Wake up, world, to today’s way of doing business. This is no time to hide behind a rock and think you have every good reason not to produce results in 2010. Guess again. All vital signs on globalization indicate that the best is yet to come.

How so? For one, longevity. Globalization has been around since well before I started my business in 1985. Even back then I was tooting the “go global” horn loud and clear, but in a very different manner – through Telexes, faxes, expensive overseas telephone calls, in person visits with customers 12,000 miles away and, eventually, e-mails.

Second, the Internet. This powerhouse tool makes it a heck of a lot easier and cheaper to find and connect with folks worldwide, transact business across borders, get paid efficiently, follow up whenever needed and continue this precious and prosperous business cycle until we retire.

So what can I tell you that you don’t already know? Let’s start with last year and review the “Top 10 Global Trends for Small Businesses for 2009” that we put together. How did we fare? Nine out of ten of our predictions are pretty much on target. No. 2, where we said dotMobi “will take global root in 2009,” did not happen. Everyone lately is reporting that mobile computing is going to be hot, hot, hot in 2010. And we can’t fail here to reference our admired and trusty colleague Steve King’s forecast at Small Business Labs, for he always stretches our minds with his spot-on trends for the year. He didn’t let us down this year, either. In particular, look at No. 7: Social, Mobile and Cloud Computing Converge. Need we say more about this segment?

Back to what you might not know for 2010. When it comes to globalization, whether for big companies or small, new trends are on the horizon. Let’s examine them.

1. Globally integrated future - better known as cheap, quick and global. Thomas Friedman summed up this notion nicely here. It boils down to the ability to access cheap tools anywhere, anytime, to get a job done. Global small businesses will take advantage of this because they are active, engaged and builders of ideas and wealth in our online world. They know how to make connections, share experience and execute on brilliant ideas. The attitude is and will continue to be: Invent the future.

2. World power. We will witness a new kind of colorful online place – the creation of clusters, crowds and armies formed right before our eyes, drawing us into their cause, crusade, mission or development that helps people solve their own problems in the world. As a result, we will be empowered to take action in real time. For example, more than 300,000 women from across the U.S. have signed up for the Love/Avon Army of Women as potential volunteers for breast cancer clinical research studies. Most were recruited through social networking resources like Facebook. These figures speak to the number of people available at our fingertips who can spread the word about anything globally, and fast. Think of it as world power.

3. Technologically enabled future. The iPhone was a tremendous breakthrough for smart phones and their users, but watch for bigger and better technology advances coming out soon in your local theater, automobile, kitchen, television and gas station. Every time technology advances, we as a global society advance. This makes for a very bright future.

4. China Ltd. China is going to show us a thing or two this year and over the coming decade. With an economy that expanded 8.9% from a year earlier in the third quarter of 2009, China is on the fast track to economic domination. To forge ahead, watch for entrepreneurs in China to borrow many of our ideas, such as YouTube, iTunes and Hulu, and improve or develop their own niche versions in China. One size does not fit all in China, and they will prove it. You can sit back and watch what takes place or jump in and ride the wave to global prosperity. How do you get in on the action? Find a trusted colleague on the ground in China who knows the language, gets around and can quickly show you the ropes on how things are done. Look for American companies that are already doing business in China and collaborate with them. Apple is selling iPhones in China, but who are their suppliers for accessories? Could it be you?

5. Thick as a BRIC. We will continue to see a power shift in the large, emerging BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China. Once considered growth explosive markets, all four might pull back this year – especially Russia, which has fallen to the bottom – and take a breather. Reassess the markets before you attempt to do business there. The only country that looks poised to outpace all others, including Japan, is China, soon to become the world’s largest economy.

6. The Young and the Restless: The Radical Global Entrepreneur. These entrepreneurs will finally recognize that what they are doing on the side as a hobby generates revenue locally – making jewelry to exhibit at an art fair, running a regional virtual assistant business out of their home or offering yoga expertise on the weekend at the local gym – and can be performed anywhere in the world with anyone at any time. They go for it full time. They chuck the security of a paycheck from a company that until now appeared to be a safe bet with good benefits but was a boring place to work. They strike out on their own, regardless of how tight their finances are. The RGE would rather own it than work it for somebody else. They know that all it takes to get an idea off the ground is a snappy name, trademark protection, domain reservation, a few words describing what they are good at, a crisp marketing campaign via all the free social media and networking platforms and voila: A global small business is born. Most likely it’s started for less than four hundred bucks.

7. Come-out-of-nowhere theory. Often referred to as the element of surprise. Look for lots of that in 2010. It’s only natural that after such a dreadful year people are tired, worn down and overwhelmed by the same old, same old. They will be ready to be bold and take calculated risks to shake things up. We will discover there is life after the near-death experience of last year. So watch for countless reverse course, correct course, cover your a** course work ahead. Here’s a hypothetical example. You read a blog post by Chris Brogan, and the next thing you know, Jack Welch stops in ‘live’ to challenge him or do a guest post. Alternatively, you learn that the new Dubai Khalifa project failed, and China’s central government is coming to its rescue. It can be good news or bad on the “come-out-of-nowhere” theory. Brace for it and figure out how to leverage the concept for your own global small business success.

8. The Age of Online Factory Direct (OFD). Brick and mortar stores will suffer enormously over the coming years as more customers like the experience and convenience of shopping online. We are already witnessing this with Google shifting into a whole new gear by marketing its own smart phone direct to consumers online. We are waiting for Amazon and eBay to follow suit and allow consumers to buy case quantities “globally” of their favorite things or household staple items: soup, detergent, snacks and toilet paper. Watch for more of this in the future.

9. Global Small Business Heroes. Say bye-bye to Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps as once famous corporate spokespeople and say hello to the engine of our economic growth: global small business owners, ordinary folks doing extraordinary things. You will start to see more and more Fortune 500 companies cutting ties with the bad-boy behavior of celebrities and spotlighting real people, doing real work to ensure we live on a safe and superior planet. It doesn’t take a village to make a difference. It takes one global small business hero.

10. Borderless venture capital (BVC). In addition to QVC, we will have BVC, caused by the fact that money and credit have evaporated. There is less money to go around, with lots more businesses that need it locally. But have you looked outside your own borders? Have you chatted with anyone who has actually secured funding from another company in another country? (I have and it works brilliantly.) More folks will be looking into borderless venture capital infusion for their businesses. Be ingenious. It’s as simple as this: Take a picture of your idea, draw one or write eloquently about it. Send it to your constituency base with a price tag attached. Give everybody a chance to contribute. Make it easy to pay. Watch the money flow in from all over the world.

