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Create Your Own Glamorous Training Opportunities Abroad

Photo credit: PublicDomainPictures, published under CC

Unless you happen to be a corporate trainer working for a huge multinational business, you probably don’t get the chance to travel the globe that much.

But why not create your own glamorous training opportunities abroad? The internet and budget airlines have made it far easier to travel and work in other countries. Just call your LinkedIn or Facebook connections through Skype (so you don’t have to pay the international phone call fees) and ask them for a reference.

Here are 5 guidelines to help you expand your horizons.

• Don’t sell ice to Eskimos – don’t try to compete in a saturated market that already has all the training it needs. Just because your skills are in high demand in your home market does not mean they are overseas. Do your research. Get the numbers for the local market.
• Avoid direct competition with the locals – you don’t speak the language, don’t know the customs, so you’ll always lose. You have to bring something unique to the table.
• Play to your strengths. For instance, maybe you have in-depth knowledge about a specific market in your home country that overseas manufacturers are interested in. So, train the sales people of the overseas manufacturers on the local customs and business regulations in your country. In marketing speak: you’re looking for a unique selling proposition in your target market.
  

  Photo credit: Oliver Berghold, published under CC

• Focus your efforts on the most promising market. Be specific: training Chinese tour operators who travel to the UK is better than “training workers in the Chinese tourist industry”. The reason is that you can get your idea validated sooner, build more relevant references (who also inform each other about the opportunity you represent for them), and re-use your experience with similar customers.
• Start selling your training services from your home. There’s no need to wait till you reach foreign soil. Pick up the phone, reach out through LinkedIn or Facebook and try to get into contact with key decision makers in your target market.

Photo credit: Wikipedia, published under CC

If you like traveling for the sake of it, consider doing all of your training online, through webinars, Skype conferences and online training platforms (learning management systems). Follow the lead of the digital nomads (check out the guys over at tropicalMBA)  and create a location independent training business.

This means, in essence, that you’re doing all the work online, from the comfort of your hotel room – or with your laptop on a beautiful tropical beach.

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