In Wednesday night’s State of the Union address, President Obama brought to the forefront a smart strategy for small businesses to boost sales now, while the U.S. economy continues to slowly recover.

The National Export Initiative he unveiled is designed to give small businesses a big boost. It will help them “seek out new markets aggressively, just as our competitors are.” It’s part of the national agenda to double U.S. exports in the next five years which, in turn, will increase the number of jobs here at home.

While it may, at first, seem counter-intuitive or just plain scary to expand to foreign markets right now, many of our clients have found the opposite to be true. They have discovered that opportunities overseas can offset weak domestic sales.

Bibby Financial Services saw a steady increase of export volume in 2009 and we expect that number to grow across a wide range of industries in 2010, especially now with this government support. We already have Ex-Im Bank delegated lender authority approval to help smooth the way.

If you’re curious about how your company might benefit from exporting, please take a look at our free Guide to International Business. It helps you evaluate if exporting is right for your business, and takes you through the steps you can take to get started.