Just the Facts Please, Exporting Facts

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Check out the U.S. Export Fact Sheet below (immediate download of a PDF file), November 2011, Export Statistics Released January 13, 2012.

NOV Export Facts

How to Develop a Culture of Exporting

Get a New Perspective While Learning: Look Beyond Borders

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As part of Mahatma School's International School Award Program, a group of Swedish students were invited to take part in an interactive session with their Indian counterparts.

The session was designed to toss out perspectives on a variety of subjects, ranging from orphans and street children in India to the effects of tourism on environment.

Here's what resulted at the Global School in Lidingo, Sweden.

My Kind of Hometown: Chicago

©Laurel Delaney, 2012, All Rights Reserved, "Hometown Chicago 2012"

Have a great weekend my worldly readers!  And thank you for your readership.

Ever Thought About Going Global?

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In case you have been living in a cave, stretch, dust yourself off and come out into the light (the living).

Read:  Small Business Ideas for 2012:  Why Not Go Global?

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

The Good and Bad About Globalization

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What's the impact globalization has on our world?

It is true that the impact of globalization is visible and affects largely the politics and the economy of the country but its effect on the mindset and the culture is noticeable gradually in the way people think and react. It's like the Iceberg theory wherein what we do and say are at the tip and what we think and believe is at the base. The base is not visible but manifestations at the top are conspicuous. It applies here as well where people do not change abruptly but may be after a decade the change starts showing and seems radical.

Learn more about the pros and cons of globalization here.

Economic Success Is Dependent Upon Global Collaboration

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That's what former President Bill Clinton says.

Delivering the keynote address at the 101st National Retail Federation Big Show, former President Bill Clinton did not shy away from the challenges that businesses face in this economy. In his speech, entitled "Embracing Our Common Humanity," Clinton spoke about the inequality, instability and unsustainable way of life which makes up the world today.

Learn more here.

Researching Your Export Markets

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Check out the first-part of a six-part course on global trade Wednesday at the Rabobank Regional Business Center.

The three-hour session, “Researching Your Export Markets,” starts at 8 a.m. in the center that serves as headquarters for Coachella Valley Economic Partnership and the iHUB, 3111 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, California, 92262.

Learn more here.

What To Do During An Internet Blackout

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Creative America, the entertainment community united against content theft, will tell you what to do during an Internet blackout.  Learn more here and be sure to spread the word.

Winter Has Cometh in Chicago

©Laurel Delaney 2012, "Snow on the Evergreen Tree Chicago"

"Winter is the time of promise because there is so little to do - or because you can now and then permit yourself the luxury of thinking so."  ~ Stanley Crawford

Elements Involved in Running a Fit-For-Fast-Growth Global Business

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Here's an interview I did with a major international bank.  The bank (name withheld for confidentiality purposes) was eager to help their small business clients expand internationally. This is Part 2 of the interview. (You can find Part 1 here).

Read the article here.

Export: How Ventrac Did It

Emerging Nations Proceed With Caution

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Andrew Burns, head of macroeconomics at the World Bank, told journalists in London: “Developing countries should hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

Predicting significantly slower global growth in 2012 than it expected last summer even if the eurozone muddles through its crisis, World Bank economists said that if financial markets deny funds to eurozone economies, global growth would be about 4 percentage points lower than even these figures with poorer economies far from immune.

Read the entire article: World Bank Warns Emerging Nations

How to Write An Effective Export Plan

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Dr. Doug Barry, International Trade Specialist (Doug.Barry@trade.gov) discusses via a webinar how to best develop an export plan for your company.

A good plan can generate and sustain new business, and this webinar presents a framework for writing your export plan as well as including resources to help complete each section of it. A good export plan can also allow you to be proactive in seeking international buyers rather than passive.

Launch your export business here.

View the Presentation

Related articles:  How to Develop An Import/Export Business Plan

Yoghurt Business Goes Global

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You never know when your best idea comes to you.  In this case, Henry Gosling (director of Australia-based Co Yo) got his at 2:00 a.m.  He set his sights on taking an already successful yoghurt business global.

"It's local companies going all over the world. A small business can always make it if they put into it what they want to get out of it."

Read: Co Yo Is Going Global 

Worldly Work

©Laurel J. Delaney 2012, "Worker Up In the Air During a Chicago Blizzard, 1.12.12"

"Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else." ~ James M. Barrier

The Power of the Internet: Eric Whitacre's Global Virtual Choir

Related post:  Humanizing Our Connected World

Taking Your Business Global: A Digital Short

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Hopefully this 39-second digital short will make you smile (shameless plug involved) and will also give you ideas on how to use technology, namely animation, to market your brand globally.

