Selling to Japan: What Works

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Sheer determination and superhuman patience will get you to the Japanese border, but it will take a unique product and smart marketing to get you in.  Japanese consumers are always ready to sample imported goods, but my [Laurel Delaney's] experience has shown that there are eight common denominators of successful products.

Here they are.

How Do You Keep Things In Balance?

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Internationally recognized executive coach, educator and author John Baldoni says, "While confidence is an attribute that every leader must manifest, taken in too large of a dose can cause the ego to inflate. That can lead to a sense of misplaced invincibility, that you can do it all. The challenge is to find balance. Know that you must continue to earn your keep, as well as maintain the sense of accomplishment that you belong."

How do you keep things in balance?  How do you keep it real?

Mystery solved and Paul McCartney is involved.

Do Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners Support Trump?

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Are the Trump administration and Congress doing more for large corporations than they are for small business owners?  According to a new national survey of 1,225 entrepreneurs from the Kauffman Foundation, conducted by Global Strategy Group and Public Opinion Strategies, it seems so.

Considering that Trump lost the popular vote in 2016, he will need every scrap of support he can get to win in 2020, and judging from this new survey data, he may not be able to rely on entrepreneurs and small business owners to get there.

Read the entire article here to find out whether small business owners support Trump.

Walmart CEO: When Making Change, Move with Speed

Today in Global Small Business: Best Small Business Apps

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• The Dolce and Gabbana China crisis is worsening.
• How to go global in three (3) clicks.
• Quote of the week:  "Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love." -- Hamilton Wright Mabie
• Best small business apps.
• Fifteen (15) examples of augmented reality to inspire small business owners. 
• Don't be stingy or else you risk losing good employees.

Pulse of America

©2018 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"I adore Chicago.  It is the pulse of America." -- Sarah Bernhardt 

What Global Marketing Strategies Are and How Companies Can Best Achieve Success With Them

Climate Change to Have Consequences Worldwide

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Climate change is expected to have consequences worldwide, especially in Africa. Harvests will be affected, threatening agricultural outputs. This is said to hurt farmers and lead to greater food insecurity.

But there hasn’t been much discussion about what effects climate change will have in other areas – like in the continent’s small and medium business sector. This is a worrying oversight.

Research, conducted in Zambia and Botswana, revealed that businesses activities faced major disruptions during the 2015/2016 El Niño event.

Learn more about how small businesses in Africa will be on the frontline of climate change.

Know the Hows of Corporate Etiquette and the Values Behind Different Traditions

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When doing business around the world, learning and honoring the way people in other countries greet one another, or give gifts, or even gesture, drink, and speak is just the tip of a cultural iceberg.

Martin J. Smith adds:

But understanding the values that lie beneath those behaviors—the attitudes, beliefs, ideologies, and philosophical or spiritual perspectives—can enable you to negotiate the iceberg rather than plow into it.

He goes on to say "We see things above the surface that look like business etiquette, but which underneath are really driven by some centuries-old cultural ethos."

Read the entire article on cultural advice you need before taking your business global.

Start Small With a Passion and Determination and Then Go Big

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Whether it was in someone’s garage, a local café, or a car traveling to their first customers, many multinational companies started small with the passion, vision, and determination of a few individuals.

Ask any Founder/CEO and they will likely tell you something similar to this: the road from entrepreneurship to executive can be daunting and will take time. While this is true, there are ways to make this road a straighter path.

Here are a few things to know about to make your journey easier.

Today in Global Small Business: 4 Ways to Transform the SME Global Market

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Top 10 December events in Slovakia.
• Do you feel comfortable delivering bad news? Do you look forward to speaking in public? Do you enjoy networking? Is it easy for you to speak your mind and be assertive with friends and colleagues? If you answered no to any of these questions, this [free] wegginar can help you on 12/5. Register here and get ready to start the new year with powerful growth.
• Execution is everything:  here's the number one reason why.
• Quote of the week:  "For more than a decade, I led an organization that put on an elaborate Christmas program each December. It was a big production, with over 250 people participating in more than 20 performances. By the end of the season, everyone who participated was exhausted." -- John Maxwell
• Being an American brand, and why it matters in a global marketplace. 
• Crossing the digital border:  4 ways to transform the SME global market (PDF).

Christmas in Chicago: Crazy Good Cheer

Photos courtesy:  @2018 Laurel J. Delaney