Off-the-Books Global Businesses

iStock/Thinkstock

Wired Magazine interviews Robert Neuwirth, author of Stealth of Nations: The Global Rise of the Informal Economy on why black market entrepreneurs matter to the world economy.

Further, he (Neuwirth) says, these enterprises are critical sources of entrepreneurialism, innovation, and self-reliance. And the globe’s gray and black markets have grown during the international recession, adding jobs, increasing sales, and improving the lives of hundreds of millions. It’s time, Neuwirth says, for the developed world to wake up to what those who are working in the shadows of globalization have to offer. We asked him how these tiny enterprises got to be such big business.

Read the entire interview here.

Amazon: Time to Go Global?

iStock/Thinkstock

Is Amazon testing the waters with its electronic gadgets to determine at some point whether to stay local or do a global roll out?

For Amazon, which has always been overwhelmingly focused on the U.S. and anglophone markets, the entry-level Kindle’s modest international support is actually a huge improvement. Even a year ago, when the third-generation Kindle launched, it was an English-only device.

Even in non-digital retail, Amazon’s global reach has been limited; the company is only now launching a Chinese-language bookstore, in tandem with a local bookseller. Building an international reputation takes time, partnerships and a lot of hard work.

Read the entire article:

From Kindle to Fire:  Why Amazon Needs to Go Global (Wired.com)

Related article:

Who Has the Global Edge on Wireless Reading Devices?

Who's the Largest Tech Company in the World?

iStock/Thinkstock

IBM, Google, Oracle, Apple or Microsoft?

In terms of market capitalization, the winner is:

Apple

This list of product rollouts tells the story:

iMac (Bondi Blue -- pictured above) – 1998

iBook (clamshell) – 1999

iPod with scroll wheel – 2001

Mac OS X – 2001

iTunes Store – 2003

MacBook (switch to Intel) – 2006

iPhone – 2007

App Store + iPhone SDK – 2008

iPad – 2010

Do you aspire to become the world's largest company at what you do?

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

Watch The World Contribute Ideas

iStock/Thinkstock

The term "crowdsourcing," was coined by Jeff Howe, Contributing Editor of Wired Magazine which simply put, is outsourcing work using the Internet to a large group of people.

More recently, crowdsourcing has hit the design community and has become a viable way for small businesses that cannot afford big name design powerhouses yet want something more than stock clip art to get great design results. There are freelancer listing sites like Guru and Elance along with crowdSPRING.

crowdSPRING, although only 4 months old, has already garnered 5,000+ creatives in over 125 countries. Projects are posted every day from non profit organizations, small businesses, rock bands and just about everyone else on the planet!

The small company of eight in Chicago has greatly expanded since its inception, and its thriving community shows that crowdsourcing is a viable alternative to the traditional design model.

Check out crowdSPRING to see the diversity of creatives and projects, and see what you think. Maybe post a creative project; watch the world contribute ideas; and, choose one you like.

What's Ahead in Our Brave New Cyberworld

iStock/Thinkstock

Here's a post I did for the Small Business Trends blog which focuses on social media tools, globalization and what's ahead in our brave new cyberworld.

... My interest has always been to track trends before they affect us. I like to be way out in front, and that’s why I follow closely anything that has to do with global small business trends.

Let me know what you think. Direct link here.