Leverage Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to Go Global

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Going global via your web properties is a whole new ball game but the question comes up more often than not:  How do I get the world to find me?

Marc Purtell takes a stab at the subject with, "How to Take Your Brand Global with SEO." One of his many key points:

One of the most important steps in achieving international success for a brand is garnering performance of its Web properties in international search engine results.  Strong organic search performance across a multitude of nations and regions will build both brand awareness and brand influence across the globe.

I talk about this topic extensively in chapter 15 (web translations) of my new book:  Exporting:  The Definitive Guide to Selling Abroad Profitably coming out December 18, 2013.

Read the entire article here.

A Truly Global Education Experience

Creatas/Thinkstock

One of the leading business schools in Europe, INSEAD (French origin), has taken another step forward in the globalization process by opening a new branch in New York where it will compete against Harvard and Columbia.

Read the interview conducted by Universia-Knowledge@Wharton with Frank Brown, dean of INSEAD:  Making Business Schools a Truly Global Experience

Frank Brown says:  " ... the big advantage European institutions have is that their programs are not dominated by one single culture. They are more open to foreign students who come from other continents." 

The earlier the global education experience, the more likely a student will develop a global mindset and a multicultural perspective on the world. 

India Places 60th out of 148 Economies in The Global Competitiveness Report (2013)

Purestock/Thinkstock

Is global competitiveness important?  Many believe a country's global competitiveness is a fundamental determinant of its productivity and economic growth.  Improving India's competitiveness, for example, would strengthen investments in the country, encourage a more employment-friendly environment and foster innovation.

The World Economic Forum released The Global Competitiveness Report, 2013-14, which includes, inter alia, a global competitiveness index (GCI) computed as a weighted average of components grouped into various factors (pillars) characterising competitiveness. These pillars include institutional, efficiency and innovation factors.

Where does India stand within the index?

India's GCI score places it 60th out of 148 economies, with its ranking slipping by 10 positions over 2008-2013.

Read the entire article:  Doing Business in India:  Take Up the Slack on Global Competitiveness

Staying Connected Worldwide on Daily Life

Fuse/Thinkstock

Are you a big fan of social media?  Many people use social media for making connections and sharing just about anything, including insider tips on their holiday trips.

What's changing on social media?  For one, Chinese people are using platforms (i.e., Weibo, Wechat, Instagram and TripColor) more and more to plan and make international trips. They normally make a decision on where to go by reading travel stories and looking at pictures through their social networks. Secondly, which isn't surprising, they "trust recommendations from friends more than the stories published in magazines or aired on TV."

Check this out: 

... "social media comprises a stronger component of travel than ever before, 44 percent of Americans said that photos or posts viewed through such networks drive them to their destinations; another 29 percent added that they receive contentment from reading comments left on their holiday posts."

When it comes to China, that sentiment is no different.  Asians use social media platforms to inform leisure travel decisions. According to Seeing the World Via Social Media, "Online travel reviews had the greatest impact on Chinese people when making initial decisions on travel destinations with roughly 70 percent of them searching online for such write-ups." 

Free WiFi spots are a way of the future.  That is, at least for global travel.

Read more here.

How to Become a Great Global City

©2013 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

The Brookings Institution, which along with JP Morgan Chase & Company created the Global Cities Institute, implores metropolitan regions to look outward to seize new opportunities and become truly global.

Some of the traits you need to become a great global city?

• Local leadership with a worldview.
• A legacy of global interaction that includes a “first-mover advantage.”
• Distinct economic specializations that attract investment.
• The ability to adapt to each new cycle of global change without losing progress.
• A culture of knowledge and innovation that encourages local thinkers and entrepreneurs to “generate new ideas, methods, products and technologies” here.

And the Initiative’s chairman is a former big-city mayor who got things done -- Chicago’s Richard M. Daley!

Read the entire article:  Going Global Requires Regional Effort

A Natural Born Global Entrepreneur

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Let's congratulate Dale Wishewan, president and chief executive of Booster Juice, an international quick-service smoothie chain, who is the 2013 Prairies EY Entrepreneur Of The Year award winner.

Award officials said Wishewan is a natural leader and born entrepreneur. With no franchise, food or beverage experience, he grew Booster Juice to 50 locations in just two years — a Canadian franchising record.

Read the entire article:  Booster Juice CEO name entrepreneur of the year

Taking a Page Out of the Japanese Global Playbook

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Should you expand into emerging markets?  For small businesses, it's a stretch because you need human capital, rich resources and hefty financial support, which can oftentimes be scarce when you are small.  But for established global companies, they are rushing to penetrate BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China).  The next question becomes:  What should the BRICs do in response - stay home,  go head to head against the global companies or focus on emerging opportunities?  Or all of the above? 

To answer these questions, we think there is a page out of the Japanese global firm’s playbook that firms from the BRICs and other emerging markets should not follow.

