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

International Links

This week I came across a number of interesting links on cross-cultural topics, international business and international social media. Please let me know what you found recently. And be sure to share your comments either here or on the Facebook… the links are below.

Cross-Cultural Topics

• China’s Gray Revolution – China always fascinates me. Here’s a look at the changing demographics there and what this will mean for them.
• Google, Bing and Babelfish – What’s the best translation engine?
• Country Codes of the World Cup – There are 32 countries participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup — which means 32 ccTLDs! You can download the free poster.
• The difference between race and culture; what is a microculture? – From abroad, it’s fairly easy to see some of the consequences of the confusion Americans have with Race & Culture. This article gives some insights.
• The New Americans: Bilingual, Bicultural, Global – Joe Kutchera provides some great insights on into globalization and how the US demographics are changing.

Join the Cross-Cultural Communication Business Page on Facebook

International Business

• 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?
• Leveraging Baidu to Reach the Chinese Audience – some great tips here for businesses who want to open ecommerce opportunities in China.
• The Most Important Leadership Quality for CEOs? Creativity – This study was done across a wide range of countries and talks about the differences in what people think is important to a successful business. Of course, creativity is important in international business too, sometimes it’s the only way of getting beyond difficult cultural barriers. But do you agree it’s the most important quality for success?
• Cross-cultural M&A Communications in China – A look at the cross-cultural challenges in mergers and acquisitions. It’s always interesting to see just how deep these differences can go.
• Case Study: Attempting a Global Merger – A great story of making an idea work through strategic collaboration.
• 6 Ways to Be Innovatively Global – In the words of Pulitzer prize-winning author Thomas Friedman, sometimes “Just doing it” works in the world of global business.
• Special Report BRIICS economies facing different challenges amid a global economic recovery – Here’s a look at the business opportunities and challenges faced by Brazil, Russian, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa. The overall share in world trade in these countries is expected to continue to rise. Are you monitoring your business opportunities here?

Join the International Business Page on Facebook

International Marketing

• Targeting by Language or Country: What You Need to Know – This is a great read for anyone interested in web marketing to different countries.
• Can This Bicycle Save Lives In Africa? – A good story on how one company adapted it’s business to serve new international markets

Join the International Marketing Business Page on Facebook

International Sales

• Global e-tailers pinch local fashion dollars – are you worried about losing local sales to e-commerce sites abroad? Do you think European e-commerce sites will sell more to the US as the Euro remains low?

Join the International Sales Business Page on Facebook

International Social Media

• 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.”
• 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.
• Tweet In Local Language To Ensure Worldwide Twitter Success – Is this your experience too?
• Beware English Keywords That Aren’t Really English – Search Engine Land shares why you need to get your keywords right before investing in an international marketing campaign. What other examples of English words used differently in other countries?
• World Economic Forum – Global Information Technology Report – There’s a lot of data by country here for those interested in comparing the “networked readiness” of other countries. Thanks to Amadou M. Sall for sharing this report.
• Groupon Europe! – Great news for European businesses that want more options in their social media strategy. Groupon is now in Europe.
• Internet-inspired drinks parties spread panic among authorities – A look from Scotland at the dark side of the new trend in Twitter meetups in France. Are there other trends highlighting cultural differences in Twitter meetups?
• A Five Step Guide to Cross-cultural Web Design « Web-kreation – Of course these tips also apply to blogs and many of them should be applied to social media marketing. Do you try to integrate cross-cultural design in your social media profiles?

Join the International Social Media Business Page on Facebook

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 recently?

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International Links: Week 20 2010

Cross-Cultural Social Media

This morning I woke up to some unexpected news. Facebook made a change in how you can set up your business page.  You used to be able to set up your Business Page so everyone who was not a fan or had not hit the “Like” button would land on a specific tab or “landing page” whenever they visited your page.  Businesses used this to:

• Get more people to like their page and build their Facebook audience
• Highlight offers
• Incite people to participate in a charity or a community
• And generally guide visitors to create a unique navigation experience on social media

Well this morning it appears Facebook took away this landing page capability. Now, this literally just happened and I still need to read something official from Facebook, so if you are concerned by this news, please read up about it on Mari Smith’s blog or the Social Media Examiner Facebook Page. I’m sure they’ll keep you informed.

At the time of writing this post, there is a question about just what this new change means and what will happen to the Facebook Business Pages currently using “welcome” tabs and other landing pages.  There is speculation this may be happening in phases and still no official news from Facebook.

But I want to share some cross-cultural insights on the impact of what happened in these first few hours because there are a few things worth noting and one of them is about how timing and communication is perceived by different cultures.