Blaze new borders in 2010. Expand your circle of friends, colleagues and clients. The possibilities are endless and so is the upside. You can grow your business into a global small business. You just need to open your eyes to globalize.

The post 10 Predictions, Forecasts and Trends That Will Shape Our Global Small Business World In 2010 appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Why?  Because the excitement for sales folks typically lies in striking the deal — not in determining how you get paid.

Here we outline several methods to collect payments on export sales during turbulent times. But first, here are some things that can influence your decision about how you will be paid:

• Feedback from your international banker
• Your customer
• Your cash flow needs
• The economic conditions in the country to which you are exporting
• Interest rates and currency adjustment factors
• Type of product
• Your customer’s creditworthiness
• The terms your competitors are offering
• Your supplier’s demands
• The urgency of the transaction — are you under time constraints?

Whatever terms of payment you negotiate, you must make sure they are understood by all parties and that your customer signs a document (e.g., proforma invoice) that indicates acceptance.  This prevents some unpleasant surprises later on and reduces your shipment liability exposure.

It’s essential that you agree on the terms of payment in advance, and never ever sell on open account to a brand new customer.

And now, on to the payment options:

Payment in Advance

This is obviously the best of all payment methods since you can forestall possible collection problems and you have immediate use of the money.  I use the advance payment method when I know absolutely nothing about the customer, when speed of handling will make or break the sale, and when the transaction is less than $5,000.  The only difficult part of this financing method is actually making it happen!  When your customer agrees to this arrangement, he accepts the full risk of the transaction.  If he does, ask for a wire transfer from his bank account to yours, or a certified check made payable to you in U.S. dollars, preferably sent by courier.  It’s reasonable to ask for half of the total sale in advance, with the balance to be paid 30 days from the bill-of-lading date.  This reduces your customer’s risk, thus helping to maintain good will.  Make sure, though, that the advance amount covers your out-of-pocket costs.

Payment Online

Second to cash in advance is payment collected online, provided the transaction is small (processing fees can take a big bite out of your profits) and you wait to release goods or your service offering until after you clear funds in your bank account.

Two well-known options are PayPal and American Express – FX International Payments.  With PayPal, you can send and receive money in 24 currencies from anyone with an e-mail address in 190 countries and regions, allowing you to accelerate the pace of online transactions across borders.  With American Express FX International Payments, you get expertise and the convenience of making foreign currency payments.  Either of these payment mechanisms work fine on smaller-sized exports (less than U.S. $10,000).  But when you get into bigger transactions, you are better off protecting your financial interest in such a way that you are guaranteed payment and the payment processing fee does not gouge your profit margin on the sale.

Letters of Credit — Security with Flexibility

After payment in advance or payment online, securing payment with a letter of credit is the next best option.  We will take a detailed look at how letters of credit work, who participates in the transaction, and what variations and modifications are available to help the parties negotiate mutually acceptable terms.

THE FOUR KEY PLAYERS IN THE LETTER OF CREDIT PROCESS

There are four participants in a letter of credit transaction — two businesspeople and two banks:

1. The buyer.  That’s your customer.
2. The opening bank.  This bank normally issues the letter of credit, so it is sometimes referred to as the “issuing bank.”  They assume responsibility for the payment on behalf of the buyer.
3. The paying bank.  This is the bank under which the drafts or bills of exchange are drawn under the credit.  A paying bank in an L/C transaction might also act as the negotiating bank, advising bank or confirming bank, depending upon what responsibilities it accepts.
4. The seller.  That’s you.

To summarize the process:  Once you and your customer agree on payment by letter of credit, it is the customer’s responsibility to take your proforma (an invoice that reflects all estimated costs involved to move product door to door) to her bank and open the L/C (letter of credit) in your favor.  Once the opening bank has all the appropriate information from the customer, it advises you, the seller, that the L/C has been opened.  Oftentimes this will be done by cable or e-mail to the paying bank.  Your bank then forwards that information to you.  The letter of credit is final and subject to correction only for errors in transmission.

It is not unusual to find differences between the L/C and the proforma invoice, such as incorrect product descriptions or reference numbers.  So always consult with your banker before attempting any informal deals like this.

Accuracy in all details of your letter of credit is critical.  There are a number of different kinds of L/C, but here are two are important types:

IRREVOCABLE LETTER OF CREDIT

An irrevocable letter of credit is a commercial document issued by a bank at your customer’s request in your favor.  Once issued, it cannot be modified without both parties’ consent.  Here “irrevocable” means that the bank must pay you even if your customer defaults, provided the documents presented are “clean,” meaning that they are in complete compliance with the language of the L/C.  It’s the most secure method of payment.  You can also request that the L/C be confirmed by a U.S. bank.  This arrangement provides the greatest degree of protection because the U.S. bank must pay you even if your customer’s bank defaults.  If the L/C is unconfirmed, the U.S. bank must wait until it receives funds from the foreign bank before it will credit your account.

REVOCABLE LETTER OF CREDIT

A revocable letter of credit is a commercial document issued by a bank at your customer’s request in your favor, which can be modified without both parties’ consent at any point.  Once this L/C has been issued, you have the following assurances as the beneficiary: the bank can assure you that, yes, your customer has arranged for them to pay you such and such an amount; and, yes, your customer is known, respected and has been banking with them for decades.  Unfortunately, you cannot rely on this L/C since the bank is under no obligation to cover the L/C if your customer defaults.  You may as well just run a credit check on a customer and ship open account.

A letter of credit may be modified or restricted in a variety of ways.  If you get stuck on negotiating payment terms with your customer, check with your banker to see if you can find a mutually agreeable option.  Be creative and cooperative in investigating payment arrangements that will accommodate your customer, but always make sure YOU end up with secure and timely payment.

If you have a few extra minutes, I suggest you read “Methods of Payment:  Terms, Conditions and Alternative Financing Sources For Export Sales.”  More than 53,000 small business owners have already found it useful.  You might, too.

Collecting money from your overseas customers doesn’t have to be painful.  If you follow the suggestions above and consult with your international banker, you can grow your business global and confidently secure payments from customers all over the world.

Editor’s Note:  this article was previously published at OPENForum.com under the original title:  “Managing Methods of Payments on Export Sales in Turbulent Times.”  It is reprinted here with permission.

