2006 Irish America Magazine Business 100: News Release!

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Here is the press release.

A bit of shameless self-promotion but I'm so proud of my Irish heritage that I must toot my blogger horn loud and clear! I've been named to the 2006 Irish America Magazine Business 100. The distinction celebrates the entrepreneurial and business success of Irish-Americans.

What makes me even more proud about this honor is that I am one of just 10 women to be named to the list of 100 this year ... joining the ranks of a distinguished and diverse membership roster that includes Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, Conan O’Brien, and Bono. How cool or lucky is that?!

Other 2006 honorees include James McCann, founder of 1-800-flowers.com; Alan Lafley, chairman, president and CEO of Proctor & Gamble; and Anne Mulcahy, chairman of the board and CEO of Xerox Corporation

Wisconsin Hosts Global Tournament

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Looks like an interesting program:  Milwaukee to Host Global Tournament For Jewish Youth.

Happy Holidays Around The World!

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Wishing you a joyous Holiday Season and a happy and healthy 2007!

20 Books To Get You Global in 2007

©2006 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

1. Start & Run a Profitable Exporting Business
2. The World is Flat
3. The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid
4. The Next Global Stage
5. The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy
6. The Box: How The Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger
7. Insanely Global!
8. GODZILLA Global Marketing
9. The 86 Percent Solution: How To Succeed in the Biggest Market Opportunity of the Next 50 Years
10. The Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007
11. Building an Import/Export Business
12. Export/Import Procedures and Documentation
13. Import/Export: How to Get Started in International Trade
14. Kiss, Bow, or Shade Hands
15. Do’s and Taboos Around the World
16. How Small Business Trades Worldwide
17. The Borderless World
18. Going Global: Four Entrepreneurs Map the New World Marketplace (by the founders of Fast Company magazine):
19. The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy
20. Entrepreneur Magazine’s Global Village Archive

Art Collecting Is Going Global

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From India to China to Russia ... collecting art is going global, and prices have room to run. Read the article here.

Martha Stewart Going, Going, Global!

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The lifestyle and media company, founded by Martha Stewart, built on tips for cooking and decorating is looking at expanding food products, retail and its magazines overseas.

Read all about it here.

2006 Irish America Magazine Business 100

iStock/Thinkstock

A bit of shameless self-promotion but I'm so proud of my Irish heritage that I must toot my blogger horn loud and clear! I've been named to the 2006 Irish America Magazine Business 100. The distinction celebrates the entrepreneurial and business success of Irish-Americans.

What makes me even more proud about this honor is that I am one of just 10 women to be named to the list of 100 this year ... joining the ranks of a distinguished and diverse membership roster that includes Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, Conan O’Brien, and Bono. How cool or lucky is that?!

Other 2006 honorees include James McCann, founder of 1-800-flowers.com; Alan Lafley, chairman, president and CEO of Proctor & Gamble; and Anne Mulcahy, chairman of the board and CEO of Xerox Corporation

More official news to follow.

Global Entrepreneurs Create Domestic and Foreign Jobs

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If there's ever a book to read in 2007, it's this one: The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy

From Publisher's Weekly: Argonauts, Saxenian's mythic term for global commuters employed in the high tech sector, are not the ominous invaders American economic isolationists fear-stealing jobs and ideas from Americans and spiriting them abroad. Rather, Saxenian argues, such global entrepreneurs have created domestic and foreign jobs and reduced the cost of technology for businesses and consumers.

Saxenian is at her best when describing the relatively short history of the international entrepreneur-commuter: the Argonauts, though equipped with Ph.D.s from American universities, hit ethnicity-based glass ceilings in the States and chose entrepreneurship over floundering in middle-management.

Bright, young, foreign-born entrepreneurs formed technology companies (with the help of western venture capital and management theory) in their home countries and succeeded where traditional development initiatives failed. However, when Saxenian projects the implications of Argonaut activity or their future, she sounds prematurely optimistic; some readers may have a hard time envisioning, as Saxenian does, widespread future interglobal cooperation aimed at solving humanity's problems. [Laurel here ... I don't.]

