Thinking of Abandoning Globalization? Reconsider.

©iStock/AvigatorPhotographer

The coronavirus pandemic exposed the vulnerability of our global supply chains, interrupting the flow of critical imports into the U.S., and triggering calls for American multinationals to reshore production.

Coming on the heels of the trade war and Washington’s push to de-couple economically from China, this has brought widespread predictions of deglobalization. The U.S. Special Trade Representative even wrote a recent op-ed calling for the end of offshoring.

Ultimately, we will see changes in the way the global economy works.  According to Thomas Hout for HBR, "the fundamentals of our globalized economy — and China’s role within it — will not change."  Here are the four reasons why in his article: Abandoning Globalization Will Only Hurt U.S. Businesses.

Today in Global Small Business: Constant Evolution is the Only Way Forward

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

• It’s no secret that 2020 has been a difficult year for the food and beverage industry as a whole.  See how one fine dining restaurant is taking global to a whole new level by declaring constant evolution is the only way forward.
• Exporting Japanese culture abroad in the guise of a TV drama.
• Quote of the week: "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." – Walt Disney
• What you can do as a global small business to thrive right now.
• Want to rank higher in Google?  Learn SEO strategies from an expert (gee, there is a cost involved and it's offered from Entrepreneur Magazine during the hard times of COVID-19).
• Wix.com will now start offering payments.

Eureka Moments: Swinging in a Hammock

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Your best ideas, those eureka moments that turn the world upside down, seldom come when you're juggling emails, rushing to meet the 5 P.M. deadline or straining to make your voice heard in a high-stress meeting. They come when you're walking the dog, soaking in the bath or swinging in a hammock." – Carl Honore

Are U.S. Publishers Prepared for European Legislature?

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Europe’s data protection laws are still murky, differently interpreted and fully understood by very few people. But wonky data laws are just one of many hurdles for U.S. publishers to scale in order to conquer international expansion — and those hurdles are stacking up.

Publishers say they remain enthusiastic about international expansion: HuffPost has 12 global editions and 60% of readers come from outside of the U.S. Bustle Digital Group, launched in the U.K. 2018, made several hires this year and has grown to 4 million unique monthly users with positive ad revenue momentum, the publisher said. Vox Media is hiring for its second international operation The Strategist UK, bringing the total to six staffers on international.

The U.K. seems a natural step into global expansion because there’s no language barrier yet there are some challenges worth noting.

Read more about why U.S. digital-media publishers are curbing international expansion.

World Entrepreneurship: Keep Your Eye on Young Entrepreneurs in 2020

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The year 2020 has been an emerging year for the world of entrepreneurship, specifically amongst teenagers. From being quarantined due to COVID-19 and away from their peers, there has been a growing number of teenagers starting businesses this year. Here are the top 10 young entrepreneurs to keep an eye on in 2020.

Read more about ten young and emerging entrepreneurs you should become familiar with in 2020.

We Can Always Learn From Each Other (TEDx Video)

Let's Have Some Fun! wegg® and Whiskey Tasting 9/2/20

©2020 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All right reserved.

Who wouldn't like to have some fun during these trying global pandemic days?  Who wouldn't like to connect with new people to make valuable connections?  Who wouldn't like to learn something new?  Who wouldn't like to meet directly with Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart (and ask her questions), President and co-founder of KOVAL Distillery?

Now is your chance.  Join the wegg® team on September 2nd (5:30-7:30PM CT) with their annual FUNraiser (will set you forward only US $20) for a virtual experience that will alter your state of mind on the magic of whiskey.

To learn more and to register, visit:  https://womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org/2020/08/06/wegg-and-whiskey-tasting-sept-2/.  #weggwhiskeytasting – I'll [Laurel Delaney] be there.  Hope you can make it!

Today in Global Small Business: The Happiness Edition

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

• Happiness is a practice, not a destination.
• What leading with optimism really looks like.  It starts with weathering the storm.
• Quote of the week: "The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself." – Benjamin Franklin
• Daydreams, expectations, and hope contribute to the happiness factor.
• Why aren't successful people happier?
• Variety is the spice of happiness.

