Resources

Darren Rowse over at Problogger asked for readers to share a list of bloggers relevant to their industry. A few readers have already shared some good lists.  I particularly liked reading the list of Translation and Localization bloggers.  So I decided to share the list of bloggers I read to stay current.

UPDATE: Darren Rowse has now compiled a list of 47 Lists of Bloggers to Watch in 2010 – well worth looking at!

Cross-Cultural & International Bloggers

You need cross-cultural and international business skills in order to develop your business internationally. What’s interesting is that I find these same cross-cultural skills also help me in social media.  Strong people skills are always useful.

No matter how strong these people skills are you still need to nurture them.  And it’s also important to do this to stay competitive in today’s changing international business environment. This is why it’s a good idea to follow a variety of blogs to help maintain these skills.

Here is the list of bloggers with strong cross-cultural or international profiles that I like to follow.

• Some of these blogs are focused on personal relationships or travel. although this may seem to have little to do with international business, the truth is that you can often learn a lot by observing these different situations.
• Some of these blogs are very business focused, usually with a specific topic. And again, they often give insights into cultural barriers for international business.
• Some of the bloggers are new to international business and some are old pros.

This mixture works for me.  Let me know what you think.

1. Ad Sheik – this is a blog for advertisers who want to reach multicultural audiences
2. All About Race – a blog on race in America to share, discuss, argue, learn, teach, laugh and understand
3. All Things Workplace - Steve Roesler is an international management consultant and also blogs about topics with international insights
4. American German Business Blog – Klaus & Flavia Westerwelle are Germans based in the US helping businesses go international
5. Anastiasia Ashman – Furthering the Worldwide Cultural Conversation
6. Asia Biz Blog - Rich Kuslan blogs on China business and law
7. Bella’s Boliva Blog – a blog with trivia and news from the eastern region of Bolivia
8. Career By Choice - Megan Fitzgerald blogs to help expatriates improve their careers
9. Chanda Communications - Silvia Cambie blogs on cross-cultural connections
10. Chinese & Chosen – An interactive report on the intersection of Chinese & Jewish in NYC
11. Cross-Cultural Moments – Elizabeth Abbot’s blog on transforming international living into personal and professional progress
12. Cultural Realms – Rossitza Ohridska blogs about cultural discovery, the business of cultural tourism, emerging destinations, internet strategies and world travel
13. Culturally Teaching – Cate Brubaker share lots of cross-cultural insights here, not only for teaching or teachers
14. Deborah Swallow – Deborah Swallow blogs on intercultural communication
15. Dot Global – Joe Kutchera’s blog on marketing to Spanish-language consumers
16. Family On Bikes - Between North & South Poles, a family biking and blogging from Alaska to Argentina
17. Fluent In 3 Months – Benny Lewis’s blog of unconventional language learning tips as he travels the world
18. From Power To Poverty – interesting blog by Duncan Green, Head of Research for Oxfam GB
19. Fusion View - Yang-May Ooi’s blog on cross-cultural topics
20. Global Business Perspectives – Beverly Cornell interviews people with international profiles
21. Global Coach Center - Margarita Gokun Silver blogs about being a cross-cultural coach
22. Global Voices – A vibrant global community of more than 150 active volunteer authors and translators and more than 20 freelance part- time regional and language editors
23. globalEDGE International Business Blog - to keep current on international business and global trade
24. Gori Girl – A blog on interracial relationships and advice by a white girl with an Indian husband
25. Intercultural Eyes – Bettina Hansel’s blog with a geographic & interculturalist perspective
26. Intercultural Talk – The blog where Deanna Shoss teaches us to engage & delight in cultural differences
27. International Higher Education Consulting Blog – This is where David Comp blogs about studying abroad – great resource
28. International Trade Law News – Where Doug Jacobson blogs about news, analysis and information on export controls, sanctions, customs law, FCPA, antidumping and other international trade issues
29. Investing In Africa – Ryan Shen Hoover’s blog on Africa is an interesting read
30. Jack Yan – The Persuader – Jack has a strong cross-cultural background and shares a wide variety of interests on his blog
31. Maidsfield Blog – Donagh Kiernan blogs about partnering into international markets
32. Matthew Bennett – Matthew blogs on culture, law, business and politics in the UK and Spain, as well as the Spanish and English languages, English-Spanish translation and Spanglish Lex
33. Original Wavelength - Rana Sinha’s blog on cross-cultural issues, culture, psychology, inter-cultural management and communication, international business, team-working and human resource development and management (HRD and HRM).
34. Pocket Cultures – a great group of bloggers from all over the world
35. Racialicious – Carmen Van Kerckhove blogs at the intersection of race and pop culture
36. RW3 Culture Wizard – An interesting blog, stimulating cross-cultural skills for business
37. Southeast Schnitzel – Christian Höferle blogs about cultural topics and German business
38. Technicultr - Jessica Faye Carter’s blog on multicultural social media news
39. Textappeal – Elliot Polak shares insights on Culture Shocks in global media and marketing
40. The Art Of Nonconformity – Chris Guillebeau blogs about his travels and his cultural insights can help you open your own mindset
41. The Four Hour Work Week – Tim Ferris often shares unique insights about his travels on his blog
42. The Global Small Business Blog – Laurel Delaney’s blog helps small businesses go global
43. The International Entrepreneur - Becky DeStigter likes to blog about international business
44. Touch Points – Steve Finikiotis has extensive international business experience and often shares useful insights on his blog
45. Translator Power – Amadou M. Sall is an active cross-cultural online connector and this is his blog

