On this blog I write to inspire professionals in the trenches of international business. But this blog also attracts a high number of international business students, and yesterday I received this message on Facebook:

I’m a recent university graduate with a major in marketing I came across ur blog and found it very interesting. I have not found a job yet but my main focus is international marketing maybe in research. I really enjoy studying other cultures. Any advice on where to look for job openings or what my next step should be?

It’s obviously the season for questions from graduates looking for work.

Many international business graduates want to know how to begin their career.

Unfortunately I don’t have time to answer the high volume of questions that come in.  So here are some networking tips for international business students looking for help in directing their life towards an international career.

#1: Don’t Be Vague

Most of the questions I get from university students are vague about what they want. They tell me what they have done in detail, but not what they want to do. And because of this they seem to want a career counselor. No personality comes through.

Show people your passion online. You’ll eventually find the right circles to hang out in. Follow your interests. Let your passion show. When you network online people like to see who you are.

#2: Don’t Make Everything About You

The more adventurous students phone me to tell me they’ve just finished this degree and are looking for a job. I’ll be honest, this is not of interest to me.

Develop strong professional social networking skills. Social media networking is a great way to develop relationships with people. But you must first connect person-to-person in some way.

#3: Don’t Show Disrespect

Unfortunately most of these phone calls are usually very late in the evening or on weekends, times I prefer to spend with my family and friends. That’s a huge turn-off.

Study the people you want to connect with. Find out what time zone they’re on and respect their business hours. Find out what communication methods they prefer. I use Skype daily… but only for my business contacts and people I’m interested in getting to know better.

#4: Don’t Go After The Wrong People

All of the messages I receive from university students are not directed to the right person, because:

• I’m not a career counselor
• I don’t have a list of job openings tucked away somewhere
• I don’t keep their vague messages on file
• My interests are not focused on university students

Get clear about who your future hiring manager is and do the research. Research requires work. You may need to spend several weeks to:

• Find out exactly what you want to do: get specific
• Network to find out where the right people are located
• Find out what they are interested in talking about online
• Figure out how to grab their attention

#5: Don’t Use Boring Tactics

The truth is that all of the communications I get from university graduates are boring. They are a waste of my time. They are a waste of everyone’s time. Boring messages from people you don’t know quickly get deleted and labeled as spam because no one has time for that today.

Develop unique ways to grab attention. Have a look at this example:

Social media is a great way to connect with people who may hire you. But you have to do your research and get your communication style right.

And of course social media can connect you with the right people in different countries too. Why not become familiar with the social networks popular in the countries you want to target? Get on them and network with the right people.

#6: Don’t Stay Stuck

Do you want to continue living in the comfort of the environment you are used to and still say you want an international career? There are two conflicting desires and might be the reason why you are stuck.

People like to help others who are clearly passionate about something and take action to achieve their goals.  People don’t like to help others who appear to want too much and not do anything about it.

Adopt guerilla tactics: change country and hustle. If you really want to start an international career and feel stuck: change country. This is what I did. And this is how many people who are in international business started years ago.

Changing country can be a great way to start an international career. Be warned though: you’ll have to get used to being out of your comfort zone.

#7: Change Your Focus

The best advice I can give university graduates is to stop talking about their studies and to start taking action.

Take responsibility for your life and become an international business professional. Now. Connect with people, get to know them and give them the opportunity of getting to know you, BEFORE asking for job help.

The focus of my blog is to give business professionals practical inspiration to get unstuck so they get more international clients faster. I love deep discussions on topics related to this. So, if this is also something that resonates with you then please start by leaving a comment below.

• How did you start your international business career?
• How do you network online to find international jobs?
• What’s your best tip for international business students?

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ralphandjenny/4612732045/

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

7 Networking Tips For International Business Students

When it comes to market research for international audiences, it’s tempting to outsource everything if you can afford it. And today many people today try to do their international market research online. But when you do lots of online research you can get complacent.

No matter what your business is, there comes a time when you must have direct contact with the people. People in your international markets.  You can pick up lots of useful information when you communicate with others in person. And this information can prove to be vital when it comes to people who live in a different country, have a different lifestyle and a different way of thinking. Unfortunately I meet a number of people who seem to avoid picking up the phone.

