By following these simple guidelines, you can begin putting together an international expansion that you can execute on your own.

All the emails have been sent and sales volumes are tapering down to traditional levels. Now that the holiday season is over, what do you do next? You might be tempted to sit back, relax and recover from the holiday cheer, but, as the new year approaches, there are a host of things you should be thinking about.

You should plan on starting the new year by reviewing how the past year went and begin planning for the next 12 months. You should then identify your top priorities for 2008.

If you're like many of my clients, one key priority will be expansion. Not only is it time to focus on expanding your current U.S. customer base, but for many of you, it's also time to look at how you can expand internationally. The question then becomes what effect this expansion will have on your email practices and deliverability.

On the one hand, most U.S.-based ISPs seem to be ahead of many of the international ones, which means they will most likely follow in their footsteps with regards to authentication and filtering systems. On the other hand, they are so far behind the U.S. ISPs that depending on where you are sending, it might remind you of early 2001. With so little filtering and lack of quality anti-spam systems, international ISPs are doing everything they can to fight spam.

That being said, where should you begin to expand internationally?

First and foremost, remember that email is the same no matter where you are in the world, much like postal mail. No matter when you send your messages, the basic infrastructure is the same -- you send a message, they receive it and decide if they think it is spam or not. While many of them don't have white lists or feedback loops, you can still follow the same basic best practices to keep your list clean.

As with sending in North America, you must first start by understanding where you are sending to and who the largest receiving domains are in that region. Next, start to investigate each of those top domains to find out what type of anti-spam rules they follow.

When starting to think about how to move forward in 2008, there are several steps that will help you in the process:

Create a general plan for international expansion. By creating an overall understanding of where the most potential for expansion is, as well as where your company wants to focus its efforts, you will be able to secure the necessary resources within your company by being able to show the potential ROI.

Create a specific plan for each region:

• Understanding the top ISPs and what they are looking for is important at this stage.
• Analyze the bounce codes that the ISPs are sending to your system.
• Update and adjust your system to respond to the bounce codes accordingly.
• Build relationships with the ISP and local organizations. By getting involved with these organizations, you will be able to learn what the ISPs are doing.

Assign the responsibility of expansion to specific people. Without the proper accountability for the expansion effort and a clear backing from your organization, it will be destined to fail.

Find a partner that will help you learn as much as possible so you can do it on your own.

• Work with your partner for additional knowledge and resources.
• Make sure your partner has experience in the regions that you are focused on. If your partner doesn't already have the experience, talk through how you can work together to accomplish your goals.
• Ensure that your partner has the ability to do seedlisting in the region that you are interested in.

Always test

• Whether focusing on U.S.-based or international sending, testing is always important.
• Be willing to make changes and learn from your testing.

By following these simple tips, you can begin putting together an international expansion that you can execute on your own. However, there are also a number of companies that can take care of all of these items for you. When looking at these types of partners, make sure they present you with all the information you need to determine if they're the best partner. Ask them to show you what their plan will be to work on your behalf internationally and what type of experience they currently have in the regions. Also, make sure to find out if they are part of multiple organizations that span the various regions so that they can keep up with the latest changes for you.

So remember, enjoy the holiday hangover and start planning for the next 12 months.

Spencer Kollas is director, delivery services for StrongMail Systems. Read full bio.