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About the Author: Global business expert Laurel Delaney is the founder of GlobeTrade.com (a Global TradeSource, Ltd. company).  She also is the creator of “Borderbuster,” an e-newsletter, and The Global Small Business Blog, all highly regarded for their global small business coverage.  You can reach Delaney at ldelaney@globetrade.com or follow her on Twitter @LaurelDelaney.

The post How to Get Paid on International Transactions appeared first on Small Business Trends.

In looking ahead, what’s new and different from our “Resolutions to Do Business Globally in 2008” article from last year? Not much. From embracing the world to exporting like mad to doing whatever it takes to survive (and thrive) in good times and bad — everything mentioned is still relevant.

And even our colleagues at Emergent Research were spot-on when they wrote about 10 trends that would impact small businesses in 2008. One of them was right in line with our “exporting like mad” forecast:

“The declining dollar accelerates the long-term trend towards small business globalization: Several long-term trends are driving the growth of small business cross-border trade and the globalization of small business. These include increased global economic growth, reduced trade barriers and the growth of the Internet and other connective technologies. Adding to these longer term trends is the decline of the US dollar versus almost all free-floating currencies. The dollar’s decline is creating broad, new cross-border trade opportunities for small businesses and 2008 will see substantial growth in small business exports.”

As the Fed cut short-term interest rates to nearly zero, exporting continues to remain strong. I am not an economist, nor do I pretend to be, so I had to do some serious critical thinking and deep reflecting about everything I have read over the past couple of months (looking for recurring themes and patterns that become trends) that might tell us what we need to know to prepare our businesses for globalization in 2009.

Here are the top 10 global small business trends for 2009:

1. Disruptive innovation will be both the coolest and hottest new growth strategy in 2009 because it will transcend all boundaries and transform businesses.

Clayton Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor who focuses on innovation, discusses this very same topic in “How Hard Times Can Drive Innovation.” Also, a hip report by Trendwatching covers half a dozen consumer trends for 2009 and supports Christensen’s, and our theory, with prediction No. 6: Happy Ending. It states:

“At the same time, this is a great moment to innovate: shrinking budgets and diminishing revenues from existing offerings normally bring out the best and most creative in business professionals.”

Economist Joseph Schumpeter popularized a similar concept called “creative destruction” in 1942 in his book, “Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy,” that describes the process of transformation that accompanies radical innovation. Look for more of this type of disruptive innovation in 2009.

2. dotMobi will take global root in 2009.

DotMobi is a top-level domain approved by ICANN (www.icann.org) and managed by the mTLD global  registry and dedicated to delivering the Internet to mobile devices via the Mobile Web. According to Infoplease.com, there are more than 2 billion cell phones in use worldwide and that number continues to grow because many folks cannot afford a laptop. For a lot of people in emerging markets, the mobile phone will be the primary way to access the Internet. Learn more at, “Mobile Web Remains a Mystery to Most”
(http://tinyurl.com/5swua6).

And catch the real power of it here. If Coke is on to it, it’s already global.

3. Diverse global business partnerships will shine and outperform those businesses that don’t make these critical alliances.

By having a diverse range of business partnerships worldwide, we are better equipped to navigate the global marketplace. We will see more partnerships formed between big and small companies. Big companies still have money to spend, especially on disruptive innovation, and it’s the little companies that are the expert disrupters, shaking things up, making things happen and getting things done.

4. Exporting (from the USA) will prevail in the first quarter of ’09 and might start to strengthen later in the year.

Keep tabs on the global market at World Bank to see when there is a “sign” of crimp in the export boom.

5. Twitter will replace the “call me” statement with “Twitter me” due to technology, convenience and time constraints.

In case you are clueless about it, dive in here, where you can learn everything you want to know about Twitter:  Birds of a Feather Twitter Together  and Twitter Goes Mainstream.

6. Entrepreneurs and small businesses will learn, if they haven’t already, everything there is to know about how to take a business global.

Check out these educational resources:

U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce

International Business Center at Michigan State University (IBC) globalEDGE

U.S. Department of Commerce and Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Fostering Entrepreneurship Worldwide

7. Optimism will fuel global small businesses that have the guts to press on, even in the face of insurmountable obstacles.

Seth Godin does a good job talking about this in the “Top Twelve Ways to Grow Your Business in a Down Market.”

8. Women entrepreneurs will rule the global marketplace.

Women are already starting businesses at twice the rate of men and their efforts to expand a business internationally will be a force to reckon with in the coming years due to social entrepreneurship, social media and social networking platforms that make it so much easier to do good things collaboratively –  which women are naturals at – while growing a business global.

9. Trusted crowds will become profitable clouds.

Out of necessity, smart global marketers will become possessed with customer attention in the way that Theodore Levitt was obsessed with getting and keeping customers in his important marketing paper, “Marketing Myopia.”  But this time it’s different. “Marketing in the World of the Web” touches on the power of social networks – something that did not exist in Levitt’s time – and how they will reshape and reconfigure individual behavior worldwide.

10. Green and global are a marriage made in heaven because everyone wants to save the world.

Think it’s not catching on? Wake up and smell the green roses! Green, environmentally responsible initiatives, is the new Crimson for Harvard. And then there’s Global Green USA, Green Globe International, Green River (oops, that’s legit a soft drink)! Got green? Better claim it before someone else does.

Speaking of green, just like everybody claims to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, everybody will stake their claim at being a global entrepreneur in 2009.

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Global business expert Laurel Delaney is the founder of GlobeTrade.com. She is also the creator of “Borderbuster,” an e-newsletter and The Global Small Business Blog, both of which are well known for covering global small business.

The post Top 10 Global Trends for Small Businesses for 2009 appeared first on Small Business Trends.

If anything, it requires more attention.

Once you’ve completed the initial export transaction, you must expect to provide a broad spectrum of “complimentary” services in order to encourage repeat business. In this article we’ll talk about the kind of follow-up “care and feeding” of customers that will keep them coming back.

A customer in Ireland with whom I’ve been dealing for about 5 years recently emailed me (on behalf of a client) an order for a product that I don’t even handle. Completely bewildered, I emailed back, saying that there must be some mistake.

He replied, “There is no mistake. I want you to take care of this because I don’t know the supplier and I trust you to conduct this business properly. Take your usual percentage. After your last shipment, you shocked me when you emailed a week later to ask if there was anything you could do to assist my marketing efforts on the product received. I will never forget this. Most American suppliers don’t communicate with us after the sale unless we place another order, but you were different.” I would have thought that standing behind my product and taking professional responsibility for my customer’s satisfaction and success was the obvious thing to do, but apparently I was wrong!