And don’t forget this blog: CindyKing.biz

There’s More

You can also find some more links to interesting websites on the Resources page.  And if you want an easy way to connect with these bloggers, have a look at the Twitter Resources page for the links to the Twitter handles and Facebook & LinkedIn profiles for many of the bloggers listed above.

What about you? Do you have any favorite cross-cultural and international bloggers not on this list?  Please share them in the comments below.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

45 Cross-Cultural & International Bloggers To Watch In 2010

Improve Your International Web Marketing

Thank you all of you for tweeting and responding to my call for suggestions for new series on this blog.  You can read more about the contest here:

• How To Get A Free Copy Of The ProBlogger Book

Your Blog Series Suggestions

Here are the suggestions for post series on this blog:

• Ryan Deal – “Highlight tips or new things you’ve learned about dealing with international clients and what differences you see”
• Cathy Goodwin – “Writing your ezine and blog with cross-cultural sensitivity”
• Jim Lodico – “Seven Most Common Cross-Cultural Communications Mistakes”
• Pat Shaughnessy – “How different cultures handle typical sales and customer facing situations”
• Martin Lindeskog – “A dictionary with “urban” international business words that you see used in social media” & “A “gallery” with business leaders, inventors, and entrepreneurs with an international background”
• Alexis van Dam – “Images and visualizations as powerful cross-cultural communication tools”
• Jeff Louis – “Networking 101 for new businesses opening up in international markets” & “A series of country-specific online/traditional resources that an organization could use/join to expand their knowledge when entering a new international market” & “The technological breakdowns of various markets”
• Kent Beatty – “A series on multi-lingual twittering or online language learning”
• Jackie Cooper – “How to effectively enter the U.K. market” & “How to manage the social media promotion more efficiently”
• Dean Meyers – “The meanings of color/visual symbols/metaphors and historical typeface associations that can make or break communications as looking authentic/appropriate for various markets” – a large topic to cover on a regular basis, with examples (good and bad)
• Pat Richardson – “Cultural differences in music and sounds on websites”
• Dan Miranda – “A 31 Days About Cindy series” – to get to know you as a fellow blogger

I was very pleased to see the quality of our suggestions .  Thank you all!

The Winners

This was my first contest here on this blog and I went through a few bumps along the way.  was late is closing the contest.

The winners were simply chosen as:

• The best suggestions to fit this blog
• Easy for me to implement

Here are the winners and the blog series they inspire… and which you will find here soon:

Jeff Louis

• Networking 101 for new market entries
• Country-specific resources for international business intelligence
• Country profiles for the different communication channels

Jeff, thank you for three ideas that are on target with my blog. These are all topics my readers are interested in.

Pat Shaughnessy

• How different cultures handle typical sales and customer facing situations

Pat, I think this is a great topic to show the differences and the extent to which international sales people need to adapt to different sales environments.

Dean Meyers

• The cultural differences in the meanings of color

Thank you, Dean, for giving me an idea on how to approach this. It is not an easy one to tackle and yet color and design greatly influence our cultural perceptions… and buying triggers.

