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

Cross-Cultural Social Media

Jay Baer recently shared the social media quotes he uses most. Be sure to check out the SlideShare presentation he’s put together. These are some great quotes and I use many of them myself. But I’m based in France and network constantly with a broad international audience for my business.  So these quotes don’t always resonate the same with my international audience.

Here are Jay’s favorite social media quotes with some of my own thoughts on how these work within international social media.

Social Media Tips From An International Perspective

#1: “Focus on how to be social, not on how to do social.”

This is not always easy for people from different countries to understand because their ideas of “being social” are different. And this means people in different countries observing social media in North America can have a hard time picking up what “being social” means in social media.

For example in many countries “social” has to be in person. Here’s an example of how French people have integrated the French notion of being social in social media.

#2: “Social media doesn’t create negativity, it uncovers it.”

I personally have a hard time with this. One of the culture shocks I had, even after living in France for decades, was the negativity in the French blogosphere. Of course there are many great French bloggers, but every time I dive into this French environment I’m shocked by how negative it is and invariably close all my web browsers.

This makes me a bit wary of what negativity means to different cultures and how this can impact social media in different countries.

#3: “Social media is an ingredient, not an entree.”

Right now in European businesses social media often seems more like the unicorn mentioned below. It’s something you’ve heard about, but don’t really believe the business benefits exist.  So it’s hard to create any sort of “social media meal” at all.

But progress is being made and it’ll be interesting to see the differences in how social media is used within different countries.  Just like there are different cuisines throughout the world, there’s sure to be “culinary differences” in successful social media in other countries.

#4: “Everyone says social media is a unicorn, but maybe it’s just a horse?”

Or the Lochness Monster?  That’s the response most appropriate to what I hear here in Europe.

As North American businesses use social media more in 2010 it’ll be easier for businesses in other countries to come up with a metaphor they can relate to and then learn how to adapt it to their own cultural specifications.

#5: “Social media is the ultimate canary in the coal mine.”

Speaking of metaphors, this is one that doesn’t translate well. Hopefully in years to come we’ll see the cultural differences in social media as a flock of different exotic birds.

#6: “The goal of social media is to turn customers into a volunteer marketing army.”

Of course, this is fascinating to observe through a cross-cultural lens to compare cultural differences.

For example, creating a “volunteer marketing army” is different in “highly independent” versus “highly collective” societies.  And there will also be differences when comparing results in cultures with “high context communication” versus “low context communication”.

#7: “It’s not viral unless it is.”

I love this one.  It’s not always easy for non-native English speakers to understand buzz words. They can often take on new meanings when adopted in different cultures. And this quote reminds everyone to not get carried away in selling social media.

#8: “Linkedin is for people you know. Facebook is for people you used to know. Twitter is for people you want to know.”

Outside of North America this appears to be different. There are cultural differences in how people like to connect with others and there are cultural differences in how different generations use social media.

The younger generations around me here in France definitely use Facebook for the people they know. In international circles LinkedIn is not necessarily for people you know. In fact, I often hear people in the UK say they didn’t feel the need to be on LinkedIn. And there are still too many questions about Twitter outside of North America and it may not be the best place to make specific international connections.

#9: “Facebook Fan Pages are email newsletters with smaller pictures.”

This is a great social media quote, but it doesn’t work in cultures where most businesses don’t use email newsletters.

But it can give forward thinking marketers in those countries a great idea to try out in their market. Many business successes originated from adapting and being an early adopter of what works well in one country to another country.

#10: “Social media isn’t inexpensive, it’s different expensive.”

For businesses in countries where social media is still an enigma, it can appear to be very expensive.  This is because it takes so much time simply to understand the value and figure out how they can use this to their advantage.

#11: “Social media creates kinship between companies and customers, and kinship equals purchase intent.”

The cultural differences in how people connect with each other and do business impacts how social media can be used for business.

On the one hand social media should prove to be a great tool for some businesses in connecting with potential customers. And on the other hand, there are cultures where social media’s role in getting sales will not be obvious.

#12: “Social media changes the relationship between companies and customers from master and servant, to peer to peer.”

Although I agree 100% with this social media quote, in some cultures it’s very difficult to create “peer to peer” relationships without meeting people in person.

In some international markets, it may be possible to a certain extent and prove to be helpful, but it won’t be easy. And in these cultures social media localization is a necessity.

#13: “Activate your fans, don’t just collect them like baseball cards.”

As an international marketer this is one of my favorite social media quotes.  Social media makes it easy to connect with an international audience, but are you doing anything with these connections?

I meet many business owners who say they want to develop their international business, but don’t know where to start.  Social media can be a great starting point to learn more about your international markets. But it involves putting in the effort to take those social media connections further.

#14: “Social media is about people, not logos.”

This social media quote can help all businesses. In countries where social media is not used extensively for businesses it’s easy to miss this. And it’s also why social media can be valuable within an international communication campaign.

#15: “Every company is its own TV station, magazine, and newspaper.”

This is another of my favorite social media quotes because it represents opportunities for businesses interested in reaching international audiences.  It’s not easy and there are limitations, but social media gives you platforms to connect with international markets and get feedback. It’s a great international market research tool when used strategically.

All businesses with North American clients or wanting to develop there must use social media… and it’s surprising to see how many of them still not using the fantastic communication tools social media gives them.

#16: “Social media allows big companies to act small again.”

I love international business development tools and this is what social media can be for many companies.

#17: “Passion is the gasoline of social media.”

This quote reminds me of how Clotaire Rapaille refers to the American culture as being adolescent in his book The Culture Code.  The capacity of this nation to use passion as a driver is wonderful to watch in action.  But it also makes me wonder if something else will fuel social media in other cultures.

#18: “You must fight social media fire with social media water.”

This is a great quote and leads to another one: “You must adapt social media to work well in different cultures.”

Now, It’s Your Turn

• How do you adjust your social media for international audiences?
• What cross-cultural challenges have you encountered using social media?
• What’s your favorite social media quote for international markets?

Please leave your comments below.

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
• Cross-Cultural Blunder On Latest Facebook Change
• Social Media Marketing Across Cultures
• Guerrilla Marketing With Social Media To Enter New International Markets
• Understanding Social Media For Stronger International Web Marketing

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

18 Great Social Media Quotes With An International Perspective

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

International Links

Last week I found several interesting links on international social media and a few others for international business. I particularly enjoyed reading the first one in the list below: the Forbes article on the shift in trade routes. It’s a bit long but well worth reading.

International Business

• The Future Of Finance Shifts From West To East – Enjoyed reading this article by Michael Geoghegan of HSBC on how the CIVETS are joining the BRICs and why trade routes are changing. Are you seeing these changes?

Facebook Business Page on International Business:

International Marketing

• Why Did Paris Hilton Drop Her Guard In Brazil? – A look at how a beer company skilfully took culture into consideration to get the results they wanted. -

Facebook Business Page on International Marketing:

International Sales

• Negotiating With Chinese Companies. In Real Life – Here is a review of “When Chinese dreams meet the real world: Western negotiators in China need to keep their heads out of the clouds” by Andrew Hupert with great insights into negotiating in China.

Facebook Business Page on International Sales:

International Social Media

• StatCounter Global Stats – Have a look at this infograph comparing popularity of different social media platforms worldwide. You can also select world regions and see the differences there. It’s interesting to see how StumbleUpon does in North America compared to Europe. Like all social media stats, I wonder how accurate these are.
• Official Google Blog: Integrating virtual keyboards in Google search – Difficulty typing in foreign languages on your keyboards? Have a look at these virtual keyboards with different alphabets.
• 8 Social Media Strategies to Engage Multicultural Consumers – A great read by Jessica Carter from Technicultr. What other social media strategies would you use for multicultural audiences?
• Twitter analysis: Development organizations and their listening skills – Christian Kreutz has a look at social media strategies of a few development organizations. I’m interested in seeing how things evolve over the next few years. What about 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 17 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

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