Exchange Rates and Other Markets

If you follow economic news, you might have heard that the dollar has taken a beating, and that its value has significantly dropped over the last few months. But forget any nationalistic fervor and put on your business hat. What does a company do in such circumstances? See if there is a potential advantage.

I was traveling in Canada a couple of weeks ago and was surprised to find that the US dollar was trading almost at par with Canadian currency - perhaps at a 5 percent premium, but no more. I've never thought that much about approaching Canadian publications because they had the reputation of relatively low pay further discounted by the exchange rate. However, if the two currencies are almost even, that opens some possibilities. A publication paying $1.50 Canadian would be roughly $1.42 in US. Now extend the concept. Is there a UK publication that pays maybe 60 cents a word? The pound is about double the value of the dollar, which would turn that pay into $1.20.

There are some additional considerations - possible bank fees in processing foreign checks or wire transfers, and possibly some loss in the currency conversion process. But there are a lot of doors now open that may have been closed before.

The big lesson is to take a corporate view and the news and see how it could affect your business on a global basis. Now is a good time to explore other markets, while it is economic to do so.