New College Syllabus: Portuguese and Chinese

By Rafael Gerena, of Instruxo

As China and Brazil experience strong economic growth...

Chinese and Portuguese now rank among the Top 5 foreign languages with the fastest-growing enrollment rates at U.S. colleges.  College enrollment in Arabic classes boomed 46% in the three-year-period ending in 2009. The jump resulted from the U.S. government's recruiting of Arabic interpreters to help with communication in the Middle East.

But Spanish (864,986 enrollees) remains the the most popular foreign language studied on U.S. college campuses in terms of total enrollment.

Read more here or here.

The Bottom Line: U.S. college students are shifting the languages they study to match the countries experiencing strong economic growth.

Sources: 

International Monetary Fund, Modern Language Association

Rafael Gerena is the author of the "Go Global" blog and a former Economics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal. He can be reached at 407-536-9146, rg@instruxo.com, www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelgerena or www.twitter.com/Instruxo

Instruxo LLC Selected Among Florida’s Most Innovative Companies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Instruxo LLC Selected Among Florida’s Most Innovative Companies to Demo at TechVenture 2010

Demonstrators represent growing number of next-generation technologies being developed across Florida at TechVenture 2010

(Orlando, Fl., November 28, 2010) – Florida Technology Journal, a leading source for business technology news, is proud to announce its list of companies demonstrating at this year’s TechVenture 2010.  The companies selected for this year’s event represent the growing number of next-generation technologies being developed across Florida in multiple industry sectors. Instruxo LLC is recognized for its pioneering technology and is now given the opportunity to showcase its product to a room full of industry influencers and investors at this year’s event, taking place December 2-3 at the Sonesta Orlando Downtown Hotel.

TechVenture’s line up of company demonstrations represents a wide array of growing technology industries in the Southeast region such as alternative energy, cleantech, cloud solutions, digital media, information technology, medical device, software, web applications and wireless. Those companies selected all met the criteria of being headquartered in Florida, privately owned with 1-50 employees with annual revenues from pre-revenue up to $50 million. In addition, proprietary technology and the product or solution has been commercialized, in trials or beta testing stages.

“We had a large pool of truly innovative companies submit for this year’s competition, making the selection process extremely difficult,” said David Glass, publisher of Florida Technology Journal. “Those selected will have the opportunity to not only showcase their technology at TechVenture but also will connect with some of Florida’s most influential decision-makers. We congratulate them as their technology demonstrates the most competitive advantages in the marketplace.”

More than just your average technology conference, TechVenture connects early stage high-tech companies with growth resources such as corporate buyers, university researchers, incubators, entrepreneurs and other sources of capital. It is a premier conference showcasing the rapidly changing technology landscape within the southeast region.

Sponsors for TechVenture 2010 include, TriNet, Vantage Communications, University of Central Florida and Atlantic.net

Complete information on TechVenture 2010, including registration and conference agenda, is available at: http://www.floridatechnologyjournal.com/tech-venture-2010

About Florida Technology Journal:

Florida Technology Journal is a leading publication for business technology news, serving as the go-to source for more than a quarter million high-tech professionals. Based in Tampa, Florida, the publication’s mission is to promote, educate and connect Florida's high-tech community. Along with TechVenture, Florida Technology Journal also hosts After Five, the Internet Technology Summit and the Florida Technology Leadership Conference. Each event brings together Florida’s technology leaders and entrepreneurs. For more information on the Florida Technology Journal, visit: www.FloridaTechnologyJournal.com. 

Orlando: International Markets Event

By Rafael Gerena, of Instruxo

Dr. Antonio "Tony" Villamil (a former U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs) will moderate a panel in Orlando exploring "International Market Trends and Opportunities." The discussion will be one part of an all-day economics forum being held at Orlando International Airport's Hyatt Regency Hotel. Other panelists will include Dr. Robert Cruz (Miami-Dade County Office of Economic Development & International Trade) and Michael Aller (Rollins College).

The event costs $50 to attend if you purchase a ticket in advance, or $65 at the door. For more details - or to register - click here.

CALENDAR NOTE:
The international economics event is Friday afternoon. But Friday morning, you can check out our company's (Instruxo's) exhibit at TechVenture 2010, which will be held at the Sonesta Hotel Downtown Orlando. We'll be discussing ways for Florida companies to boost exports overseas. 

The Internet's Multilingual Revolution

By Rafael Gerena, of Instruxo

John Yunker put together this cool map showing the approved International Domain Names (IDNs) by region. He writes: "Notice the wide range of scripts over India and the wide range of Arabic domains... Right now, more than half of the content on the Internet is not in English. Ten years from now, the percentage of English content could easily drop below 25%." 

Today, he points out, web surfers can find Yandex, a Russian search engine, by visiting yandex.ru. And clicking on Яндекс.рф redirects to Yandex.ru. "But flash forward a few years and these Latin URLs (though they’ll still exist) may no longer function as the front doors into these markets, " Yunker says. "In a few years, I doubt this redirection will exist."

You can read John's full blog post here.

Bottom Line: Companies need to adapt to a new business era in which global customers are demanding to be served in their native language. English-language dominance of the Internet is fading fast.

Rafael Gerena is the author of the "Go Global" blog and a former Economics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal. He can be reached at 407-536-9146, rg@instruxo.com, www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelgerena or www.twitter.com/Instruxo

Your Child's First Pro Job? Overseas?

The spread of international air travel - and the ability of cell phones, Skype and FedEx to link economies worldwide - suggest your child's first professional job may be overseas. Forget about visiting your kid in Jersey or California- Start thinking Hong Kong, Sydney or Buenos Aires. A recent Marketplace Radio program predicts white-collar jobs of the future will require global work experience. And competition for those jobs will be fierce. Parents: Time to pair the abacus with those Rosetta Stone language CDs you've been considering :)

Listen to the Radio Program by clicking here.
To help your child land their first international job or internship, 
visit www.goinglobal.com.

Good News to Share: 
My company, Instruxo, beat some stiff competition and was selected to demo at the TechVenture 2010 exhibit Dec 2 & 3 in Orlando, Fl. The event will be overflowing with ideas, entrepreneurs and investors. We will promote the idea of doing business globally. Should be fun. Stop by if you can.

best, ralph


Rafael Gerena is the author of the "Go Global" blog and a former Economics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal. He can be reached at 407-536-9146, rg@instruxo.com, www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelgerena or www.twitter.com/Instruxo

Orlando Event: International Business Breakfast

Carmenza Gonzalez (Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission) will be one of four speakers who will discuss overseas business opportunities at the Sheraton Orlando Downtown. The panel will discuss the do's and don'ts of international trade and related topics. This should be a nice networking opportunity for Central Florida's exporting community. (The event will be held Nov. 5, 7:30 - 9am).

For more information, click here.

Scheduled Panelists:
Carmenza Gonzalez 
Vice President, international business development, Metro Orlando EDC

Larry Chastang 
CPA, managing principal of international services, Larsonallen

Morgan McGrath 
Head of international banking, JPMorgan Chase

Tom Raleigh 
Shareholder, Akerman Senterfitt, specializing in cross-border transactions, m&a, and business immigration planning and compliance

I'll be there.
best, ralph.


Rafael Gerena is the author of the "Go Global" blog and a former Economics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal. He can be reached at 407-536-9146, rg@instruxo.com, www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelgerena or www.twitter.com/Instruxo

20 Global Trends Shaping the Next Decade

One billion new middle class consumers enter the global economy from emerging markets. Healthcare becomes the largest expense for the world's consumers. Cloud computing brings the end of the brick-and-mortar office. That's a vision of the world in 2020, described in a new report that looks at demographic, social, economic and technology shifts shaping the next decade.

These global trends will require companies to become comfortable conversing with customers who speak different languages, play different sports and eat different foods.

Read report summary here. 
Entire report: Twenty Trends that will Shape the Next Decade

Bottom line: 
Entrepreneurs will need to blend hard-technical skills and soft-cultural skills to reach billions of new customers in emerging markets. 


Rafael Gerena is CEO of Instruxo LLC, and author of the the "Go Global" blog. He is a former Economics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal.

Foreign Flavor Spices Stock Price

The company's stock price is up more than 30% this year. Why? Because Yum! Brands - owner of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC - sells food to consumers in more than 100 countries. The U.S. market may be slow, but Yum's tacos, pizza and fried chicken are selling fast in Asia and Latin America. Within 5 years, Yum expects to sell twice as much food in China than in the U.S. 

Did that sink in? Told another way: An American company is going to be selling more American fast-food in China than in America. (The blue bar in the graphic above tells the interesting story.)

Bottom line:
Consumer spending power is shifting to markets outside of the U.S. Companies that meet this new demand are being rewarded with higher stock prices.

Cool Tool: Free Webinar 
Hot Export Market for U.S. Telecom Manufacturers
Oct. 14, U.S. International Trade Administration

Asia is Twitter King

America is not the center of the Twitter Universe: Asia is Twitter King :)

Users in Asia (mainly Japan, Indonesia and South Korea) account for 37 percent of all tweets out of roughly 3 million messages tracked in a recent study by Semiocast. Even more interesting: North America's Tweets are declining. Hmm...

Separately, Channelnewsasia.com reports that "Asians are muscling their way into traditionally Western-dominated social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Internet blogs, prompting major players to sit up and take notice."

Read more here and here.

Bottom line:

Twitter and other Social Media channels offer an elegant way for companies to talk to Global Customers- especially consumers in Asia's Booming Markets.

Check out our Twitter updates in Chinese - Spanish - English

Obama Picks Orlando Mayor for Trade Panel

President Barack Obama tapped Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to serve on an advisory panel on international trade. That's nice news for Orlando, which is working hard to diversify its economy. 

As I wrote in a recent Orlando Sentinel Editorial, Central Florida needs to work harder to boost exports and raise its global business profile. The world needs to know there's more to Central Florida than theme parks. Dyer's appointment to the federal panel should help. He will be joined by global business leaders from FedEx, Procter & Gamble Co., and U.S. Steel.  

Maybe Dyer can make new business friends who could invest in Orlando? Read more here.

www.instruxo.com

Partners include

World Trade Center Orlando

The Path to Fast Sales?

Selling internationally is the proven path to fast sales. The chart above shows that U.S. companies focused on selling globally (shown in green) are growing much faster than rivals focused on selling domestically. The winners include Exxon Mobil, Intel, HP and Coca-Cola. For example, executives say Coke "approaches the world not as an American company that does a lot of business abroad, but as a global company that numbers the U.S. among its hundreds of markets."

What's driving these sales trends? Well, the U.S. economy limped to 1.6% growth in the second quarter. In comparison, economists expect brisk economic growth of 9.8% this year in China, 8.3% in India and 7.5% in Brazil. (Wall Street Journal subscribers can read the story here.)

Bottom Line:
The best growth opportunities are outside of the U.S.
Graph Source: WSJ

www.instruxo.com

Partners include

World Trade Center Orlando

Facebook: A Global Communications Beehive

Facebook's 500 million users would rank it as the world's third largest country based on population. Other social media companies, such as Twitter and MySpace, are also population giants. In sum, social media sites have become Beehives of Global Communication.

Bottom line: U.S. companies seeking global customers need to integrate multi-lingual social media as part of their international marketing plans.

Need Twitter updates in Chinese or Spanish?

We can help. See our Twitter Updates in:

Chinese   Spanish   English

www.instruxo.com

Partners include

World Trade Center Orlando

Hotels.com's Global Growth Spurt

In just two years, Hotels.com added 19 languages, improved global consistency, and, most important, improved local relevance.

It’s nice to see the business press taking notice.