Here are the most useful tips I have found when connecting with people in your international markets by phone.

#1: Do Your Prep Work

First of all, remember why you are seeking direct contact. Take a few steps back and review your situation. You want to see the big picture and not get bogged down in too many details. You’ll hear more feedback when you are open to what could be of interest to you.

#2: Get Comfortable With The Phone

Get social!
(CC licensed Flickr photo by the waving cat)

 
Sometimes it’s easy to pick up the phone and call people located in your target country. And this is great!  Phone calls can be a great starting point.

And if you think it’s impossible to reach the right people by phone, try thinking outside of the box.  Look at the contacts you do have. Look at the social media contacts you already have, and the ones it would be easy to cultivate. With the notion of six pixels of separation, slowly start networking and look for a way to begin to get feedback from the right source.

#3: Who To Connect With

This is where many people jump into sticky mud.  In some cultures you could get away with reaching out directly to the person you’re interested in. But in many cultures this is not the best place to start.  And you could hinder relationships by Why not start with the outer circle of your contacts and gradually move inwards towards the people you are most interested in connecting with? This takes a bit longer, but if can give you insights into how best to proceed.

#4: Review Context Before You Call

Context is everything. Review the reasons why you are calling this particular person before you pick up the phone. Think of what you’re going to say. Now imagine the person on the other end of the phone. Will this seem normal to him?

One clear goal per phone call usually works best. Because if you ask for too much information or want to get too much out of a call, this can confuse people from different cultures or send wrong messages. You want them to quickly understand why you are calling them and the context has to be relevant to both of you.

#5: Stay Focused

There’s a balance to find in being clear about what you want and remaining open for helpful feedback. And this is how a few well planned questions can come in handy. But in order to get useful feedback from your international contacts you’ll also need to go with the flow because that’s where you can uncover some gems of information. So, you’ll need to remember to stay focused on the big picture.

#6: Keep A Mental Tab Of What You Can Say

I just mentioned having a few well planned questions, but you can also review a few other things you can say to get the conversation going. And when talking to people of different cultures over the phone you might find you need to adjust your usual communication tactics. Here are some good things to keep in mind.

• Confirm what you know, what you understand from this and ask if this is accurate.
• Ask if there’s more information you need to know
• Ask for suggestions and then try to understand the relevancy

When doing international market research by phone I like to cross-reference the same general questions with several sources. This makes it much easier to understand cultural differences.

#7: Get Over The Fear

It is normal to be apprehensive about calling someone you do not know.  And when you are calling to a different country it can even be daunting.  Add in the factor that you may not know if the person speaks English and you may not feel like reaching out. There’s no need to be afraid. People are basically polite.  Even more so when they feel they are helping you.

#8: Cultivate Curiosity To Open Communication

When you call someone thousands of miles away, they will be curious why. This can be a great way to start conversations and get the information you’re looking for.

#9: Create Better Connections With Your International Markets

Make these eight steps a habit. Whenever you interact with someone related to your international market be open to feedback and try to learn a little bit more. This is how you’ll learn to build stronger connections and ultimately have a better foundation for understanding your international markets.

A Better Understanding Of Your International Markets

The knowledge you can gain through simple phone conversations with your international markets can help you improve your international strategies and get more international clients. Of course you’ll need more research, and even in-person meetings, but connecting by phone is very easy to incorporate into your schedule and can help you to understand your international markets much better.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

9 Tips To Learn More About Your International Markets Over The Phone

Yesterday I wrote about my recent culture shocks when comparing the American way of live to what I’m used to in Europe and how this can provide some insights for international marketers.  What surprised me was that they are all from a “green” perspective.

There is one other area where cultural differences explain something that had puzzled me previously.

But let me back up first…

A Bit Of Smart Card History

One of my first jobs in Europe was to do international market research in the banking sector.  At the time France had “smart cards” and the United States didn’t.  But what the American banking professionals were really fascinated by at the time was how all of the French banks worked together to provide the best user experience.

Any bank telling machine in France would accept the bank cards from any other bank, and at the time this was not possible in the United States.  Americans had to find cash distributors from a branch of their own bank.

This communication between banks in France opened the doors for other ways to use credit cards which hadn’t started in the United States at that time.

