Thursday, December 31, 2020

Be There For One Another

©iStock/eggeeggjlew
"Let our New Year's resolution be this:  we will be there for one another [even during a global pandemic] as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word." – Goran Persson

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Key Details About the Second Round of PPP Loans for Small Businesses

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More Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans are coming.  President Donald Trump has signed into law a new $900 billion coronavirus relief and stimulus package.  Among its provisions: An extension of last spring’s PPP, allowing another $284 billion or so in forgivable, federally backed loans for ailing small businesses.

Here are some answers to questions business owners might have.

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

TikTok 101

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The social media or video-sharing social network TikTok app currently has more than 800 million monthly active users. And it has been downloaded more than 1.5 billion times. 

Do you know what TikTok is, what it does, and how it is used? Find out more with a little TikTok 101.

Monday, December 28, 2020

Today in Global Small Business: Positivity in 2021 Is Possible

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

Saturday, December 26, 2020

Spiritual Reflections

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During this holiday season, have you found yourself attending virtual Christmas Eve services, relaxing on Christmas Day and writing letters, calling friends, getting outside and participating in other fun activities?

According to a survey, the coronavirus apparently cannot dampen the spiritual yearnings of some Americans who expect to boost devotional practices during the holidays.

Friday, December 25, 2020

The Christmas Spirit Brings Joy in People Around the World

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.
"Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values." – Thomas S. Monson

Merry Christmas to all!

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Festive Jammies Is the Ultimate Holiday Picture Card This Year

©iStock/vallantsin suprunovich
This year has seen a change in the images people use for their holiday cards, infusing humor into a posed portrait.  Most feature casual wear or even people wearing festive jammies.  Others aren't holding presents but rather wine or beer.  Instead of sayings that say, "Happy Holidays," we see "Good riddance 2020."

And here's the best news:  Dr. Fauci says Santa Claus has 'innate immunity,' won't be spreading COVID-19 to anyone this Christmas.

Now that's worth celebrating.

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Fun Holiday Traditions From Around the World

©iStock/Atiwat Studio
For many Americans, holiday celebrations involve decorating homes with lights, wreaths snowmen, and reindeers – and putting up Christmas trees, finding meaningful gifts for loved ones, and of course, binge-watching holiday classics like Elf, Home Alone and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

However, not everyone observes the holiday in the same way. Here are some weird and wonderful Christmas traditions from around the world.

Monday, December 21, 2020

Today in Global Small Business: Container Shipping is Booming Again

©iStock/Erich Sacco
What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

  • The World Trade Organization (WTO)  highlights progress made on developing global trade and e-commerce.
  • How President Biden must restore American trade leadership.
  • Quote of the week: Some people are so busy learning the tricks of the trade that they never learn the trade." – Vernon Law
  • Cross-border paperless trade has great potential to not only grow trade competitiveness but also to address new challenges associated with e-commerce and the digital economy.  See what the United Nations (UN) and Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) are doing about it.
  • Container shipping is booming again.  Will it last?
  • The world's most important body of water.

Saturday, December 19, 2020

Hello World

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.
"There is much to learn, but there is that which no one can teach, that which each must discover for themselves." ― Peter Cawdron, Hello World

Friday, December 18, 2020

The Big Divorce: Britain and the EU

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Britain officially left the EU in January and has spent the last 11 months in a transitional phase while the two sides try to negotiate a new free trade agreement to avert major disruptions at borders and more economic damage.  The transition ends at midnight Brussels time on December 31, 2020.

Here are some of the top issues still to be settled.

Thursday, December 17, 2020

How Not to Lose Your Way and Fall Behind the Global Competition

©iStock/dusanpetkovic
By closely monitoring your business planning (which should include a component to going global), keeping a pulse on the economy and observing short-range and long-term financial and nonfinancial metrics, you will be able to weather economic uncertainty that is out of your control.

If you aren't agile and don’t adapt as the landscape changes [especially during COVID-19 times], you can lose your way and fall behind the competition. 

Find out how to work through uncertainty and manage unpredictable times.

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

How to Support Bilingual Learning Without a Screen for Kids Aged 1-10

©iStock/Marta Ortiz
How do you easily teach your child a new language without having them be in front of a smartphone screen or tablet app?

Simply turn on the speaker-equipped (adjustable volume) Habbi Habbi wand and tap - anywhere, on any page, in any of the supported books for a translation. Bingo.  Every inch is interactive, tappable - text, image, even white space!   Kids love that there is instant feedback.

And there's more.  Parents don’t need to be native speakers to support bilingual learning. 

The books are available in Spanish and Simplified Chinese and are intended for children between 1 and 10.

To learn more visit:  Habbihabbi.com

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Rethinking Export Controls in a New Era

©iStock/gorodenkoff
"Export controls can be a formidable tool to protect technological advantage and to deter illiberal and dangerous use of technologies," says Martijn Rasser.  Used properly for their intended purpose—to affect the military potential of a foreign country, to advance major foreign policy objectives, or to fulfill international obligations—export controls can bolster U.S. national security.(1)

(1.) U.S. House of Representatives, Export Control Reform Act of 2018, H.R. 5040, 115th Congress, https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5040/text. 

Rasser says to revamp export controls for this new era—a global strategic competition with technology at its core—U.S. policymakers should focus on three tenets for implementation.

  1. Work with allies.
  2. Raise the threshold.
  3. Reframe the goal.

Read the entire (and very thorough) commentary:  Rethinking Export Controls:  Unintended Consequences and the New Technological Landscape.