Taking Your Business Global (Go!Animate)

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

Scoping Out Hot Business Opportunities in Emerging Markets

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You can do good to do well.  In this case, corporate employees help and scope out opportunities in developing countries.

Read:  Doing Good to Do Well (The Wall Street Journal)

World Cleanup 2012

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Garbage is a big deal and local efforts in the Estonian capital are expanding into a global initiative.

On January 13th volunteers from 83 countries will converge on the Estonian capital, Tallinn, to launch World Cleanup 2012, the biggest attempt so far at voluntary rubbish collection. This year’s target is to mobilize 300 million people to pick up 100 million tons of illegally dumped waste in six months, starting on March 24th.

Who is the spirit behind this garbage campaign? Find out here:

Collecting Global Garbage: Effluence of Affluence || The Economist

Are You Doubling Your Exports By 2015?

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According to the “Perceptions of Global Trade” survey of more than 1,000 American SMEs, 24 per cent were currently engaged in global commerce.

Almost half of small businesses in the United States expect to double their exports by 2015, and 66 per cent say that up to 25 per cent of their annual revenue comes directly from exporting, according to a survey by UPS.

Read more here.

Related post: Key to Future Success For Small Businesses: Going Global

Find Peace in the New Year

©Laurel Delaney 2012, "Peace At the Winter Lakefront," Rogers Park, IL, U.S.A.

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself; nothing, but the triumph of principles." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of Many Best-Kept Secrets to Global Success

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For a small business with a sizable budget, the Gold Key Service (GKS) — through the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Commercial Service — is one of the most efficient ways to meet with pre-screened potential cross-border customers.

Learn more:   The Gold Key Service: How to Find Customers the World Over

Corruption is a Universal Worldly Challenge

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The Global Integrity blog seeks to play a role in promoting accountability and transparency reforms by developing tools that address the needs of the public, private, and civil sectors equally.

Global Integrity is a tax-exempt organization incorporated in the District of Columbia in the United States under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is supported by charitable foundations, governments, multilateral institutions, and the private sector.

Never heard of them? You have now.

In short, we are an innovation lab for the transparency and accountability community.

Learn more here.

Off-the-Books Global Businesses

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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.

Aging Population in BRIC

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According to a December 7th report by Goldman analysts, as the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) slow down, global growth probably will peak at about 4.3 percent this decade and fall to 3.9 percent in the 2020s.

The number of people older than 65 in Brazil, Russia, India and China will rise 46 percent to 295 million by 2020 and to 412 million by 2030, according to United Nations projections. The pool of 15 to 24-year-olds, the mainstay for factories will fall by 61 million by 2030 or about the population of Italy.

Read the entire article here.

Note:  Goldman Sachs Asset Management Chairman Jim O’Neill, who coined the BRICs acronym a decade ago, said other emerging economies may now be better investments -- especially Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt and Mexico.

What about MIST (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey)?

Global Entrepreneurship: Make Yourself Valuable in 2012

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As Scott Adams puts it:

If you’re having a hard time imagining what an education in entrepreneurship should include, allow me to prime the pump with some lessons I’ve learned along the way.

He offers seven ways to get a real education.  First one:

Combine Skills. The first thing you should learn in a course on entrepreneurship is how to make yourself valuable. It’s unlikely that any average student can develop a world-class skill in one particular area.

What a great way to start off the new year! 

Scott Adams is the creator of "Dilbert."  Read the entire article:  How to Get a Real Education 

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney, The Global Small Business Blog

Happy 2012 From The Global Small Business Blog

©Laurel Delaney 2012, "31st Street, Chicago Lakefront 1.1.12"

Wishing you a new year filled

with hope, promise and going global!

Key to Future Success For Small Businesses: Going Global

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Whether you think small or big, you can still take your business global!  What's needed to make it happen is more support and education to show the value of exports to small businesses.

According to the UPS Perceptions of Global Trade Survey, 24 percent of small businesses are currently engaged in global commerce, and many of those businesses are experiencing a large return from global trade. Of businesses who are doing business overseas, 66 percent report that exporting contributes up to a quarter of their annual revenue.

Learn more here.

Laurel Delaney says:

"While it might seem counterintuitive for small businesses to expand internationally with the economic challenges in the U.S., now is the time for calculated risk. By connecting with companies that have already been successful exporting, companies new to the process can realize the benefits of engaging in global trade a lot faster," said Laurel Delaney, owner of small-business consulting firm Global TradeSource, Ltd. "The simplest way for SMBs to find a successful exporting lead is good old-fashioned word-of-mouth coupled with a great company website."