Martin Lindeskog

• Profiles of international businessmen and businessmen with multicultural backgrounds

Martin, I think this is a great idea. I am particularly interested in people that are doing things differently and in developing countries for example. I still need to get a handle on the idea of a dictionary of international words. I think my vision is out of focus.  I need to find the right angle beforeI can do it.

Pat Richardson

• Cultural differences in music and sounds

Pat, this is one that I find particularly useful in widening our own cultural perceptions. I always knew when I was culturally acclimatized in a foreign country.  It was when I could listen to the local Sunday afternoon music shows for grandmothers, without needing to change the channel or leave the room.  Culturally specific music always seems to take some getting used to.

Ryan Deal

• Latest tips and trends in international business

Thank you for reminding me of this simple one, Ryan. I like the idea of doing a fairly short series of recently remarked differences and repeating the series often. To keep up to date with the changes in the international business scene.

I have already sent each of the winners a private email requesting their mailing addresses. The ProBlogger books will be mailed out early next week.

More To Improve Your International Web Marketing

• 92% More Visitors In March With One Tip From The ProBlogger Book
• How One Tip From One Book Increased My Web Marketing Results
• How To Get A Free Copy Of The ProBlogger Book
• Of The Free Problogger Book Contest & New Blog Post Series

Don’t Miss:

• International Web Marketing
• Improve Your International Marketing

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Winners Of The Free Problogger Book Contest & New Blog Post Series

Building Better International Blogs

Yesterday Darren Rowse started his 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge or “31DBBB”.  If you have been reading my blog you will understand why I want to follow this blog challenge.

For those that did not follow the story…

In February, I  read the book Darren wrote with Chris Garrett, the ProBlogger book.  In March I implemented one of the tips in the book: a blog post series.  That was the March Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge.  This month long series resulted in a 92% increase in blog visitors compared to the previous month.

I was so thrilled with the results, that I decided to run a little competition here to find out what other series you would like me to publish, 6 winners get a free copy of the ProBlogger book.  The competition ends April 15th, so please help me come up with some good ideas for series to write for this blog.

There are obviously some easy things I can do to improve this blog.  This is why I am going through the ProBlogger 31 day challenge to build a better blog.

During the next 31  days, I will share my thoughts on on how to adapt 31DBBB projects to build better international blogs.

An Elevator Pitch

The project for Day 1 of the 31DBBB is to craft an Elevator Pitch.

Now, I must admit that I have not spent much time lately surfing blogs in cultures with indirect communicators.

Cultures of indirect communicators are “High Context” cultures such as those in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Southern Europe.  This does not mean that indirect communication is exclusive to these cultures.  It only means that people in these cultures communicate much more through what they do not say.

I am very curious about how these cultures would use an elevator pitch on their blog… probably not the same way as in cultures with a more direct communication.  And if anyone has any examples, please let me know.

Cultural Frustrations With International Web Communication

First I would like to share my frustration with the emails I get from indirect communicators.  The email always basically says:

• “Hello”
• “Hello, I want to get to know you”
• “Hello, I have a great business”

And nothing else.  Whenever I follow up with basically a “Yes, what is it?”, invariably the same “Hello” comes back to me. And this bouncing back and forth without actually saying anything can go on a few more times.  I always get the impression that something faceless and motionless is just hanging over my shoulder.  It is always impossible to find any bit of information to get into the core of a conversation.  There is a nothingness.  There is no conversation.

Yes, I am a direct communicator.

Communication between direct and indirect communication cultures is impossible when it is 100% web-based communication between two people that have not met before.

Meet & Greet

The problem with establishing communication between direct and indirect communicators online is that it is very difficult to get past the “meet and greet” stage.  No real communication can ever take place if this does not happen.

No matter what the local cultural practices are, I would personally find an elevator speech very useful on all blogs aiming for international audiences.  It just makes the first introduction so much easier.

For example…

Imagine I got an email from an indirect communicator who remembered to include a link to his blog.  And now imagine that on the top fold of this page there was one clear elevator pitch.

This would tell me whether it would be worth my time to enter the long path of trying to establish a connection with an indirect communicator online.  In addition, an elevator pitch gives me a few words to use to try to start a conversation.

An Elevator Pitch For An International Blog

Now, here are some ideas on how to improve an elevator pitch for international readers…

Put Your Location Near Your Elevator Pitch

This is critical.  Most people recognize US telephone numbers and can then mentally label the web page “USA”, but not everyone can.  In many cultures it is important to know who you are… and where you are is part of the picture. This helps them picture you.

Do not underestimate the number of readers you lose simply because they cannot identify your location.

Choose Words Carefully

We all get into the habit of using a certain vocabulary.  We use the words we hear around us.  The problem is that people a hop and a skip away from us may not get the same picture with the words you use.

The good news is that with a blog, it is easy to listen to your readers.  Of course you can pick up their vocabulary, but spend more time listening to what they understand from what you say.  And then adjust your vocabulary, or how you say things, until you get the right echo back.  This is part of the process of creating a relationship with your readers and it can take time.

There are many different cultural dimensions to be aware of when targeting specific cultural groups.  Have a look at the Cultural Web Tools to pick up more cultural subtleties.

How International Readers Can Help You

You might not think that non-native English speakers are able to craft really good elevator pitches.  Yet non-native English speakers often communicate in metaphors and these metaphors are often gems in communicating messages.  Listen to your international readers, you never know what ideas they can give you.

International readers bring different ways of seeing things and they can also show you opportunites or paths you had not thought of before.

When I started blogging on my two blogs last year, my instinct told me I needed two blogs, but it was my blog readers that showed me how to separate the two “elevator pitches” best.

Your elevator pitch is what summarizes your blog content strategy.  It is both the backbone to your blog content and the sign that tells your readers why they should stick around.  If you want international readers for you blog, you must also think of how you communicate your content strategy to them.  Make sure your elevator speech communicates well across all cultures.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

An Elevator Pitch To Cross Cultural Barriers [Day 1 -31DBBB]

Improve Your International Web Marketing

Last week I told you how I implemented one tip I read in the ProBlogger book and how it dramatically increased the number of visitors to this blog in March.

• 92% More Visitors In March With One Tip From The ProBlogger Book

How To Get A Free Copy Of The ProBlogger Book

• The ProBlogger Book by Chris Garrett and Darren Rowse.

Would you like to get a free copy of the ProBlogger book?  It is easy…

Answer this question:

What other series would you like to see here on this blog?

The series has to fall somewhere within the broad topic of getting international clients with better cross-cultural communication.

I have already written a series on:

• Watching Movies To Improve Your Cultural Skills
• Cross-Cultural Communication Tip Challenge

It is up to you to tell me which other series you would like to read here.  You can have a look at the list of resources on the right for inspiration.  It can be on a serious topic or a lighter one.

There are 6 books to be given away.  So there is room for some fun suggestions and everyone has a good chance of getting a book.

Post Your Answer: either in the comments below or in a message to me on Twitter @CindyKing

Deadline: Wednesday April 15th.

Then on Thursday April 16th through Friday April 17th we will vote for the best ones and the books will be mailed just after that.

More To Improve Your International Web Marketing

• 92% More Visitors In March With One Tip From The ProBlogger Book
• How One Tip From One Book Increased My Web Marketing Results
• How To Get A Free Copy Of The ProBlogger Book
• Winners Of The Free Problogger Book Contest & New Blog Post Series

>

Don’t Miss:

• International Web Marketing
• Improve Your International Marketing

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

How To Get A Free Copy Of The ProBlogger Book

Improve Your International Web Marketing

Want to win in a free copy of the ProBlogger book?
Simply suggest another series for this blog
6 books to win – see below

On Tuesday, I was so excited about my blogging statistics that I wrote about how implementing one tip from one book increased the number of blog visitors in March. It was almost a 100% increase, but not quite.  No more anticipation, let’s get straight to the details:

The Book On Blogging I Read In February:

The ProBlogger Book by Chris Garrett and Darren Rowse.

The One New Tip Implemented In March:

• Series posts – a 31-Day Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge

Counterize Statistics For CindyKing.biz

Here are the results for the number of visitors to this blog:

• 27457 in February 2009
• 52770 in March 2009
• = an increase of 92%

The Difference

I have been blogging every day since January 2008 and, of course, my blogging has evolved over time.  But there is only one difference in March, compared to February: a month long blog series on cross-cultural communication tips.

In March, I continued networking on Twitter, although not new,  this brought in great contacts too. In addition,

• New blog posts are tweeted automatically… this included the daily challenge posts
• All 31  cross-cultural tips were tweeted separately over the month with #cccctips

The social media channels I use for promoting my business keep me busy… in fact, so busy that I did not have time to try anything else new on the blog in March.

The ProBlogger Book

The ProBlogger book is very easy to read.  You can read my book review here.  It is also very thorough.  And one other thing… I found it very motivational.  Even though I was busy, I was inspired to implement at least one tip from the book.  Something I had not tried before.  Something to take my blogging further.

I chose to write a series.

The tag line on the ProBlogger book is: Secrets for blogging your way to a six-figure income

Now, maybe this is part of the reason why I kept putting off reading the book in the first place.  This tag line does not speak to me.  I blog to get leads for my small business.  I want to network with other businesses interested in the international business services I offer.

To me this book is more about the basics of great blogging.  It is for everyone who wants to use a blog and social media… no matter what the reason is.  Let’s face it, things change so much that you do need to understand how others are using blogs.  These same practices can often be adapted for your own needs.  If you are investing your time in blogging, it is worth doing it the best you can.

Back To Basics

In international business you often need to get back to the basics to get results.  Many people also advise businesses to develop stronger “basics” as a means to survive in today’s slow economy.  “Basics” does seem to be a buzz word right now.

And yet the ProBlogger book provides you with solid basics on blogging.

I am sure there are others out there who are like me.  You are used to blogging, but blogging is time consuming.  It is easy to think that you are covering all of the basics… even when you are not.  And the basics of good blogging lay the foundation for a great blog.  There are enough good blogging practices to try out and see what works for your blog.

This month I am reviewing more basics of good blogging.

The two authors of the ProBlogger book have other programs you might be interested in:

• Problogger’s 31 Days To Build A Better Blog – This free course starts April 6th… but you need to sign up.  Hopefully my work schedule allows me to follow this live – there is a forum too! Besides, my March series showed me that I should go back and cover the basics again.
• Chris Garrett’s Authority Blogger course – This is not free, but it extremely low priced for the value you get.  And the community itself is priceless.  This course covers the basics, and also takes you a bit further.  If you are serious about blogging, or if you are blogging for business, this is a great place to learn how to take your social media presence to an Authority Blogger level.

6 Free ProBlogger Books For The Best Suggestions

Would you like to get a free copy of the ProBlogger book?  It is easy…

Answer this question in the comments below:

What other series would you like to see here on this blog?

The series has to fall somewhere within the broad topic of:

Get International Clients with better Cross-Cultural Communication.

The deadline for your suggestions is Wednesday April 15th.

Then on Thursday April 16th through Friday April 17th we will vote for the best ones.

The books will be mailed just after that.

And of course, I hope you implement at least one of the blogging tips in the book!

More To Improve Your International Web Marketing

• 92% More Visitors In March With One Tip From The ProBlogger Book
• How One Tip From One Book Increased My Web Marketing Results
• How To Get A Free Copy Of The ProBlogger Book
• Winners Of The Free Problogger Book Contest & New Blog Post Series

>

Don’t Miss:

• International Web Marketing
• Improve Your International Marketing

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

92% More Visitors In March With One Tip From The ProBlogger Book

Improve Your International Web Marketing

During the month of March, my eyes have been glued to the Counterize statistics for this blog.   And specifically, the visitor statistics.

Now the month is not quite over, and I want to give you a screen shot of  the graph I have been monitoring. But these results just keep climbing by the hour… so of course, I want to see where the counter will end tonight, to give you the results for the full month of March.

The one thing that is obvious is that the number of visitors to this blog increased dramatically. I am not sure where it will end tonight, but it is:

• Not that far from a 100% increase in the number of visitors this month compared to last month’s visitors.

Unfortunately I have a few business meetings in Paris tomorrow and cannot show you this month’s traffic results straight away. But look out for my post on Thursday. You will see why I have been so excited.

Now, as soon as I started seeing these results I wondered why.

• What is so different about this month?  What happened?

Things You Learn From Books

This was a fairly easy question to answer.

• I have only done one thing differently this month. Just one.

I will let you in on part of the secret…

Some of you may have noticed the new list of “Resources” in the right sidebar. Well, I just added this list of resources to share with you after seeing these March results.

• One of the links there is to the “Book Reviews” I have done here on this blog.

Yes, the reason why the number of blog visitors increased this month is because I implemented one,  just one, tip after reading one of these books.

