First you need to find customers. More specifically, you need international customers. Your best bet is to utilize the internet. Before you can start shipping goods to international customers, you need to you need to market to those customers and find which areas of the world will buy your product.

  A cosmetic company I know personally gets 50% of their business from Ireland. This is very large numbers. They have not been able to figure out why so many orders come from such a small country. They were able to trace it to an obscure blog in Ireland. They are still wondering how such a small blog could generate so many sales.

  If you market correctly customers will come. If you are not advertising online you will be downsized within this decade. International business is exploding, people are searching, and if you are on the moon with your website, you will miss thousands of sales. If you need someone to do the work for you to find those customers, here is an excellent company that we recommend gravitateonline. Otherwise find a good SEO company that has a solid track record and has built a solid foundation that you can trust.

  Once you have shipped internationally a few times, you will be a pro. Shipping internationally is only intimidating when you haven't done it. The only thing you need to know is that along with the standard airway bill or rather label, you also need a commercial invoice. Basically a commercial invoice is the passport for that cargo to travel across international borders. We would never consider going to France without our ID and passport. The same with your package, you would not send it without its commercial invoice and air bill.

  There are many online freight quote companies that streamline international shipments. Below is a list of the largest top 10 international freight companies according to IATA statistics. IATA, the International Air Transportation Organization, monitors, regulates, and ensures safety in the air cargo and passenger industry. Regulations are very strict about what can and cannot be put into the cargo hull of a passenger plane.

  Often we only think of passenger airlines when we think of travel. This is because most of us are dreaming of the day when we can visit Europe and see some Cathedrals or Castles. Or we are dreaming of that long needed vacation on a beach somewhere. Whatever your situation, you probably haven't realized that there is millions of tons of consumer goods travelling the globe every year. It is amazing the systems in place that make this happen. If you are a small company, you might want to set your horizons on going global. Going global is not as difficult as you think and it will open up huge markets for you. Literally it will open up the entire world to you.

  Currently in 2010 California unemployment has reached all time highs of 12.4%. "As of December 2009, it is a whopping 12.4%. Unfortunately, it is expected to remain in the double digits throughout 2010." "The highest unemployment rate by county in California was Imperial at 27.7% while the lowest unemployment rate by County was for Marin at 7.8%." http://hubpages.com/hub/california-unemployment-rate During the Great Depression of the 1930's "unemployment rates rose to 25%". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression This means that Imperial county in California has unemployment rates higher than during the Great depression. International commerce in the past few years in the United States economy saw increases rather than decreases in sales and revenue. As a business owner, you should seriously consider expanding your market internationally.

  Most people understand duties and taxes and accept the charges, but make sure you describe your product as a gift or clearly enough that the duties and taxes are not outrageous. The more you ship, the more you will get a feel for what you need to claim to best serve your customers and describe your product so that it sails through customs easily. The more meticulous you are about getting your paper work done properly and timely will help you to avoid exam holds and other extras costs.

  The first step is to market to English speaking countries like Australia, England, and Canada. Then you can venture into other language barrier countries. There are many online tools that can translate your website into sellable products to other countries, so don't let language be a barrier to selling and shipping to other countries.

  The biggest benefit to going global is expanding your business. Additional sales and hedge against tough times and keep your company solvent and growing despite changes at home or abroad.