More news on the survey:  A Survey Conducted by TNS, MarketWatch and UPS Pressroom

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

Great American Leaders

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From Chicago Defender's Robert Abbott to Totino's Pizza's Rose Totino to Herman's Miller's Michael Volkema, these great American leaders are featured in a database that was compiled in an effort to identify and chronicle the lives of 20th century men and women whose (global) business leadership shaped the ways that people live, work, and interact. 

Visit:  20th Century American Leaders Database

Why Brazil Is Booming

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Brazil is now the world's seventh-largest economy, GDP in 2010 grew at a 7.5% rate. Over the next two years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts, growth will continue at a healthy 4% rate.

As the article states:

A burgeoning middle class is generating growing demand for automobiles, televisions, computers and other products that a generation ago were out of reach for many Brazilians.

Are you poised to take advantage of it?  Learn more here.

Importing Substandard Products: Don't Even Think About It

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The Director General of Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Dr Joseph Odumodu appealed to importers to stop the importation of substandard products into the country.

According to him, the fine for importing substandard products has been increased from N10, 000 to N2 million, in addition to seizing the goods, prosecuting and sending the importer to jail.

“Let me tell you one thing, SON has changed its strategy, when we catch you, we seize your goods, trail you and send you to jail.

Learn more here.

The Hidden Benefit to Globalization

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Below is an article on how globalization increasingly allows companies to avoid United States taxes and regulation.

The Benefits of Incorporating Abroad in an Age of Globalization

App Obsession Goes Global

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The app obsession has gone global. App downloads grew this year but 2011 was a turning point: This was the first year that these mobile devices outsold desktop and laptop PCs.

We mobile consumers demonstrated this very clearly both in the U.S. and abroad: Apple this month hit 18 billion downloads total on its iOS App Store, and Google’s Android Market likewise hit 10 billion.

Find out why here and what to look for in 2012.

Illustration credit here.

Migration Makes a Connected World Brainier

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Excellent opinion piece by Robert Guest for The Wall Street Journal.

First though, from the Partnership for a New American Economy (which is a snippet to the lead on the commentary):

I once asked the boss of Tata Consulting Services, a gigantic Indian IT firm, how many of his top executives had worked or studied abroad. He replied: "All of them."

The world's most talented people are exceptionally mobile. When they move to America, they make it smarter, and that's not just because they are smart. It is also because migration creates connections.

Read the commentary:  How Immigrant Entrepreneurs Turbocharge U.S. Trade

Robert Guest is the Economist's business editor.  His new book is Borderless Economics: Chinese Sea Turtles, Indian Fridges and the New Fruits of Global Capitalism

Green Standards For An Ever Changing Complex World

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Walmart’s Chinese sales receipts account for only 2 percent of the company’s annual revenues or roughly $7.5 billion. Fortunately, its sales in China have risen substantially over the past decade. Not the case in the United States; they have been shrinking.

What does this mean? Is China changing Walmart or is Walmart changing China?  Looks like new green initiatives are in the works.

The world’s biggest corporation and the world’s most populous nation have launched a bold experiment in consumer behavior and environmental stewardship: to set green standards for 20,000 suppliers making several hundred thousand items sold to billions of shoppers worldwide. Will that effort take hold, or will it unravel in a recriminatory tangle of misguided expectations and broken promises?

Read the entire article here.

Get Ready to Go Global in 2012

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How do you go global?  Let me count the ways.

Here are ten to start:

How to Position Your Business for Global Success

5 Tips to Grow Your Export Sales

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As one expert says, "Start small, but start."

Here are five tips to reduce risk, increase opportunities and grow your export sales.

Read: IndustryWeek: 5 Keys to Growing Your Export Sales

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

Eliminate Excuses in 2012: Go Global

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Stop making excuses and get ready to go global in 2012!

Top 10 Excuses for Not Going Global

Reasons why you should go global.

Select a Company Name That Reflects Happy and International

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Why didn't I think of this company name?

Joy Global

Joy Global Inc. is a worldwide leader in high-productivity mining solutions. Through its market-leading businesses – P&H Mining Equipment and Joy Mining Machinery – the company manufactures and markets original equipment and aftermarket parts and services for both the underground and above-ground mining industries and certain industrial applications. Joy Global's products and related services are used extensively for the mining of coal, copper, iron ore, oil sands, gold and other mineral resources.

Global demand.  Global reach.  Learn more here.

World: Experience the Mysterious

©Laurel J. Delaney 2011, "Beach Art"

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." ~ Albert Einstein

Do Your Part to Change the World

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Search, find your cause, change the world -- those are the words of Barton Brooks, founder of Global Colors, working to create self-sustaining grassroots projects for the common good of each community it serves.

Global Colors came after he took a trip to a small village in Cambodia. He says he was so moved by the people and their struggles that he decided to form his own organization to help get aid to people in need. To fund the first Global Colors projects, Barton sold his only asset at the time—a Shelby Cobra replica he built by hand. "It turned into education for kids and sustaining life for some widows in Kenya, so it's kind of hard to miss it that much," he says.

Read more here.

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

The Importance of the Spanish Speaking Market

Exporting: Got a Marketing Plan?

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If you are considering exporting, better get organized on the marketing front. This article might help.

Keep the research summary to one page, and break it into four manageable parts (refer to article below). The purpose of this exercise is to establish a broad scope on your research market analysis but not so broad that you overwhelm yourself. Try to begin with the end in mind: Where do you want to go and how will you know that you have arrived?

How to Develop an Export Marketing Plan

Changing the World One Heart at a Time

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What is Hearts For Hearts Girls?

Playmates Toys, the company behind Hearts For Hearts Girls, is among the most respected and innovative marketing and distribution companies in the global toy industry. Playmates Toys has a proven 40-year history in the creation of innovative and imaginative products as well as the development and management of profitable, long-term brand franchises.

Learn real stories from girls all over the world here.  And why it matters.  Visit World Vision as well.

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

Nepal Trade and Export Promotion Center

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The Government of Nepal established "Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC)," a national trade promotion organization of the country in November 2006. They accomplished this by merging three organizations: the Trade Promotion Centre, Export Promotion Board and Carpet and Wool Development Board. The objective is to promote foreign trade with particular emphasis on exporting from the country.

Learn more here.

Made In USA: Chopsticks Destined for China

Tip for Global Small Businesses?

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It's our monthly e-newsletter, Borderbuster!  You probably already know about it but just in case, go here to subscribe.

Tips for Small Businesses Going Global

And see what the Federation of International Trade Associations (FITA) says about Borderbuster.  They must like it because they featured it to more than 70,000 readers of their own newsletter!  They also mention The Global Small Business Blog and the About.com Import and Export site.

We are grateful and thank FITA for their support.  Our social media platforms are buzzing!

A New Type of Hyperconnectivity

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With technology, mass migration is changing the way that people do business

In the flat world of maps, sharp lines show where one country ends and another begins. The real world is more fluid. Peoples do not have borders the way that parcels of land do. They seep from place to place; they wander; they migrate.

Read the entire article: Migration and business: Weaving the world together | The Economist

Global Distortions

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How do you battle cheap and low quality imports and other 'global distortions' in your country?  See what Brazil is doing to combat these dumping woes by way of a lesson from tire producer Pirelli.

Read:  Brazil's Consumers Go To Ground

Pirelli Corporate

Wake Up World: The Future of Computing Is Here

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David Gelernter, Professor of Computer Science at Yale, offers his fresh and compelling view on future computing, including his new concept called "lifestreams." Worth a read.

The idea, though, of lifestreams has been catching on. A lifestream is a way of organizing digital objects—photos, emails, documents, Web links, music—in a time-ordered series. A timeline, in essence, that extends into the past but also the future (with appointments, to-do lists, etc.). Facebook, with its "wall" constantly updated with postings by you and your friends, is a lifestream. Twitter's feed is a lifestream. "Chatter," developed by Salesforce.com for internal use by client companies, is a lifestream.

Rethinking the Digital Future

More on David at Edge and Wikipedia

How To Survive Running a Small Business In Egypt? Egyptology

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Read Jane Akshar’s life story which has all the makings of a best-seller and a lesson on taking a small business global.  Fascinating.

Global Entrepreneurship:  Running a Small Business in Egypt

Jane and Mahmoud's business: Flats in Luxor.  Curious about the 'Egyptology' part?  Go here.

Hello World: Go Live Your Dream Today

©Laurel J. Delaney 2011, "Rogers Park, Illinois Lakefront"

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Is Asia's Export-Oriented Model Dead?

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Stephen S. Roach, non-executive Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, lecturer at Yale University's School of Management and Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and author of "The Next Asia" has  word or two to say about whether Asia's export-oriented model is dead or not.

Asia's Wake-Up Call:  Is The Export-Oriented Model Dead?

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

The State of the World, According to OECD

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In its report on the state of the global marketplace, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says:

"Trade growth slowed strongly in most major economies in the third quarter of 2011."

Learn more here.