To put it simply this cooperation between the French banks was essentially made possible because there is a central governing body that took decisions and made laws to make this all work and bring all of the banks together.

And I should have realized that “governing bodies” were also in play in another sector later on.

Phones And Mobile Phone Operators

I used to find it a little bit odd that there was so much talk about the different mobile phone operators in the American news I read. Although the readers seemed to be interested enough, it seemed a little boring to me. I couldn’t understand why until I accompanied a friend moving to the US.

He wanted to buy an iPhone. He really wanted a iPhone. Unfortunately because of the area where he lives and also where he works now, if he bought one he wouldn’t be able to use it.  He doesn’t live in an area where iPhones work.

This was totally foreign to me. Until I realized why, and then this story reminded me of the story of the French banks above when you look at it from a users perspective.

In France I can choose my phone service provider based on the service offer, and then buy any phone I want from the service provider I choose.  And my phone will work pretty much the same no matter where I am in France and which service provider I choose.

The situation’s not the same in the US.

What Happened?

In the US, the phone manufacturers hook up with specific mobile operators and the users don’t get to choose which one.  It’s a big country, so none of the mobile phone operators covers the entire territory. This means you’re lucky if you happen to live in an area covered by the service provider who signed the contract with the manufacturer of the phone you want to buy.

In France, there’s obviously some legislation in place to provide a better user experience.  Someone got all of the mobile operators together and worked out a way for everyone to share each others infrastructure. It definitely makes life easier. You can simply find the operator with the best mobile package for your needs and then choose the phone you want.  And you’re sure it’ll work. Users should be thankful!

Why didn’t the American companies get together to provide a better user experience for everyone?  I don’t know. It may be because of the size of the country, or how the different states operate, or cultural differences in how people do business, or a combination of these.

But this explains why there’s so much coverage in the US about the different services providers and cell phone manufacturers: because it impacts the users on more levels than what I’m used to.

International Business Insights

So, why am I sharing this story? Well, I think it highlights how:

• It’s not always easy to anticipate all of the differences in ways of life
• You might need an extended visit to fully understand your international market
• When something puzzles you there may be factors involved that you are not aware of

Plus some cultures

Now it’s your turn:

• How do the mobile phone operators work in your country?
• What different business practices did you notice after visiting a foreign country?
• Is there anything puzzling you about your international target market?

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

How Collaboration Impacts User Experience

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here and I’d like to share a little bit about what I’ve been up to besides spending time over at Social Media Examiner.

Over the last year I’ve been bouncing back and forth between my home in France and the United States.  Although I grew up in the Bahamas with American radio and television and traveled there quite a bit when I was younger, this is the first time I’ve really experienced the American lifestyle for over 20 years.

And several things stuck out since I’ve become accustomed to the European way of life.  What’s funny is that most of the cultural differences I first noticed are related to being “green”.  Here they are.

Over-sized Cars

The first thing I noticed was obviously the sheer size and the number of big cars and vehicles. Of course I knew this. But it still took some getting used to.

After a couple of months the size of the cars became “normal” because everything seems to be geared towards it.  There are parking spaces of course, but it also now seems logical to jump into a car to get to the next place on your list.

But still, the percentage of big vehicles feels strange when the press you’re used to talks about the world’s oil supply not being indefinite and the constant increase in the price of gas.

If I had a company here and picked up international clients from the airport, I’d probably give careful consideration to the type of car to use if this was their first (second or third) time in the US.

cc licensed flickr photo by TheMM

Lots Of Plastic

Here’s the second thing that took some getting used to. I am dumbfounded by the use of plastic in everything I buy at American supermarkets.  I’ve opened cardboard boxes to find plastic wrapped in yet another layer of plastic more than once.  It seems like there’s a competition on how much plastic manufacturers can use to package their wares and how creative they are with it.

And ziploc bags are definitely a hot trend.

This makes me wonder how businesses adapt their packaging for American markets?  And will this trend in using lots of plastic and more than two layers of packaging spread to other countries?

I’m definitely rethinking all of the packaging I use to send to American clients now.

cc licensed flickr photo by miuenski

Little Recycling

With this use of plastic and sometimes even multiple layers of packaging you’d think there would be a variety of recycling containers.  But there isn’t.

