A Big Social Following Can Be Both a Blessing and a Curse On the Global Front

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The value of a company -- whether big or small -- developing its own powerful social media presence can not be overstated.  You literally make your own news.  But it can also serve as a curse if you are not careful.

Pete Blackshaw, Nestle's global head of digital and social media, has it right:  “What happens in the social world, is that if you get that right, you get disproportionally rewarded. If you get it wrong, you get disproportionally punished or outed. There’s a real cost to getting it wrong.”

For big social media-minded consumer-facing brands — from technology to automotive to CPG — having large social followings is a blessing from a communications and control perspective. No longer are they suppliant to the fifth estate to disseminate their news. What’s more, they can engage directly with their constituents using language and visuals of their own choosing.

Read the entire article:  The Pain & Pleasure of Branded Social Media

E-Retailers Are Staking Their International Claims Worldwide

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E-commerce is picking up steam around the world with emerging countries seeing the fastest growth in activity.  India, China and Brazil are in the lead with double-digit expansions year over year.

This rise of global ecommerce has retail leaders staking international claims across nearly every global market. But what factors have facilitated this ecommerce growth worldwide?

What's facilitating this growth?  Find out:  Core Elements Flattening the Global E-Commerce World

Want a look at e-commerce powerhouses both here and abroad?  Visit:  E-Commerce Goes Global

How to Get Around Language Barriers the World Over

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No matter where you do business in the world, do your products speak for themselves?  How is that working for you?

In the case of Niagara-based Pillitteri Estates Winery:

“The way we try to get around the language barriers is with a lot of visuals,” he said, adding that he travels to trade shows and exhibitions abroad with price sheets, business cards, and other materials already translated to the local language, as well as a video display showcasing the ice wine harvesting process. “They see the price and taste the quality and from there the business can begin.”

Read the entire article:  Doing Business Abroad?  Here's how to get around language barriers

A Ray of Beauty

©2013 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Flowers ... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844

Eriksen Translations Helps Women-Owned Businesses Build For Global Growth

Photo courtesy:  Apress

We are honored and excited to be collaborating with Eriksen Translations. They are supporting women-owned businesses by providing complimentary copies of Laurel's new book, "Exporting: The Definitive Guide to Selling Abroad Profitably," to attendees at the Women Presidents' Organization (WPO) 17th Annual Conference.

Delaney quotes Vigdis Eriksen, the founder and CEO of Eriksen Translations, in Chapter 15, "Web Design with the World in Mind," where she provides strategies for conveying cultural, linguistic, and business information to target audiences in a world that is becoming increasingly multicultural and multilingual. Vigdis Eriksen said, "To reach out to the world for business, your website should be flexible enough to adapt to other languages in the future. Build for global growth."

Read more about it:  Eriksen Translations Helps Women Business Owners Reach Their Audiences in the Global Marketplace

Both Laurel and Vigdis will be attending the conference in New Orleans (4/22-25) so look for them!  If you are not attending the conference, following them on Twitter is easy:  @LaurelDelaney @EriksenTrans and #WPOConf2014

All Dressed Up and Ready to Go Global

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Where are the current revenue-generating opportunities on the horizon?  E-commerce and apparel manufacturers.  Put them together and you have a perfect formula for global growth.  As stock analyst Bridget Weishaar writes for Morningstar:

We think modern technologies and consumer preferences demand an entirely different skill set from companies than in the past. In fact, we think current innovations have given companies an unprecedented opportunity to develop direct relationships with their customers [and the chance to expand in growing global markets] to solidify their intangible brand asset, as well as be creative in managing the supply chain to develop unrealized cost efficiencies, both of which are critical to developing an economic moat in this category.

Read what else Ms. Weishaar has to say at:  All Dressed Up and Ready to Go

Franchising Has Gone Global

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What's the big industry trend or hot topic these days at franchising conventions?  Take it global.  That's what Chad Finkelstein says at the Financial Post.  He adds:

I have no empirical evidence to support my position on this, but I think the appeal of international franchising is guided by one or a combination of the following: the cache and promotional benefits of being able to claim your franchise concept transcends borders; a strategic choice based on identified market trends; favourable economic and regulatory conditions that remove certain barriers to entry for a particular business; and/or someone from that country expressed an interest in being a franchisee.  

Read the entire article:  Is your franchise really ready to go global?

The Accidental Exporter

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Are you an accidental exporter?  You react to opportunities that come your way as opposed to preparing well in advance for them?  That's the difference between an accidental exporter and an intentional exporter. An intentional exporter does his or her homework, makes exporting a strategic priority and identifies overseas growth opportunities for the business.

"Despite the instantaneous exposure to global markets through the web, many small businesses are not prepared for dealing with customers overseas and are becoming ‘accidental exporters’, having not planned for or considered the practicalities or potential of selling abroad until an international order drops into their inbox."

Read the entire article:  Are you an accidental exporter?  For UK visitors, read the schedule on upcoming exporting events here.  The next one is July 5th.

Web Technology Enables Remote Coaching From Anywhere in the World

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Web technology allows us to sell products and goods everywhere provided the customer has an Internet connection.  Take career coaching, a fast-growing and largely unregulated market. A decade ago the Kentucky-based International Coach Federation had 2,100 members; that number has since grown eightfold, to 16,600.

In 2004 the Harvard Business Review estimated that executive coaching alone was a $1 billion industry. Aided by Web technology that enables remote coaching from anywhere, the business is gaining ground in some unexpected corners of the world.

Read more:  An expat career coach's world without borders

Embrace Spring

©2014 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

“Don't go fighting against the Spring.” - E.M. Forster, A Room with a View

(Photo taken on the 28th floor at 321 N. Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois)

Guess Who's No. 1 in the World On Entrepreneurship?

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No drum roll needed on this one.  The United States is the most entrepreneurial economy in the world, according to the 2014 Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI).

The Global Entrepreneurship & Development Index was created to provide a more complete understanding of economic development by capturing the contextual nature of business formation, expansion, and growth.  It is based on analysis of comprehensive data sets from more than 120 countries that marshal information about the “3A’s” of development: entrepreneurial attitudes, aspirations, and activity.

Here's a look at the top 10, including scores:

No. 1:   United States - 82.5
No. 2:   Canada - 81.7
No. 3:   Australia - 77.9
No. 4:   Sweden - 73.7
No. 5:   Denmark - 72.5
No. 6:   Switzerland - 70.9
No. 7:   Taiwan - 69.5
No. 8:   Finland - 69.3
No. 9:   Netherlands - 69.0
No. 10: United Kingdom  - 68.6

Read more at:  GEDI Index | Global Entrepreneurship Development Institute

Most Successful Export? Britain's Private Schools.

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The children of the well-heeled flock to Britain's private schools, whether from China, Nigeria or Russia: the number of foreign pupils rose by 1.4% in the last year alone.  That's according to the Economist's article, "Overseas students:  How to ruin a global brand."  However:

Nick Hillman of the Institute for Higher Education says the [British] government has sent unclear messages about the sort of immigration it wants to restrict. An emphasis on holding down net immigration deters young Indians and Pakistanis in particular. Australia and America, which have more relaxed entry criteria for students, are becoming more favoured destinations. Colin Riordan, Cardiff University’s vice-chancellor, adds that Britain’s student-visa regime has become more onerous and fiddly overall.

Is Britain losing out to other countries in the contest for talent?

Read the entire article:  Overseas students:  How to ruin a global brand