Think of your after-sales follow-up as part of your product. If this attitude is as rare as my Irish customer said, you will be setting an unprecedented standard of professionalism. Your customers will be deeply impressed, and they’ll never again want to settle for less.

YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE YOUR BUSINESS

Let’s go back to basics for a minute. What drives your business efforts? What are you really in it for? To make a ton of money? To achieve total quality control? To order around a bunch of employees and be the big fish in your pond?

Whatever your motives, if you want to stay in the game, you had better be in it for the right reasons: to get and keep customers worldwide.

Without customers, there is no business. Without business, there is no global marketer.

Never forget who’s driving the deal. You can explain to the customer all you like about your company policy and why things are the way they are when it comes to pricing, packaging, product design or anything else, but if the customer doesn’t like what he hears, there’s no deal. If the price is too high, there’s no deal. If product quality is insufficient, there’s no deal. If you can’t show them a market, there’s no deal. If they don’t see value, there’s no deal.

The customer dictates what you will provide, not you, not your company policy, not the economy, not Congress. So pay attention to your customers. They know what they need and what they want. Do your best to make it happen for them.

You won your customer over with the first sale. If you don’t follow up with ongoing service, you may lose her future business. Whether you lose a customer a block away or 12,000 miles away, she is still a lost customer — something you cannot afford. Don’t think of customer service as a sprint, in which you go all out and then drop in exhaustion. It’s a marathon without a finish line. So if you want to keep her on your team, begin your relationship all over again after the sale!

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR CUSTOMER

The first step in after-sales service is to say, wholeheartedly and preferably in person, “Thank you for your business!” Then follow up by expressing further sincere appreciation by email and in writing. These are musts, absolutes, givens. Don’t fail to do them just because they seem so obvious as to be insignificant. Your customers will notice. Nor will they fail to notice the omission! What you might classify as “NBD” (no big deal) might be just the “NBD” your customer needed to convince him to do business with you again.

After that, plan for regular communication. If you’ve got the time and energy, contact them every day. If that’s too burdensome, communicate regularly on a schedule that’s workable for you and sufficient to inspire your customer’s confidence.

Besides initiating regular communications, offer your customers 24/7 availability. Set up fax lines, Twitter, e-mail alerts, a wiki, Skype account and telephone voicemail services from which you can retrieve messages around the clock. Get a second telephone line in your home or a separate cell phone number to give out to special customers in case of emergency. Customers need to know where you are when they want to communicate with you. They need to know you are reliable and dependable and will minimize risk for them. Be reachable all day and every day, ready and willing to serve.

If you’ve got the time and energy and an ample budget, visit your customer every chance you get. You know that your personal friendships need regular maintenance visits. Your customer also needs to see you regularly — to see what new offerings you have, to resolve problems that come up in the course of your relationship, or just to make sure you’re there. One in-person visit with your customer is better than a hundred emails daily. Do try to make time for your customers.

When all else fails, communication might be all you have to offer your customer. But that offering is a service, and for your customer, that service is as good as a product.

SATISFY YOUR CUSTOMER

You can deliver the right product, the right service, the right price — but do you deliver satisfaction? The only way to find out is to follow up and ask flat out, “Are you satisfied with my product or service?” And if the answer is “no,” you’d better have a plan.

Remember: a complaining customer is a customer about to leave. And when they do, they’re sure to tell 10 others about it! Figure out what went wrong, move heaven and earth to correct it, and hang in there and talk it through until you’ve restored, and even strengthened, the bond between yourself and your customer.

What about the customer who hasn’t complained, but has not reordered after several months, either? This doesn’t mean there are no more orders to be had. It means you’ve got to take the initiative to find out why they haven’t come! If your customer never tells you directly there is a specific problem marketing your product in his homeland, learn to read between the lines and pinpoint it. Then rethink your product, or offer sales support, as needed.

We have emphasized again and again that your overseas customer is very special. He or she is operating from within a different culture, so you need to take time and work extra hard to understand them and to see that they are pleased with the way you do business. You’re virtually certain to make mistakes along the way, but as long as you continually show that you want to do better and are always willing to learn from your mistakes, your customer will forgive your gaffes and give you chances to do just that. And remember, your customer will make mistakes too, so a mutual, generous give-and-take attitude will keep the relationship moving forward.

DELIVER ON YOUR PROMISES

If you promised the moon, deliver it along with a handful of stars. You want to shine in your customer’s eyes.

Delivering on your promises is doing what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it. Every time you follow through on a commitment, small or large, you build trust. If you say you are going to email prices to your customer by tomorrow, try for today. If you say you are going to air-ship sample products within a week, ship within a week – or sooner. If you say you are going to reduce prices because of local competition, reduce prices. Don’t just talk about it, do it. Keep supplying and standing behind what you promise again and again, over and over.

GO BEYOND EXPECTATIONS

Delight your customer beyond all measure. You’ve sold them your product or service, now astonish them with your out-of-the-box thinking by going way beyond the call of duty. If your customer wants ordinary service, let them do business with your chief rival. Don’t waste time worrying about whether they’ll appreciate it or not. Let them shop elsewhere and see how bad it really can get. They’ll be back, a little humbler and wiser, and eager to do business. When you give your customer more than they ask for, that’s value — and value is hard to walk away from.

For example, if your customer asks for product samples, send them product samples. But send them superfast (efficient!), individually wrapped in colorful tissue paper (memorable!), accompanied by a handwritten note expressing your hope that they find them appealing (personalized!) and a coupon worth 10% off on their first order (extra value!).

These are the things that set a global marketer apart from the wanna-be exporter. Customers are impressed by vendors that go beyond the obvious and safe ways of conducting business.

INVOLVE YOUR CUSTOMER

Don’t just get your customer to purchase your product, give them a reason to care — get them involved. If you are considering a new product for market, ask your customer for comments about the packaging, pricing, flavors, technology and distribution, so you can determine whether or not the product will be a good fit for their sales and distribution channels.

It’s also important to keep your customer posted if you’re having trouble meeting a commitment. No need to burden them with your life story, though. When a problem arises that they need to know about, keep the explanation concise and purposeful. You want your customer to know if factors beyond your control are standing in the way of your usual top-notch performance, but provide just enough information to develop an understanding and, where applicable, give them alternatives. That’s all they need – or want.

Involving the customer means letting them have a say in the course of events. A customer who perceives his or her input as having contributed materially to a desirable outcome feels very secure and positive about the relationship. Don’t wait for them to speak up — solicit their input regularly.