Despite the great results I do feel rather stupid.  You see, the book I read came out last year.  I thought this book was only for beginners and not for people like me with a little more experience, so I kept putting it aside.  Other books got on top of my reading list and I only got around to reading this particular book in February.

Details In Two Days

Don’t worry.  Thursday I will give you the details on:

• The book I read
• The single tip I implemented in March
• The results this one tip has had on my blog readership

Free Copies Of This Book

Plus, I would like to share this book with you.

So I am working on a way to give away several copies of the same book.  More about that on Thursday.

Put Good Advice Into Action

This book was an easy read.  And I found it so motivating that I decided to take the time and implement just one tip from the book.  As I said, I am not a beginner, but there were still several tips and bits of advice that I have not got around to implementing myself.  I simply chose one of these tips.

This reminded me of the advice I have often heard before:

• When you read a book, only aim to take away 2 or 3 nuggets and use them.  Take action.  Do not try to take away everything from the book.  Limit yourself… but do take action and implement them.

Of course, I understood the logic behind this.  In today’s busy world, it is hard to keep up with all of the reading I would like to do.  And sometimes it even appears harder to keep current and competitive.  This bit of advice now resonates loudly with me and I will try to follow this more in the future.

Stay tuned for Thursday post…  hopefully you will put this same tip into action and increase the number of visitors to your blog as much as I did in March.

And if you want to improve your web marketing, I will be giving away several copies of this same book… so you can read it and look for the nuggets you want to take away..

More To Improve Your International Web Marketing

- Connecting With People On Twitter
- New Marketing Taints Old Networking Tactics
- Is Social Media Changing Business Networking?
- More Segmentation = More International Sales
- Likability For International And Social Media Communication
- Choice Of Social Media For International Markets
- Social Media Marketing Across Cultures
- Cultural Differences In Social Media Marketing
- What Is Marketing?
- International Article Marketing
- Marketing Segmentation
- International Email Marketing
- Your International Marketing Choice
- International SEO For Quick Results
- Ways To Enter International Marketing
- How Too Many Contributions Spoil International Communications
- My Own Case Study – Small Business Flexibility In An Online World
- What Is Your Definition Of International Web Marketing
- Translation Agencies’ Narrow Vision

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

How One Tip From One Book Increased My Web Marketing Results

Book & Product Reviews

When the ProBlogger book came out I had been blogging daily on two blogs for about 5 months.  It immediately went on my wish list, but life got busy and I have only just read it.

• ProBlogger – Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett

Be sure to see my takeaways after reading this book and what this inspired me to give you next month.  It’s at the end of this article.

Two expert authors

Darren started ProBlogger in 2004 and is known as one of best people in the blogosphere today.

Chris has been working on the internet since the early 1990′s – before most people had even heard of the internet. Chris is known as an Authority Blogger and he is also my favorite social media expert.

Who is this book for?

All beginners.

…and anyone wondering how to improve their blogging.

People use different entry points to start bogging. This book is for all beginner bloggers. And it is also for bloggers that have already started blogging but realize they could improve their blogging and their blog.

Blogging basics

Darren and Chris cover all of the first steps any new blogger needs to know:

• Choosing a blog platform
• Domain name selection
• Deciding on a niche to target
• Basic understanding blog analytics.

ProBlogger Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income is a stand alone guide to blogging. Unlike many blogging books, it doesn’t stop with the basics.

Get more out of your blogging

Darren and Chris share their expertise to show you how to become a real pro-blogger.

ProBlogger Secrets for Blogging is also useful for bloggers that are moving on to something slightly new with their blog, like:

• Advertising on a blog
• Blog marketing
• Writing for blog networks

For me, a good example was the section on buying and selling blogs. This is something that I have no experience with and it was a good primer for me in case this comes up some time in the future. I knew that it was a common practice to place blogs on sale, but I didn’t know was that it was common for potential buyers to approach a blog owner and ask to buy an existing blog.

Put it immediately into practice

One of the things I liked the most in this book was the ProBlogger blog tips that appear throughout the book. Each tip is related to the chapter and gives the reader ideas on how to implement what is covered in each chapter. This makes it very easy to know what to do and to take action.

At the end of each chapter there is an exercise for the reader to complete.  For example, creating the listing to sell your blog. These exercises are similar to the Tips but they help the reader assimilate the content even more.

For my international readers

This book is very easy for people who speak  English as a second language.  It is far from a technical manual, and more like  an easy-to-read useful how-to guide.

