Every business needs to be able to market themselves. Without proper marketing, companies miss out on reaching potential customers. It’s an important aspect of every business to be prepared to conduct business on a global scale.

There are many ways to market your business. You can do it all yourself, or you can rely on outside companies to do the job for you. Many third-party companies offer services to market your business effectively through digital marketing strategy, traditional ads, and sometimes even sweepstakes administration. You can learn about how other businesses use simple ways to effectively market their company to meet the needs of new and existing customers on a daily basis.

With that in mind, here are six budget-friendly ways to market your business both locally and internationally:

1. Look at your current business needs

The first step is to look at where you’re at right now. Are there certain markets that you excel in? Are there other markets that you’d like to reach. Taking the time to evaluate your strategy now can help you devise the best ways to effectively market your business in the cities, states, and countries that you’d like to reach. It can also help you identify markets that are currently under-served that you can focus on.

2. Develop a business plan

The next step is to start working on your business plan. You’ll probably have several tactics for both local and international growth. You can break them down into short-term, medium and long-term goals. Have goals that are both specific and measurable. You should also create a timeline with benchmarks that allow you to track your progress along the way. For your international markets, consider adding apps or software that allows you to translate your website and services in the respective native languages for each country that you will be conducting business in.

3. Review your products

Now you’re ready to identify what makes you unique in your market. Take some time to review your current and upcoming product and service offerings very carefully. Ask yourself what makes them stand out. Why should people buy from you as opposed to someone else? Answering this question and others can help you refine your marketing strategies for different markets. When entering global markets, it’s a good idea to make sure that your products and services are compliant with all local laws and regulations.

4. Get organized

Remember that when conducting business internationally, a “one size fits all” usually never works. Every country and every region are different. You’ll have to tailor your marketing efforts for each market that you are in or plan to enter into in the future. Being flexible in your approach can identify both strengths and weaknesses to improve and capitalize upon. You may want to consider outsourcing certain business functions in different markets as you need to.

5. Be aware of possible compliance or tax concerns

You may be just fine in handling business in your local markets, but international markets can be another story. Before you start selling or marketing in a foreign country, be aware of any possible tax regulations or compliance issues that may arise. For example, you may have to print instruction manuals for your products in several different languages. Address these issues as soon as possible to avoid possible headaches or complications later on.

6. Partner with local businesses

A great way to build rapport in each market that you enter is to find local companies to partner with. They can help with some of your distribution and shipping, which gives you fewer things to worry about. Just take some time beforehand to thoroughly investigate each potential business partner before signing any agreements with them. The last thing you want is to be working with a “fly by night” company that leaves you high and dry when you counted on them.

These are just some of the many things to consider when marketing your company on both a local and global scale. Other things to consider are how to accept payments in other nations and ensuring that your legal documents are in order. It will take quite a bit of time to get everything in order. Implementation and getting all of your staff on board is going to take a while, and there may be some initial resistance to change and problems that you’ll have to address. However, once you get things going, you’ll soon be on your way to improving your company’s prosperity and expanding your reach to more markets for many years to come.