How to Keep Up With the Global Crowd

iStock/Thinkstock

How not to slip up with it comes to using technology to go global.

Read:

Avoiding I.T. Slip-Ups When Going Global
David H. Freedman || NYTimes.com

According to the article, key areas to focus on if you are to keep up with the global crowd:

• Too little or too much customization
• Tricky support demands
• Logistics
• Privacy

In This World, Don't Be Too Particular

Photo credit:  Laurel Delaney, Singapore Changi airport, jewelry shop (February 8, 2011)

"Let us not be too particular.  It is better to have old second-hand diamonds than none at all." ~ Mark Twain

Trouble Ahead: China's eBay, Alibaba

iStock/Thinkstock

Alibaba announced two of its most senior representatives, David Wei, the chief executive, and Elvis Lee, the chief operating officer, would resign to accept responsibility for the company having granted "golden status" to 2,236 dealers who it says had subsequently defrauded buyers.

Although the two executives were not personally implicated, the company had little choice than to accept their resignations and make a public disclosure about what happened.

Read all about it:

An online-fraud scandal in China:  Alibaba and the 2,236 thieves
The Economist (check out this December 2010 article as well)

Why Alibaba's CEO had to go
Fortune Tech

Alibaba.com CEO Resigns in Wake of Fraud by Sellers
WSJ.com

David Wei and Elvis Lee Quit Alibaba Amid Fraud Inquiry
NYTimes.com

I think this is only the tip of an iceberg ... watch it closely.

Poetry, Peace and Beauty: A Place to Feel a World Apart

iStock/Thinkstock

If you are in the process of conducting business in Northern Italy and have a chance to experience one of the finest hotels, Grand Hotel A Villa Feltrinelli, do so.

Design teams from around the globe were consulted about period features and stylistic settings.  Take the time to explore.

For demanding globetrotters who need an escape once in a while -- this one's for you!

Which Export Sales Strategy is Best For Your Business?

iStock/Thinkstock

There are several factors to consider when determining whether a direct or indirect export sales strategy is best for you and your business -- most important, the extent of your resources and the degree of control you wish to exercise over your export ventures.

The following article (that I wrote as the About.com Import and Export Guide) will help you with direct exporting.  Later, I'll cover indirect exporting.

Direct Exporting: Advantages and Disadvantages to Direct Exporting

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney, The Global Small Business Blog

Worldly Web Re-Design: Should You Incorporate Red, Yellow, Blue or Violet?

iStock/Thinkstock

One thing is for sure: You don't want to offend anyone, anywhere in the world with your color choice!

Learn more here about what colors mean by culture.  We are not surprised to see from the report that:

Blue is often considered to be the “safest” and “most positive” global color.

GlobeTrade.com is heavy with blue and so is this blog.  Remember that different colors hold different meanings throughout the world.

Manufacturing Your Way to the Top

iStock/Thinkstock

In his new book Make It In America, Andrew Liveris, Chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company, calls for a national strategy to revive manufacturing.

We need manufacturing jobs if we are to keep a growing population busy and start paying off our debts to the rest of the world.  Some Americans imagine that we can thrive by continuing to dream up gadgets like iPhones and Kindles while letting the Chinese do all the tedious work of making the products themselves.

 Mr. Liveris disagrees.  Learn more on why he disagrees and about his new book here and here.

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney for The Global Small Business Blog

Come Fly With Me to Discover the World

Photo (taken through pane of glass) credit:  Laurel Delaney, Narita airport, Tokyo, Japan en route to Chicago on a United Airlines airplane (2/8/11).

“The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” ~ Rudyard Kipling

Global Vision of Progress

iStock/Thinkstock

Are you between the age of 18-25 years?  Then you are cordially invited to celebrate the OECD's 50th anniversary by creating a short video describing your vision of progress.  You can be located anywhere in the world to apply.  Three winners will win a trip to Paris.