Read the entire article to learn more:  Going Global Is Key For Emerging Giants

Think Different to Expand Internationally

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Expanding internationally is not that difficult, it's just different.  Different from selling domestically.  Yes, you have to pay more attention to documentation, how you get paid and how to transport products from here to there.  But basically, once you master that and some cultural issues, you're well on your way to selling globally.  I'll cover all of this in my new exporting book but for now, read the five tips Elana Donio offers for going global.  Quickly, here's one of them:

Tip #2: Get the lay of the land

Understanding local laws and the business environment is important, but that’s just the beginning. Building cultural credibility is vital for attracting the initial crop of employees, clients and partners.

Tips for Going Global 

When something is different, you must develop the right mindset (attitude) to conquer it.

Design Destination of the Month: Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort in China

The Importance of a Global Brand

©2013 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Everyone knows the Apple brand, yet creating a global brand presence in one or more international markets isn't cheap or easy, especially for a small business owner. But it is worthwhile, provided you understand the reasons why. Below I spell out what a global brand is and five reasons to develop one.

Read:  Making the Case for a Global Brand

What a Treat: Chicago Hawks and Halloween!

©2013 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

The official website for the world famous Chicago Blackhawks.

More on the 2013 Stanley Cup Champs here.

Malaysian Entrepreneurs Driven Towards Penetrating the Global Market

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

"Twenty-five percent of the local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will have global market business networking by 2020," says SME Corporation Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Datuk Hafsah Hashim.  This will happen largely as a result of the government's establishment of the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creative Centre (MaGIC) in Cyberjaya, which will increase local entrepreneurs' opportunities to penetrate the global market.

In Malaysia:

SMEs contribute 19 percent to the country's exports and 57.4 percent in job opportunities.

Read the entire article: 25 Percent to have global market business networking

International Franchising As a Way to Access New Markets

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

More and more established brands in the retail, food and beverage and quick-service restaurant sectors are using franchising as a way to access new markets.  International franchising is a strategic way to reduce dependence on domestic demand and grow new, future revenue and profit centers worldwide.

Read the entire article:  Expanding into new markets through franchising

Related article:  International Franchising:  A Global Strategic Initiative

Selling Nearly 2.5 Billion People Around the Globe Online

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

According to a recent study by MasterCard, people adopt personas when shopping online — an interesting consideration for ecommerce businesses.

The Digital Sharing and Trust Project shows that consumers actually shed their “real-world” identities when they go online to assume “digital personas."  To be more specific, there are five different personas parading themselves around the web today.

What does this mean for selling in the online world?  It means getting to know your customers can be tricky.

Learn more:  5 global online personas your business should take note of

Factors to Consider When Developing a Global Brand for the Audience of the 21st Century

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Flavia Barbat conducts an interview with Sandy Suffield (former art director at Apple) from the London office and Mike Abbink (co-founder of Method) from the New York office. The entire interview includes Wolff Olins and several of its global creative directors and is available in the most recent Premium Issue of Branding Magazine, entitled "Crafting the Brands of the 21st Century."

Here's an excerpt of the interview:  Meet the Global Creative Directors of the 21st Century 

And here's the first question posed to Sandy:

Overall, what do you consider to be the first thing one must take into consideration when developing a brand for the audience of the 21st century? 

How Joint Ventures Can Be a Good Global Market Entry or Expansion Method

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

American Express Company recently announced plans to create a joint venture designed to accelerate the transformation of its Global Business Travel (GBT) division.

American Express is in ongoing discussions with regard to a proposed joint venture in which it would share the ownership of the joint venture with an investor group led by Certares, a firm headed by senior management with significant experience in the travel industry.  The joint venture transaction is expected to create greater investment capacity for GBT to further enhance its suite of products and services, attract new customers and grow internationally to deliver additional value to customers.

I write about joint-ventures in my new exporting book (Chapter 17) in how they can prove to be a most viable way to enter a foreign market or expand within it.  Each party usually takes an equal equity stake and this case is no different (50 percent equity stake).

Read the news on the joint-venture here to see what other value the two companies will get out of forming a joint venture.

Feel With Your Heart

©2013 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart." - Helen Keller

For Irish Entrepreneurs, Small Is Beautiful

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Ireland has the Small Firms Association (SFA), considered the "Voice of Small Business" with over 8000 member companies.

SFA assists you in managing your business, as well as allowing you to interact with fellow members through their member's directory listing.

In addition, SFA provides full details of upcoming events and management training, along with featuring their most recent news updates and outline of lobbying policy submissions and press statements issued to represent your interests. 

Give it look here:  Small Firms Association

The Little Import Business That Could

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

When it comes to importing, everyone starts small.  It goes like this:  You think of a brilliant product idea, find a supplier, import the product and start selling away. 

In the article below, Kelly Spors outlines what it takes, especially on the compliance side of things, to open a small import business.

Opening a Small Import Business

Related article(s):  How to Start and Run a Profitable Import/Export Business and How to Comply with Import Regulations

Only 1 in 5 UK SMEs Export

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Is it surprising that according to UK-based CBI, only one in five UK SMEs exports? 