BECOME YOUR CUSTOMER’S PARTNER

One of the best ways to strengthen ties with your customer is to develop a product, market or distribution channel together. Pooling resources like contacts, skilled staff, production facilities or joint financing for a project can kick a business relationship into high gear. When you work together to make your efforts succeed, you both win.

How might you create opportunities to join forces with your customer? The easiest and quickest scenario goes like this: After exporting a product to your customer for a few years, you might consider producing that same product with your customer’s name on it as opposed to the manufacturer’s. Naturally, you’ll need to check with your supplier to get their approval for the private-label scheme. There is a lot involved in this type of operation, so make sure the manufacturer has a standard procedure that can easily be implemented, particularly overseas. Once you’ve got their backing, get hold of your customer and suggest it. Here are just a few of the benefits that will result:

- You get more commitment from your customer when her name is on the product.

- Offering a similar product with a different name and different product features will expand your market, customer base and distribution.

- With each of you having a stake in the project’s success, with both of you exercising greater care, offering more input and following through on every commitment, your relationship is bound to develop positively.

EXCHANGE INFORMATION WITH YOUR CUSTOMER

There are always opportunities for you to become your customer’s “partner” in many of their endeavors. Just keep an eye out for how you can help them to get where they want to go, not only in terms of business but personally, spiritually and intellectually. Give them something to reach for. For example, let’s say you sold your customer a containerload of hammers. Later, you read in the International Daily Herald about a company that makes colorful textured plastic sleeves that slip onto the handle of a hammer, allowing the home carpenter to get a better grip while pounding away. You call your customer to tell him about it, and email him a copy of the article. Your customer is impressed because you appear to be one step ahead of him, and pleased to see that you are keeping him, and the growth of his business, in mind.

Offer your customers fast-breaking news, ideas and useful contacts that will help their business, even if they don’t have anything to do with yours. If you provide them with grocery foods but they are trying to source non-food grocery items, point them at a good supplier you’ve heard of. The more you do for your customers, the more valuable you become to them, and the more secure a foundation you will have built.

You can find appropriate and professional ways to contribute to your customer’s personal interests as well. If your hammer customer mentions an interest in aerodynamically designed boats during a business dinner, you might advise him of a trade show soon to be held in your city — the largest and most important show in the boat industry — that he won’t want to miss. Arrange for hotel accommodations, tickets or admission to the show, and dinner. Don’t look at it as wasted time. Look at it as an investment. The rewards of bonding with your customer are exponential.

If you can’t fulfill a need for your customer immediately, be willing to extend yourself a little. For example, if your customer asks you a question about a subject you don’t know a lot about, do a little research. Don’t hold back — give them the ranch and the cattle, too. Prove that you’re not only a good supplier, but a valuable all-around business associate.

You have to lead before your customers can follow. You have to act before your customers can react. Global marketers are leaders that act. Help your customers find their way, and they’ll stay with you.

ARRANGE INTRODUCTIONS FOR YOUR CUSTOMER

Arranging an introduction to an important business contact is a gesture that demonstrates the utmost respect and appreciation in the global marketplace. Such an introduction can be one of the most valuable services you can offer your customers. Remember the time and trouble it took you to build the solid foundation you have right now with your customer. What would it have been worth to you to have a mutual associate smooth the way? Give your customer this benefit — and strengthen your ties further — by making a few key introductions.

This service holds particular value in Japan, where business is conducted primarily through an official introducer, called a shokainin. A shokainin not only introduces but also vouches for the integrity of the individual they are introducing. If you make an attempt to call on a customer in Japan on your own without the assistance of a shokainin, he or she may agree to see you as a courtesy gesture, but it’s unlikely that business will develop as a result of this meeting. Cold-calling for business may earn you a reputation as a bold and energetic salesperson in America, but this practice is viewed as offensively aggressive in Japan. If you want to do business in Japan, enlist the help of a shokainin!

Even in countries that don’t run on such a tight network of relationships, an introduction can still open doors for your customer. During your communications, be alert for ways in which a person or company you know might help your customer increase his growth and profitability or enhance his position in the marketplace. Then, introduce them. Once you have undertaken this responsibility, you must monitor the situation to make sure all goes well. If it does, you get credit, and deservedly so. If it doesn’t, you must investigate why things went amiss and intervene to resolve or remedy any hard feelings. Your role as the introducer is an important one. If completed diplomatically and successfully, it gains you the utmost respect in the global network.

BUILD INTERDEPENDENCY WITH YOUR CUSTOMER

You have served your customer, satisfied them, gone beyond their expectations, and helped them to grow. But have you built a bond with them that encourages them to look to you when there is a problem, or when they need an experienced internationalist’s advice? In other words, have you built a sufficient interdependency between yourself and your customer?

This may seem hard to grasp, especially from an American’s perspective. We are encouraged to conduct our business lives with an all-capable, self-sufficient, every-man-for-himself or woman-for-herself attitude.

That was fine for the driven, boom-and-bust entrepreneur of the ’80s. But for the global marketer laying the groundwork for the 21st century by building a worldwide network of close connections, after-sales service should be geared toward fostering a healthy give-and-take, an interdependency, with your customer. Knowing that you have a friendly associate out there pulling for you is comforting and adds to your confidence in everything you do.

Support your customer’s success in any way you can, and you will be building a constructive interdependency that can become your gateway to the world.

* * * * *

About the Author: Global business expert Laurel Delaney is the founder of GlobeTrade.com and its wiki community (http://globetrade.wetpaint.com). She also is the creator of “Borderbuster”, an e-newsletter, and The Global Small Business Blog, all highly regarded for their global small business coverage.

The post Building Global Bonds One Customer at a Time appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Question: Do you think the Export Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) will cut back or be more willing to extend loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that qualify on exports this year in light of a possible recession?

I asked the question of Chad Moutray of the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy; Harvey Bronstein of the Small Business Administration; and Tess Morrison, of the Illinois International Trade Center, University of Illinois.

Interestingly, the talk really turned to a more general one of whether we were in a recession, the current business climate, and how small businesses should react.

At the risk of putting words in anyone’s mouths, I think I can safely say that all more or less agreed “conduct your business as usual and keep looking for opportunities, because opportunities are all around you.”
Here are the specific answers:

(1) Chad Moutray, Chief Economist and Director of Economic Research, U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy.

Answer: “Small businesses are increasingly sophisticated global players who are able to spot opportunities, whether these are found in their local communities or across the globe. The depreciated dollar has given entrepreneurs — many of whom had not looked at the export market before — a golden opportunity to pursue sales abroad.”

