Some of this Q&A is edited but with a savvy bit of use of the Internet and actually following the reference links in this post, you should be able to figure out what has been edited, names have been left out to protect the privacy of those individuals.
QUESTION: (Received the week of April 10th, 2011)
Ron:
I recently bought your Import-Export training course and have found the information/guidance highly useful, thanks for putting this together. I have a question for you on (the online trade leads platform considered by most to be the best). They have a pretty good feature now, wherein they are asking suppliers to pay $2000 to become (background checked) suppliers.
This group is also verified (background check etc) by the website. There are some current (background checked) suppliers who claim to only work with other (background checked) members. I am wondering, once I do start the business in a few months (I am still in the research stage), if becoming a (background checked) member of a site like this is worth spending $2000 on.
There are a number of sites like this, but (the online trade leads platform considered by many to be the best) seems pretty well knit and also offers a number of useful features. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Thanks
G.......
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ANSWER:
Hi G.....,
The problem with answering most questions of the nature you have posed is neither the import export training course publisher, nor I, know all the details of what you are considering as to "why" you think this service would be good for you and your business.
This answer is much longer than I tend to provide but there is much to say about what you are asking, so please read carefully and check out the references.
We do not know if you are considering it because you are looking to "import" or export, that is an important consideration in either case. Everyone who purchases the courses has their own set of ideas and neither the import export training course publisher nor I can assume to know or be a subject matter expert on all reasons you are considering this service.
With that said..... there is a lot more to this answer but for some reason my blog formatting kept crapping out on me and jumbling everything together so I have posted both the question above and the ENTIRE answer (quite detailed and from both myself and the publisher) on our website, here is the link to go read the entire email exchange about Import Export Trade Leads boards and to learn if they are really worth the now thousands of dollars a year some of them charge...just click here...Import Export Trade Leads
Ron Coble International Business And Trade Services Center