Be inspired.  Get creative.  The deadline is March 1, 2011.

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

Instant Translator: App Speaks in 23 Different Languages

iStock/Thinkstock

Google goes all out with its free iPhone app, Google Translate, which allows you to push a button, say something in one language and it displays a translation.  Makes communicating worldwide a breeze.

The app will speak the results in one of 23 different languages.

Learn more:

Put a Translator in Your Pocket

Expansion Lies in Selling Foreign Markets

Hemera/Thinkstock

According to the Commerce Department, U.S. exports grew by almost 17% to $1.8 trillion last year.  Imports jumped nearly 20%, pushing the annual trade deficit up to almost $498 billion, a 32.8% increase that marked the biggest percentage gain in a decade.

And look at what the big focus is:

With developed economies growing slowly, U.S. companies are recognizing that expansion lies in selling to other foreign markets—some that were long seen as competitors. The Obama administration is pushing that perspective to achieve its goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2014.

Read more here.

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

How to Rev Up Your Global E-Commerce Sales

iStock/Thinkstock

In the global e-marketplace, details matter.  Sure you have a website and a blog, but can you claim you sell international customers?  If not, why not?  This article might help:

Global E-Commerce:  3 Ways to Turn Your Website Into a Global E-Commerce Money-Making Machine

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney, The Global Small Business Blog

Note:  Laurel is the Import and Export Guide for About.com

Coke Sales Bubbling Globally

Zoonar/Thinkstock

Why are Coke's sales on the rise internationally?  As a small business owner or entrepreneur, you probably wonder what we can learn from the big guy -- Coke.  Two things for now:

1.  Coke's growth was fastest in emerging markets like India and Brazil.  You have to challenge yourself:  Should you be looking at this market?  My answer:  Yes!  Definitely consider the BRIC (why it's important here) area for expanding your business internationally.

2.  Coke is sticking to its long-term pricing strategy, and plans to implement price increases that won't affect or startle consumers who are still fairly value conscious.  Is this something you should be doing too with your business offerings?  My answer:  Yes!  If you can gently raise prices and still have customers buy -- go for it.  Over the long haul, you'll finish up the year in a far healthier (= profitable) state.

There's more.  Read the entire article here.

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

The Great Chicago Blizzard 2011

Photo credit: Laurel Delaney, Rogers Park, Illinois, February 2011.

"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event.  You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?" ~ J.B. Priestley

Can We Outproduce, Outcompete and Outsell Anybody, Anywhere in the World?

iStock/Thinkstock

I'd like to think we can and according to President Ronald Reagan in his own State of the Union speech on February 4, 1986, he affirmed we could.

But here's the thing.  Judy Shelton (video clip of her -- interesting ... she thinks the free market works) writes a provocative commentary for The Wall Street Journal:  "The Wrong Way to Double Exports."  She doesn't think we are competing.  She thinks we are cheating.

Find out why here.

Ms. Shelton is author of “Money Meltdown” (Free Press, 1994), is a senior fellow at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation and co-director of the Sound Money Project.

The Cool Factor: Singaporeans

Photo credit: Laurel Delaney, Singapore Changi Airport, 2/8/11.

I just returned from a trip to Singapore to attend a World Entrepreneurship Forum Board meeting. We will be hosting our fourth annual World Entrepreneurship Forum in Singapore November 2011 and wanted to make sure our venue choice is a good fit to our Forum's needs.

The Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have jointly become the third founding member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum.

Singapore will host the 4th annual conference of the World Entrepreneurship Forum in November 2011. This makes Singapore the first founding member from Asia to join the Forum, and the first country in Asia to host the Forum.

In the past, we hosted our event in Lyon, France.

No surprises here. Singapore is fantastic.   I consider it the entrepreneurial capital of the world and further, Singapore carries the "cool factor."  To find out why, read "Are Singaporeans Cool?"

Stay tuned for more information about our November event -- coming soon!