Monday, December 14, 2020

Today in Global Small Business: Working With An International Distributor

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

Saturday, December 12, 2020

All Roads Lead Home

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.
"At Christmas, all roads lead home." – Marjorie Holmes

Friday, December 11, 2020

Global Small Businesses Have Struggled to Survive

©iStock/chalyapruek2520
Earlier this year, Facebook began conducting monthly surveys of small and midsize businesses that have Facebook pages. The surveys, done in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank, asked about business closures, workforce reductions, and government aid, as well as leaders' domestic responsibilities, their overall optimism, and other topics. More than 25,000 business leaders responded each month, totaling more than 150,000 respondents in more than 50 countries. 

The report findings state that these businesses were more likely than their larger peers to have suffered a 50 percent or greater drop in sales compared with 2019, and were more likely to have closed in a given month. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees were also less likely than larger firms to have received bank or government loans.

Read the global survey of small business owners here.  During the pandemic, global small businesses have struggled to survive.

Thursday, December 10, 2020

Laurel Delaney's Cheat Sheet to Growing a Global Business

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If I [Laurel Delaney] had a dollar for every time someone asked me what it takes to go global, I’d be one rich woman. It’s not one thing that propels you to success. Rather, it’s a series of things that must be done well that will get you that much closer to improving your overall growth potential and conducting business with customers the world over.

From choosing the right market to having a payment plan in place, this is your cheat sheet from Laurel Delaney to growing a global business.

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

Fighting the Common Global Enemy, the Coronavirus

©iStock/yalcinsonat1
"Today [12/8/20] marks the start of the fightback against our common enemy, the coronavirus," says UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

The reason?  A UK grandmother named Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, has become the first person in the world to be given the Pfizer Covid-19 jab as part of a mass vaccination program.

It was the first of 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that will be dispensed in the coming weeks.

Tuesday, December 08, 2020

According to Professor Keita Shibayama, a New Financial Crisis Looms

©iStock/Richie Chan
Since the 1980s, leading nations have relied on the twin pillars of the promotion of globalization and fiscal consolidation.  However, the coronavirus crisis is bringing about a major change of direction. 

Below Keita Shibayama, a professor at Kyoto University (Japan) and a polemicist who has always spoken out about globalism talks about a post-COVID-19 world.

Quick snippet here:

In the economic crisis now unfolding, it will be difficult to find any escape routes overseas. The impact of the pandemic will go on for quite a while. Greater international friction will further impede trade, cross-border investment, and the movement of people. As uncertainty levels not seen in the past prevail, corporations, investors, and even governments will be pressed hard to rethink their existing approaches.

Authored for Nippon.com, Shibayama goes on to say that a new financial crisis looms.

Monday, December 07, 2020

Today in Global Small Business: Do You Think It Is Important to Track Localized Marketing ROI?

 

©iStock/nensu_79
What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

Saturday, December 05, 2020

Mental Health Needs Attention

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.
"Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It's the final taboo and it needs to be faced and dealt with." – Adam Ant

Friday, December 04, 2020

According to the Swedes, Conversation Should Be Used for Exchanging Real, Meaningful Information

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For Swedes, the purpose of talking is to exchange meaningful information, and engaging in purposeless chit-chat simply isn’t valued.  To Swedes:

... small talk is seen as futile, and is referred to as kallprat (“cold talk”) or dödprat (“dead talk”). To avoid ending up in these situations, many Swedes have made an art of avoiding eye contact with strangers and acquaintances they might come across in the street by looking at their phones or staring at shopping windows instead. 

Learn more on why Swedes don't to speak to strangers.

Thursday, December 03, 2020

Is There a Connection Between Death, Disease and Burning Fossil Fuels?

©iStock/Konoplytska
A recent comprehensive analysis published by the medical research journal The Lancet focuses on public health data from 2019, and finds that heat waves, air pollution and extreme weather increasingly damage human health. The annual report is routinely cited by climate policymakers. The authors include dozens of physicians and public health experts from around the world.

The question becomes:  Is there a connection between death, disease and burning fossil fuels?

Learn more on why doctors call for climate action and get access to the report here

Wednesday, December 02, 2020

APCO Founder and Chairman Shares How She Built a Global Consultancy From Zero to More than $130 Million As a Working Mother: Lessons Learned

©2020 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.
Join Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global® today, 12/2/20, at 11AM CT for an educational wegginar with APCO Worldwide founder and Chairman, Margery Kraus, when she talks about "Starting and Running a Global Company as a Working Mother:  Lessons Learned."  To learn more and to register, visit:  https://womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org/2020/11/04/starting-and-running-a-global-company-as-a-working-mother/.

The educational program is free of charge thanks to supportive sponsors:  Associated Bank, Greensfelder, Union Pacific, FedEx, GlobalCare Clinical Trials, and APCO Worldwide.

Tuesday, December 01, 2020

USA Holiday Shoppers Are Drawn by Store Discounts But Can They Afford It?

©iStock/Sorapop
Yesterday's Cyber Monday promised to become the largest online sales day in history. During the peak hour of 8 pm to 9 pm Pacific, shoppers could have spent $13 million per minute, according to Adobe Digital Insights, which tracks online spending.

U.S. shoppers are on track to spend more than $755 billion during the holiday shopping season in what's expected to be a new sales record despite the coronavirus recession.  But can they afford it?