Abridged Borderbuster: 12/5/06

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CONTENTS

If you are not a subscriber to Borderbuster, here's a glimpse of what you missed this month:

1. Welcome From The Publisher
2. Feedback From Our Readers
3. Secrets, Lies, and Sweatshops*
4. Business and Cultural Tips: Have Some Fun!*
5. Oh, Canada!*
6. How I Went Global: Ongoing Series // National Defense
7. A Reader Asks: Q&A*
8. Everybody Loves a Freebie -- repeat: FREE OFFER*
9. Unique Gifts From Small Businesses*
10. A Danger in China?*
11. Language Barriers*
12. Blog World: Metroblogging*
13. Laurel’s e-Book: “GODZILLA Global Marketing!”
14. Take A Walk On The Wild Side (TAWOTWS)
15. Wind Behind Your Sail*
16. Miscellany*
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

*Indicates exclusive to Borderbuster subscribers only.

Sample section:

5. OH, CANADA!
*Subscriber Exclusive*

Want to jump into the international market? Meet our friendly neighbor to the north.

To read the article, visit: Entrepreneur.com

(Remember, inaction is the worst kind of failure.)

###

To subscribe to Borderbuster, visit:
Sign Up For Borderbuster!

Global Goliath Terrorizes A Small Business

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"It would appear that any tiny threat to LVMH's $13 billion in global sales in the first three quarters of 2006 and their 60,000 employees worldwide is more important to defeat than dealing with sweatshop labor it probably employs from factory workers around the globe."

WOW. Powerful statement. Read more about how a Global Goliath attempts to terrorize a small business ... here.

And here at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A Tiny Firm Wins 'Chewy Vuiton' Suit.

Note: Due to server upgrades, some of the links may no longer work.

Liquid Borders?

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Shipping goods from one country to another has always been a paper-intensive process. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, every container that crosses international borders generates 30 different documents. That adds up to roughly five billion documents a year.

But the EU, in partnership with IBM and the Free University of Amsterdam, plans to do away with all that paper, and instead have imported goods counted, monitored and evaluated for tax automatically, without producing a single sheet.

Sound unbelievable? Read more here (immediate download of PDF file): A pilot between the EU and IBM could introduce paperless shipping.

Flags of the World

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And comments about them.  Comments here.  Wake up world. Thanks Seth for the tip.

Going Global

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When Ogilvy Interactive set out to take IBM Corp.'s e-mail marketing strategy international, it knew it would need to make some adjustments to both messaging and design. It also would need to check in with local ISPs, which can impede delivery rates.

"Deliverability [as a concept] is fairly new to Europe and Asia-Pacific," said Eric Wheeler, CEO-North America of NEO@Ogilvy Interactive, the digital media unit of agency Ogilvy Interactive. "Marketers going into these places need to understand where they are, how to integrate into that region and what kind of technology they need."

Read the balance of the article here.

Is Your Firm Setup Like An Import-Export Business?

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It should be.

An excerpt from the article:

According to Polk, it is critical for companies today to develop a world-class "tri-lingual organization" fluent in the "languages" of the consumer, the customer and the company. "What you are doing is translating your agenda into the language of the person who has to execute it," namely the retailer who sells the product. He likes to think of Unilever as an "import-export business," with some good product ideas hatched in Europe or elsewhere and then exported to the United States, or vice-versa. Axe body wash, for one, was a hit in Europe well before Unilever brought it to the U.S. market.

Read the article here: It's All About Dislocating Ideas

On The Rise: Small Businesses with BIG Innovations

I had the great honor to serve as a panelist at the "On the Rise Small Business Conference" on Thursday, November 9 at the Timer Warner Center in New York. The event was hosted by CNN and sponsored by UPS with topics ranging from how to market your business on the Web to global expansion. The purpose of the event was to recognize innovation in small business.

Ali Velshi, one of CNN's top business anchors and a seasoned business and financial news reporter, moderated the evening's discussion and did a fabulous job keeping it lively and on track . Velshi currently provides his signature report "Vested Interest" on American Morning and Prime News with Erica Hill.

Here are a couple of pictures from the event (courtesy of UPS and with permission to use):

Mary Wayman, Founder, Application2Graduation
(A2G) and Kurt Kuehn, Senior Vice President,
Worldwide Sales and Marketing, UPS.

Panel experts (L-R): Eileen O'Brien, Vice President, Small & Medium Business, Hewlett-Packard Company, Laurel Delaney, Founder and President, Global TradeSource, Ltd. (Globetrade.com), David Young, Founder & CEO, BMI Gaming, Rieva Lesonsky, Editorial Director, Entrepreneur Media Inc.,Kurt Kuehn, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Marketing, UPS, Ali Velshi, CNN anchor and reporter and Helen Morley, Founder and CEO, Helen Morley Designs.

Kurt Kuehn (center), Senior Vice President, Worldwide

Sales and Marketing, UPS is surrounded by the proud winners.