As the World Turns, Education Goes Ever More Global

iStock/Thinkstock

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal, "As World Turns, Wharton Adapts," there were two questions that stood out:

WSJ: You now have these eight global classes. What does that entail?

Mr. Robertson: They're in the U.K., Israel, India, China, South Africa and Brazil. The courses would be relevant to that environment. So as we're teaching in Brazil it's about sustainability, and when we're teaching in Israel it's about technology and one of the courses in India is about health care in India and what we can learn from that experience.

WSJ: What's changed in business that pushed you to make such broad changes in the curriculum?

Mr. Robertson: We were seeing a somewhat different world. We recognize now that much of the future growth of the world is going to come from 150 countries that, to a large extent, until recently, weren't mentioned very often in M.B.A. programs.

Read the entire interview with the WSJ and Thomas S. Robertson, Dean of the Wharton Business School and Reliance Professor of Management and Private Enterprise and professor of marketing and management here.

Timeless Globe

Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock

Take a good long look at the timeless Chalkboard Globe (pictured on the link).

It is a table top metal globe that has outlines of the continents painted on it, but can be drawn on with chalk. You can add the dividing lines of countries as they change or as you like.

Learn more here.

Business Megastars: The New Global Elite

iStock/Thinkstock

Around the world, are the super-rich different from you or me?

Excerpt from the author, Chrystia Freeland:

Through my work as a business journalist, I’ve spent the better part of the past decade shadowing the new super-rich: attending the same exclusive conferences in Europe; conducting interviews over cappuccinos on Martha’s Vineyard or in Silicon Valley meeting rooms; observing high-powered dinner parties in Manhattan. Some of what I’ve learned is entirely predictable: the rich are, as F. Scott Fitzgerald famously noted, different from you and me.

According to Freeland, a lot of the distinctions have to do with our light-speed, globally connected economy.

Learn more:

The Rise of the New Global Elite
by Chrystia Freeland
The Atlantic 

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

The Power of Kindness in Our World

Photo credit:  Laurel Delaney, Chicago lakefront

"One kind word can warm three winter months."  ~ Japanese Proverb

Essentials in Setting Up a Business in Singapore

iStock/Thinkstock

Unless you've been off the Internet, you've probably read somewhere (World Bank ranks Singapore #1 or The World Economic Forum through its "Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011") about how Singapore (pictured) is one of the best and easiest places to establish a business.

Here's a primer on what you need to consider before you set up a business in Singapore.

5 Essential Things You Need to Know About Setting Up a Business in Singapore

Biggest mistake you can make?

Get a permit

After laying out your blueprint and choosing the right product to sell in the market, as well as deciding on your target customers, you are now ready to set up a business in Singapore. If you are a foreigner who is not a permanent resident and wanted to actively run a business in Singapore, you have to apply for an EntrePass from Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM). However, if you don’t want to apply for an EntrePass, you can appoint a person who is Singapore citizen to act on your behalf.

World: Happy 2011 Chinese New Year of the Rabbit

iStock/Thinkstock

Happy 2011 Chinese New Year of the Rabbit.  May it be prosperous, happy, peaceful and healthy.

Learn more about how the Chinese New Year is celebrated the world over here.

Motivating Tool: The Scratch Map

iStock/Thinkstock

For all you worldly travelers, you can keep track of where you've been and where you desire to go next with the Scratch Map.

Use a coin, scratch off the layer of gold foil covering each country or area you've traveled to, unearthing punchy colors and local details underneath.  For less than U.S. 25 bucks, you are in luck.

Effortless Cross-Cultural Communications

iStock/Thinkstock

A powerful online resource that will give you what you need for precise, effortless communication regardless of cultural differences.

Subscribers will have instant access to key business etiquette information on more than 60 nations, in addition to country background, business protocol and key phrases in local languages.

Don't wait another second to learn international business etiquette:

McGraw-Hill's Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands Online

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog