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Doug Barry, of the U.S. Commercial Services, recently sat down with Jim Blasingame on “The Small Business Advocate Show” to discuss potential ways to make a small business more competitive in an increasingly global marketplace. The first suggestion that both Mr. Barry and Mr. Blasingame had was to go to one of the 108 offices for the United States Commercial Services to get advice, which is usually free. However, Mr. Barry quickly brought up another alternative that he feels is better: attending trade shows.

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think fashion? Glamorous shows? A plethora of famous names? How about an international business?

The fashion industry is hard to get into and just as hard to keep up with. Trends are constantly changing which creates the need for extensive research which in the fashion industry is known as fashion forecasting. It is the process of analyzing past buying patterns and using them to make projections about the future. This is what defines the new trend for the season. It is presented to critics and customers in what is the most significant event in the industry - fashion week.

providing local and organic foods are growing in popularity as worldwide consumers have responded favorably to sustainable options. Local foods are typically fresher, healthier, and have less of an impact on the environment. As this trend grows in popularity, the newest businesses to join the sustainable food bandwagon are actually in the .

The has been hit hard by the recent economic downturn. Hotels all over the world have experienced a drop in occupancy rates due to this decline. So renovations and sprucing up rooms seems like it would be last on their priority list now, right? Not necessarily. Some hotel chains have decided that it is worth their investment to improve rooms, lobbies and other facilities to make them more modern and up to date and appealing to travelers.

At a large annual conference of marketing, the words “tweet”, “fans” and “like” were used almost as often as “touch points”, “benchmark” and “prioritize.” Why? The reason for this is rather simple: The importance of social media is expanding considerably in today’s modern business world. Holding its 100th anniversary meeting, the discussed marketing gains by companies that are using to amplify their brand name and advertise more effectively.

Recently, has been experiencing of epic proportions that have disrupted public transit systems, educational systems, and shortages in necessary commodities such as petroleum. There must be a good reason for an entire country to deal with strikes that are so disruptive, and there is: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for the government to raise the legal retirement age from 60 to 62. Who wants to work for two more years before their pension kicks in? That question explains the reason for the strikes, but I feel that it is worth exploring the reasons why the minimum retirement age should be raised.

Discussion about the countries, Brazil, Russia, India, and China, has become widespread as global trade continues to see growth in the near future. Doug Barry, the Director of Marketing and Communication at the United States Commercial Service was able to emphasize this growth in his article . These countries are on everyone's radar when looking for potential market growth and investment. They have proved their worth so far in the past couple years and there doesn't seem to be much slow down in the next decade. Now the only question is where to focus the most attention and what actions are being made to ensure we don't miss out on a great opportunity.

Global water usage has exploded in recent years. This has been led by emerging markets demanding increasing amounts of clean water for consumption, and the agriculture industry needing more water to produce the food required to meet their new demand. These two increases in demand combined with the shrinking supply of clean water have led many to predict a water shortage sometime in the future. To fight this problem there are two options: decrease demand or increase supply. The addresses the option of increasing supply while this post will discuss efforts to decrease demand.

So how exactly to you advance from a frontier market to an emerging market? Some people classify frontier markets as a subset of emerging markets, but there is a clear distinction. We’ve talked in previous posts about systematic risk and political instability as huge factors to impeding growth. Once a country can overcome many of these risks, and grow a more stable infrastructure, it is well on its way to becoming a developed economy.

Despite the tendency to think otherwise, it is possible for businesses of any size to have a successful strategy centered on exporting products overseas. While many entrepreneurs and small business owners may believe that they cannot possibly develop a successful international business strategy due to a lack of knowledge about foreign customers, poor foreign language skills, or size constraints, experts in the field of international business would urge them to push those doubts aside.