A Wall Street Journal profile of Johan Svanstrom, the head of Hotels.com’s Asia group, sheds light on why the company has done so well. The article begins:

Online travel giant Expedia Inc. had fewer than 20 employees in Hong Kong and no Chinese-language website when Johan Svanstrom took on his role as Asia-Pacific vice president of Expedia unit Hotels.com five years ago. Under 38-year-old Mr. Svanstrom, Hotels.com has added 13 new country-specific websites in the region and more than 160 staff. (WSJ subscribers can read the profile here.)

Source: Wall Street Journal, Global By Design

Need a Chinese-language Website?

Give us a call :-)

888-580-0702

www.instruxo.com

Multi-lingual Videos - Website Translation - Global Consulting

Partners include

World Trade Center Orlando

Global Housing: Booming Beijing, Declining Dubai

Attention U.S. Architects, Engineers and real estate brokers: Sharpen your pencils and hop a plane for Asia. The housing market was sizzling in the first quarter of 2010 in Asian cities, such as Beijing (home prices up 37%), Singapore (up 28%) and Mumbai (21%). See graph above. As for other parts of the world, well... the housing market keeps singing the blues in Dubai, Dublin and the U.S.

Bottom Line:
U.S. firms and entrepreneurs serving real estate clients will prosper by opening (or expanding) offices in Asia and other global hotbeds.

Looking for New Customers in Dublin or Dubai?

Instruxo Exporting Video

Contact Instruxo Toll Free at 888-580-0702

Multi-lingual Videos - Website Translation - Global Consulting

www.instruxo.com

Partners include

World Trade Center Orlando

Can Florida Double Exports in 5 years?

The Florida Chamber of Commerce is taking a leadership role and calling for the state to double exports in 5 years. Currently, international trade accounts for roughly 1 in 6 Florida jobs, and the jobs typically pay wages 30 percent higher than the state average. 

Pumping exports is a smart strategy pursued by many business titans:  International sales account for more than half of all revenue at companies such as Intel, IBM, HP, Oracle and Apple.

Read the Florida Chamber's (6-page) Export Report, by clicking here.

Read the U.S. Chamber's (4-page) Export Report, by clicking here.

Photo Credit: Port Canaveral

Looking for New Customers in China or Chile? 

Instruxo Exporting Video

Contact Instruxo for a Free Consultation at 888-580-0702

Multi-lingual Videos - Website Translation - Global Consulting

www.instruxo.com
Partners include

World Trade Center Orlando

3 Technology Tips for Global Sales

Need a hand taking your business global? 
Here are 3 free technology tips:


1. Use email and Skype, available in 29 languages and used in almost every country around the world, to build and maintain customer relationships.

2. Tap LinkedIn groups that focus on international business to network with like-minded executives.  Check out LinkedIn groups, such as Go Global Internationalization Forum, and International Export Import. To discover new groups, visit LinkedIn's search box for Groups.


3. Listen to SBA podcasts about exporting.


Read Instruxo's Global Trade Editorial by clicking below:
Central Florida, Let's Go Global.

www.instruxo.com

Partners include

World Trade Center Orlando

Blackberry Phone Death in the Middle East?

Blackberry phones offer fast email service that's helped the company grow to roughly 40 million global users. But the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced that it will ban use of the device's email and web-browsing services in October because the data is encrypted. The UAE says encryption poses a national security threat because it prevents the government from eavesdropping on potential terrorists and criminals. Obviously, such a ban would be a communications headache for U.S. business executives (who are Blackberry users) visiting this part of the Middle East.


The bottom line: Before traveling globally, call your cell phone provider to find out if your mobile service works in the country you're visiting. Inquire about international calling options and fees.


Read more about the proposed Blackberry ban by clicking here and here.

www.instruxo.com

Partners include

World Trade Center Orlando

Asia Dominates Global Internet Ranking

Asia has more than triple the number of Internet users that North America has. This means U.S. companies looking to expand need to target Asia for new growth opportunities. Targeting Asia is crucial because its population is projected to grow much faster than North America's.


Bottom Line: U.S. companies that ignore Asia's booming market will be crushed by competitors who sell to the Far East.


For more Internet rankings, click here.
Graph Source: Internet World Stats

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www.instruxo.com

Partners include

World Trade Center Orlando