Follow Your Heart

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.  Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking.  Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.  And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." – Steve Jobs

Localization Testing Questions to Address When Launching a Product in a Different Market

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As the author of the article below states, "A software application will not succeed globally if it’s written for a U.S. audience only. Users want an application that adapts to their understanding and expectations."

Localization testing verifies that an application functions as expected when it’s used in multiple locales with varying languages, formatting preferences and cultural expectations.

How do you actually create a strategy for localization testing to confirm that international audiences will respond well to your products?  What are the questions to address?

Read more about how to build a strategy for localization testing.

How to Attract International Clients to Your Global Small Business

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Have you taken your company as far as it can go revenue and profit wise? If so, you should consider expanding your business overseas.

Taking your organization to the next level will allow you to tap into a much larger and far more diverse consumer market; it will help you to enhance your reputation; and, it will increase your foreign investment opportunities.

If you want your overseas venture to become successful, you'll need to find a way to attract international clients.

Find out how you can achieve this all-important feat – attracting international clients to your business – by reading on.

Global: Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto op. 35 & Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture

How to See Past Tomorrow for a Long-Term Strategy

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As Jennifer Riel writes for the global design company Ideo:

The unprecedented disruption created by this crisis should be seen first and foremost in humanitarian terms, connecting to the very real personal toll of this disease—serious illness and lives lost, isolation and fear, worsening unemployment and economic precarity.

How do you see past tomorrow for a long-term strategy?

Find out more here.

Today in Global Small Business: 5 Things to Know about the USMCA

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

• Five (5) things to know about the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement ("USMCA"), compliments of Kirkland & Ellis.
• Global marketing trends 2020 that could be helpful to your business.
• Quote of the week: "It certainly was difficult to sell NAFTA because it's always difficult to sell open markets." – an old quote by Lawrence Summers
• Want growth during COVID-19?  Try pivoting to a digital-first mindset.
• Create your best day at work, wherever it may be.
• Soon, Twitter will be translating tweets automatically on Android and iOS platforms.  Hello world.

Wear a Crown of Flowers on Your Head

©2013 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Wear a crown of flowers on your head, let its roots reach your heart." – Kabir

Female Entrepreneurship Is on the Rise Globally

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The World Bank's research shows that female entrepreneurs tend to encounter a unique set of challenges in starting and running their businesses globally.

1. Juggling competing priorities.
2. Skills gaps.
3. Legal constraints.
4. Financial and digital inclusion.

What are the things that male and female mature businesses, business leaders, academics and society at large can do to help?

Find out here how to uplift female entrepreneurs.

The History of International Trade in Three Distinct 'Globalizations'

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I [Laurel Delaney] wrote about Marc Levinson's book, The Box, in Exporting:  The Definitive Guide to Selling Abroad Profitably.  It was a fascinating book delving deep into who invented the containerized cargo and how it made our world bigger.

Twelve years later, Levinson has come out with a companion volume, Outside the Box.

Ostensibly a history of international trade through three distinct “globalizations,” Outside the Box is most useful as a chronicle of how the pre-2008 model of complex, globe-spanning, just-in-time manufacturing has been exposed as fragile, inefficient, and opaque.

Learn more about journalist and historian Marc Levinson's new book, describing the limits of long supply chains and the ways in which new trade routes are forming.

Today, Join Us For a wegginar® on The Power of Relationships in a Global Economy

©2020 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  Used with permission.  All rights reserved.

A wegginar® for anyone who has ever wondered or worried about relationship building.  How do you do it?  Why do you do it?  Who do you do it with?  And what are the benefits?  Lynda Dorman, CEO and Carolyn Howell, President and co-owners of Orange Wall Enterprises will discuss:

• Why every business needs to worry about relationship building.
• Understanding how your strengths could be your greatest weakness.
• Why you should build your business with a 'glocal' mindset.

There's still time (and space) to register!  Listen LIVE today (8/12/20) at 11AM CT.  To learn more and to register, visit:  https://womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org/2020/07/10/the-power-of-relationships-in-a-global-economywith-co-owners-carolyn-e-howell-lynda-m-dormanaugust-12-2020/.