Latest Facebook Change

First, the short story…

Following the thread of how this news broke on the Social Media Examiner Facebook page, it appears a group of Facebook developers found they could no longer set up accounts to get new visitors to land on the customized tabs they had just created for their clients. And in this developers forum Facebook informed them that Facebook had changed their rules and Facebook users would not be able to do this unless:

• You are a Facebook authenticated business which means you have over 10,000 fans
• You asked your “Facebook representative” to do this for you, and this means you are an advertising client of Facebook where minimum monthly purchases are in the 5 figure range.

Businesses Losses

Again, I have to say it’s very early on and things may not be as they first appear. But if this is true, this change is particularly troublesome for businesses who are currently running a Facebook ad campaign. Their links are no longer going to their landing page as planned. Apparently at least some of them were not informed of the change the moment it happened.

This does not send a very good image of what it’s like to work with Facebook.  In fact, it could put a big dent in Facebook’s credibility from a business perspective. These new changes make it clear Facebook wants big business bucks, but this incident shows they don’t know how to play the big business game.

Cross-Cultural Losses

Unfortunately things get even worse when you consider this from a cross-cultural perspective.

Credibility. Different cultures use different frameworks to process credibility. It’ll be interesting to follow the different reactions from businesses in different countries.  It’s not going to be easy for Facebook to manage the loss of credibility across such a diverse set of followers.

Although businesses are adopting social media at a greater rate this year in North America, the climate is very different in other countries where businesses are still wondering what social media can do for them.  And I know many of the businesses around me here in France will have a good little chuckle and put the whole social media question aside to get on with “real” business.

Respect. The worst insight of this whole incident is the lack of respect Facebook shows towards their raving fans. They’ve put mud on the face of two of their own fan groups:

• The Facebook developers who sold Facebook services to their clients
• The businesses with ad campaigns linking to landing pages which are no longer working

Respect was lost because Facebook did not inform these two groups of fans in an appropriate manner at the appropriate time.

In some cultures this is very bad and should not be ignored by Facebook. People just don’t want to be associated with businesses who treat their own close “fans” with such disrespect. This is a “deal breaker” in many cultures.

Trust.  With the loss of credibility and the lack of respect there is a loss of trust. Trust is always very precarious in cross-cultural relationships. It’s very easy to lose trust between cultures, and much more difficult to build it up.

So businesses need to make an effort to lose as little trust as they possibly can. Clear upfront communication is one way to do this and it’s absence leads to mistrust.

The Impact Of Time On Cross-Cultural Damages

It’s interesting to look at how time and timing impact your communication from a cross-cultural communication perspective.  You see there are two things to look at:

• No matter what Facebook does from hereon in, the fact that this happened without informing people at the time it happened will mean a loss of credibility, respect and trust for many different cultures. And in cross-cultural relationships these take much more effort to build back up.
• No matter what the real situation is, Facebook needs to respond quickly because different cultures have different appreciations of time and of what has just happened.  There is only a narrow window to do this and get it right for a wide international audience at minimal cost.  Many cross-cultural mishaps become outright blunders simply because there is a lack of response within an appropriate time frame.

Immediate Reparation Of The Damage

Please remember, I’m responding to this news only a few hours after it broke and things may not be exactly as they seem.  But if all of this is indeed true, it’s not going to be easy for Facebook to find the best response for their wide international audience. Both the response itself and the timing of the response is critical.  Here’s what I suggest their response has to be:

• Elegant enough to repair some of the damage. Some cultures will respond well to a sincere apology which shows empathy towards them.
• Thorough enough to build up a bit of the trust  lost within the business community. This will take time and the next steps Facebook takes will be scrutinized.
• Very clear information to get this across well to a multicultural audience. And because many people believe their communication to be clear when it isn’t, this should proofed by someone with the right international communication skills.
• Within at least the first few hours of their head office opening today Facebook should at least give an acknowledgement that they will respond more fully within a maximum of a couple of days. It’s bad publicity when you put your clients in a situation where they lose business because of your actions. This is probably what happened to some of the people in the 2 “raving fan” categories above, and all businesses will be watching to see how Facebook responds.

Getting Beyond This Unfortunate Communication Incident

Because I’m writing this very early after the first incident, it’s important to note things may not be as they seem.  A close look at this situation, in this early phase, makes it’s easy to understand why you need to quickly respond with clear communication.

If Facebook is indeed changing the way how you can set up your landing page,  they will need to work on building trust.   Of course, businesses can still use URL redirects to drive people outside of Facebook towards specific Facebook tabs or landing pages because all tabs have a unique URL.

