Today in Global Small Business: Fascinating Cultural Differences Around the World

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

• COVID-19 has changed global marketing strategies.
• Create agile global marketing plans.
• Quote of the week: "The Internet is the most effective instrument we have for globalization." – Milton Friedman
• Fascinating cultural differences around the world.
• A study finds that colors evoke similar feelings around the world. 
• Students are caught between globalization and nationalism.

The Great Leveler for Global Business: The Internet

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According to Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, you don’t have to commit to expensive global advertising campaigns to be discovered in this world because you can do your marketing and market testing at the touch of an iPhone.

“While competition may be fiercer, I believe that if you have an idea for a business that solves a problem and makes people’s lives better, as a result, you have a good shot at success,” he [Branson] says.

The Internet serves as the great leveler for all businesses, allowing everyone to move at lightening speed and achieve results faster than ever.

Learn more about how to stand out and maintain global integrity in the marketplace.

Today in Global Small Business: wegg® Workshop in Chicago 3/13/19

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

• JOIN us March 13 in Chicago for an experiential learning session hosted by Associated Bank and wegg® for an on-the-ground workshop with Kiesque CEO Jacqueline Smith who will talk about how she started and runs a global personal care product company. Learn more and register (limited seating):  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wegg-workshop-roundtable-discussion-with-jacqueline-smith-ceo-kiesque-tickets-56688344364 
• Internet big-picture stats, get them here.
• As the world is becoming smaller thanks to technology, people are becoming more interdependent and connected.  Here are some things to consider before you cross boundaries.
• Quote of the week:  “The sidelines are not where you want to live your life. The world needs you in the arena.” – Tim Cook, Apple CEO
• Digital marketing is becoming the mainstream tool of conducting marketing strategy. In today’s highly advanced and digitally accelerated world, traditional marketing is rapidly becoming obsolete.
• This machine learning tool helps small e-commerce companies compete with Amazon and Walmart.

I Wasn't Trying to Build a Global Company

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In a recent opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "I wasn't trying to build a global company."

Instead, he just realized you could find almost anything on the internet—music, books, information—except the thing that matters most: people.

And that was the beginning of Facebook (2004), which currently has more than 2.7 billion monthly users worldwide (Q3 2018, most recent report available).

Learn more about Mark Zuckerberg's business model and read the opinion piece here.

E-Commerce: The Rise of Online Shopping

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E-commerce sales worldwide hit an estimated $25.3 trillion in 2015 and have grown since.

The internet makes buyers and sellers more visible and accessible to each other locally and globally. The international bit is really interesting. The opportunity to connect quickly and efficiently to multiple markets can be a boon for smaller businesses and a great attraction for consumers. Without e-commerce, establishing a physical presence in multiple markets can be costly, while consumer demand might also not always be clear.

Read about the five (5) ways to make global e-commerce easier for everyone.

Using Technology To Go Global

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Technology - the Internet, social media platforms, digital devices, for example - allows small businesses to crack open new markets at a much faster speed.  Doing your homework is still key though because you must know what you are doing before you take action.

Fact (as noted in article below/source unknown):

In July, US businesses generated $189.4 billion in consumer and capital goods exports. Services sold internationally brought in another $56.7 billion in services, a record setting number.

In the following article, it talks about how technology is making it easier than ever to do business internationally.

SMBs Expand Global Reach With Technology

Related articles:

•  Technology Helps Businesses Go Global

•  Go Global Now! (where Rieva Lesonsky first wrote about the Couch Guitar Straps going global in June 2010)

•  Factors to Consider When Choosing a Payment Method

•  Pitney Bowes Global Ecommerce Solutions (blog posts on shipping internationally)

•  The Knowledge Center (American Express) - 3-part series on International Expansion

International Business Multiculturalism and the Internet

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Lots of good stuff here.