Create a Moment That People Will Never Forget

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"I want to – more than anything  – to create a moment that people will never forget. Not for me, but for themselves. That's what I remember about great Super Bowl performances in the past, when you really get lost in the moment with your family." – Lady Gaga

Bad Bunny Takes the World's Biggest Stage at Super Bowl 2026 Halftime Show

Are the Tariffs Working?

©iStock/Cristi Croitoru

The question is: How much better would the economy be now without the tariffs and their on-again, off-again imposition? 

Find out from the WSJ Editorial Board.

Note:  The Global Small Business Blog has been in operation since 2004 and is ranked number one in the world for entrepreneurs and small businesses interested in going global.  As of February 1, 2026, we average more than 900,000 readers on a monthly basis. 

Highly Creative People Have the Performance Advantage Over AI for Now

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A new large-scale study demonstrates that when it comes to creativity, AI already outperforms the average human, but not the most creative among us.

“Despite widespread concern that AI could imminently replace creative professionals (like writers, for instance), the results suggest that such fears remain premature,” the researchers reported.

As the researchers said, "It seems natural that humans will always be more creative than machines. Yet artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning is rapidly improving and rapidly encroaching on the decidedly human realm of creative abilities.

Success On Her Terms With Nancy Sharp, CEO of Food For Thought Enterprises

©2026 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global.  All rights reserved.

Success On Her Terms (SoHT) is a dynamic four-part series presented by Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global (wegg) and in collaboration with Merrill's Baldwin Marcovici Group.

It is designed to spotlight high-potential, growth-stage women entrepreneurs who share their personal journeys and offer actionable insights to women on how to align purpose, people, and profit while building and scaling a business.

Join us today, February 3, 2026 at 11 AM CT – LIVE – when Nancy Sharp, CEO of Food For Thought Enterprises talks about "Deciding What Matters Most."  The conversation is moderated by Alex Didac, the Baldwin Marcovici Group.  This is program 2.

To learn more and to register, visit: https://womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org/programs/success-on-her-terms/  

Note:  The Global Small Business Blog has been in operation since 2004 and is ranked number one in the world for entrepreneurs and small businesses interested in going global.  As of February 1, 2026, we have more than 900,000 readers on a monthly basis.

Today in Global Small Business: How Businesses Are Manipulating ChatGPT Results

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

• Great article by Christopher Mims in the WSJ (gifted so you should get access) on how businesses are manipulating ChatGPT results.
• "Deciding What Matters Most" – Success On Her Terms wegginar® hosted by Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global, considered the best resource for women entrepreneurs and business owners who want to learn from other women business owners on how to expand their businesses globally, featuring episode #2 with Nancy Sharp, founder and CEO, Food for Thought Enterprises.  Register free of charge here thanks to the Baldwin Marcovici Group (Merrill Lynch).
• Quote of the week:  "Beijing benefits when the U.S. damages its own standing or retreats from global leadership, but China's own efforts to project state-sponsored soft power have produced mixed results." – Lizzi Lee, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute
• U.S. opens doors to tariffs on imports from countries supplying oil to Cuba.
• How to increase sales in the clothing business.
• How to lead when confidence is down, pressure is up and there's more uncertainty ahead.

Note:  The Global Small Business Blog has been in operation since 2004 and is ranked number one in the world for entrepreneurs and small businesses interested in going global.  As of February 1, 2026, we have more than 900,000 readers on a monthly basis.

God Loves You Snow Much

©2026 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"God loves you snow much." – title of a children's book written by Monica Ellis

Elevated Threats Are Ahead Yet CEOs Continue to Reinvent Their Companies

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CEOs are reinventing their companies with technology (AI) and seeking growth opportunities in new sectors, even as they see elevated threats ahead.

In the year ahead, CEOs see a world beset by challenges. They’ve grown significantly less confident about the short-term growth outlook for their companies and more worried about a range of threats, including macroeconomic volatility, cyber risk, and geopolitical conflict.

PwC’s Global Chairman Mohamed Kande discusses key findings from this year’s CEO Survey, featuring insights on AI adoption and innovating in the face of uncertainty.

Read the findings and listen to Mohamed's insights here.

Building Ms. Jetsetter Beyond the Idea (wegginar® 2/4/26)

©2026 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

You don't want to miss this wegginar® – February 4th at 11 AM CT – LIVE with Tracey McGhee, Founder & CEO, Ms. Jetsetter when she will talk about "From Idea to Market:  Building Ms. Jetsetter Beyond the Idea."

To learn more and to register (free of charge thanks to Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global's generous sponsors as shown in the graphic), visit: https://womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org/2026/01/07/from-idea-to-market-building-ms-jetsetter-beyond-the-idea-stage/.  

Feeling Assaulted by the Federal Government

©iStock/Sean Pavone

"Feeling assaulted by the federal government." That's how Thomas L. Friedman describes what is happening in his hometown, Minneapolis.

Read the interview here.  America is at a boiling point.

A Three-Pronged Approach to Avoid, Lessen, and Recover from Tariff Increases On Imported Goods

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In the midst of today's fluid situation, Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg offers a three-pronged approach to avoid, lessen, and recover from tariff increases on imported goods.

[More than 776,000 readers thus far this month.  Thank you all!]

Today in Global Small Business: The USA Winter Storm Edition

©2026 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

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

• Ice from winter storm leaves a million customers without power across the South in USA.
• More than 10,000 flights canceled as bitter cold blankets the U.S.
• Quote of the week:  "To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold." – Aristotle
• Winter storm (LIVE UPDATES) Fern turns deadly In Louisiana, outages leaves over a million vulnerable to ice, snow across US.
• US braces for 'extremely dangerous' winter storm (UK edition).
• LIVE MAP:  See the U.S. winter storm 72-hour snowfall forecast.

Everything in Moderation

©2026 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Everything in moderation.  Except avocado." – Unknown

So Who Are the Owners of the New American TikTok?

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Several big companies and investment firms are part of the new American TikTok. Many have ties to one another and President Trump.

A Cultural Mirror Worth Considering: McAtlas

©iStock/Nikolay Chekalin

Photographer and writer Gary He, visited McDonald's in more than 55 countries.

Gary didn't set out to write a book about McDonald's. And, even now, the James Beard Award-winning photographer still says that "McAtlas" — his book about McDonald's — is not a book about McDonald's.

Rather, it's "a visual social anthropology of the world's largest restaurant chain," says Gary, a native New Yorker who spent years traveling to hundreds of outlets of the world's biggest fast-food chain.

"'McAtlas' is the result of my travels across six continents, 55-plus countries, photographing the menu items, the local restaurants, and just watching how locals use those spaces and what they like to eat in those McDonald's," he says. 

On Gary's website:

Internationally, there’s no restaurant where people are eating more often than McDonald’s. It's not just Big Macs and McNuggets, either: McDonald’s menus around the world have long integrated the flavors and dishes of their home countries. Localized menu items now account for about 30% of McDonald’s systemwide sales, not chump change when that total is north of $120 billion.  If we are what we eat, then McDonald's global menu is a cultural mirror worth serious consideration.

As an amateur photographer myself [Laurel Delaney] and I love anything with a global mindset – this book is right up my alley.

Links to learn more:

• McAtlas website.
• Amazon to purchase the book.

As a Business Leader, I Stand Up Against Abuses, Do You?

©iStock/ChrisGorgio

Robert E. Rubin, a senior counselor at Centerview Partners, served as U.S. Treasury secretary, 1995-1999, writes an Opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, "Why Have Business Leaders Gone Silent?"

He writes:

Perhaps most important, all business leaders—and leaders in all sectors—should ask themselves three questions. First, do Mr. Trump’s actions regarding the economy, the law, and use of the federal government cross a red line? Second, if not, what would? Third, what will I do differently if and when such a line is crossed?

He goes on to say, "The challenges of opposing authoritarianism can be great. But the ever greater consequences, if authoritarianism is left to continue, can be many times more severe."

Read Mr. Rubin's commentary.  I stand up against abuses, do you?

Oh, and you might also read the Opinion by The New York Times, "For Trump, Justice Means Vengeance."  As this piece reminds us, "that we are a country ruled by laws,  not by one man."

What If Supreme Court Says Trump's Tariffs Are Illegal?

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Lower courts have already ruled that Trump exceeded his authority by invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify his sweeping “reciprocal” duties targeting America’s trading partners, as well as separate levies aimed at China, Canada and Mexico. The IEEPA-based tariffs have remained in effect as the legal proceedings continue. 

US President Donald Trump could find out later in January whether the Supreme Court will strike down a key portion of his tariffs campaign. The court is considering whether Trump can use an emergency law that had previously never been wielded to impose import taxes.

If the Supreme Court rules that IEEPA can’t be used to impose tariffs, there’s alternative legislation Trump can lean on.  Find out what it is here.

[Hat tip to Coni Lefferts for sharing this article with us.]

Today in Global Small Business: "Preserve Our Democracy" Says Martin Luther King's Son to the Supreme Court

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

• Martin Luther King's son to the Supreme Court:  Preserve Our Democracy (for The New York Times Opinion section).
• Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Northeastern University.
• Quote of the week:  "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." – Martin Luther King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963
• Remember the dream:  A Day Honoring Dr. King – Smithsonian 
• Honoring the life and legacy of the slain civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Northeast Wisconsin
• Ways to honor Dr. King across DC on Monday, January 19, 2026. – DC News

Kindness Is Free

©2025 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Kindness is free.  Let's pass it on." – Unknown

How to Get a 131-Year-Old Workhorse Chocolate Brand to Worker Harder?

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The candy and snacks maker Hershey, whose portfolio also includes famous names like Reese’s and Twizzlers, has increased its marketing budget by 20% to fund the brand’s first new advertising campaign in eight years. The Hershey Company spent $600 million total on advertising expenses in 2024.

Hershey wants its 131-year-old, workhorse chocolate brand to work a little harder.

“Our goal is to fill in the gaps,” she [Stacy Taffet, chief growth officer of Hershey] said, referring to candy shopping occasions outside of Halloween and Easter, and to households without children who eat sweets.

Learn more about Hershey's plan to experiment with new product iterations to grab headlines and drive year-round sales.  You'll also learn a little about the power of familiarity.