The Trade Bridge Blog

Wiki + Wiki = 2Wiki

The Web 2.0 revolution is gaining momentum amongst international trade media mavens. Note Laurel Delaney's new GlobeTrade wiki which was announced to her e-mail subscribers this week and the pending launch of FITA's International Trade wiki (the site, www.globaltrade.net, isn't available yet). These two new tools appear to more complimentary than competitive with Laurel's wiki focusing on professional networking and the FITA wiki focusing on industry-created trade information. And by the way, if you want to be counted among the border busters committed to global trade I recommend subscribing to Laurel's free newsletter, Borderbuster, and FITA's Really Useful Sites for Trade Professionals Newsletter. Borderbusters does a great job of promoting the business of exporting to small and medium companies and Really Useful Sites, edited by John McDonnell, is a must-have for wired trade professionals. Enjoy!

Note: Web 2.0 image above is from Andy Budd's web site.

Trade Resources Proliferating

Proliferation can mean "an idea whose time has come." I came across two interesting trade resources today and was reminded of a third. Check out GlobalGoodsTV for online video featuring international trade news and analysis AND product videos. This is brand new and could be a great way to get online video exposure for importers and exporters. Then my friend, Huyen Bui of DI-Central, sent me a link to a super intermediary, B2X, which specializes in acting as importer of record for importers that want to bring in products from China, virtually risk free. I'm anxious to find out how their platform actually performs as they progress. And that lead me to the international trade expert, journalist and publisher, Michael White, and his podcast, the International Business Report. Michael is a trailblazer and innovator in using media to expand the cause of international trade, to educate and to inform. I can almost imagine no borders as I surf betwixt and between these sites.

2.0 Kudos to Global California

Wikis, podcasts, desktop sharing....what's a person to do? Global California had many of the answers at their annual conference in Sacramento recently. This conference was an abundance of useful and practical information for importers and exporters, not just in California, but all over the US. I went as an exhibitor for Trade Bridge and spent most my time listening to an A-list line up of experts and service providers assembled by Tony Livoti and his team at the Monterey Bay International Trade Association. Highlights of the topics covered include using Web 2.0 tools to collaborate on product development with overseas partners, practical suggestions for marketing on the web, translation/interpretation/localization, sourcing and researching online, new developments in online security that can be applied to international collaboration, and an eCommerce source for pre-shipment funding. Just listening to these folks talk about the internet resources available to importers and exporters had me want to start exporting something!

You've got to know where to go.

Best Sites for Global Entrepreneurs from CNN.com - I like this list of web sites assembled by Fortune Small Business (appearing on CNN.com and written by Alessandra Bianchi). It puts Alibaba and finding buyers and sellers first on the list. Isn't everthing else secondary?

And don't miss the World Bank's Doing Business database for immediate feedback on the regulatory climates all around the world. You can get a regulatory snapshot of any country in the world within a few clicks of your mouse. Be sure to check out the rankings of countries you are interested in for Trading Across Borders and Enforcing Contracts. For instance, while the U.S. requires 6 basic export documents, China requires 12 basic import documents....where do the extra 6 docs come from?

More useful links can be found in this article about Going Global from the same sources.

Border Wait Times at Your Fingertips

Both the US and Canadian customs services have online resources to find out how long you'll have to wait to cross the border (southern & northern) at various points. So if you're reading this and waiting at St. Stephen or Blue Water Bridge I suggest you hightail it over to Rock Island or the Detroit and Canada Tunnel where you' won't have to wait at all :-)