One of the issues I see a lot on the websites of companies headquartered outside the U.S. is that they tend to be a bit impersonal.

Very often they have great information about the company's products and services - lots of features and benefits - the software sounds good, clearly the quality is excellent.

But something's missing.

They're talking to us because the website isn't converting the way they were hoping it would. They get people to the site, but...

Last week we looked at 3 of the lowest cost marketing strategies. Here are 2 more...

4. Social Media

I know, I know... There is so much hype in this area - everyone is talking about social media marketing. But here's how you really make it work...

=> Meet the people who matter

There are thought leaders in every sector of the software industry. Most of them blog.

Post a thoughtful comment on their blog and they will see it....

When you're trying to get as many leads as possible and your budget is very small, you need to get as much leverage as possible from the money you spend.

Here are the 5 lowest cost marketing strategies - all of which work well in the U.S. We'll do 3 in this post and 2 in the next.

1. Referrals

Referrals are the single most effective and lowest cost marketing strategy you can employ. They close faster than other leads, and the sales tend to be higher amounts....

Americans expect to see a management team page on your website - yet this is one of the pages many companies outside the US leave off their site.

We have had this discussion with many companies based outside the US.

A lot of software CEOs feel that having a management team page is like bragging. They are uncomfortable putting their bio up - not to mention a photo - and talking about themselves and their experience on the site.

I've heard a lot of different...

The question I get asked most often, particularly by companies just entering the US market, is how to get people who will do sales, marketing or business development in exchange for a percentage of the revenue.

In general, Americans are used to working for a salary or a base (low salary) plus commission. Most times when you ask someone here to work 100% on commission, they will turn you down.

But there are people who will say yes, and you can find people who will do a...