This educational program is offered free of charge by Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global® largely thanks to their generous sponsors who support women business owners interested in going global:  Greensfelder, GlobalCare Clinical Trials, APCO Worldwide, Associated Bank, Union Pacific and FedEx.

How the Global Crisis Will Affect the African Entrepreneurship Sector

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The entrepreneurship field is characterized by its ability to turn every crisis into an opportunity. With the help of the local governments and smart investments, entrepreneurs can use the COVID-19 situation to advance the field to new heights, affecting hundreds of millions of people. In order for that opportunity to arise, one major player that must take the lead:  VCs and investment funds.

Read more about how the African entrepreneurship sector was severely hit by the coronavirus yet it is still very early to assess how the global crisis will affect the sector.

Today in Global Small Business: Global Supply Chains Get Resilient

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

• A financial crisis is looming for smaller suppliers.
• Designing resilience into global supply chains.
• Quote of the week: "Amateurs talk strategy.  Professionals talk logistics." – General Omar Bradley
• COVID-19 made it clear: The supply chain desperately needs an upgrade.
• Mercado’s platform focuses on the “first mile” — the first 120 days — of the global supply chain, connecting buyers and sellers to help businesses better plan, move and ship products.  Now they can serve all importers, not just the 1%. 
• Supply chains on the move as global pressures mount.

Someone Planted a Tree a Long Time Ago

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." – Warren Buffett

Women as Builders of the Digital Economy

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2020 is a pivotal year for global stakeholders who want to advance and accelerate women’s economic empowerment.  Find out why through UNCDF's strategy, Women as Builders of the Digital Economy, (access and download report) which focuses on creating strategic partnerships at a global, regional and country level, and complementing them with market facilitation and deep technical assistance to affect change on the ground.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Clarifies What Info Is Needed on Shipments Valued at Less Than $800

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U.S. Customs officials plan to issue a ruling this week intended to give border agents more transparency about the origin of imports destined for U.S. warehouses, improving their ability to police shipments for counterfeits and other illegal goods.

With the ruling, Customs and Border Protection aims to clarify what information some shippers must include about shipments valued at less than $800 that are heading to U.S. fulfillment centers and warehouses. Congress set that monetary threshold in 2016 as the amount at which goods can pass into the U.S. tax-free and with minimal documentation.

That law, which eased the flow of global e-commerce for retailers and consumers, also limited the amount of information shippers provided to Customs agents monitoring incoming goods for trademark violations, consumer-safety violations and other illegal behavior.

Note:  The ruling will require some shippers in the U.S. who want to import shipments under the $800 threshold to provide information about the foreign seller before the goods can enter the U.S. and continue to a warehouse to await a U.S. buyer.

How Women Benefit from Global Trade

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Bank have launched a joint, 189-page publication titled, ‘Women and Trade: The Role of Trade in Promoting Gender Equality,’ on how women benefit from trade and the role of trade in advancing gender equality.

The publication shares how trade can expand women’s role in the economy, which can be linked to higher levels of gender equality, increased wages, improved working conditions, and improved women’s access to education and skills.

The report uses labor data disaggregated by gender at the industry level for 72 countries as well as a database on gender-related provisions in regional trade agreements.

Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization works with women entrepreneurs and business owners in helping them expand their businesses internationally and has known all along that women benefit from trade by earning more, paying more, employing more people and being more productive than firms that operate domestically.

wegg's mission is:  to educate, inspire and nurture women business owners and entrepreneurs worldwide on how to go global so they can run healthier businesses and create a new future for themselves, their families and their community.   wegg's vision is:  a world where every woman business owner has the opportunity and ability to take their business global wherever they may be located.

Performances From Across the World: Listen to Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts by NPR

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Introducing NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It's the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space.

Settle in.  Kick back.  Relax.  Listen.  Enjoy.  Here's John Legend with his four-song performance.

Today in Global Small Business: How to Rebound From a Crisis

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

• The Global Small Business Survival Guide.
• U.S. small business bailout money flowed to Chinese-owned companies.  
• Quote of the week:  "We all knew this. We all knew that it would take more time than any of us want to dig ourselves out of this hole created by this economic crisis. – Barack Obama
• Yes – Apple to release the cheapest ever MacBook Air!
• Global small businesses are fighting for their lives.
• How your company can rebound from a crisis.