Regarding the possibility of a downturn, Moutray referred us to this study (be prepared for an immediate PDF file download) by Craig and Kohlhase that had been released in December 2006. Note the research summary’s overall finding: Small firms play a vital role in maintaining economic growth in urban areas.

Moutray does not follow the movings of the Ex-Im Bank so there was no comment on the loan policy.

(2) Harvey Bronstein, Senior International Economist, U.S. Small Business Administration, Washington, D.C.

Answer: “As far as Ex-Im Bank, you’ll have to talk with them.

As far as recession, the U.S. is not in a recession, which is commonly defined as two quarters, that is a period of six months, over which the size of the U.S. economy actually shrinks. For the third quarter of 2007, that is through Sept. 30, the economy actually grew almost 5%, far above the long-term average growth rate of the economy. Although growth will almost certainly be slower in the fourth quarter of 2007 than it was for the earlier part of the year, one quarter of slow growth does not equal “recession.”

Concerning job creation, small businesses often create well over one-half of all net new jobs in the economy. Please refer to the link below on our website:

6. How many new jobs do small firms create?

Over the past decade, small businesses created 60 to 80 percent of the net new jobs. In the most recent year with data (2004), small firms accounted for all of the net new jobs. Firms with fewer than 500 employees had a net gain of 1.86 million new jobs. Large firms with 500 or more employees lost more jobs than they created, for a net loss of 181,122 jobs. For information on employment dynamics by firm size from 1989 to 2004, see http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/data.html#us.

On small business and exporting, 2007 will be a record year with small businesses racking up over $400 billion in exports. While in the third quarter of 2007 the economy grew 5%, exports grew by 19%. So long as the dollar remains weak and other countries’ economies strong, the outlook for exports is bright.”

(3) Tess Morrison, Director, Illinois International Trade Center, University of Illinois, College of Business, Champaign, Illinois.

Answer: “Ex-Im (and SBA) will NOT cut back for SMEs, whether or not there is a recession. Ex-Im is committed to serving at least 20% of their business as SMEs.All companies need to adhere to the financial guidelines, but they have as much to do with the buyers as the sellers. Ex-Im must (by law) act as a bank. For example, they can only do business where there is a reasonable expectation of repayment. The onus is on the buyer. Otherwise, we, the U.S. taxpayer has to pick up the slack. Ex-Im looks at the seller to make certain that they do not appear about to go under (to give an excuse to not repay by the buyer.) Ex-Im is committed to SMEs.”

Delaney (clarification question):

So Ex-Im will not be in the same league as all the other banks on being super cautious with loans to SMEs due to the mortgage meltdown?

Morrison:

“That’s correct. They don’t do the same kind of lending as regular banks. Their focus is on the buyer being able to repay so that we the U.S. taxpayer isn’t stuck with the repayment.”

* * * * *

In closing, I can say that the weak dollar makes exports look attractive to buyers in other countries; there will be funding from the Ex-Im Bank available; and no matter what, your small business has the potential to impact the economy in a positive way by continuing to do business and do it well.

In the meantime, get going on those exports!

* * * * *

Global business expert Laurel Delaney is the founder of GlobeTrade.com. She is also the creator of “Borderbuster,” an e-newsletter and The Global Small Business Blog, both of which are well known for covering global small business.

The post Is Your Export Business Recession-Proof? appeared first on Small Business Trends.

We value those who strike out on their own, creating businesses. Entrepreneurs delight us with their creativity. Entrepreneurs inspire us with their independence. Entrepreneurs change our lives for the better with the innovative products and services they develop.

People from all over the world are engaging in the highest form of flattery: imitation. The spirit of entrepreneurism is spreading all over the world.

Not a little of that is due to the fact that entrepreneurs are reaching out beyond the borders of the United States to other countries. The same is happening in other countries, where the Internet and cheap communications have made it possible for entrepreneurs everywhere to reach beyond their borders.

Doing business globally is no longer just a dream that you must place on hold until your business grows up and gets big. You too can have a global business, even if your business is small. You just have to have a global mindset.

Let’s take a look at 12 global small business trends to watch in 2008, trends that can be embraced by any culture and will add value to any nation.

1. EMBRACE THE WORLD
Small businesses will embrace the world and make globalization come true. When there is nowhere to grow, branching out globally offers a wealth of opportunity, including rapid expansion.

2. EXPORT LIKE MAD
Small businesses will discover that a weak U.S. dollar offers an exciting, challenging, and fantastic chance to export. It makes all American goods a flashing blue light special. As a result, small businesses will start to export like mad. Their mandate in 2008 will become “Go forth and export!”

3. DO WHATEVER IT TAKES
Small businesses will do whatever it takes to survive — good times or bad — and going global will be the ticket to thrive. For most entrepreneurs, decisions throughout the year will be made fast, and living with the consequences will be a fact of business life. Globalization 3.0 will be driven not by the folks in India or China but by budding “born global” entrepreneurs and small businesses taking their businesses global from anywhere.

4. ADOPT THE OUTSIDER LENS
Small businesses are good at adopting an insider lens when making judgments while immersed in a situation. Soon, though, small businesses will adopt the outsider lens, which involves removing or detaching oneself from a situation and establishing a realistic understanding of the risks involved. This is a cleaner lens and is more useful in doing business with the world, especially when one must be sensitive to so many different cultures.

5. DISTURB THE STATUS QUO
Small business will not settle for the ordinary, or for establishing rules, because they have things to accomplish. They will break rules and disturb the status quo to overcome obstacles and achieve brilliant results.

6. LEAD THE WAY
Small businesses will continue to lead the way in global trade. They typically generate 29 percent of the U.S. export sales in a given year, and in 2005 they accounted for nearly $300 billion of the $906 billion generated by all U.S. exporters. Doing what’s right and what matters will empower small businesses to stay the course of international expansion, even if analysis might point to a different path.

7. PROVE GLOBAL SMALL BUSINESS IS THE REAL DEAL
Global small businesses are the real deal, and they will prove it by continuing to deliver results across borders-leaving people and businesses better off than they were before. The ideas they promote and profit from are authentic and are based on the genuine needs and desires of consumers worldwide.

8. SET PRIORITIES
Small businesses will align their goals for going global with their passion. They will set a few priorities (one being going global) and will charge on until results are achieved. They will become a world powerhouse of productivity.