What I took away from the ProBlogger book

The one thing that I have learned blogging is to regularly evaluate my blog.  You cannot sit back and think that you have mastered everything.  Blogs are social media.  You need to regularly take a look at your blog from different viewpoints.   Up to now, I usually do this every 2 or 3 months.  Over time, this process of re-evaluation is what greatly improves both your blogging and your blog.

After a quick glance through this book, I found it interesting enough to decide to use it for just that: to review my blogging on this blog.  And I’m glad I did.  I actually enjoyed reviewing my blogging practices, strategy and writing habits with this book in hand.

It has now been well over a year since I started blogging,  and yet I also still picked up quite a few valuable tips.

Yes, this was a review of the basics for me, but these are the backbone of a great blog.  What I liked most was that the experience of reviewing my blogs while reading this book was very motivational.  The Tips make you want to take action immediately.

I now have a couple of improvement projects for both this blog and Get International Clients.  The main takeaway for this blog:  more post series.

A 31 Day Challenge To Improve Your Cross-Cultural Communication

Each day during the month of March, you will have one tip to help you improve your cross-cultural communication.

Now, I usually write about cross-cultural communication for international business, but these tips will also include many cross-cultural communication basics.  So this challenge will also interest people who are not in international business.

Cross-cultural communication is a vast subject.  This challenge in March will cover one aspect and there will be three other monthly challenges later in the year.

Read more Book Reviews:

Communication For International Sales

Here are reviews of the books I have read recently to help me with communication for international sales:

• A Writer’s Guide To Powerful Paragraphs By Victor C. Pellegrino
• Content Rich By Jon Wuebben
• Get Content Get Customers by Joe Pulizzi & Newt Barrett
• Letting Go Of The Words – Writing Web Content That Works By Janice Redish
• Stories That Sell By Casey Hibbard
• The Culturally Customized Web Site By Nitish Singh And Arun Pereira
• The Magic Of Pre-Writing By Steven Osborne
• The Secret To Writing A Successful And Outstanding Blog By Liz Strauss

International Sales

Here are reviews of the books I have read recently to help me with international sales:

• All of the Little Sales Books by Jeffrey Gitomer
• Asinine Advertising By Herschell Gordon Lewis
• Influencer: The Power To Change Anything by Kerry Patterson – Joseph Grenny – David Maxfield – Ron McMillian & Al Switzler
• Sales Strategy From The Inside Out By Duane Sparks

International Web Marketing

Here are reviews of the books I have read recently to help me with international web marketing:

• Bit Literacy Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload By Mark Hurst
• Dotcomology The Science Of Making Money Online By Stone Evans
• How The Internet Works By Preston Gralla
• How to Win Sales & Influence Spiders By Catherine Seda
• Landing Page Optimization By Tim Ash
• Mastering Online Marketing By Mitch Meyerson
• Multichannel Marketing By Akin Arikan
• Online Competitive Intelligence By Helen P. Burwell
• ProBlogger by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett
• Stats Faceslap By Ed Rivis
• The Ultimate Web Marketing Strategy By Ed Rivis
• Website Optimization by Andrew B. King

Here are some Product Reviews:

• Ed Rivis’ Stats Faceslap
• Success Chef’s Marketing E.S.P.
• The Management Tools I Use For Content Created To Be Re-Packaged
• The Ultimate Desktop Copy Coach By Tony Flores
  
• Web Video University And International Marketing
  

All of the book and product reviews here are totally unsolicited… spontaneous …and without affiliate links. These are books I have read recently and only the ones that I share with friends. So all of the reviews you find here are on books and products that I highly recommend.

Also, as these are books and products that I have recently read since, this is not a list of my all-time favorite books. Hopefully I will get around to reviewing my favorite culture and international business books sometime soon.

Use these skills in your international tactics on the…
Get International Clients International Sales Road Map:

Guide To Multichannel Marketing • Do you know how to communicate with different countries? This guide shows you how

Guide To International Web Marketing • Do you know how to pull all of your different international marketing pieces together? This guide shows you how

Step 5 – Connect With Your International Markets Connect… • With culture customized content • With trust and empathy • With strong cross-cultural communication

International Business Success Basics • Do you feel at a loss with regards to dealing with international business? This guide gives you the background information you need right from the start.

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

ProBlogger by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett