The upside about blogging is you learn something new everyday. That's because to write good, informative blogs, research is indispensable. The experts advise all beginning and seasoned bloggers to sustain the pace and to strive for good content. Research can take a long time but as they say, "you just have to keep plugging away."
Plugging away is what I'm doing, despite being short of time some days because I also have my writing and translation mandates to take care of. Clients are # 1, and much as I love blogging and desire to nurture my lexicons (which have grown, by the way), this hobby gets tended to only when time permits and I'm not drowning in deadlines!
If I didn't have to make a living, I'd be blogging all night and all day, eventually making a success at blog monetization - a subject I've been meaning to research but life always gets in the way. Besides, rumors have it that monetizing a blog can take years - at least that's what I've gathered so far.
So what can I share with you today?
If you'd like to have a crack at entrepreneurship, live in a developing country and believe you know enough about the stationery industry, you might be able to have a go at it by exporting stationery and office supplies to Europe. An organisation called CBI - the Center for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries - might give you a helping hand. Aside from their inspired mission to reduce poverty in developing countries, CBI wants to promote active trade between these countries and Europe. One such channel would be office stationery and related supplies.
Why does the CBI think there's an export market for stationery and other supplies to Europe? For one, it says that the EU's total stationery consumption totalled 15 billion Euros in 2006. While decreases in consumption were reported between 2002 and 2006 in some EU countries, the CBI believes that the market can very much accommodate stationery exports into Europe from developing nations. These are a few of the reasons cited:
- growth of the grey population - this points to the need for hobby-related stationery;
- people's lack of time - this phenomenon makes it imperative for new products that help save time and minimize effort to be developed and marketed;
- popularity of digital photography - this has led to the need for storage of CDs and albums;
- environmental awareness - more and more customers are demanding that product packaging reflect respect for the environment;
- worker mobility - workers will need more products and supplies that will make "work-to-go" quicker and easier.
For those of you who want to know more about the business potential for exporting stationery and related supplies to Europe, it would be worth your while to visit the CBI's web site and read their market reports (they're free). Go to: http://www.cbi.eu/marketinfo/cbi/docs/the_stationery_office_and_school_supplies_market_in_the_eu.
Here are a few French/English terms for you:
| FRENCH | ENGLISH |
| planches à pinces | clip and carry clipboards |
| porte-tabelette en vinyle | vinyl pad holder |
| porte-formulaires en aluminium | aluminum form holders |
| pinces relieuses | binder clips |
| pinces bulldog | bulldog clips |
| pinces pour cloisons | panel wall clips |
| ensemble de ruban et dévidoir | tape dispenser |
| ruban d'emballage à haut rendement | high performance packaging tape |
| téléphone analogique pour conférences | analog conference phone |
| système de répondeur à 2 lignes (avec/sans fil) | 2-line answering system (corded/cordless) |
| téléphone haut-parleur | speakerphone |
| coupe-papier | paper cutter |
| coupe-papier laser | wood laser trimmer |
| coupe-papier en titane | titanium paper trimmer |
| câbles simulateurs de modem | crossover cables |
| câbles de réseautique | network cables |
| attaches de câble | cable ties |
| organisateur de câables de type tunnel | cable tunnel organizer |
| serveurs d'impression à 4 ports | 4-port print servers |
| boîtier à 2 baies pour stockage réseau | 2-bay network storage enclosure |
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