9. INVEST IN COLLABORATIVE INNOVATION
Small businesses will realize that innovation is the fundamental driver of economic opportunity, greater globalization, job creation, improved business competitiveness, and thriving. Social networking and media are merely the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to technology, anyone with a good idea, anywhere in the world, can now launch it in a heartbeat and for relatively little expense. More collaborative innovation will take place in the coming year, with further emphasis placed on orchestrating resources, reaching outside of an organization for new ideas, and fostering interaction, whether it involves your own participation or not.

10. PUSH FORWARD
Small businesses will push forward to passionately engage their entire organization and their constituents, but they also will pay attention to managing the push-and-pull of interactions. This is an area where we will not have much control. Get used to it. Prepare to use the Internet as an effective tool to create market pull by raising your company’s profile and getting other people to talk about it. Push forward to build Internet share, which is critical for success, rather than mindshare.

11. FORGET ABOUT SIZE
Size doesn’t matter (unless you are talking about an entrepreneur’s dream — and if that is the case, then dream big). With powerful software and outsourced processes, small businesses can go head to head with large companies. More than ever, small businesses have the advantage over large companies; small businesses are adaptable, flexible, resilient, maneuverable, and more global.

12. ENSURE KNOWLEDGE SHARING
Small business owners will begin to foster knowledge sharing across disciplines, making the ups and downs of the organization more transparent to all. Cooperation and sharing of ideas typically promotes the best possible results. This belief will encourage continuous improvement and high achievement in 2008.

* * * * *

Global business expert Laurel Delaney is the founder of GlobeTrade.com. She is also the creator of “Borderbuster,” an e-newsletter and The Global Small Business Blog, both of which are well known for covering global small business.

The post Resolutions to Do Business Globally in 2008 appeared first on Small Business Trends.

On the second day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!

On the third day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!

On the fourth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!

On the fifth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!

On the sixth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!

On the seventh day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!

On the eighth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!

On the ninth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Nine ladies blogging,
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!

On the tenth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Ten lords IM’ng,
Nine ladies blogging,
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Eleven podcasters podcasting,
Ten lords IM’ng,
Nine ladies blogging,
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Twelve Stumblers stumbling,
Eleven podcasters podcasting,
Ten lords IM’ng,
Nine ladies blogging,
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!

* * * * *

Global business expert Laurel Delaney is the founder of GlobeTrade.com. She is also the creator of “Borderbuster,” an e-newsletter and The Global Small Business Blog, both of which are well known for covering global small business.

The post 12 Days of Christmas in a Web 2.0 World appeared first on Small Business Trends.

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.

For example, when blogs burst onto the cyberspace scene, I knew it would be huge (and so did Anita!). I could tell by the number of folks setting them up — in 2004 there were about 400,000 blogs and now there are more than 73 million — and the way in which people expressed themselves. It made me rethink my all-time favorite Madonna song, “Express Yourself,” and just how on-target she was about that concept back in the late eighties. Just think what she could have accomplished if she’d had YouTube back then!

Suddenly, thanks to all the Internet tools, our world has changed because technology lets us do just about anything in front of everybody on the planet. For example, we no longer have to rely on the media to feed us news. Instead, we can rely on the collective genius of a select group of elite bloggers to fill us in on what’s really happening in the world.

The rollout and huge popularity of social networking and social media tools are changing the way we do business and how we connect with people on a global basis, to the point that the only thing holding us back is our lack of imagination and our shortsightedness about how to use the technology.

When someone develops a social networking platform that enables us to easily create our own environment (like MySpace or Facebook) geared toward people like brain surgeons, litigators, and turtle watchers, for example, we will see the numbers of social networking zones or hubs grow to numbers that will rival blogs. Ordinary global citizens will create their own niche social networking environment with specific, targeted demographics. We might use these tools to form strategic groups (pursuing a similar strategy), to gather all our global buyers in one place, or to monitor complementary products and services. It will be niche social networking aimed at anything, anywhere.

What else is ahead? Ever hear of manga? You will be reading a lot more about it over the coming months. The heads-up began in Wired magazine’s November issue, with Dan Pink’s article Japan, Ink: Inside the Manga Industrial Complex. Jason Thompson has already published a book on the subject, Manga: The Complete Guide, in addition to his ten-page article in the same Wired issue, How Manga Conquered the U.S.: A Graphic Guide to Japan’s Coolest Export. Dan Pink is so into it that he spent the spring in Japan and also is writing a book on the subject, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need, to be published in 2008.

What does this mean? These people are onto something big. Will it impact us on a global, small business basis? You can count on it. How so? Hard to say. What to do? Keep your eyes and ears on the street and your nose to the grindstone. And hire your graphic animation artist soon.

* * * * *

Global business expert Laurel Delaney is the founder of GlobeTrade.com. She is also the creator of “Borderbuster,” an e-newsletter and The Global Small Business Blog, both of which are well known for covering global small business.

The post What’s Ahead in Our Brave New Cyberworld appeared first on Small Business Trends.

By Laurel Delaney

Once upon a time, there lived a business owner named Melvin who ran a small retail and online design shop in Davenport, Iowa. For more than a decade, Melvin prospered in his local community through independent contract work he performed for clients, from creating a new logo for the clothes cleaners down the street to managing a complete redesign of a Web site for a Chinese takeout restaurant just around the corner.

A couple of years ago he was honored with the Davenport Designer of the Year Award, which recognized his talent within the community and acknowledged him as their small business star. Everybody in Davenport knew and liked Melvin, or Mel as they liked to call him. He was the go-to person on anything to do with design.

Melvin managed to secure at least two key client assignments a month — enough to live a good life that included taking care of his wife and two kids and vacationing once a year. But lately, business was slowing down and Melvin began to lie awake most nights fretting about how he was going to pay his bills or what he could do to turn his business around. It became harder and harder for him to obtain repeat business, and no new businesses had been established in his neighborhood for quite some time. Cash flow had started to dwindle.

When the environment got tougher, he contemplated closing up shop and going to work for someone else. But that notion terrified him. Losing his creative and independent spirit in exchange for secure employment at a company outside of his own seemed like a high price to pay for not coming up with a solution to his business problem. But if he didn’t make a change soon, his business would dry up — job or no job lined up –putting him and his family at risk both financially and emotionally.

After many sleepless nights and much thought, he set out to take a leap of faith and make a big change. That change, he realized, involved doing business not only with the guy or gal down the street but also with the world.

How could Mel, with a small operation and no real following outside of Davenport, do that? Easy. Let’s take a look. 

The first thing he did was conduct a Google search on the Internet population and arrived at Internet World Stats. He learned that there are more than a billion people using the Internet — a whole heck of a lot more potential customers for his design business than in Davenport.