But Facebook should also try to show businesses a solution, or the path they see for businesses to use Facebook, and not just the big businesses who can afford Facebook advertising. Facebook needs to acquire a bit more of the social media mindset and come down to meet all of their business users. It’s important to have trust built at this level in an international environment.

Otherwise they will lose a part of the “raving” element of their “raving fans” because part of their international audience will not be able to connect with them in a strong way. This leaves a door open to competition. It’s hard to evaluate the cultural impact of “raving fans” from other countries because many cultures don’t really fit into this description. The image changes from one culture to another.

And this is probably where you can bring in parallels from traditional international marketing with the 5 different steps to becoming an international business. The idea being you need to learn how to create relationships with one country first, then a few different ones, and it’s only by acquiring these international skills that you can become a “global” business, like Nike for example.

With this is mind and if all of this is true, it looks like Facebook just showed it’s limitations. Despite the massive presence worldwide, it hasn’t yet learned the skills it needs to communicate with a global audience.

That’s looking at Facebook, but it doesn’t take into account the users. And Facebook’s future will depend on how their users will want to use their platform.

On a side note, I’d like to bring up one other thing.  Unfortunately working internationally you see a lot of people trying to cheat systems to make money. And my second thought to the Facebook change was this:

• The minimum amount of fans businesses need to be authenticated is 10,000 = too many for most businesses to realistically attain.
• The minimum amount businesses can spend to advertise on Facebook is 5 figures = big money most businesses cannot afford to spend on Facebook.

This probably means an onslaught of people figuring out ways to sell businesses large quantities of “fans”.  And this will probably mean people on Facebook will also have to deal with an increase in spam related issues. Will it all be worth it? Will this change the Facebook environment enough to make people leave?  Will this leave a big enough opportunity for another social media platform?

Now It’s Your Turn

• What other cross-cultural perspectives do you see in this incident?
• Do you think this incident will impact how businesses invest in Facebook?
• Does this incident make you want to invest more in your own blog or website?

Please leave your comments below.

Need Help?

If ever you need help in figuring out how to respond to a communication incident across a broad international audience, contact me and I’ll give you a quote.  With over 25 years in developing international markets, I’ve played a pivotal role in diffusing many a business crisis in cross-cultural environments.

More on Cross-Cultural Social Media

• How to Connect Globally With Social Media
• Choice Of Social Media For International Markets
• The Cultural Divide In The Social Media Evolution
• Cultural Differences In Social Media Marketing
• How Cultural Differences Impact International Social Media
• 7 Cross-Cultural Skills For Businesses To Master Social Media
• Social Media Marketing Across Cultures
• Guerrilla Marketing With Social Media To Enter New International Markets
• Understanding Social Media For Stronger International Web Marketing
• Ethnic Origins On Social Media

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Cross-Cultural Blunder On Latest Facebook Change

International Links

This is my weekly post reviewing the interesting links for cross-cultural topics, international business and international social media.

Although I hate stereotypes and cultural generalizations, it’s always interesting to be aware of them when marketing to international audiences. And this week I found several European maps with some stereotypes I hadn’t paid attention to.

There are also a couple of great articles on the constant evolution of international web marketing and social media. In particular, comparisons of how the new non-Latin URLs look in different browsers and also how the trends in mobile phones will open markets in Africa. Enjoy the reads.

Cross-Cultural Topics

• How Americans See Europe – Infographic of stereotypes Americans have of Europeans. What other common stereotypes for Europeans do you know of?
• La cartographie des stéréotypes – More visuals with five fun maps by Bulgarian artists on stereotypes of Europe and Europeans.
• In Asia, a professor examines different social customs – Min Byoung-chul, a professor at Konkuk University, looks at the cultural differences he sees with Chinese students in Korea. Some interesting differences that show it’s not just about the language.
• Shanghai Is Trying to Untangle the Mangled English of Chinglish – Some Chinglish expressions are cute and some are incomprehensible. Apparently “long time no see” is a word-for-word translation of a Chinese expression. A fun read.
• What Matters: A new paradigm for change – There’s an interesting graphic in this article showing the 4 steps of a cultural revolution. Worth reading.
• Enron’s flop on Broadway shows culture gap between US and UK – Cross-cultural miscommunication: “Enron” flops on Broadway, after success in the UK
• Psychological Research Not Always Universal, Studies Should Involve More Cross-Cultural Collaboration – This has an interesting story of discovering cultural differences despite findings of previous research.
• Opening Your World to the Experience of Difference – A great read on how to open our world to different cultures. I live surrounded by people who are “different” to me. How many “different’ people do you have in your life?