The Alzheimer's Store winners Mark and Ellen Warner with

Kurt Kuehn (center), Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Marketing, UPS

Money Savvy Generation winners Michael and Susan Beacham

with Kurt Kuehn (right), Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Marketing, UPS

All the winners in a very happy pose!

Panelist's company websites:

Helen Morley's
Laurel Delaney's
David Young's
Eileen O'Brien's
Rieva Lesonsky's

Winner fact sheets, videos and websites:

1st place: Application 2 Graduation

2nd place: Money Savvy Generation

3rd place: The Alzheimer's Store

Read more about the 2006 contest here.

Read more about the 2006 winners here.

Read the press release here.

And one shameless plug for UPS that will enable you to take on the world.

Abridged Borderbuster: 11/6/06

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CONTENTS

If you are not a subscriber to Borderbuster, here's a glimpse of what you missed this month:

1. Welcome From The Publisher
2. Feedback From Our Readers
3. Navigating China’s Labyrinth*
4. Business and Cultural Tips: Have Some Fun!*
5. China’s “Chuppies” Are Buying American*
6. How I Went Global: Ongoing Series // Orhan Pamuk
7. A Reader Asks: Q&A*
8. Everybody Loves a Freebie -- repeat: FREE OFFER*
9. 2006 Online Harmonized Tariff Schedule*
10. 2006 Report on Foreign Trade Barriers*
11. Plan Globally, Deploy Locally*
12. Blog World: Managing Globalization*
13. Laurel’s e-Book: “GODZILLA Global Marketing!”
14. Take A Walk On The Wild Side (TAWOTWS)*
15. Wind Behind Your Sail*
16. Miscellany*
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

*Indicates exclusive to Borderbuster subscribers only.

Sample section:

5. CHINA’S “CHUPPIES” ARE BUYING AMERICAN
*Subscriber Exclusive*

We hear plenty about Chinese imports -- the flow of goods manufactured in China and sold into the United States -- but not so much about U.S. exports sold into China. And yet, "China is one of the fastest growing markets for U.S. exports."

Find out more at IndustryWeek, visit:
China's "Chuppies" Are Buying American

(Remember, inaction is the worst kind of failure.)

###

To subscribe to Borderbuster, visit:
Sign Up For Borderbuster!

Should I Stay Local or Go Global?

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Among the biggest challenges firms face in going global is that of performing a rigorous analysis to determine which functions should stay at home or go global. Then, too, firms sometimes fail to clearly understand their customer bases and value propositions. If a company depends on close relationships with certain business partners or customers to deliver value, then outsourcing may create new barriers that add layers of complexity to processes—offsetting any financial gains.

Read the article here. 

(Note: over time, links change.  If the link doesn't work, try here).

Look At India For Your Next Market Entry

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India offers so many opportunities that Wharton has decided to launch India Knowledge@Wharton. Their network already surpasses 750,000 subscribers worldwide. Must be something going on there -- beyond our typical radar. Better take a look.

Visit knowledge area here.

VISA's Global Gateway Launches New Small Biz Website

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VISA launches a new small biz site and contest. You could win a solution package (hopefully it includes advice on how to go global!) worth U.S. $10,000. Looks like VISA is getting a little edgy. That's a good thing.

Go for the prize here. Deadline for applications is December 31, 2006. (Note: Links change over time. If the link doesn't work, try here.)

Top 10 Global Sourcing Issues to Consider

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So your small business is experiencing better-than-expected growth, and you're ready to take the next step and expand globally? Think about when you go shopping -- more often than not, you may notice phrases like "Made in Mexico," "Made in Sri Lanka" or "Made in Italy." Perhaps they're on your clothing tags, your daughter's new doll, the towels in your bathroom or the radio on your desk.

Read the article here.

The Worldly UPS

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UPS just launched an interactive overview that illustrates their knowledge, experience and tools in helping small businesses expand internationally. Check it out here.

One other thing. Quit thinking of UPS as just a domestic carrier. They move goods anywhere in the world.

Globe-trotter Handmade Luxury Luggage

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Very cool. See for yourself!

Social Global Entrepreneurship

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"Social entrepreneurs identify resources where people only see problems. They view the villagers as the solution, not the passive beneficiary. They begin with the assumption of competence and unleash resources in the communities they're serving." ~ David Bornstein, author of How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas.

The Skoll Foundation

And meet more new global heroes like Bornstein here.

With your drive to take on the world, are you adding human importance to your bottom line?