Next he asked himself, ‘How will they find me?’

In a world that is now fully connected, people and businesses are putting their opinions, observations, insights, thoughts, and capabilities online for all to see. This is a trend that is growing globally by the nanosecond, and Melvin decided to stake his claim on a big piece of it. Here’s what he did to make sure customers worldwide know he exists.

He set aside a couple of weeks to learn everything he could about Web 2.0 and the new media world, including visits to MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Second Life, and Twitter, among others. The following month, he designed profiles about his business on every single new media outlet that he thought mattered — anything that appeared to be a growing global trend.

Here’s a punch list on what he covered — whether video, social or photo sharing — along with notes about how he used the medium.

Video sites:

• YouTube: Broadcast yourself and your business. A good example is Blendtec, a 186-employee company in Orem, Utah, that built brand awareness with its “Will it Blend?” series. Watch Chief Executive Tom Dickson blend up an iPhone.

• French start-up Dailymotion also lets you share your videos. They plan to compete against Google’s YouTube. When Mel spotted all this, he did some further thinking and planning. Shortly thereafter he created a knockout video talking about what makes a great brand and great design.

Social networking sites:

• MySpace: Meet people from your part of the country and keep in touch. Includes blogs, forums, e-mail, groups, games, and events. Facebook is another social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study, and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends and to create new business opportunities. Melvin set up profiles on both sites to ensure he builds his global audience and makes new friends and business contacts outside of Davenport.

• Second Life: A three-dimensional, virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents (called avatars). Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown to more than 9 million residents. Melvin created a design environment showing 3-D clips of his best client work, allowing visitors anywhere in the world to view the content and to spend as much time as they want with it.

• Bebo: Operating in six countries, this social networking Web site is designed to allow friends to communicate in various ways. Melvin created his Bebo space to generate more global buzz and additional business contacts.

• Xanga: An online community for friends, where you can easily start your own free blog, share photos and videos, and meet new people. Melvin launched a blog reflecting his design expertise, which he updates frequently.

• Zooped: A business, music, and personal blogging social network. Here, Melvin developed a small area showing how music influences design and design influences music — a marriage made in heaven.

• Mashable: A social networking and social software site that operates in different countries and in different languages. The site combines tools or data from one or more online sources into a new, integrated whole. Melvin established himself as the best little designer on the planet by mixing and matching all his new world media.

• Twitter: A global community of friends and strangers answering one simple question: What are you doing? It is a social networking and microblogging service utilizing instant messages on your phone or right on the Web. Melvin created an account and sends a weekly update via cell phone to all his friends and colleagues, offering the latest new design tip and explaining where to find him if they need design help.

• Pecha Kucha Night: Young designers meet, network, and show their work in public. It’s social media at its best, very global, and may soon make PowerPoint presentations obsolete. Melvin developed a presentation highlighting how less is more when it comes to design.

Photo sharing sites:

• Piczo: An online photo Web site builder and community. People can sign up for free and make their own advertising-supported Web sites. Choose from photos, glitter, video, and shouts to stay in touch.

• Picnik provides useful photo editing tools (autofix, rotate, crop, resize, exposure, colors, sharpen, red-eye removal, and more) in a Flash interface.

• There’s also a Brazil-based newcomer in the online photo-sharing space, Fotolog. Its users are based largely outside the United States. Melvin features a handful of his best photography, which made his work on client Web sites and brochures sing.

After putting all these new media to work for his business, Melvin has become a true global player. His global small business is booming and he has developed what is called a global online sphere encompassing all things relating to himself and his business. He has added to his team five new staff people who, together, speak seven different languages, and he finds himself out on the speaker circuit talking about what he did to boost his global presence. (At present, he is a nominee for the New Media Global Designer of the Year Award.)

The lesson Melvin learned? Immerse yourself in every imaginable online global marketing medium, have a big voice, and use it to influence the people you come in contact with. That is the only way to move outward from Davenport, to get ahead of new media trends, and to thrive in the global marketplace.

* * * * *

Global business expert Laurel Delaney is the founder of GlobeTrade.com. She is also the creator of “Borderbuster,” an e-newsletter and The Global Small Business Blog, both of which are well known for covering global small business. 

The post Who Moved My Client Base? appeared first on Small Business Trends.

We recently asked Laurel Delaney, GlobeTrade.com’s Founder and CEO, to share her thoughts about key trends in small business globalization. Here is what Laurel had to say:

The World is Your Oyster -

Never before in history have conditions been more favorable for small businesses to go global in the search for markets. In the United States alone there are 230,000 small businesses exporting. These small businesses export nearly US$182 Billion annually. This means that in the 21st century, nearly one-third of all U.S. exports come from small businesses with under 500 employees.

Even more interesting is the fact that a mere 10% of small businesses are exporting. Obviously, there is plenty of room for more small businesses to get their share of global markets.

Which small businesses are doing the most exporting today? They fall into three categories:

• Companies which manufacture or distribute niche products. Finding markets for export products depends not so much on price as on uniqueness and expertise. Trying to compete with very low-cost providers in places such as China on basic, undifferentiated goods is not what we are talking about. But we are talking about changing the paradigm, and exporting goods which are the best in the world at their intended purpose. Niche products which require special expertise to manufacture or create, or which fill specific market needs are hot exports today. Examples include home furnishings, sporting goods and recreational equipment, and software applications.
• Internet-based businesses or online services that can be delivered across borders. The Internet is a crucial tool for exporters. Businesses which have an online presence are far more likely to find markets for export — by a ratio of 20-to-1. Even service businesses are more likely to be able to find export markets, if they have an online presence. Examples include eBay sellers, site translation services, search engine optimization services, eLearning businesses, logistics coordinators, and border compliance providers.
• Construction materials and energy sources. China has a red-hot economy right now. It is consuming huge amounts of construction and building materials and related services. Supplying China with the basic materials it needs to manufacture end goods is a key area of exports from the U.S. and other Western countries today, including: steel, scrap metal, engineering services, architectural services, environmental consulting, and of course building products.

The world can indeed be your oyster if you keep up to date on what is happening across the globe, and get the right help to get into exporting.

Laurel Delaney has more than 20 years’ experience in global trade. She is CEO of Global Trade.com and the author of “Start and Run a Profitable Exporting Business.” Download a copy of GlobeTrade.com’s free whitepaper “The World is Your Market: Small Businesses Gear up for Globalization.”

The post Small Businesses Are Going Global appeared first on Small Business Trends.