Facebook Business Page on Cross-Cultural Communication:

International Business

• Becoming a global media brand in 60 minutes – A fun look at how to reach global audiences today using International Social Media.
• Taking Your Business Global – A good read highlighting how the web flattens the globe and the different steps of doing business abroad.
• Patience Required As Chinese Companies Go Overseas – This is the first article written by Dan Harris on the new Forbes blog on China with some interesting stories on doing business in China.

Facebook Business Page on International Business:

International Marketing

• Going ‘Glocal’ is more important than ever – Here’s an interesting read shared by Amadou M. Sall about making the most out of both local marketing and global marketing. Although this does sound like a rehash of what’s been common practice before.
• We’re nearing the end of email, maybe – Penelope Trunk’s article raises some pertinent questions about how we now use email. I’ve got 4 email accounts I use regularly, and about a half a dozen others not really used. How many do you have?

Facebook Business Page on International Marketing:

International Sales

• Which markets matter most to Australian exporters? – Here’s a look at where Australians make their sales abroad. How often to you check export stats for your country?

Facebook Business Page on International Sales:

International Social Media

• iPhone app globalization: Ready for take-off – A look at why app developers will create more localized versions. Interesting to note the top companies localizing their apps are: PayPal, Google, Facebook and Monopoly.
• The dawn of a new URL – John Yunker shares screenshots testing out the new full length IDNs on different browsers. Translation is going to become more important on the web for some of us.
• 3 Social Media Lessons For Global Marketers – A good summary of social media in Brazil, Germany and China on HubSpot.
• Love a Good Crisis – Silvia Cambie writes an interesting post about how people used social media during the recent volcanic ash crisis.
• On Love and Hate for 160 characters – This is an informative read on SMS etc. as a multi-use platform in Africa

Facebook Business Page on International Social Media:

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 recently?

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International Links: Week 18 2010

Social Media Localization

It’s funny how things sometimes happen in a series. Last week all of the North Americans I spoke with asked me the same question:

“Do you need to adapt your social media communication to different cultural audiences?”

It intrigued me that all of these questions came from North Americans and I think I have an answer as to why this happened… more on that later. I want to answer this question first.

By the way, for those of you who are not familiar with the term “localization” this refers to adapting all of your communication to different local cultures. It’s much more than just translation and includes all aspects of communication. Localization means adapting your communication make sure your message gets across in the right way.

Adapt Your Communication For International Audiences

The short answer is: yes.

To create genuine communication you must adapt how your social media communication to the different cultural audiences you want to reach.

Adapting your communication always gives you better results when communicating with different cultures, and sometimes it’s critical to do so. If you don’t adapt your communication you can lose relationships which leads to losing clients and business.

More Cultural Differences Are Visible On Social Media

But there is also a longer answer because the localization of social media communication goes deeper than cross-cultural people skills. Social media communication can be a little bit more challenging than other traditional forms of communication such as print communication or emails.

Here are two characteristics of cross-cultural social media that magnify the cultural differences others see in you.

Your cultural differences are obvious. It’s hard to hide from who you are on social media and this means

You get close when you’re social. Social media gets you closer to people. It is a social environment and people tend to let their guards down when they are behind a computer. It’s easier to say things online that you wouldn’t say in person. It’s easy to forget about trying to respect the other person’s cultural differences.

This is why you should always pay attention to the messages you are conveying to others and how they are perceived on social media.

People Skills To Connect With Different Cultures On Social Media

Good cross-cultural social media skills require both:

• Strong “soft” skills or people skills
• Good cross-cultural skills

Over the years I’ve noticed how most North American business professionals don’t have time for these “soft” skills.  They prefer to focus on the skills that are easy to measure and ones you can learn through courses. This may be why this question seems to crop up more often there than in the other cultures I network with.

Cross-cultural skills are not so easy to pick up or develop, they:

• Require some personal work
• Usually require international experience

Localization Of Social Media

Some of the people I spoke with needed some more insights

Here are the personal observations I shared with them regarding cross-cultural differences on two popular social media platforms.

Different Networking Practices On Twitter

Prior to my cross-cultural twitter interviews I chat with my guests and try to learn more about how they use Twitter in their country.  For some people it may come as a surprise to learn that English speakers in different countries do not have the same habits on Twitter.

Some cultures are more at ease in striking up instant friendships, and some cultures need a bit more time.  This impacts the relationships you form on Twitter.  And if you use Twitter for international networking it also means you need to use cross-cultural communication skills even on Twitter.

Different Job Hunting Practices On LinkedIn

One of the people I spoke to yesterday needed to advise his clients on business networking on LinkedIn.  Communication on LinkedIn is just the same as any other communication.

Every time I navigate on LinkedIn I’m struck by it’s the strong North American atmosphere. In cross-cultural terms most of the people I run into on LinkedIn have very strong traits of “individualism”.  Obviously LinkedIn is mainly a job hunting platform which brings out these North American traits even more.

Even if you come across people from different cultures on LinkedIn there is a very strong probability they use it differently than a North American on LinkedIn.

Different Perceptions Of The New Like Button On Facebook

It’s easy to see how different people use Facebook and thanks to the newly improved Insights box on Facebook Business Pages you can monitor some international metrics.  But the fun thing I’m noticing lately is the differences in appreciation of the new “Like” button.  So many of the North Americans in my network seem to identify more personal endorsement just because the button is now called “Like” and not “Become A Fan”.

The reaction to this small little word reminds me of the need to localize social media buttons in some Eastern countries.

• In most Western cultures having a real photo creates credibility and in some Eastern cultures it creates discomfort. Cartoon gravatars work much better.
• In Western cultures it’s easy to use the notion of being a “friend” on social media and in some Eastern cultures the use of the term “friend” creates uncomfortable situations for fear of offending others by not being their friend.

Those are extreme reactions to small things in social media.  And when you dig deeper and analyze communication on Facebook, you’re sure to encounter subtle differences in perception which can have significant impact on your Facebook marketing.

No Standard Social Media Localization Plan

Even with the knowledge of some of these differences you still cannot expect to come up with a standard international social media localization plan or generalizations for all international markets.  It’s hard to do. Social media marketing for international audiences is still evolving due to a number of reasons:

• Some countries are still catching up to social media and at different speeds.
• The cultural differences between generations within different countries makes it difficult to provide a cookie cutter solution for using social media.
• We should see growth in online communication from several countries thanks to recent changes by ICANN to allow URLs with different alphabets.
• The demographics in many countries are undergoing dramatic changes and this will eventually impact cross-cultural communication with these countries. Cross-cultural generalizations established in the last century are rapidly becoming obsolete.

Social media marketing in different cultures follows the same basics as in your own country: you need to get to know your audience well before you can create an effective communication plan. The good news is that you can use social media to help you get to know your audience if you take the time to go slowly and do the person-to-person networking you need to learn how to adapt your communication.

Now, Over To You

• Have you adapted any of your communication on social media to different international audiences?
• What are your favorite social media platforms for your international audiences?
• What cultural differences do you notice on the different social media platforms?

It would be great to hear from you. Please share your comments below.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Do You Need Social Media Localization?

International Links

I shared a number of interesting international and cross-cultural links last week on Facebook and Twitter. Here’s a quick summary.

Cross-Cultural Topics

• Ten things we have learnt about Africa - Some interesting stats here on different African countries.
• Investing in Foreign Land – this article brought up things I hadn’t thought about.
• A Popular U.S. Export, the $100 Bill - ”A big part of the demand comes from the use of American currency in stores and at street vendors in many countries, including some in which citizens have little faith in their own currencies.” An interesting look into the new $100 bill.
• Reverse Japan’s insularity - Are there less Japanese students abroad now?
• Eufeeds – over 1000 newspapers, updated every 20 minutes - An incredibly handy online international newspaper rack found via Adam Vincenzini

Facebook Business Page on Cross-Cultural Communication:

International Business

• Who Are America’s Exporters? - ”While forming the bulk of U.S. exporting companies, SMBs ship only a fraction of the value of U.S. exports.”
• Understanding Cultural Differences in Offshore Outsourcing - Here’s a look at cross-cultural challenges when outsourcing.

Facebook Business Page on International Business:

International Marketing

• What Was Tiger Woods Thinking? - Great points made by Elliot Polak of Textappeal (@CultureShocks on Twitter). Different cultures don’t have the same response to “personal scandals” of celebrities. It’s interesting how Nike played this out.

Facebook Business Page on International Marketing:

International Sales

• Size no barrier to export success - A look at how Australian small businesses are now selling more to China than to the European Union.

Facebook Business Page on International Sales:

International Social Media

• Skype By the Numbers: It’s Really Big - I use Skype daily and when I first started I lost lots of time dealing with French speaking North Africans who use Skype as a “dating chat tool” and who culturally take a long time getting to the point. I also notice how some people use Skype exactly like a phone, they just call whenever they see want to. … While others realize this tool is more than a traditional telephone when used in a new environment and send a Skype chat message first. What’s your experience of Skype as an international networking tool?
• How Tech Start-ups Like Foursquare and Meetup Are Trying to Overthrow Old Media - Several things stood out in the article, including adapting social media to different cultures within the same country and the lack of women in social media start ups. This is a bit long, but a good read. What stands out for you?

Facebook Business Page on International Social Media:

Now It’s Your Turn

• What interesting links did you find recently?
• What do these international and cross-cultural links inspire for you?
• Which international link is your favorite?

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International Links: Week 16 2010

Twitter Interviews – #CKinterview

Today’s Cross-Cultural Interview is with Leo Salazar. Leo is the person behind the Twitter handle @srleosalazar . Leo is a consultant and trainer helping people who work in international environments. He was born and raised in Los Angeles and has lived and worked in Europe for over 20 years.

He tells more about himself in below and he’ll share some cross-cultural and international business tips during a live Twitter interview in a few hours. The transcript of this live Twitter interview will be published below.

This is a 2 part interview:

• Part 1 – The Blog Interview
• Part 2 – The Twitter Interview for 10 Cross-Cultural & International Questions today at 4pm GMT

Leo Salazar – Part 1

Hi Leo, for those who don’t know you, can you please tell us something about yourself?

Leo Salazar : Hello Cindy. First of all, thank you very much for inviting me to be a guest for this interview. I’m honored, and humbled, to be included in the company of the experts I’ve seen on your site. I hope I can fulfill your expectations.

I was born and raised in Southern California in the US, in 1957. In fact, I was born 4 days after the Russians launched Sputnik – a true child of the Space Age. Near my birthplace in San Bernardino was Norton Air Force Base, which was one of the Strategic Air Command bases of the US Air Force. So if you consider that I was literally born in the shadow of the Cold War, with hot nuclear warhead loaded B-52 Stratofortress bombers circling above our heads day and night, I was aware from a very early age of the influence of other cultures on our daily existence.

In addition, as I grew older I came to learn the history of our family and the Hispanic influence that played a very large role. I say often that our father gave us our Spanish blood and lineage, but our mother gave us the culture. Even though born and raised in a white, middle-class environment, she studied at the University of Mexico City after her father up and moved the entire family to live in Cuernavaca, Mexcio, when she was a teenager. She is fluent in Spanish, and has a clear affinity for Latino cultures. After a career as a bilingual teacher in Riverside, California, for grade school children, she continues today at age 73 to play a strong bridging role between Latino and Anglo cultures in California.

More recently, however, I married into a culturally adventurous life. My first wife was a helicopter pilot in the US Army, and we moved frequently between Europe and various locations in the US. I lived and worked for American Express Community Bank in Mannheim Germany starting in 1984, and came to the Netherlands in 1992. I first studied, then worked as a member of staff for TSM Business School at the University of Twente, and most recently for De Baak, which is the premier management training institute of the Netherlands. My wife is Dutch and we live in a medium-sized town in the east of the country, but I work primarily in Amsterdam. My three children all live in California, literally down the street from my mother and brothers.

How did you pick up your cross-cultural skills?

Leo Salazar : My cross-cultural skills were developed primarily through experience, later by study. First as a child, hearing Spanish around me on a frequent basis. Later through my experiences in living in Germany and the Netherlands. Additionally, living in different parts of the US is about as cross-cultural as one can get. I remember visiting my children who were living with their mother in Hawaii at the time. My daughter said to me, sotto voce “Dad!!! Slow down! Take it easy. You’re scaring the locals.” I realized that for all my “cross-cultural expertise,” I still had a lot to learn about the application of the skills I was teaching.

I worked for a time at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, which was established by the Dutch in 1910 as the “Colonial Institute.” It was set up to establish a repository for cultural artifacts from the colonies (primarily Indonesia) as well as to build knowledge of cultures. I worked there as a trainer in helping outgoing expats to prepare for their new assignment countries. This experience acquainted me with the standard, off-the-shelf “cultural dimension” approach of cultural training.

Concurrently, I was running my own business development company in which I was helping American businesses to gain a foothold in European markets. It was very instructive in helping US businessmen who had, in most cases, never even been out of the US before to navigate the business landscape in Europe.

These various experiences (living situation, outgoing cultural skills, incoming commercial skills) gave me a unique and well-rounded perspective on how to apply cultural learning techniques to business.

How do you use your cross-cultural skills in your job?

Leo Salazar : For me the value of giving attention to “cross-cultural” attributes is in the interface between people. It’s about recognizing and respecting value, giving credence to a different perspective, and working together to create new and unique value. My motto is, “Learning & Development in an Intercultural context. Learning from each other, doing better business.”

Even though I deal with issues on a daily basis that could be described with any number of labels (diversity, inclusiveness, multicultural skills), I try to avoid these labels for a simple reason: they lead to pre-conceptions and stereotypes. I want my clients to focus on the value that is created in the interface, to view the interface from their own perspective, and to strive towards building on that interaction to create new value.

Can you tell us about your blog?

Leo Salazar : I first started “blogging” in 1978, when I first moved away from home. I was living in Virginia, on the east coast of the US in the “South,” and sitting behind a student typewriter I wrote a weekly missive home to my family on the west coast, whom I missed terribly. I would include interesting anecdotes, local newspaper clippings, and other pieces of curiosa that would hopefully shed light on my life there in the “foreign culture” of that part of the country. These letters gave way to weekly emails and printed letters from my first PC, purchased in 1989 – basically the same medium, but modestly facilitated by IT. The first step towards a real blog, as it is known today, was in 2000, through Xanga. I went through a pretty much predictable pattern after that, always following the most popular social medium: Xanga, My Space, Facebook, Blogger, WordPress – all with the same goal in mind: to stay in touch with my children and family.

It wasn’t until just a few months ago that I finally discovered a new use for these social media: to learn and brand myself in my profession. The real stimulus for this change was re-discovering Twitter. I first picked up on Twitter about a year and a half ago, but I was very much in the “turkey sandwich” mode (as in “OMG – I’m eating a turkey sandwich!!!!” – for a funny perspective on this and other Twitter uses, check out Oatmeal’s contribution “How Addicted to Twitter Are You?”). But more recently I had an epiphany through the discovery of #lrnchat, which is a community of learning professionals that meets on Twitter every Thursday to discuss learning topics. This led to my current routine, which is to plant the seed of the idea through Twitter, and cultivate the growth of that idea through my blog. I try to focus on topics that are relevant to my specialty, effectiveness in doing intercultural business. I realize that each tweet, and each blog entry, is a value proposition for current and potential future clients. I feel I have an obligation to reward their attention with something of value: a new insight, a unique perspective, a learning point.

Since re-discovering Twitter and being active on my blog, I’ve been amazed at the world that’s opened up for me. Even though I’ve been long active in online communities (first discovering them through my Compuserve account in 1991), I hadn’t really taken a proactive stance. Most of my online presence was as a lurker. This new use of a familiar tool has led to learning insights that I hadn’t experienced in quite awhile.

I have a couple of lists I’m building here on this blog, and wonder if you have anything you would like to share.

Have you come across any cultural stereotypes that bother you, or you find inappropriate?

Leo Salazar : Every culture is open to misunderstanding from those outside it. Of course there are many stereotypes and practices, even in my own culture, that I find anathematic. See an early blog post of mine (on a blog now dormant, in which I was far more critical of cultural practices than I am now).

But I also realize that the only way to change is from the inside, by members of the culture itself. And if change occurs, it does so slowly, usually by using positive reinforcement and motivators that are defined by those who are inside the change process. The best we can do, as outsiders, is to facilitate this process, if so allowed.

For example, when I first moved to the Netherlands, I was shocked at what I interpreted at the time as being blatantly racist attitudes. I was judging the Dutch people from an entirely American perspective. But since living in this culture for nearly 20 years now and being open to learning why the people think the way they do, I have come to understand their attitudes. Note that I don’t say I accept them, but it’s not for me to openly criticize or to demand change. The best I can do is to focus on similarities, build on the positive aspects of the society, and hope that others are able to have their own similar learning and growing experience by being open to new perspectives. 

Do you have a favorite movie that could help people understand cultural issues?

Leo Salazar : There are a few films that spring to mind when you say “cultural issues.” One is “Babel, from which I felt a wrenching tension as the values by colliding cultures, each from their own perspective, were brought into conflict. Another is “American History X,” with an outstanding and moving performance by Edward Norton. But I’m loath to recommend these as movies for people to watch to better understand culture and its implications. Why not? Because everyone interprets artistic stimulus in different ways, based on their own experience, norms, values, etc. Certainly I experienced both of these films from my own frame of reference as films with dramatic cultural implications. And my interpretation of the films reflects this. But I’m not sure that anyone else would do the same, and both of these are outstanding creations even ignoring cultural issues. I would much rather that I recommend these as outstanding films and allow people to draw their own interpretations and conclusions.

Do you have a book you could recommend to help others improve their cultural insights?

Leo Salazar : Ach! It’s been so long since I’ve read and enjoyed fiction, I wouldn’t know where to begin. And the vast majority of non-fiction business books with “culture” as their topic I find utter hogwash.

What I do enjoy, however, very much are popular works that explore the historical development of a society. Books that give historical insight into why things are the way they are. Russel Shorto’s “The Island at the Center of the World,” for example, which explores the original Dutch founding of the island of Manhattan. Dr. Jared Diamond’s books as well, “Guns, Germs & Steel,” for example, or “Collapse,” which look at the reasons why societies rise and fall. And looking more specifically at Dutch society, I find Simon Schama’s The Embarrassment of Riches an outstanding read. In fact, it was this last book that I credit with my evolved understanding of my Dutch colleagues at work and family at home.