Moment of Local, Maybe Even Global Fame

Illustration credit:  Laurel Delaney

Become Exclusive Distributor Of a Foreign Product

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After studying Japanese in college and living in Japan for part of the ’90s, James Allard always wanted to do something in business that was Japan-related. When he and Steve Rosen decided to start a business in 2004, they went to Japan to search for a product they could import to the U.S. In a Tokyo department store bathroom, they spotted an electric hand dryer made by Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi.

Find out what happened here: The One and Only

One World, Two Blueprints

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Two books worth a look: "Making Globalization Work" and "The Next Great Globalization"

Catastrophic Population Shrinkage?

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Yes, shrinkage. True, the total global population has not yet finished increasing. But nearly half the world's population lives in countries where the native-born are not reproducing fast enough to replace themselves. This is true in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Russia, Japan, Canada and the United States. It's also true in much of East Asia, pockets of Latin America and such Indian megacities as New Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta) and Chennai (Madras). Even China is reproducing at levels that fall short of replacement.

End result: the United States reaches a demographic milestone with an anticipated population of 300 million -- behind only that of China and India -- thanks largely NOT to Lou Dobbs but rather to immigration.

Read the article here.

And how does this impact globalization? Legal immigration is part of our national culture. The United States helps create great global companies like Google, eBay and Intel.

We should not only be proud but lucky to be a part of it all.

How-To Guides (Including Global Help) for Small Businesses

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Dig deep within this new site. There are some how-to guides on importing, exporting, outsourcing and more.

Read the news here: Work.com Launches to Help Small Businesses Tackle Their Most Important Business Tasks

Shortcut: Work.com

(Note:  If a link does not work it means the company changed its servers, sold its domain name or went out of business.)

Taking Your Startup To a Foreign Market

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It’s a global village out there, with marketplaces outside American borders beckoning as never before, even to small and startup companies. Technologies such as the Internet and cheap telecommunications truly have shrunk the world to a point where it’s much easier for a entrepreneurs to get their arms around it.

But opportunity isn’t everything when it comes to entering foreign markets.

Want to rock your business?  Read the article:  Taking Your Startup to a Foreign Market

Abridged Borderbuster: 10/5/06

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CONTENTS

If you are not a subscriber to Borderbuster, here's a glimpse of what you missed this month:

1. Welcome From The Publisher
2. Feedback From Our Readers
3. U.S. REITs Looking Overseas to Expand*
4. Business and Cultural Tips: Have Some Fun!*
5. Design Without Borders*
6. How I Went Global: Ongoing Series // ThomasNet.com
7. A Reader Asks: Q&A*
8. Everybody Loves a Freebie -- repeat: FREE OFFER*
9. Go Global Out of the Gate*
10. Report From The Field: Cairo, Egypt*
11. Taking Over The World*
12. Blog World: Going Global*
13. Laurel’s e-Book: “GODZILLA Global Marketing!”
14. Take A Walk On The Wild Side (TAWOTWS)*
15. Wind Behind Your Sail*
16. Miscellany*
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

*Indicates exclusive to Borderbuster subscribers only.

Sample section:

14. TAKE A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE (TAWOTWS)
*Subscriber Exclusive*

If you can think wild thoughts, then you can most certainly go global.

Ever wish you were a painter? Now you can be one at this site, which lets anyone emulate the late Pollock and his “Jack The Dripper” technique of glopping paint on a canvas from a height. But you do it with your mouse, changing colors with a click.

Visit: Jack The Dripper

(Remember, inaction is the worst kind of failure.)

###

To subscribe to Borderbuster, visit:
Sign Up For Borderbuster!

Grow Global: 5 Ways To Just Do It

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Five ways to find new or hidden markets in the world marketplace.

Read the article here.

P.S. The examples referenced in Nos. 1 and 5 are my own (in disguise) based on client work. That's how I went on to receive the SBA Exporter of the Year award.

(Note: If the link is dead it is because ThomasNet changed its server or removed the article from its website.  Try here for general resources on global trade.)

Think Local When Franchising Abroad

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All politics, it's said, are local. The same often holds true for franchising, despite its reputation as a cookie-cutter, by-the-book way of doing business.

Being able to adapt to local customs, laws and tastes is particularly crucial when a franchise goes abroad.

Read the article here.

Think Globally; Write Locally ...

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I have been a FreePint Newsletter subscriber for at least five years. When you click on the following link, scroll down to the Tips Article and catch a very interesting piece by Kristen Giovanis entitled: "Think Globally; Write Locally: What Source Writers Need to Know About Localization."

Importing from India

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Do I need a license to import home décor from India and sell it in the United States? Find out what Ask Inc. has to say here.

Why Global Brands Matter

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Where is your next competitor coming from?

Globalization, in its many forms, is enabling global corporations to exploit the “economies of simplicity and standardization” to price-out and replace local competition. Or is it?

Successful global brands recognize the value in understanding the diversity of cultures and tastes in global markets and are now addressing the complexities of adapting the customer experience to match. This is the paradox of globalization -- easier access to international markets creates greater challenges in brand and product management.

Attend this web seminar and gain insight into:

>> The Best Global Brands in 2006 and what factors have influenced their success, as researched by Interbrand

>> Changes in how corporations are managing brands and the related management and technology issues, drawing from recent research by the Economist Intelligence Unit

>> How Hewlett-Packard’s One Voice initiative has created significant financial value in many different aspects of its business as well as substantially reducing product costs

The seminar takes place tomorrow, September 19 at 9:00 a.m. PDT; 11:00 a.m. CDT; 12:00 p.m. EDT; 5:00 p.m. GMT DT; 6:00 p.m. CET. Duration: 1 hour. If you act now, there is still time to sign up.

Register here.

(Note:  Companies change servers and remove content.  The link may no longer work.)

Business As An Agent of World Benefit

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A global foum that may be of interest to you.

Read about it here.

And many of the greatest minds (CK, Warren Bennis and Peter Senge) will be presenting.

Doing Business With the World

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The Doing Business database provided by The World Bank Group is fabulous. It provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement -- spanning across no less than 175 economies.

And the new "Doing Business 2007: How to Reform" has just been released. Check it all out ... here.

The Innovation Sandbox

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I have been a huge fan of CK's ever since he co-authored "Competing For the Future" with Gary Hamel. He has this unique ability (giftedness) to predict what's around the corner well before the rest of us arrive.

This article tells me he hasn't changed much -- which is a good thing. Care to see what's ahead on cutting-edge "global" innovation? Or, how about learning what it takes to change the world with your next big idea?

Read more >> here.

P.S. Rest assure, when I visit India, I will be staying at the indiOne hotel.

Going Global: Small Firms Take On The Challenge

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Small firms that take on the challenge of selling overseas find new frontiers and untapped opportunities.

Read the article here.

(Note: This magazine may no longer be in existence.)

Abridged Borderbuster: 9/5/06

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CONTENTS

If you are not a subscriber to Borderbuster, here's a glimpse of what you missed this month:

1. Welcome From The Publisher
2. Feedback From Our Readers
3. Worldwide Market for Offshore IT Services Is Booming*
4. Business and Cultural Tips: Have Some Fun!*
5. Niche Trade Titles Talk the Talk*
6. How I Went Global: Ongoing Series // Martin Lindstrom
7. A Reader Asks: Q&A*
8. Everybody Loves a Freebie -- repeat: FREE OFFER*
9. Go Global Out of the Gate*
10. Going Global*
11. Fashion Conquistador*
12. Blog World: International Herald Tribune*
13. Laurel’s e-Book: “GODZILLA Global Marketing!”
14. Take A Walk On The Wild Side (TAWOTWS)*
15. Wind Behind Your Sail*
16. Miscellany*
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

*Indicates exclusive to Borderbuster subscribers only.

Sample section:

12. Blog World: International Herald Tribune*
*Subscriber Exclusive*

Managing globalization.

Visit the blog here.

###

To subscribe to Borderbuster, visit:
Sign Up For Borderbuster!

Happy Labor Day

© 2006 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Labor Day is a celebration and a tribute to the contributions of workers in America who have made our country stronger. Enjoy.

P.S. This photo is taken a block from where I live.

Book It

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Five global business books you need to read.  (If link does not work, try this one.)

And if you just want to admire books, visit here: The most exploitive (and breathtaking) pictures of libraries ever gawked at.

Go global with eBay

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If you plan to go global one unit, one customer and one country at a time, eBay is it. Find out why here.

However, if you plan to go global in a BIG way -- selling lots of products to lots of customers in lots of countries, test drive these other sophisticated trading places:

• Alibaba
• Global Sources

Web Site Branding: Go Global or Stay Local?

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You decide.

What Can Brown Do For You in China?

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Everything. If you are serious about doing business in China, download this report now. It offers the inside scoop on what Chinese people really want.

Jump to PDF file here.  More can be found here.

And remember, you saw it here first! In China, no excuses ... just results.