This is especially surprising if you add the additional statistic that businesses are 11% more likely to survive if they do so. Then, when you mix in research from the government's UK Trade & Investment body which states that exporting SMEs are 34% more productive in their first year than those SMEs who do not, you wonder why UK businesses remain so internationally reticent.

Read the entire article:  Mapping the small business export market

Filipino Franchises Go Global

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Filipino concepts are gaining wider acceptance globally, the Association of Filipino Franchisers, Inc. (AFFI) reports.  Many members already have franchisees abroad:  Aquabest (healthy water), Figaro, Potato Corner and Eat Bulaga, for example, where these brands have a presence in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, the Middle East, South Africa and the United States.

Read the entire article:  15 Pinoy franchise businesses going global in 2 years

Related article:  Open a New International Path:  Franchise

Hello Planet Entrepreneur

Photo courtesy:  Wiley

Say hello to a new book, Planet Entrepreneur, written by members of the World Entrepreneurship Forum, the first global think tank fully dedicated to entrepreneurship.  Members who contributed are as follows:   Steven D. Strauss, Tugrul Atamer, Inderjit Singh, Nikhil Agarwal, Colin Jones, Thais Corral, Tony Meloto, Jeannie Javelosa, Jack Sim, David Drake, Baybars Altuntas, Fadi N. Sabbagha, Anna-Lena Johannsen, Nicolas Shea and Laurel Delaney!

For a look at the table of contents, more information on the co-writers of Planet Entrepreneur and an excerpt from the book, visit here.

Each chapter focuses on different aspects of the challenges and opportunities currently being encountered and solved by entrepreneurs worldwide, including:

• Using technology to solve real-world problems
• Empowering women and minority entrepreneurs
• The global rise of the self-employed entrepreneur
• Making the marriage of business and the environment work for all
• Social media as a launching pad for your ideas
• Taking your business global in the digital age (my chapter contribution!)

Planet Entrepreneur explains how the world's best entrepreneurs are making a profit or meeting a pressing social need, and how you can too.

Buy the book now: Planet Entrepreneur

(Full disclosure:  I am a pioneer member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum)

Think BIG in the Global Marketplace

©2013 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"I like thinking big.  If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big." - Donald Trump

Photo:  Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago

I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/donald_trump.html#TKBxcbZW7BGeUwgp.99

I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/donald_trump.html#TKBxcbZW7BGeUwgp.99

I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/donald_trump.html#TKBxcbZW7BGeUwgp.99

Lessons From Burberry On Going Global

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Iconic British luxury fashion brand Burberry, established in 1856, offers a great case study on how to do a global launch via all media channels, including social media.  Here's what they did:

... pushing its spring women’s show in London out across 11 social networks, its own digital flagship and through 13 live-streams on outdoor screens set up in locales from New York’s Times Square to Hong Kong’s Worldwide House. 

And it can't hurt that they partnered with Apple:

Apple approached Burberry to exclusively use the iPhone 5S to capture images and video before, during and after the show, and Twitter’s real-time reach resulted in tens of millions of impressions for content relating to the event.

A first on numerous fronts and thus far, it appears to have worked.

Read the entire article:  Burberry's Spring Show Goes Global

Key insight:  Don't just use the United States social media platforms to launch your brand globally.  Use other country's popular platforms such as Japan’s Sumally and China’s Sina Weibo, Douban and Youku.  I talk about this in my new book, "Exporting:  The Definitive Guide to Selling Abroad Profitably" (chapter 6).

The Global Website Is Alive and Well

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

With the advent of social media platforms, there is much talk worldwide about whether we really need a website anymore.  You do.  The website is alive and well but has changed and is far more global.  It has adapted to accommodate social media feeds and videos, for example, to be far more interactive.

In the article below, the author talks about four key points on localization challenges and best practices.  One being, "the global website is alive and well, but it has changed."

Read:  Driving Marketing Localization Success:  Four Takeaways From Brand2Global

How to Be Like Apple

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

So you're a small business owner but want to grow up to be like Apple, Google or Coca Cola?  It's not as hard as you think.  First, change your mindset.  Next, to help you make a big impact when it comes to branding, practice these four lessons from Interbrand's 2013 Best Global Brands list.

No. 1: Be consistent.
No. 2: Be nimble.
No. 3: Concentrate on service.
No. 4: Use digital to your advantage.

Read:  Four Small-Business Lessons from 2013's Top Global Brands

Are You Playing in the $2.2 Trillion Export Market?

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

My friend and respected colleague, Anita Campbell, who runs the wildly popular Small Business Trends, writes a great article for the OPEN Forum at American Express on the benefits to exporting.

More small businesses are exporting their goods and services. Don't miss out on this revenue-boosting opportunity.

Read the entire article:  The $2.2 Trillion Market You Could Be Missing Out On

Not sure on how to get started and play in the export market?  We've got you covered.  Go here.