And finally…

Is there anything else you would like to share?

Leo Salazar : It’s been a pleasure using this forum to reflect on my own development. Thank you for the opportunity.

Leo, thank you for sharing so much with us in this portion of the interview already. I’m looking forward to hearing your answers to the 10 Cross-Cultural Questions on Twitter with you later today.

Leo Salazar – Part 2 – The Twitter Interview

More Twitter Interviews

This is an interview series of the people I recommend you follow on Twitter for the cross-cultural and international business insights in their tweets.

• Cate Brubaker – @CateBrubaker
• David Comp – @DavidComp
• Sean Oliver – @SeanJamesOliver
• Martin Lindeskog – @lyceum
• Rajeev Edmonds – @mintblogger
• Rossitza Ohridska-Olson – @culturalrealms
• Charmayne Paul – @psitutor
• Lucy Chatburn – @pocketcultures
• Doreen Iannuzzi – @DoreenatDMS
• Donna Jackson – @wisequeen
• Chris Cotter – @CotterHUE
• Jack Yan – @jackyan
• Silvia Cambié – @XCulture
• Bill Ward – @DR4WARD
• Thierry De Baillon – @t_de_baillon
• Seshu – @PicSeshu
• Neil Urquhart – @culturematters
• Klaus & Flavia Westerwelle – @transdomo
• Donagh Kiernan – @dkiernan
• Christian Hoeferle – @hoeferleconsult
• Caroline – @ohh_la_la
• Deborah Swallow – @DeborahSwallow
• Steve Roesler – @steveroesler
• Matthew Bennett – @matthewbennett

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Twitter Interview With Leo Salazar

International Links

Here are the international and cross-cultural links found last week.

Cross-Cultural Topics

• Baidu Integrates Real-Time Translation into its Browser - Putting the Google/China story aside, this is proof the tools for International Marketing are getting much more interesting.
• Asia’s Expensive Restaurants - Part of the fun when travelling is trying the local food. I wonder what extra these restaurants have to offer.
• For Japanese Women, The Past Is The Latest Fad – Here’s an interesting read on Japanese culture today.
• Globish, Technology, and the Plight of the Japanese Language - A very interesting read on how Globish impacts other languages. Grab a coffee, there are lots of videos too.

Facebook Business Page on Cross-Cultural Communication:

International Business

• The India Way Of Doing Business - This is a fascinating read even if you are interested in doing business in a culture other than India. It highlights the cultural differences in doing business.

Facebook Business Page on International Business:

International Marketing

• Cross-cultural Communication Strategy – the 4 Building Blocks - Read Amadou M. Sall’s article on how to build a cross-cultural marketing strategy with a Global Mindset, Global Knowledge, Global Cross-Cultural Skills & Global Business Skills.
• One Piece Localization or Censorship? - Click through and watch this 4 minute video to see an example of a Japanese anime cartoon localized for the American market. What do you think of this?

Facebook Business Page on International Marketing:

International Sales

• A special report on America’s economy: Export or die - Do you think American businesses will need to rely less on selling to Americans and more on selling abroad?
• History of American Sales Culture - Here’s an interesting look at the American sales culture by Alen Majer. If you have insights about other sales cultures please let me know.
• SarahLacy.com: My Favorite Books about Emerging Markets - What are your favorite books on emergying marketing?

Facebook Business Page on International Sales:

International Social Media

• In Canada, .ca is replacing .com - Here in France most French websites use .fr What’s the trend in your country?
• Multilingual SEO: Things to Remember - This is a good read on Search Engine Journal to get you started with multilingual SEO. Do you have any other tips to add?
• Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Working with multi-regional websites - Read this for guidelines on how to structure multilingual blogs and websites to reach different markets.
• How To Add Languages That You Speak To Google Chrome - Here’s a useful tip for multilingual Chrome users.
• What translation means for SEO – Blogs & Content - Here’s a look at the difference of translation for SEO and for advertising or marketing. What do you think of the translation solely for SEO purposes? We don’t usually do it in English. But it seems some websites need it to reach global audiences fast.
• Cause for concern – The Personal videos Campaign - Here’s a video case study of how an Israeli TV show used free social media as its only source of publicity. The results: 4.7% rating for the season debut and 1,800 mentions in blogs, social networks & newspapers in Israel.
  Do you have any other video social media case studies to share?

Facebook Business Page on International Social Media:

Now It’s Your Turn

• What about you? Did you find any interesting links recently?
• What do these international and cross-cultural links inspire for you?
• Which international link is your favorite?

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

International Links: Week 15 2010