I have seen separate bins for cardboard boxes and similar materials.  But that’s it.

When I lived Switzerland almost 30 years ago I knew several people who even recycled their tubes of toothpaste and the tops from their yogurts in separate recycling bins.  That’s in addition to the one for cardboard.  And they cleaned everything before putting them recycling.  That was commitment!

After seeing that level of green recycling so long ago, I still feel things are slow in the small village where I now live outside of Paris. I have 3 different garbage cans.  And I’m expected to use my vegetable waste to make my own compost in the garden, carry my empty bottles and newspapers and magazines to the special containers down the road.

And you know what I noticed… The garbage can I use for cardboard and plastic in France would be filled in about 3-5 days based on what I throw away when living in the United States.  But when I’m at home in France this garbage can is only picked up once every 2 weeks, and it’s rarely full.

I’m sure the packaging industries are up to speed on these cultural differences in how too much or too little packaging is used. But I think this is something all international marketers need to take note of.

cc licensed flickr photo by ali eminov

Short Washing Machine Cycles

It’s not all bad for the American way of life. I did find something that I’d love to have back home.

The average length of the washing machine cycle I use in France is about an hour and there’s even a two-hour cycle on my washing machine. But in the United States all of the washing machines I’ve used so far have twenty minute cycles.  And that’s the longest cycle I’ve seen.

I definitely like the shorter washing machine cycles. This is so practical!

And speaking of washing machines… this reminds me of a great article in Interactions Magazine on cultural differences when adapting your products to international markets. It’s well worth the read!

cc licensed flickr photo by ny156uk

International Marketing Insights

These little differences may not seem like much, but they can help you with your international marketing more than you think.  They highlight:

• Just how important it is to understand how your international clients live
• How small assumptions can quickly lead to failure

This is why you need to get beyond the differences you see, scratch beneath the surface and try to understand the reasons why the differences really exist. Then you can apply this understanding to your particular markets for insights into how to begin adapting your marketing to different countries.

Now over to you:

Those were the top three things I noticed most.  What about you?

• What cultural differences do you notice between the American way of life and the European way of life?
• Have you become so used to the cultural differences that you don’t question them any more?
• What cultural differences have impacted your business?

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Cultural Differences In Lifestyles: Shades Of Green

One of the reasons why I started this blog 3 years ago was because I hear too many objections from businesses about why they’re not going international.

I live in an area outside of Paris where there are a lot of small and mid-sized businesses. And almost every time I leave my house I run into a successful business owner or local business man.  After the usual greetings, and given my international business background, this person almost always tells me they want to develop their business internationally…

But they always add an excuse.  And I don’t find most of the excuses I hear to be valid reasons to stop you from developing your business internationally if that’s what you want to do.

Here are the three excuses and objections I hear the most often.

#1: Fear Of Change

“We’d love to develop our international business, but you know what, our business is fine as it is. We don’t want to change anything.”

In order to get international clients you usually need to make changes in how you operate your business.  And although the businessmen I meet have successfully built companies they seem to be afraid of change when it comes to international markets.

Tip: Take things slowly.  The advantage to this is it will help you to acquire the change of mindset you need to adopt to develop your business in other countries.

A good first step is to ensure you don’t push away any international clients.

#2: It Costs Too Much

“We’d love to develop our international business, but we don’t have the money for it.”

This really depends on your particular business and the path you choose to take to get international clients. But don’t confuse things by making assumptions too quickly.

There are 5 different way to create an international business and 7 traditional paths to develop your international business.  You can sign a contract with an international sales distributor or open up shop in a foreign country and these options have different costs.

Do your research first and don’t assume you know how much it’s going to cost.

Tip: International content marketing for a broad international audience combined with proactive social media networking might be easy to include in your budget today… specially if you are already marketing online.  And this will help you find the best path to international sales for your business to take.

Strategic content marketing at this level can give you the feedback you need from international markets to make the right decision for your next step towards an international business.

#3: We’ll Do It Later

“We’d love to develop our international business, but you know what, we’ll do it later.”

Fair enough.  There’s a time to actively go after international clients.  You’ll need the right international resources and the right international business skills.  But there is something you can do beyond simply watching what your competitors are doing abroad.

Tip: Look for hidden opportunities to develop your international markets. If you’ve got an online presence the chances are that you’ve communicated with people from other countries.  But what have you done with this communication?  What have you learned from these interactions?

Many businesses don’t really do anything. In addition, so many businesses make the false assumption that a few international sales means they already have an international business and don’t need to do anything else.  But that’s not true.

Your business needs to learn how to market and sell your products and services in different countries before you can develop your international markets. And your initial communications are where you can begin learning how to do this.  You’ll figure out how to get more international business when you look for the opportunities that come to your doorstep.

Develop Your International Business

There are many reasons to seek international business and there are certainly some good reasons not to.  (I’ll write about those later.)  But as you can see from above, some of these excuses not to develop your international business can cost you sales.  It’s foolish to not do anything about developing your international business.

This is why I blog here.  To inspire and get businesses unstuck when it comes to getting more international clients.

Of course, it’s easy for me to think it’s simple. After all I’ve been in international business development for over 25 years in the field. And I know there are steep learning curves and some international markets are not always possible to develop and you need to recognize them.  But there’s no reason for you to add additional barriers.  And that’s where I try to help you here.

Please let me know more about you and where you’re stuck in your international business.

• What’s your excuse for not doing more to develop your international business?
• Are you learning about your international markets from the international clients you already have?
• What have you changed to get more international clients?

Please share your comments below.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

3 Top Excuses For Not Developing An International Business

Building a blog takes a lot of work, and when you’re blogging for business it requires even more effort. In addition to blogging, you also need to make sure your blogging is aligned with your business model and you have to come up with a solid content marketing plan.

The trouble is many things are in flux.  Your blogging and content marketing will change as you learn more about your audience.  And blogging requires a high level of investment that is not always easy for to sustain. Because quite simply: life happens.

This is why the blogging journey is often bumpy.

Break From Blogging

For the first time in two and a half years I was forced to take a break from blogging here on this blog.  It was not planned.  But more than one thing got in the way in different areas of my life.

• It all started with my trip to Toronto last June
• Then I unexpectedly decided to travel so much that I’ve barely been home the rest of the year
• And health became a priority as I adopted a diet with over 80% raw food. But this meant less energy while I learned about nutrition all over again
• During this time I’m happy to say that my work with Social Media Examiner increased.

As my day-to-day activities changed drastically I was forced to put aside blogging here on my personal blog.

Better Content Marketing Strategy

But there is some good news about being forced to stop blogging.  My content marketing strategy needed an overhaul in order to integrate the changes in social media over the past year, and to adjust to my business objectives which also changed this last year. This break gave me the opportunity to refine my own marketing strategy.

Now that I’m ready to get back into the blogging seat once again my new business blogging plan is better than before.

But a plan is not enough to ensure blogging success.  When you’ve never blogged before or haven’t been blogging for a while, the first few months are critical.  So I also needed an action plan to ensure blogging success.

Better Business Blogging

This is why I’ve got a few activities planned to make sure my transition back into regular business blogging goes smoothly.

I’ve already established a business blogging plan within a content marketing strategy that’s aligned with my business. That’s all on paper. What I need now is a few activities to make sure I blog consistently over the next few months. And why not improve my blogging skills at the same time?

Here are three blogging courses I’ve signed up for.

Blogging Success Summit: (Affiliate link) This is an online webinar that takes place in February with 23 excellent presenters.  Just like the previous Success Summits it takes place over a period of several weeks and they’re recorded so there’s no excuse: I’ll listen to all of them!

But the thing I like most about all of the Success Summits is the private LinkedIn group.  It’s great to meet up and chat with fellow business bloggers.  And the presenters usually participate there too.

Although it’s only just opened people are taking advantage of the early bird rate and signing up.  That’s great news because this means the Blogging Success Summit LinkedIn Group is already open. So discussions in the private LinkedIn Group have already started.  This is just the kind of interaction I need right now.

Join me on the Blogging Success Summit to learn about current business blogging best practices and hook up with a community of business bloggers.

Web Content Café: This is a lovely little hang out run by the web copywriter Nick Usborne. It’s a paid membership site where Nick gives you a short daily content ideas to keep the creative juices flowing and your web content fresh.

What can I say? I like it.  It’s just the right “everything” for me: right length, right writing style and lots of small actionable ideas. Just what I need to improve my blogging in small, easy steps.

Join me at the Web Content Café to find ideas and daily inspiration to improve your bloging.

Spectacular Post Bootcamp: This is a new program put on by Stanford Smith over at Pushing Social.  Although I only recently discovered Stan I was hooked immediately. He works with big clients during his day job and helps the small business bloggers on Pushing Social in his spare time. Somehow his expertise comes through with just the right tone for business bloggers.

The Spectacular Post Bootcamp is a video a month and it’ll get me to review blogging basics in a way that I find motivating.  I like Stan’s approach.

Join me at the Spectacular Post Bootcamp to review blogging basics.

UPDATE:

Blog Topics:  Chris Brogan has just come out with Blog Topics where he emails you 10 ideas to write blog posts each week.

Chris’ vocabulary and communication style resonate with me. He uses words that put the gears in my brain in motion. So I’m giving this a whirl too.

Join me with Chris Brogan’s Blog Topics to get more ideas to write blog posts.

Tools For Good Blogging

That’s what I’ve planned to help me get through the first few months of blogging.  If you’d like a more in-depth review on one of these please let me know.

I’ll also be attending SOBcon in the Spring and hope to find a good blogging partner to share the rest of the year’s journey as part of the next phase.

What do you do to improve your blogging? What has helped your blogging most? I’d love to hear your story, so please leave a comment below.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Better Business Blogging

The international aspect of social media can lead to some interesting discussions. Jessica Faye Carter over at Technicultr recently brought up the question of whether social sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn should collect information about their user’s ethnicity and she asked me what my thoughts were. You can read more here.

The Big Roadblock To Ethnic Marketing In France

Now I’ve spent many years in international marketing, I live in France and have a French company.  So my first thought was that a French company would not be able to do this.

There is a law prohibiting anyone from keeping any information related to race.  This law is widely regarded as a measure to prevent discrimination, but it also severely limits any form of multicultural marketing in France.

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it:

“It is illegal for the French state to collect data on ethnicity and race, a law with its origins in the 1789 revolution and reaffirmed in the constitution of 1958. Some organisations, such as the Representative Council of Black Associations… have argued in favour of the introduction of data collection on minority groups but this has been resisted by other organisations and ruling politicians, often on the grounds that collecting such statistics goes against France’s secular principles and harks back to Vichy-era identity documents. During the 2007 presidential election, however, Nicolas Sarkozy was polled on the issue and stated that he favoured the collection of data on ethnicity. Part of a parliamentary bill which would have permitted the collection of data for the purpose of measuring discrimination was rejected by the Conseil Constitutionnel in November 2007.”

The French Environment Around Ethnicity

When you live in a country with a law like this that’s been around for a long time and regarded by the general public as being something to be proud of, it’s easy to assume that a significant portion of the French population would not react in the same way as people from other cultures to the collection of information on ethnicity.

This is simply because they aren’t used to being asked these types of questions.  Their first response would probably be influenced by this cultural layer.

The French Cultural Environment Is More Complex

But it’s not the only factor at play here.  In parallel to this is the national pride the French have of being the country that wrote the “Droits de l’homme”, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which was a precursor to other international human rights documents.

This heritage creates a very unique environment in how the general population perceives anything remotely related to ethnic information, including collecting it and sharing it.

Different Cultures React Differently

Of course many other countries are active in combating racism, but how they go about doing this largely depends on their own cultural environment.  And what about the cultures where “combating racism” isn’t really perceived in the same way as other countries?

Different cultures approach this difficult issue from a variety of different angles.  So there is a variety of different cultural environments to deal with.

American Political Correctness

This makes me think about the wave of being politically correct in North America and how this has meant that I’ve had to change the way I refer to black people several times.  I grew up in a country which was 75% black when I was born and this percentage is now higher.

When it first became “politically incorrect” to use the word “coloured” which was what was used when I was young, well OK, I changed my vocabulary.

But the debate about what was considered the right word to use continued over the years, and I had to change my vocabulary yet again.  The acceptable word to use when referring to black people has changed too many times in my life time for me to follow any more.

And this got me to think about the meaning people associate with words.

Personal Emotional Baggage

Even though I may be considered “white”, my skin quickly tans to a very respectable deep shade of brown. Yes, brown.  Not beige or tan.  Brown.  And my skin is never “white”.

After following all of the changes in what is considered the right word to refer to black people, I looked at the colour of my skin and wondered if I should get upset about being called “white” because it’s not a very accurate word to describe my skin colour.  Of course I didn’t.  It’s just a word used in communication.  It would only become an issue if I were to take on some emotional baggage and assume that “white” isn’t appropriate, or if someone added their emotional baggage to the word when they used it.

Collective Cultural Baggage

The topic of ethnicity stirs up all sorts of baggage.  In addition to the personal emotional baggage, there’s  the baggage we acquire through the cultural environment we live in.  This is why anything related to ethnicity gets complicated.

It’s very easy to lose control… because you can never control the baggage other people have.

And to complicate things, most people aren’t even aware of the baggage they are carrying around. They don’t realize that they have cultural baggage acquired through the cultural environment they live in. They just assume the world they live in is the “real world”, the one that’s “right” and the one that should exist everywhere else.

So, it takes great wisdom to limit the risk of things getting out of control due to cultural baggage.

Ethnicity In Social Media

Even if there have already been social media platforms where people share information on their ethnic origins, the online social environment is different today.  Social media platforms simply have greater international reach than before.

Facebook has over 500 million people today across the globe, even if it is not used in the same way across all of the different countries.

And as social media develops further, will everyone across the globe be present on the same social media platform with the same mindset?  It’s highly unlikely.

Should Social Sites Ask Their Users To Share Their Ethnic Origins?

As a cross-cultural marketer I would love to have the information. But on a more personal level I believe this is not easy to do on social media sites with such a wide international reach… assuming the social media sites want to continue growing their international markets.

Although I do think it’s possible to incorporate some ethnic information on certain platforms, the challenges are great when looking at this from an international perspective. You must not under-evaluate the risk of things getting out of hand or being used wrongfully at some point down the line.

Now it’s your turn…

• Do you know of any other problems when asking for ethnic information on social media sites?
• What is the top benefit of social media sites asking for information on ethnic origins?
• Do you think social media sites should ask for your ethnic origins?

Please leave your comments below.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Ethnic Origins On Social Media

This is the first international link review since the beginning of summer, so there are quite a few really good links here. Be sure to watch the Validation video below.

As usual, please let me know which links you like the most in the comments below.

Cross-Cultural Topics

• Does Language Influence Culture? – In case you missed this: here’s a very good read on how our language impacts how we perceive the world.
• A British Response to an American Disaster – To what extent do you think this is cultural miscommunication?
• Non-verbal skills: essential but ignored aspects of foreign language communication – Great advice on Fluent in 3 months: Focus more on how locals are acting, rather than only on what they are saying.
• China’s Plagiarism Problem – Only time will tell how this outlook on plagiarism will impact China’s evolution, but this article by provides some great insights into how cultural differences can impact outcomes and how things can be more complicated than they seem.

Join the Cross-Cultural Communication Business Page on Facebook

International Business

• Yahoo Turns To IBM For Middle East Customer Support – After Yahoo acquired the Arabic web-based portal Maktoob they decided not to tackle customer service alone. This partnership is interesting to note. The learning curve to pick up the cross-cultural skills needed in-house can be a challenge in International Business.
• Why businesses benefit from employing third culture kids – A good reminder of the value of hiring Third Culture Kids for International Business via Cross Cultural Kids Everywhere
• 3 Reasons Why I Can’t Help Your International Business – This is in response to a few requests for export/import services. Please drop by and share your thoughts.
• Global Sophistication: Selling in China is All the Rage – Another great article on International Business by Laurel Delaney. By watching what the big businesses are doing in China, the small businesses can pick up a few good pointers. Are you interested in expanding into the Chinese market?
• How Companies Break Into Emerging Markets – Tarun Khanna, Harvard Business School professor, explains how multinationals can thrive in emerging markets. He is the coauthor of Winning in Emerging Markets: A Road Map for Strategy and Execution.
• The Best Countries To Do Business In – It was fun to see that I’ve live in 3 of these countries, visted 3 more and I’ve had regional business responsabilities at some point for all except New Zealand and Iceland. I don’t have a favorite though, although lots of great memories of Switzerland. What about you? Where do you like doing business?
• Management in Chinese cultures – Podcast series by the Open University
• International And Cross-Cultural Career Advice
• 7 Steps To An Open Mindset For More International Business

