As an American, it’s easy to lose sight of the importance of markets outside your own. The U.S. is home to the world’s largest economy after all, clocking in at a projected $20.4 trillion for 2018, according to the International Monetary Fund. (The second largest, China, still lags well behind the U.S., at $14 trillion.)

While it may be understandable for American adult businesses to focus primarily on the domestic consumer base, those who ignore the world’s other markets for adult entertainment do so to their own detriment. Nowhere is this clearer than in the webcam sector, which has seen a dramatic expansion in the number of successful studios and performers in recent years.

For American companies, there are some substantial barriers to effectively marketing to consumers outside the U.S., of course. One is language – even though English is a widely-spoken tongue, it can be difficult (or impossible) to translate colloquialisms and slang used in porn marketing into the local vernacular.

None of the obstacles to marketing adult entertainment globally are insurmountable, of course, and many American adult companies have successfully established their brands overseas. Over the last 20 years, the advent of the internet and the international adoption of social media platforms have greatly eased the process of internationally marketing your adult brands and products, despite attempts to censor and control the internet by some governments.

Over the weeks to come, YNOT will explore a variety of issues and questions surrounding the global market for adult entertainment. With the help of business owners, billing companies, ad networks and others, we’ll probe the challenges of enhancing your international revenue base, look at promising emerging markets and see what adult companies outside the U.S. are doing to grow their businesses.

Our focus will begin with a series of articles about the rapidly-expanding adult webcam market in Colombia. In the first article in the series, Scott Thompson of Friend Finder Networks discusses both the current status and exciting potential of the Colombian adult webcam industry.

In another upcoming feature, we talk to Studio20 CEO Mugur Frunzetti about his company’s strategy for growth – and why he considers his company not as a Romanian company expanding into other markets, but an international cam network with its roots in Romania. To some, this may sound like a distinction without a difference, but perspective matters in business; adopting the mindset of a transnational organization can help to set priorities and goals which are consistent with the goal of international expansion.

Look for more articles in YNOT’s series on Colombia’s adult cam market starting tomorrow, and additional upcoming series on other world markets continuing through the weeks and months ahead.