Little Free Library: Chicago

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Check out the world's largest book-sharing movement:  Little Free Library.  We love this concept!  Join in building a community, sparking creativity, and inspiring readers.  Start here.

It's Getting Ugly For Global Small Businesses

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As the first wave of US aid runs short – and landlords and lenders lose patience – lawmakers are in tense negotiations over a new round of stimulus, which could include more money for global small businesses.

Most firms have already run out of the money they secured from the $600 billion Paycheck Protection Program, according to a survey released this week from the National Federation of Independent Business, a leading trade group for small US firms.

Learn more how US small businesses, especially those in the hospitality, food and retail space, face mass closures without more pandemic aid.

Can Big Global Companies Conduct Themselves in a Neutral Way?

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Heads of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google testify on big tech's power in the online global economy.  Can big global companies, when the pressure is on, conduct themselves in a totally neutral way?

Read more.  See what you think.  I wonder... are they squashing competition, especially the little guys, in favor of their own service?

Who Was the Aid (PPP) Intended For?

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The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was billed by the U.S. Treasury Department as a way for small businesses with generally fewer than 500 employees to cover overhead, retain employees, and rehire those who had been laid off as a result of the pandemic.

But data released earlier this month by the U.S. Small Business Administration shows large PPP loans were received by District-based companies that have global business interests, pay some of their employees six-figure salaries, and, in certain cases, appear to have other means of raising money. (Precise loan amounts weren’t specified in the data; the SBA reported loan ranges up to $10 million.)

Explore more about how big D.C. companies scooped up pandemic aid intended for small businesses.

Take a Time Out to Remember Who We Are: Americans (Video)

Today in Global Small Business: Let's Fix This Because the Pandemic Hurts Working Mothers

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

• The New York Times asked students, from kindergarten to 12th grade, what it’s like to learn from home. Here’s what they had to say, in their own words — and drawings.
• Women’s careers could take long-term hit from coronavirus pandemic.  
• Quote of the week:  "It's more pressure on women to - if they marry or partner with someone, to partner with the right person. Because you cannot have a full career and a full life at home with your children if you are also doing all of the housework and child care. – Sheryl Sandberg
• Even before pandemic, working parents struggled to achieve the 'Dreams Of The Overworked'.
• The pandemic is hurting Canada's working mothers.
• Guilt-ridden and exhausted, parents are wary of another home-front battle.

Cultivate the Garden for the Nose

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"It is a golden maxim to cultivate the garden for the nose, and the eyes will take care of themselves." – Robert Louis Stevenson

Grab Your Out of This World Free Constellation Prize

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The Hubble Space Telescope has roamed galaxies for far away, capturing stellar snapshots of distant planets, exploding stars, and other cosmic wonders.  To mark the project's 30th anniversary, NASA went back through all those shots and chose 366 – one for every day of the year – for an online gallery.

Enter your birthday or any day and get ready to see something out of this world.

Visit:  https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/hst_bday/

Where Women Made History

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Any idea where Emma Willard established the country's first secondary school for women?  Or where America's first female dentist set up shop?

In honor of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is crowdsourcing 1,000 locations where ladies made history – including sites both landmarked (the home of Susan B. Anthony where she was arrested for voting in 1872) and overlooked (the house where Juliette Gordon Low held the first-ever Girl Scouts meeting).

Plus, the National Trust's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund has awarded grants to 27 organizations to help them preserve Black history.

To help put women on the map and enrich our future, visit:  SavingPlaces.org

TradeDepot: eCommerce Platform for Consumer Goods in Africa

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Since its launch in 2016, TradeDepot, the B2B eCommerce platform for consumer goods in Africa,  has built a network of more than 40,000 micro retailers in Nigeria. Working with global distributors and manufacturers including Nestlé, Unilever, GB Foods and Danone, TradeDepot makes household supplies, such as milk, soap, detergent and other essentials more accessible and affordable for the informal urban retail networks it operates in.

Cooler than all that is this:  TradeDepot has raised a further $10 million in a pre-Series B equity round co-led by Partech, International Finance Corporation, Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) and MSA Capital.

Learn more about how a new investment will enable access to credit for retailers and Africa expansion.

Mask Guidance and Requirements: USA

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Masks are effective in minimizing the spread of COVID-19.  In an attempt to curb a recent spike in cases, many USA governors have issued orders requiring masks to be worn in public.

As is the case with many corona-related issues; however, guidance related to mask-wearing consists of a patchwork of rules across counties and states, which undermines consumer confidence and thus slows the recovery of economic activity. 

Learn state by state mask guidance and requirements here.

Today in Global Small Business: The World Has Lost a Legend

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney photo.  Pin courtesy Bob Marovich.  All rights reserved.

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

• How to build an anti-racist company (requires a free trial).
• Walt Disney recently named company veteran Jill Estorino president and managing director of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products International, effective immediately.
• Quote of the week:  "When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something." – John Lewis
• Register for the Women Presidents' Organization Digital Conference July 22-23, 2020.
• This is what chief economists (a WEF offering) think about the global economy right now.
• The world has lost a legend:  Rep. John Lewis, a force in the civil rights movement, dead at 80. 

Let the Soul Be Strengthened, Ambition Inspired and Success Achieved

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"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." –  Helen Keller

Big Scooter Company in Taiwan Preps for Global

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Gogoro is probably best-known internationally for its electric SmartScooters, which are now the category’s top-sellers in Taiwan.

While less known outside of the country, however, scooter-sharing startup WeMo has grown steadily since launching in 2016. It now has a fleet of more than 7,000 scooters in three of Taiwan’s biggest cities and says users take about one million rides per month.  As result of this robust activity, WeMo is gearing up for international expansion, launching first in Southeast Asian countries.

In Taiwan, WeMo competes with iRent, a car and scooter rental service, as well as GoShare, the mobility-sharing platform Gogoro launched a year ago.

Learn more about how WeMo is focused on creating smart tech specifically for sharing scooters.

Open a New Window to the World

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A little surprise for you.  Visit WindowSwap.

Small Businesses Must Expand Their Global Footprint to E-Commerce

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If small businesses expand their footprint from their physical location into the digital space, then they can reach a level playing field with big-box retailers and meet today’s consumers’ needs.

Learn more about why it's time for global small businesses to utilize e-commerce.

Tracking the Global Pandemic

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According to National Public Radio (NPR), more than 3 million people in the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 130,000 have died. Though growth in new cases slowed in late spring, by mid-June new cases began to trend upward nationally.

Explore the trend in new cases in your state to see whether cases are rising, falling or staying level. You can view the data via a heat map, a curve chart and a table with details on each state's case trends over the last three weeks. Or to see states' total cases and deaths on a map, click here.

Today in Global Small Business: How Leaders Can Chart a Course For Their Organizations and Guide Their Teams Through Tumultuous Times

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

• Microsoft launches initiative to help 25 million people worldwide acquire the digital skills needed in a COVID-19 economy.
• The coronavirus first hit large, globally connected cities, but is now spreading rapidly throughout the South and in smaller places.
• Quote of the week:  "I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance.  It overcomes almost everything, even nature." – John D. Rockefeller
• The pandemic has dramatically changed the world we know. Here’s how leaders can chart a course for their organizations and guide their teams through tumultuous times.
• Mark your calendar now for next Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global® #wegginar 8/12 at 11AM CT.
• Everyone worldwide can now sign up for our 5th Annual Global Small Business Forum held VIRTUALLY on October 16, 2020 (morning program).  Whether you are based in South Africa, Ireland or the United States, you may join us!  Hooray!  To learn more and to register, visit, http://globalsmallbusinessforum.com.  

The World Is Waiting For You

©2020 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"The world is waiting for you.  Good luck.  Travel safe.  Go!" – Phil Keoghan

During COVID-19: Turn Your Love Around

TikTok Challenges

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Beijing-based ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, recently launched a new platform to court small business advertisers is fraught with challenges, especially after the Trump administration's threat this week to impose a ban on China-based social media apps.

