Today in Global Small Business: Small Biz Tech News You Can Use

©iStock/LightFieldStudios

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

• wegginar®:  discover how to offer your international consumers the same shopping experience on your website that you offer to shoppers in the US.  No charge thanks to corporate sponsors  but you must register to participate 11/7.
• 5 things happening in small biz tech news and why it is important to your business.
• Want growth through exporting?  Check out this free workshop 11/14.
• The world is more inter-connected than ever before. It's time to utilize talent from all over the world to help your business grow globally.
• American Express has released its shop small campaign in Australia, featuring 15 small business owners from across Sydney and Melbourne.
• The online marketing plan, authored by Laurel Delaney, that will take you global in a heartbeat.

Chicago Is Work

©2018 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"I'm impressed with the people from Chicago.  Hollywood is hype.  New York is talk.  Chicago is work." -- Michael Douglas

Shop, Eat, Drink and Celebrate Small Business Saturday

©iStock/phillyskater

American Express prepares for its ninth annual Small Business Saturday®, taking place nationwide on November 24.

Small Business Saturday, founded by American Express in 2010, is held each year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to encourage people to shop at independently-owned businesses online and at storefronts across the country.

Find out the benefits beyond strengthening and supporting your local community when you shop small.

A Look Back at Airbnb's International Growth Strategy

Who Will You Inspire Today?

©iStock/Benjavisa

One never knows who may be inspired by what you do.  Take Rana Campbell.

“I mentored a freshman in our dance company at college, and, five years later, she’s working for ‘The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,’” Campbell said. “She reached out to me because she had heard my podcast interview with a stuntwoman in ‘Black Panther,’ Janeshia Adams-Ginyard, and invited me on the show."

Read more about who you inspire today can help you grow your tribe.

Tip:  Collaboration is far more important than competition.

Atharva Enterprises: Capturing the International Market

©iStock/Nikhil Patil

From turning her childhood hobby into a successful business. Kalpana Gayikwad, 35, is the proud owner of Atharva Enterprises, a company that makes diyas, which recently went international, having already captured the national market over the last few years.

Kalpana has 18 women employees, most of them mothers, working to ensure a good future for their children. They earn Rs 6,000-Rs 8,000 every month for around six hours of work daily.

Learn more about her story here.

Today in Global Small Business: Ripple Is About to Make Waves Globally

©iStock/JNEphotos

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

• Four eCommerce CEOs share insights about how they plan, prepare and execute global sales during holiday crunch time.
• 20 new small business ideas in India with low investment or no investment
• Where should global marketers look for partners?
• Will Ripple make waves globally?  Don't know about Ripple?  Learn more.
• Our favorite tool, SurveyMonkey, goes public.
• wegginar®  Learn how to offer your international consumers the same shopping experience on your website that you offer to shoppers in the US.  It's free but you must register to participate 11/7.

The Party Grill

©2018 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Every meal is a party time.
Perfect for "around the clock" use
Breakfast treat to TV snacks.

The all new Sunbeam automatic electric Party Grill.  (Circa 1965).

Look Beyond Borders to Trade Internationally

©iStock/AlbertPego

No matter the challenges, Scottish businesses have always ventured out into the world with confidence, rather than turning inward.  And they have extra support through ScotExport 2018, which provides the right information and access to people and organizations that will allow a company to look beyond borders to trade internationally.

"This is where companies can find out more about how to take that next step to exporting or expand on already healthy international trade.  ScotExport also provides access to the wide range of support that Scottish Enterprise, SDI, and our partners in the public and private sectors can provide to exporters.”

Learn more about how easy it is to get set, connect and go global.

Helping SMEs Across the UK Unleash Their International Potential

©iStock/Khongtham

FedEx Express has launched a Small Business £20,000 Grant that aims to help SMEs across the UK unleash their international potential by providing a platform to go global and expand their horizons.

“Small and medium businesses are the backbone of the economy and in order to help fast-track their growth, more often than not a ‘boost’ is required in terms of funding," says Martin Davidian Managing Director, Sales, UK North and Ireland, FedEx Express and TNT.

To enter the Small Business Grant, SME owners must register online and showcase their international ambitions and future business success for the judges’ consideration -- up until November 28.

Read more about the grant that helps boost British SMEs.

