One of the biggest challenges for expatriates today is finding the best tools to stay in touch while they are overseas. Email and internet connections are improving even in developing countries. The World Bank has reported that internet access is increasingly important for economic growth.

When traveling and working overseas, expats on longer assignments have the choice of changing addresses or looking for mail forwarding services. There are some choices available for expatriates to have their mail sent to a single destination and then re-packaged and sent to them overseas. However, the downside is the long lead times and potential challenges of getting mail out of customs houses in foreign locations.

Another group with a clear need for better communications is the “location independent” professionals or “web workers” who either telecommute or operate from home offices around the world. Their livelihood depends on being able to receive and read their mail on a timely and regular basis. Having a virtual address to go along with their virtual office is already a standard expectation.

One service that delivers your mail for either personal or commercial needs is Earth Class Mail. Their services enable individuals and businesses to operate from anywhere in the world with an internet connection to receive and manage their postal mail online.

With my recent relocation to Central Asia, it was much easier since I didn’t have to process several change of address forms for my bills, subscriptions or official mail. Even though my move included visits in the USA to the east and west coasts plus a transit through Europe, I was constantly able to access my mail. For the important messages, I appreciated the ability to download scanned copies to my laptop.

Earth Class Mail also makes it simple to package and forward any physical mail that you need to receive in an overseas location. The items arrive in plain packaging and the details of the shipment available online can ease the process of dealing with customs declarations.

For professionals looking to maintain a legal business address in the USA, there are also street addresses from Earth Class Mail that can be used for coporate and LLC communications. Another recent feature that they have added is the ability to deposit checks to bank accounts directly from your inbox.

While there may be other services that promise to re-send your packages to overseas locations, Earth Class Mail appears to offer a valuable array of services that can assist expatriates in managing their personal and professional mail on a global basis.

Other mail forwarding services:

Personal Mail International, Inc. (http://www.pmipmi.com)

US Global Mail (http://www.usglobalmail.com)

ShipitAPO (http://www.shipitapo.com) – reshipping services for US personnel serving overseas (military and civilian)

ExpatMail (http://www.expatmail.co.uk) – catering to UK expatriates

One of the interesting challenges of relocation and striving to work as a professional services provider is identifying opportunities that are suitable depending on location. In my last residence in Peru, the internet connection and convenient proximity to North America, made it reasonably easy to work with clients based in the United States or operating in the western hemisphere.

With a relocation around the world to Central Asia, it seems that a different approach to teleworking or virtual employment may be required. While many activities – copywriting, online research, content updates and website management – might not require perfect synchronization with a client’s home time zone, it is a reasonable expectation that as a contractor, a client should be able to reach you during their working hours.

An alternative or, more appropriately, an option for supplementing client work is to look at content publishing (e.g., information entrepreneurship) or affiliate marketing through content publishing. Some networks that are prominent and well-respected in this industry include PepperJam Network, Commission Junction, LinkShare, ShareASale and Clickbank.

There are numerous sites available that teach linking and basic site development techniques to aspiring affiliate publishers and marketers. As part of the several themes on this site, future blog posts will include comments on different networks, what it takes to become an affiliate publisher, and comments about tools people can use if you are looking to develop your skills in this area.

Working in a variety of locations or collaborating with multiple team members across borders can introduce some extra challenges to team and project management.

A recent article from Web Worker Daily entitled “Web Working in a Borderless World” points out some of the challenges international team members face:

• Working styles differ across cultures – I definitely agree with this one and the importance of having a clear communications structure is essential to make sure all team members understand their project/job responsibilities and have a well-defined mechanism to highlight problems before they become disasters. In working with people in Russia, the Middle East and South America, it is quite true that there are different work styles but the one consistent factor is that people seem to value being given the facts and knowing what people expect of them. Knowing how to best structure your multi-cultural communications is important as well.
• Geography becomes less of a factor in business – Depending on the product or project you are involved in, geography may become a competitive advantage. Suppose you are looking for first-hand knowledge about a city or region. It would definitely improve the value of your information to have someone who actually lives there as part of your team. I think the challenge becomes finding a common language to leverage any advantages that geography might offer. In an increasingly connected world (and employment market) developing language skills (or the skills to use tools for effective communication in multiple languages) is a very important aspect of taking advantage of geography.
• Timezones – These make doing business and communicating a new and exciting experience – especially with the near-real time options of email and VoIP telephony. I happen to favor the use of asynchronous communications tools such as 37Signals’ Campfire tool. Team members can log in according to their business “day” and then post updates and messages without trying to manage oddly-timed emails.

The opportunities for working globally as a “web worker” are expanding, despite the current financial crisis conditions. Being aware of the challenges mentioned in the Web Worker Daily’s article is a good first step to equipping yourself to handle them. I happen to disagree with the statement at the end of the article:

“As technology improves and as the global community gets more comfortable to international web work, these challenges will hopefully become non-existent.”

International business and cross-border communication has been around for quite a while and the challenges of cross-cultural communication, multi-cultural team management and communications logistics are not going to be diminished by new technological tools. However, it would be a welcome evolution to see improved cultural awareness and a willingness by international web workers to look for the benefits of cross-border cooperation rather than seeing only increased competition for jobs.

I think it is a good sign that more graduate business programs and undergraduate programs are including “international business” as part of their core curricula.

It was an unfortunate and, quite frankly, sad event to see the closure of the University of Alaska Anchorage’s American Russian Center (ARC) on January 5,2009. The local news station had an informative report on the event. What makes the closure notable is the loss of an historically significant and useful set of institutional connections with academic and commercial groups in the Russian Far East.

To be fair, I am not currently in Anchorage but I am familiar with the length of the program and its evolution since 1993. Having served as a Branch Coordinator for ARC in Yakutsk and Magadan (1995-1998), I can confidently state that the diversity of activities and depth of connections are not something that will be easily replaced. The opportunity to engage with Russia has been elusive and the evolving political situation does not suggest that times will be easier in the future. However, it is unquestionably important that the USA maintain and expand its connections with one of the most powerful countries in Asia and, let’s be honest, the world. As a trading partner for services, products and energy supplies, Russia is increasingly significant and requires the attention of diplomats and businesses.

It also seems appropriate for the future development of Alaska to seek greater ties that offer opportunities outside of natural resource extraction or tourism. While both have a legitimate role in Alaska’s economy, it seems logical to look for other areas of cooperation and collaboration that build upon the economic and geographic similarities shared by Alaska and the Russian Far East. I hope that other institutions and organizations recognize the need to stay connected with Russia both politically and economically. The American Russian Center will be missed.

Technorati Tags: Alaska, ARC, American Russian Center, Russia

Since establishing a viable business is of interest to me and to others, such as expats and spouses of people with overseas jobs, I thought the content below might be useful. Some of the information could be regarded as “USA-specific” but other resources can assist with the practical aspects of starting a business.

Top 12 Resources for Start-Ups:

This content from: Duct Tape Marketing

Top 12 Resources for Start-Ups

Every now and then I get asked to provide a list of resources to help small business owners get started and growing. Here are some of my favorite recommendations.

• SBDC – Counselors trained to help you find the local and national resources you may need – located in most metropolitan areas – Find an SBDC chapter
• SCORE – Service Corps of Retired Executives Find a SCORE chapter – Retired business owners volunteer and share wisdom.
• StartUpNation – Resources to help you start your business and growing community of folks interested in starting.
• SBA – Small Business Planner
• IRS – Starting a business checklist
• Business Know-How – Tips on starting a business
• Microsoft – Small Business Resource Center
• Entrepreneur.com – Guide to starting a business
• Inc.com – Guide to starting a business
• Business Owner’s Toolkit – Guide to starting a business
• AllBusiness.com – Tips for staring a business
• BPlans – Business plan help and advice

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Technorati Tags: Entrepreneur

The dearth of posts to this blog comes, sadly, as a result of the recent theft of my laptop from a local cafe here in Lima, Peru. While the loss of the hardware and some data was intensely annoying and inconvenient, it did highlight the need for data security for anyone working in an information services industry.

Lima is a ‘critical threat’ location for crime and the disappearance of my laptop is clear evidence of it. After dealing with the security of my own personal data, I gave some thought as to what might have happened if I had stored (and lost) information from a client. I certainly would have been obligated to inform the client of the loss and might have risked losing their business if the loss was of any potentially sensitive information. Since this wasn’t the case, I have now looked into ways of improving my data security for the future.

First, I am now (religiously) using the Keychain Access application that comes standard on all Mac OS machines. This application easily stores all of my sensitive data and can readily be configured with separate passwords.

Next, any sensitive data is now being stored in an encrypted disk image that is closed at the end of each working session on the machine. As an added layer of security, I am also investing in an external hard drive that is encrypted using hardware (i.e., physical key) encryption.

Third, since I want to have a higher confidence that my email communications are really being sent from my account, I obtained a personal email security certificate from Thawte. While I do not expect to be using heavy-duty encryption for my emails, I can sign each piece of correspondence to assure current and potential clients that a given email did originate from me.

Lastly, with my new MacBook Pro en route to me, I researched other security offers that will help protect my investment and, ideally, avoid such losses in the future. One vendor’s solution that seems to be perfect is a security tracking service from Xtool.com. If a laptop is stolen I suspect that the theives, or whoever ultimately ends up with the machine, will try to log onto the internet at some point. The Xtool service states that its software makes it harder to reformat the computer’s hard drive and also establishes a ’stealth’ connection with the company’s servers when the stolen laptop connects to the internet. Using tracking tools, Xtool can help narrow the search and possibly provide the exact location of the stolen laptop.

Needless to say, I wish I had been a bit more proactive on the security of my laptop prior to its theft. I must conclude that the best lesson learned has been finding out more about what security services exist for laptops and the data on hard drives. Also, I am now able to clearly demonstrate to clients how their information is being protected so that their businesses are not at risk from the ‘critical threat’ of crime in Lima.

The most recent issue of the Foreign Service Journal has a featured article from the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) Vice Presient for Dept. of State, Steve Kashkett, that talks about the overseas employment challenge. (NOTE: The full version of the FSJ will be available once their next issue comes out.) I think it is pretty telling when the opening sentence reads: One of the hottest “hot button” issues that AFSA hears about regularly from members is the widespread frustration over the difficulties of finding meaningful employment for spouses and partners overseas.

It is rather encouraging to read the rest of the article that goes on to talk about the need for real and professionally challenging jobs to be offered through U.S. Embassies for Foreign Service family members. Mr. Kashkett also makes a good point about the need to pursue more aggressive development/identification of job opportunities on the local markets in overseas locations.

Another quote:

We are no longer in the 1950s. The foreign service family has changed. Foreign Service professionals typically have highly-educated spouses and partners who are also professionals and who already have to make tremendous career sacrifices to accompany the member overseas.

This is certainly true. However, I think some of the burden of professional development needs to be placed on the partners to find or create opportunities for themselves. To this end I am glad to see the development of Strategic Networking Assistance Program (SNAP) from the Department of State. The program has admirably achieved varying success in different U.S. Embassy communities worldwide. At the same time, I think that spouses/partners need to be more proactive in finding ways to network for jobs and create their own niches that will survive international relocations. Relying on the U.S. Government to do the majority of the work is simply not realistic nor appropriate. There are plenty of training and entrepreneurship websites that can be adapted to the overseas lifestyle.

As the Foreign Service continues to implement the “transformational diplomacy” concept outlined by Secretary Rice, spouses/partners will expect to be able to have real careers while living overseas. I think this is an area that has enormous potential for job opportunities both in freelancing as well as more organized employment openings with local and international companies.

Since I have moved to Lima, Peru as of yesterday, I am faced with identifying new job opportunities in a new country. As part of this process I have been working on website content for the non-blog portion of seanpmckee.net.

Aside from merely updating my resume and posting it online, I am developing success stories of how my variety of overseas positions have enabled me to develop a somewhat electic set of skills — project management, multi-cultural communications, international team participation and management, along with copywriting, web design, database design, and international job search techniques.

Admittedly, there are some skills that I don’t really have a chance to apply — such as basic reindeer herding and extreme cold weather survival (two lessons from Siberia) — but I suppose that these are skills that are “nice to have” as opposed to “need to have.”

I suppose my personal brand is slowly evolving into something service-oriented rather than anything involving manufacturing or production. Also, given the lifestyle of a Foreign Service spouse, I am leaning more towards trying to create my own opportunities rather than always relying on finding a job ‘at post.’

LESSONS LEARNED:

- Developing a solid resume doesn’t necessarily define someone’s personal brand. I realize that it is far more difficult to create a brand simply by relying on single sheet of paper rather than doing a number of things such as posting a blog, building a website, or signing up with job search services.

- A personal brand should help define what types of work I want to look for. It has sometimes been the case that I should have applied for jobs that I wanted rather than avoiding them because I thought I wasn’t entirely qualified. At this point I think it is good to take a chance rather than wait for the “perfect opportunity” to present itself.