The new self-service ad platform, which lets companies purchase ads without needing to speak with a sales team, is key to TikTok’s ability to turn its red hot short video sharing app into a viable advertising business.

Learn more here.

Take Your Global Small Business to a Higher Level

©iStock/Blue Planet Studio

Global small business owners have lots of business growth opportunities with digital marketing because it can open new doors to a large audience beyond the physical reach of a brick and mortar store.

Through digital marketing, you can engage with a target audience and show your unique products and services to potential customers worldwide.

Create new opportunities, push your global small business to a higher level through digital marketing efforts, and generate greater than expected revenue and profits, even during a global pandemic.

What It Means to Be a Best for the World Leader

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At Pepperdine | Graziadio Business School, nothing brings greater joy than seeing their students exhibiting what it means to be a Best for the World Leader, manifesting lives of service, purpose, and leadership.

Below the school highlights three of their current Part-Time MBA students, each contributing acts of selflessness during the COVID-19 global pandemic and putting the needs of others before their own.

We also wish to recognize them here for their hard work and hope that others will find inspiration to follow their lead.

Read the entire article here.

Today in Global Small Business: China is a Viable Digital Commerce Opportunity

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

• Think you don't have a chance selling in China?  Guess again.  Learn how a pro, Jennifer Bayon, VP, Business Development, PPI Beauty makes doing business in China a viable digital commerce opportunity on July 8th at 11AM CT (n/c) via Women Entrepreneur Global Global's wegginar.
• Are you operating in the brand licensing sector?  Then you might be qualified to apply for the Small Business Global Grants Fund. 
• Quote of the week:  "Asking the question 'are we doing enough' [concerning COVID-19] regularly and repeatedly is critical." – Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead, World Health Organization, infectious disease epidemiologist
• The Covid-19 pandemic has required leaders to make decisions under considerable pressure. Many CEOs have been acting as the “chief crisis officer” as they work to ensure their firm’s survival and to manage the physical, mental, and social well-being of their employees.  See if you are functioning with any bias.
• Resilience.  Recovery.  Renewal.  Here's a roadmap to recovering.
• According to OECD, the world economy is on a tightrope.  

Happy 244th Birthday, America. We Love You!

Create Competitive Advantages by Hiring Globally

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The biggest takeaway from Jeff Barrett's article for Entrepreneur, "Why Small Businesses Should Be Thinking (and Hiring) Globally During Covid-19 Isolation," is that even though we are going to be globally isolated for a while, there is still a lot of opportunity out there and the technology to allow us to make things happen. He goes on to say, "Everyone has to pivot. Top global talent will be temporarily looking for different avenues and that will benefit the entrepreneurs willing to think beyond isolation."

Read his entire article here.

How Do Doctors During a Global Pandemic Relax? Playing a Board Game Called Pandemic

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What's your favorite board game?  How about Pandemic?  For doctors, that's their board game of choice.  Why?

Players try to stop diseases from spreading across the world while racing for cures. “It’s stress relief,” said Dr. [Sonali] Advani [associate medical director of the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network in North Carolina], who plays over Zoom video calls with her friends—other infectious-disease doctors.

Learn a little more about how and why Pandemic was created via Wikipedia (surprise, surprise) but here's a snippet:

Pandemic is based on the premise that four diseases have broken out in the world, each threatening to wipe out a region. The game accommodates two to four players, each playing one of seven possible roles: dispatcher, medic, scientist, researcher, operations expert, Contingency Planner, or quarantine specialist.

Tricky to be selling a board game called Pandemic considering we are living it right now.  But just think, it's similar to what it must be like to sell Corona beer right now.

Oh, see if you can save humanity.

For Small Business Owners in Mexico, Going Global Just Got Easier

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According to a news release published by GlobeNewswire:

UPS and Estafeta Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. announced a commercial agreement between the two brands to provide Mexican businesses with international shipping services to help them reach more than 220 countries and territories around the world.

The agreement will also make it possible for Mexican companies to reach their customers in the U.S. within one business day.

Learn more to see how you might benefit from this new partnership.