How to Cut Costs on Export Sales

My recent contribution for the American Express OPEN Forum through my relationship with Small Business Trends:

8 Ways to Cut Costs on Export Sales
by Laurel Delaney

Snippet:

1. Shift your production to a nation with lower labor costs. For example, if you currently manufacture in North America, try outsourcing to Vietnam, Indonesia or Malaysia, where the labor cost is cheaper and the quality acceptable. At the same time, examine potential transportation costs (refer to No. 7) to ensure you maintain, or even lower, that part of your overseas expenses.

What are some other ways in which you have tightened your belt -- reduced expenses -- on export sales to ensure you maintain decent profits?

Export-Import Bank Awards Small-Business Exporter of the Year 2011

According to Export-Import Bank of the United States, the small-business Exporter of the Year 2011 award winner is: Wayne, Pennsylvania-based Wallquest Inc.

Wallquest Inc., a family-owned firm based in Wayne, Pa., sells wallpaper in more than 50 foreign markets, including China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Brazil, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. Last year, the company’s exports rose 76% to over $17 million. The company’s growth since 2008 has been driven by the export market, according to Wallquest Vice President Jack Collins.

Learn more here.  Press release here.

Congratulations to Wallquest.  May their exports keep growing!

Photo credit:  Wallquest Inc. homepage

How to Establish Healthy Global Business Relationships On LinkedIn

Proceed with caution and use a critical eye when evaluating posts and search results on LinkedIn or any other social networking platform.

With this article for About.com's Import and Export site (full disclosure:  I serve as their guide), I provide examples of what to avoid and what to look for when identifying potential import/export opportunities.

Read:

LinkedIn:  How to Pre-Qualify Import and Export Opportunities on LinkedIn

Let's connect:  Laurel Delaney, LinkedIn

Illustration:  LinkedIn logo

News From Around the World

As reported from the Arizona Daily Star:

A 49-foot-tall head is fixed on a torso with cranes and integrated into a floating stage on Lake Constance near Bregenz, Austria. The stage is being prepared for the opera "Andre Chenier," which will premiere July 20 at the Bregenz Opera festival.

Photo credit:  AP/dapd/Felix Kaestle

More impressive photograph (same one -- larger) at the bottom here.

The World In Words

How to stay on top of the word:  Typomaps.net.  Combines the elements of geography with typography.  Created by German designer Dirk Schaechter.  Cool.

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney, The Global Small Business Blog

Competitive Import/Export Intelligence

In case you missed this, there are three online resources (that I am aware of) that offer import/export trade data, competitive intelligence and more.

Learn all about them here.  Sign up for the newsletter while you're there.