much cheaper than other methods of entering foreign markets. International marketing strategy is particularly important to achieve the aims of most businesses. These international aims of businesses have been simplified as a result of globalization.

International internet marketing processes rely upon creating website templates which can then be used for multilingual advertising. It is important that the templates are easy to customize based on preferences and culture of the local consumer. Certain countries want information presented in a specific way. By using multilingual marketing you are able to present your customers with useful information which is presented how they expect it to be. Content should be used to relate to the customer's culture, paying attention to special occasions is a good idea. It's common to offer discounts at Christmas, however you should also consider discounts at Chinese New Year in china! This will interest a great number of your global customers.

When a business devises its international marketing strategy it is important to remember a few important points.

* Time should be spent identifying the market that you want to target.

* Translating and presenting your multilingual marketing activities in such a way which will interest consumers all around the world and in particular, the new market being targeted.

* Use search engine optimization and other methods of internet marketing including press releases, articles, pay-per-click advertising in multiple languages.

Multilingual marketing has made it much easier for businesses to enter foreign markets and benefit from a booming global economy. Multilingual website marketing activities can use your existing website as a template. Any packaging or promotional materials can also be translated without having to change the design. By setting up a multilingual website your business is able to attract far more people, any people that you do attract will be twice as likely to continue reading the site. People will also be four times as likely to buy from you when your website is in their native language.

The remuneration of expatriates often tends to be a rushed last minute decision due to urgent operational requirements. The resulting implications often only arise after the expatriate arrives in the host country, and when the assignment comes to an end. For example, the post assignment position back in the home country pays less than the expatriate earned on assignment.

Inconsistent treatment of expatriates quickly leads to unhappy expatriates. Once an organization has more than 1 or 2 expatriates in the field it becomes vital to have a defendable expatriate pay philosophy in place. This philosophy should clearly convey the organization's remuneration principles regarding expatriate assignments. An expatriate assignment pay philosophy is intended to provide guidance in the consistent and equitable treatment of all expatriates and forms the basis of the organization's expatriate pay policy.

Most large global organizations have over time established a clear policy for remunerating expatriates. This is often a legacy policy, where past practice has become policy. However expatriate pay is a complex area of remuneration with complex issues such as volatile exchange rates, weak and strong currencies, constantly changing differences in cost of living between countries, different tax regimes, as well as the reality that there are attractive and not so attractive countries to work and live in. This is an area where a clear philosophy and an aligned practical policy are required to ensure attraction, fairness, equity, motivation and retention.

Firstly let's deal with what makes an employee an expatriate. In my view an expatriate is a person working in a foreign country, where they are not permanently resident, on an assignment of typically not more than 3-5 years but is a citizen from another country. There are as many different expatriate pay practices as there are organizations employing expatriates. However we can identify at least four broad approaches to expatriate pay that has emerged as the dominant philosophies underlying expatriate pay.

Salary Build-Up (SBU)

The Salary Build-Up approach uses the current market related home salary as the base for calculating the expatriate package. Home in this case is the country where the employee permanently resides or is a citizen. The purpose of the build-up approach is to maintain internal equity between countries and to equalize the impact of differences between country tax rates. This ensures that expatriates neither lose nor gain as a result of tax treatment in the host country.

The Salary Build-Up approach typically involves deducting hypothetical tax in the home country, and builds on top of the home salary with an international premium (to compensate for hardship experienced), cost living index and the exchange rate to calculate a total net (i.e. after tax) assignment package.

The net assignment package is then "grossed up" in the host country for local tax and other statutory and non-statutory deductions to ensure the net pay assignment package is paid to the expatriate.

Salary Purchasing Power Parity (SPPP)

The Salary Purchasing Power Parity approach uses the principle of putting all expatriates within the organization on an equal footing regardless of nationality and geographical location. The purpose of the SPPP approach is to ensure parity in the level of the purchasing power of the salary of expatriates doing the same job at the same level in different parts of the world, taking hardship, cost of living, and exchange rate differences into account.

This approach is typically used by global organizations that have a large number of expatriates, who move from one international assignment to another and compete globally for skills. Organizations using the SPPP approach typically establish a single global pay scale which is often by default that of the global headquarters country. The expatriates salary is calculated by adding calculated additional amounts for the hardship, cost of living, and exchange rate differential between the global headquarters (home) and the host country.

The assignment package is then taxed in the host country and other statutory and non-statutory deductions made to arrive at the net pay assignment package paid to the expatriate.

Cost of Living Allowance (COLA)

The Cost of Living Allowance approach uses the principle of retaining the expatriates home salary and paying an additional separate allowance, primarily for cost of living, but also for hardship based on the differences between the home location and the host location. The purpose of the COLA is to ensure parity in the level of the purchasing power of expatriates doing the same job at the same level in different parts of the world, taking hardship, cost of living, and exchange rate differences into account by paying a cost of allowance to compensate for the differences. At the end of the assignment the COLA falls away.

This approach is typically used by global international organizations that have a large number of expatriates, who move from one international assignment to another and compete globally for skills. Organizations using the COLA approach typically have country level pay scales. The expatriates COLA is calculated by adding calculated additional amounts for the hardship, cost of living, and exchange rate differential between the home country and the host country.

The assignment package is then taxed in the host country and other statutory and non-statutory deductions made to arrive at the net pay assignment package paid to the expatriate.

Local Market (LM)

The Local Market approach uses the principle of applying the local (i.e. host country) expatriate market pay rates. In many organizations the policy is to use the better of the Build-Up or the Local Market approaches, to ensure that the assignment package is equitable and competitive in the host market.

Due to the need for market data, the Local Market approach is typically only used where a strong local and / or expatriate market exists in the host country, and reliable salary surveys exist that accurately report the level of market salary for different positions. For example, take an organization sending an expatriate from an economically poor, relatively low salary market country, to a city such as New York. It is likely that having used the home base salary as the basis of the calculation, that the resulting total assignment package will be significantly lower than the New York Salary Market. This would occur even after adding an international premium (to compensate for hardship experienced), and a cost living amount (to compensate for the higher cost of living in New York) as well as applying the exchange rate. The reason is that the market level of home base salary in an economically poor country is so much lower than the equivalent market salary in New York.

The Local Market approach is typically used in high economic growth and high cost of living countries where demand for skills is high and there are a large number of expatriates comprising many nationalities such as the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong or Singapore.

In conclusion it is important to ask questions about your current expatriate pay philosophy. Does your current expatriate pay philosophy drive the desired behavior? Is the current policy and practice aligned to organizational objectives? Does the current policy work for or against the organization achieving its global objectives?

I recommend a regular review of organizational expatriate pay philosophy in light of what the organization seeks to achieve and where it operates geographically, whilst ensuring integration with the other pay related strategies of the organization.

The biggest secret I have found to moving is to stay calm, my stomach always used to churn every time we would say: "Let's look at moving to London, Perth, Colorado...." I would have this rush in the pit of my stomach and wonder how we were going to cope with the challenge.

Now, I take it one step at a time. What do we do first, what do we need to know before we make the decision, how does the family feel about a new culture, different schools, a new home and most importantly new friends.

So, where do we start? Usually with the most important questions, why are we moving and do we really want to change from our comfort zone, once you have been able to answer these questions and you have more positives about leaving than staying (and the answer to this could be as simple as being offered a job in a new country), then you need to start researching the place you are moving to.

Questions start surfacing such as will we fit in and be happy in a new country, what is the education like, medical facilities, culture, politics, housing, work conditions, transport and entertainment? How many expats like ourselves will be living there, will our life be normal or will we have to adjust too extremely, and are we happy to do this?

This is where I start searching the internet. Wikipedia is a great site to get an overall overview on any country in the world and it will cover all the basic factual information for you, including geographical location, population, historical background, religion, culture, education, economic situation and political info.

On getting a basic understanding of a country, I would then start looking at government sites and gathering information about the ease of moving to this country. What is required from a governmental legal perspective, including visa's, whether a spouse can work on entry, how long a spouse needs to wait before starting to work, what legal rights do you have in the country, can you take your pets with and how does this work, what furniture can you take with (some countries do not allow wooden furniture into a country if it has not been treated) these government sites will cover any and all questions of this nature for you.

Finally and probably more importantly are the forums and blogs you can find, where expats can inform you of what to expect and you can ask any question and expect an honest answer. These sites can come across with mixed emotions from people who are enjoying the move and loving the country to those who hate every minute of their stay. The relevant question to ask here is why....why are they enjoying or hating it and then make your own decision?

The above would be the questions that the spouse that stays at home and cares for the children, however the bread winner wants a different question answered. They want to know what they should be earning in the new country and this is where an international cost of living salary calculator like xpatulator can be relevant to you. Xpatulator gives you the answers you are looking for dependant on the questions you answer in the Cost of Living Calculator. It will determine what your salary in the new country should be to maintain your standard of living.

Why, you may ask? Because $100 000 may sound like a fabulous salary, however if your cost of living in the country you are moving too is extremely high, it may not cover your costs on a monthly basis. With the calculator, you can determine whether or not you will be able to afford to live in the new country. The calculator will work out the salary you should be earning if you have to cover all costs, or if your company will cover some of those costs for you. They also cover the Negative Cost of Living and Negative Hardship. What are these you ask with horror? Negative Cost of Living refers to a location that has a lower cost of living than the country you are living in and selecting to use this will result in a proportional decrease in the salary required e.g. if you had to move from London to Zimbabwe you will find the cost of living will be lower (negative difference). Negative Hardship refers to less hardship in the new location e.g. if you had to move from Zimbabwe to London you will find that your quality of living will be easier (negative difference).

So before you disregard the importance of what you need to earn when moving to a new country, take all aspects into account. At the end of the day what you will earn, will determine the school, home, medical facilities and entertainment you will be able to afford. So the secret to moving from one country to another, may be your emotional stability and happiness in the new location, however this is often determined by how much money is sitting in your bank account.

Locations in Asia and Africa have become relatively more expensive in terms of cost of living for expatriates, while US locations have become relatively less expensive, says a cost of living comparison in 228 global locations.

The global cost of living comparison conducted by Xpatulator.com indicates 3 of the top 5 most expensive locations are in Asia, while London is the most expensive global location for expatriates. Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong are ranked 2nd, 3rd, and 5th respectively in terms of overall cost of living. Groceries are the most expensive in Africa, with 6 of the 10 most expensive locations. New York on the other hand has dropped to 28th position in terms of overall cost of living, and 61st in terms of groceries.

The cost of living comparison prices goods and services that expatriates spend their salaries on, and creates indexes for 13 different basket groups using New York as the base (i.e. New York is equal to 100)

Overall Cost of Living Comparison - Top 10

The 10 most expensive global locations for expatriates to live, based on overall cost of living (Index is in brackets) as at March 2008 are:

1. London, United Kingdom (126.63)
2. Tokyo, Japan (121.88)
3. Seoul, Republic of Korea (119.54)
4. Oslo, Norway (115.39)
5. Hong Kong, China (113.00)
6. Copenhagen, Denmark (112.63)
7. Moscow, Russia (110.35)
8. Geneva, Switzerland (110.06)
9. Hamilton, Bermuda (109.63)
10. Luanda, Angola (108.51)

This means that overall goods or services that cost USD$100 in New York, cost the equivalent of USD$126.63 in London, and USD$110.35 in Moscow. New York has dropped primarily due to the weakness of the US Dollar as well as the economic slowdown which appears to have slowed the increase in prices relative to other global locations.

Overall Cost of Living Comparison - Bottom 10

The 10 least expensive locations for expatriates to live, based on overall cost of living (Index is in brackets) as at March 2008 are:

1. Harare, Zimbabwe (16.44)
2. Phnom Penh, Cambodia (44.89)
3. Sanaa, Yemen (44.95)
4. Dushanbe, Tajikistan (51.24)
5. Tripoli, Libya (53.22)
6. Quito, Ecuador (53.23)
7. Buenos Aires, Argentina (53.25)
8. La Paz, Bolivia (53.54)
9. Asmara, Eritrea (54.49)
10. Tashkent, Uzbekistan (56.06)

This means that overall, goods or services that cost USD$100 in New York, cost the equivalent of just USD$16.44 in Harare, and USD$53.25 in Buenos Aires.

However the cost of living not only varies from one location to another, but also varies by type of expense, due to local supply and demand variations in each location. In some locations, accommodation is more costly while groceries are relatively less costly and vice versa.

In terms of groceries Seoul is the most expensive, while Africa has Brazzaville, Accra, Lagos, Abidjan, Kinshasa, and Luanda in the top 10.

Grocery Cost of Living Comparison - Top 10

The top 10 most expensive global locations for expatriates to live based on the price of groceries as at March 2008 are as follows:

1. Seoul, Republic of Korea
2. Brazzaville, Congo
3. Ashgabat Turkmenistan
4. Accra, Ghana
5. Lagos, Nigeria
6. Copenhagen, Denmark
7. Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
8. Kinshasa Congo Democratic Rep
9. Luanda, Angola
10. Oslo, Norway

Interestingly, although London is ranked the most expensive global location in terms of overall cost of living, it is only ranked 26th most expensive location for groceries. It is therefore very important when conducting a cost of living comparison that only those items the expatriate will spend their salary on are included in the calculation, and that those benefits that are provided for the expatriate are excluded from the cost of living comparison.

Locations in Asia and Africa are increasingly becoming more expensive in terms of cost of living for expatriates; organisations need to take this into account when establishing expatriate pay for international assignments.

The overall rank of all 228 global locations, in terms of overall cost of living, is available on the website at http://www.xpatulator.com/main/locations/

Astral projection, or the out-of-body phenomenon, is one of the most life-changing events that can ever take place. For many it will remove any fear of death but it should also be acknowledged as an exhilarating experience that is totally unique. The reason that, I believe, it is not immediately accessible to most people is because it could easily become a distraction from the mundane life that we are all supposed to be living. Each one of us is on an individual path that we are required to follow, given that we are aware of our direction, and astral travel can appear so much more exciting by comparison. These paths are the ultimate reason for our being here in the first place and they can be just as magical if we choose to make them so. The out-of-body phenomenon certainly has a place in our existence but it ought not to be allowed to dominate it. Having said this, I would also mention that if it were more readily achievable, what a superior alternative it would provide to the recreational drugs that are currently destroying the lives of the people that take them and of the people that are affected by the consequences of this evil industry.

For those who wish to try leaving their physical bodies there are a number of practical tips that may help.

Sleep

If you are constantly tired when you go to bed then you will sink into a dreamless sleep. Try getting a good nights rest plus an extra hour so that you are more alert on the following night when making your attempt at projection.

Diet

Magicians stick to a simple diet as a preparation for ritual magic and so should you. Heavy foods and alcohol will affect your chances of success so keep it light and eat plain fish with salad accompanied, perhaps, by one glass of wine to aid relaxation.

Intent

You must have a clear intention to succeed in your aim. A gentle determination and sense of purpose together with a little creative visualisation will set you on the right course.

Breathing

There is not enough time here to go into this subject in any great depth but at least you should try to breath deeply, steadily and comfortably. Do not adopt any pattern of breathing that feels unnatural, just aim for complete and enriching breaths.

State of mind

One of the major reasons that people do not experience out-of-body states is because we are all tethered to the material and physical aspects of our lives. If you are going to succeed in your attempt then you will need to alter your state-of-mind. This means that you have to ignore any thoughts that dwell on our earthly perceptions, needs and sensations, as you must endeavour to reach a neutral frame of being. You could describe this as an openness or potential in its raw form where possibilities become probable. If your mind is cluttered with earthly thoughts you will block out the place where events can occur.

Destination

Sometimes imagining yourself to be travelling to a chosen destination promotes the exit from your body. Try visualising yourself walking through a familiar place and then make a detour that takes you into unfamiliar territory.

The Conscious mind

When you are on the verge of leaving your body you can expect to experience common fantasies that are thrown up by your conscious mind in order to disguise what is taking place. Various scenarios such as a fall off a mountain or a stumble down a flight of stairs will occur but if you can get past these tricks and remain awake you will discover that the fantasy was actually hiding the sensation of movement away from your body. You will, at this point, be entirely cognizant of your surroundings and your sense of well-being will be manifest.

I hope that these tips help you to reach the transformation in your life that follows your first journey away from your body. Once you have witnessed this alternate reality you will carry the knowledge with you for ever after.

Good luck.