Join the International Business Page on Facebook

International Marketing

• The New Asian Shoppers – An interesting look into how Asian shoppers have changed their habits and why marketers need to be aware of this.
• Dialects, Diversity and Keyword Research – A good look at how variations in languages can impact search marketing.
• Europeans Embrace Mobile Music More Than Americans – Cultural differences in how people use their mobile phones for music. What other differences are there?
• Disruptive Demographics: Global Aging, Technology & Innovation: China’s Gray Revolution – China always fascinates me. Here’s a look at the changing demographics there and what this will mean for them.
• Mapping global mobile telephone subscriptions: the world’s biggest markets – Developing markets still have room to expand their mobile markets. And world mobile phone subscriptions will reach near universal levels in 2015-2020. Some interesting stats here.
• 5 Tips For Great International Search Marketing – Have you got any others to share?

Join the International Marketing Business Page on Facebook

International Social Media

• Why China’s Web Copycats Succeed – After watching a French music show on TV last night, this reminds me of the number of French artists that “copied” popular tunes from the other side of the Atlantic. What examples does this remind you of?
• Race Is On To Be The Groupon And Foursquare Of China – A start of another localized copycat. Does anyone have a list of all of the regional social media platforms that are copycats?
• Global Social Media Cultures call for Global Guidelines – Very interesting insights into the challenge of creating social media guidelines for global business.
• The ups and downs of social networks – Here’s an infographic by the BBC which shows how several social media platforms have changed over the last year.
• Mapping The Social Internet – Here’s another infographic which highlights differences in social media in other countries. It also gives insights into how different countries use social media differently.
• Understanding Chinese Social Media – Some good insights into using social media to reach Chinese markets by Don Crowther. Has anyone tried this?
• Social Media Tendencies Around The World: South Africa and World Cup Fever – This is the first World Cup to occur during the age of social media. Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook brought together soccer fans across the globe to celebrate and
  debate referee decisions online. What role do you think this event has played on social media?
• Report: India, Mexico, Spain Have the Most Businesses Profiting Through Social Media – Here’s an interesting study with some unexpected results. I’m actually surprised to see France so high on this list.
• Consumers in Brazil, Mexico Use Internet Differently – “Online Brazilians and Mexicans are just starting to familiarize themselves with the web. While online consumers fully embrace certain activities like email and search, a large majority of other online activities that are common in other markets have yet to reach mass consumption.”
• Facebook Around the World – Brian Solis has a great review of how Facebook is doing around the world and says, “Facebook is far from reaching its potential and as its new “Like” architecture hits the WWW with over 50,000 publishers already in place, its 400 million strong army of social curators will only increase its relevance around the world.”
• Coke boasts “phenomenal” engagement from Twitter ads – Here’s a look at Coke’s “phenomenal” results from Twitter ads. 86Million impressions in 24/hours – CTR: 6%!!
• Twittering in Tongues: How companies are going global with Twitter – Great insights on how businesses are using Twitter in international markets by John Yunker
• Growing Around the World – Twitter looks at it’s international growth.
• Twitter’s Surprising Impact on the South Korean Election – “There are still only about 400,000 users of Twitter in South Korea, and most of them tend to be young, but many Twitter users urged their friends and family to “Go and Vote!”  Given that the younger voters leaned toward the more liberal party, it gave the opposition camp a decided advantage.”

Join the International Social Media Business Page on Facebook

Validation

If you haven’t seen this movie, it’s worth taking the 16 minutes to watch all of it. It provides such great insights to help businesses get their social media right today.

Now It’s Your Turn

• What do these international and cross-cultural links inspire for you?
• Which of these reads did you most enjoy?
• What interesting links on cross-cultural topics did you find over the summer?

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International Links: Week 34 2010