Say hello to K-beauty

©iStock/DragonImages

The global beauty industry is experiencing a revolution driven by South Korea, who tends to be 10-12 years ahead of the rest of the world, helped by the expansion of Instagram, YouTube and beauty blogging.  Say hello to K-beauty, an umbrella term for skin-care products that derive from South Korea.

"The fascination with Korean cosmetics is due to how innovative they are," says Marie Claire's digital beauty editor Katie Thomas.

Before even putting any make-up on, Koreans put in a lot of effort to take care of their skin.  What are some of the unique ingredients in the products?  Brace yourself.

"Snail mucin for moisturizing, pearl for brightening, green tea for oil control and propolis from bees for soothing and nourishing," she [Karen Hong, the founder of K Beauty Bar] reels off.

Learn more about the rise of Korean makeup in the West and how K-beauty is a large part of it.

Solving Global Literacy

©iStock/noipornpan

A native of Pakistan, Shafiq Khan was a remarkable digital leader at Marriott International.  He would return frequently to Pakistan, and the state of the country's education system for the poorest members of society were stark. Khan began to connect the dots between the work he did at Marriott and a way to help solve global literacy.  Teach the World Foundation was born.

The company has developed digital tools to help teach those children who cannot afford basic education Pakistan, and the program has expended to Bangladesh, as well.

Read the interview with Shafiq Kahn where he talks about Teach the World Foundation and its mission.

Today in Global Small Business: Keep an Eye on Global

©iStock/LuckyStep48

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

• Vote for the next global firm of the future here.
• Keep your eye on global, that is, for MENA e-commerce players.
• Small Chinese e-commerce businesses will suffer most from the US decision to withdraw from the international arrangement that sets global postal rates, with some likely to struggle to survive, company representatives said.
• An oldie but goodie article on the global company's challenge.
• Some good reads ... and don't forget this one.
• How to offer your international consumers the same shopping experience on your website that you offer to shoppers in the US.

America the Beautiful

©2018 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

The author of "America the Beautiful," Katharine Lee Bates, was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts in 1859 and grew up near the rolling sea. Her graceful poetic style came through in poems such as "The Falmouth Bell" ... read more here.

Upskilling and Educating SMEs in Ireland

©iStock/twstipp

Staying Ahead Digital Roadshow, the second in a series of events held by Google in partnership with Enterprise Ireland, aims to upskill and educate Irish SMEs in reaching new customers, expanding their businesses, and future-proofing their operations for a digital world.

Fionnuala Meehan, Head of Google Ireland, says:

“With only 17% of Irish businesses selling across borders online, we see huge opportunities for Irish SMEs to be innovative in the digital marketplace and to become exporters of goods and services. We know that companies with a strong online presence will grow twice as fast and employ twice as many people as those with a minimal or no web presence, and at a time of uncertainty – now more than ever – we believe it is important that Irish SMEs are supported in getting online to build more successful and sustainable businesses.”

Read more about how Google is on the road in Cork, Ireland to to help SMEs stay ahead.

A Time Out with Global Classical Guitarist Alexandra Whittingham

4th Annual Global Small Business Forum 10/19/18 in Chicago

©2018 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

There is only one.  Spectacular.  Global Small Business Forum. And it is held in Chicago on Friday, October 19th, in the morning.  Don't miss it.

To learn more and to register, visit:
http://globalsmallbusinessforum.com

See you there.  (Sneak preview of the program.)

Is There a Wrong Way to Grow a Business Internationally?

©iStock/alexmillos

It's pretty easy for me to tell you all the wrong ways to grow a business internationally from failing to secure a guaranteed method of payment on a sale to not bothering to market your business to neglecting the rules and regulations of a country you are about to enter.

So, that all said, let's have a look at the right way to grow your business internationally.

Today in Global Small Business: False Song of Globalization

©iStock/ISerg

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

• Register for the 4th Annual Global Small Business Forum held in Chicago on Friday, October 19th; learn from 4 CEOs who talk about how they took their business global. Sponsored by MB Financial, Nixon Peabody and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
• Why globalization is under threat -- according to Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.
• The false song of globalization.
• How can SMEs go global?
• Strengthening small enterprises worldwide.
• How to boost global e-commerce sales pre-holidays.

A View from Peet's Coffee in Chicago

©2018 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

You never know what you  are going to see when you look out a window on a Friday afternoon at Peet's Coffee & Tea at 400 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.  There goes a bride.