Blog Posts by Subject: International Business

A conference on October 7-8 will focus on Greater China. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet with U.S. Commercial Service diplomats stationed there, participate in panel discussions in the latest industry trends in China, identify emerging consumer markets, learn about U.S. Government assistance programs and network with officials, experts and business people experienced in the Chinese market.

According to a recent blog entry by the Foreign Trade Division of the U.S. Census Bureau the U.S. export of goods and services hit a record high during the month of June 2013 with more $134 billion in goods and close to $57 billion in services being vended abroad.

The second quarter of 2013 (April-June) saw a grand total of $565.8 billion in U.S. goods and services exports which is the highest quarterly amount ever recorded.

If you are a businessperson already engaged in international trade or just a small businessperson interested in international trade then World Trade Week NYC 2013 may be of interest to you. The New York international business community celebrates World Trade Week to underscore the importance of the foreign trade in goods and services to the New York City metropolitan area economy.

There is a full calendar of trade focused events in the region including two at the 

Today I'm going to write about trade shows. I'm going to use as an example the recent trade show/exhibition for the violin (really, string instrument) trade, MondoMusica New York 2013.

What are Trade Shows? The name says it all. Businesses and businesspeople getting together at an event organized for the chance to network, display their wares, buy and sell — to each other and, possibly, the public.

How do you find out about trade shows? Good sources would be Trade Journals and Directories. Some directory titles:

Association Meeting & Event 

NYPL's small business website, smallbiz.nypl.org, can link you to hundreds of free and low-cost assistance programs through its Services Directory. New York City is one of the best places to start a business, and a wealth of small business services is available to entrepreneurs through local & state government, non-profit organizations, economic development corporations and neighborhood community groups. There are hundreds of programs, funded separately, not connected to each other, so 

Crude. Oil that is. Black gold. Texas tea. Politics. Lobbying. Old boys. Influence.

Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power, by Steve Coll.

It may shock the gentle reader to learn that petroleum is power. Well, maybe not. Look around — at the street, at houses and businesses. Without oil we'd stop, and maybe freeze (but we'd have light, since oil is rarely used for electricity 

We pride ourselves on our United States patent system. But, to misquote, all patents are local (or at least national). So anyone who wants patent protection in another country will have to meet the filing and legal requirements of that national government. And, of course, do a patent search!

Fortunately, there is an online patent search site that will search almost all international patents (including United States patents): Espacenet (discussed below). Of course, as with United states patents, some types of research into patents for other 

Do you own a business? Work as designer, distributer, or manage a retail boutique? Maybe you're a buyer for a large store? You need to find reliable suppliers for your business.

Panjiva, a new database you can access at SIBL, NYPL's business library, can help you identify suppliers and manufacturers in over 190 countries. A search in Panjiva for a keyword such as sweaters, coffee beans, or guitars, returns results from the database of over 1 miilion suppliers 

It's not quite time to worry about choosing your beach reading yet. But Memorial Day is coming, and so it is time to think ahead just a little. With that in mind, here is a selection of books new to the New York Times list of Business Best Sellers published this last Sunday, May 13th.

Also, a quick look at the Nielsen BookScan listing in the weekend's Wall Street Journal shows some titles new to this column, although one of them, The Art of the Sale, was mentioned in a recent look at 

I don't want to neglect highlighting some of the newer business best-sellers from the New York Times (Sunday, April 1, 2012, page 7). I've also included a selection from Nielsen BookScan as published in the April 7-8, 2012 Wall Street Journal (page C10). Happy Reading!

Each title is noted with its ranking. Click on any of the titles below and place a hold to request the item. Remember to update your contact information (phone number or e-mail address), so you are notified when the book arrives for you at your 

At the suggestion of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce (MCC), SIBL recently hosted a lively orientation for NYC-based foreign trade commissioners and their staff. The attendees learned effective and efficient ways to mine business-to-business (B2B) contacts from online business directories accessible at NYPL's Science, Industry and Business Library.

Trade commission staff from 

Do I have your attention? OK! Yes — the money is real. It's time for SIBL's New York StartUP! 2012 Business Plan Competition! If you've been thinking about starting a business in Manhattan, The Bronx, or Staten Island, this money could help make your dreams a reality.

But don't think there will be a free lunch. You're gonna have to work for it. Although there will be a short break for the Thanksgiving Holiday, there are still a few more 

Are you planning to start a business? Are you interested in doing something you really love? Perhaps it's using your expertise to start a service business — maybe you’re a chef with a unique restaurant concept. Do you know who your competition is? You’ll need to find out.

A great place to research competitors is Reference USA, an online directory available on site at SIBL and several other NYPL libraries. Use the 

In addition to my "day job" as material selector for the neighborhood libraries, I've been a member of the Steering Committe of World Trade Week NYC for the past six years.  Ever since the tenure of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President of the United States has officially declared the third full week of every May to be World Trade Week.  

In the beginning it was known as "National Foreign