Finding USA Advisors (White Face) Partners for Your American Expansion

This week’s show is pretty interesting. We have Warren Whitlock who I’ve been following on Twitter since 2008 he’s been a long time influencer in the space, focusing a lot in blockchain and crypto, but of course, he’s a social media marketer, content marketer, business expert, and all around. He is currently in Las Vegas USA doing amazing things and today we have this interesting discussion about ways to get American advisors and partners, about finding a US rep or a white face for your business in America.

√ Warren Whitlock’s VIP Expert Page
√ Warren Whitlock’s website
√ CES trade show in Las Vegas

It all boils down to relationships, finding the right kind of people and building a relationship of trust. Great Insights from Warren Whitlock. Thank you so much Warren and enjoy the rest of your day.

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[00:00:00] Episode 280 of Global From Asia. How to find an American advisor or a local for your international business expansion into the United States of America. Welcome to the Global From Asia podcast, where the daunting process of running an international business is broken down into straight up actionable advice.

[00:00:23] And now your host, Michael Michelini. Always multitasking in the back of a grab, going to downtown Chang Mai. Year in middle of November, 2019. Years are just flying by. Can you believe we’re getting into year 2020. Um, some of you haven’t heard, but we’re doing a little retreat and it’s really is little.

[00:00:46] My wife is helping take charge. Uh, Wendy and we have a Globalfromasia.com/retreat January 3rd to the 5th, right after the American or Western new year’s. So if you’re interested to hang out with me in small

[00:01:00] group of people space, they’re already filling up and uh, you can check it out there.

[00:01:05] So this week’s show is pretty interesting. Warren Whitlock, I’ve been following him on Twitter since I think I signed up for Twitter in 2008. He’s been a longtime influencer in the space, focusing a lot in blockchain and crypto, but of course, he’s a social media marketer. Content marketer, business expert, and all around.

[00:01:24] And we connected over the last few months and emails and lucky to get him on the show to share. And I joke a little bit in my titles for these to get some a click bait or link bait, but get a white face for your internet business or your online business into America. Uh, just to get you guys interested and download and listen to this show.

[00:01:44] Well, I think there is some truth to that. Warren is an expert and he is there in the U S in Las Vegas doing amazing things. We’ve talked a little bit about some conferences and other other things there. And we have this interesting discussion about, you know, ways to

[00:02:00] get American advisors and partners and representatives.

[00:02:03] And I, it’s like, it’s honestly a common question. I am always getting in China. How do I get somebody in the US to help me in sales? I want to go maybe off Amazon or I’ll go multichannel and about retail or, uh, he also does a lot of crypto companies, maybe in Eastern Europe that kind of wants some representation in the U S of A.

[00:02:21] And we chat quite deeply and a all different types of styles of formats of ways you can find partners and where you can go and, and also what he does with his advising roles. So without further ado, let’s get into Warren Whitlock talking about finding a U S rep or a white face for your business in America.

[00:02:42] Alpha Rock Capital. They are partner. I am so happy. They’ve supported the show, support what we do here, Cross Border Summit and Global From Asia. If you’re interested in investing in a portfolio of Amazon businesses, there’s also some interesting things happening out now we’re investing in specific Amazon brands.

[00:02:59] Check them out at www.alpharockcapital.com/connect. Let them know Global From Asia sent you. Alex, Jake, Marc, Fetas. The whole team is amazing. I’m a proud to be a partner right. And proud to have them on the show. Thank you. And uh, thank you everybody for listening to the Global From Asia podcast. We are in for a treat today.

[00:03:21] We have Warren Whitlock, he is an influencer, social media marketing expert based in Las Vegas. Correct. In the U S. Yes, Vegas baby Vegas. Yeah. It’s the place to be. I know people all around the world know and love Las Vegas for, you know, obviously the we call it the American mind. Oh, there you go.

[00:03:42] I think we get a, I didn’t see, I think it’s much more fun than Macau. I don’t know. I mean, it’s, yeah, I’ve never been, but uh, yes. I’ve, in fact, all of the big gaming companies here. Uh, I tried to, so our, our local newspaper talks about gaming as if it’s the, uh, you know, the big industry in town, which it is, you know, and so you can’t avoid learning about that.

[00:04:09] But, uh, actually nothing to do with me. But, uh, so there’s a, there’s a weird intro to the show is talking about Gambling. I know nothing about. Well, I mean, what maybe the connection is the entertainment, the culture of, you know, Vegas I think is a much more, I know you haven’t been to Macau, but I’ve been to both.

[00:04:29] And Macau is much more, and I think they make a lot more money there. But uh, cause there’s this a higher volume and bigger maybe players, but Las Vegas has a lot more entertainment, a lot more culture, a lot more things to do. I think that’s what makes it so special. Um, which we can try to wrap it.

[00:04:46] Yeah, go ahead. No, what really attracted me to coming here was there was a list of the five. Big words of the time as a 15 years ago. And I remember Oprah being one of them, and it’s a couple other buzz words, but Vegas, one word, you know, so like the peak of entertainers or whatever you and, uh, so right from that day onward, I just stopped saying Las Vegas, unless somebody needed a, you know, it needed to go on a form.

[00:05:12] Some websites insist you put the full name. I just say Vegas. And then let’s move on to something. Yeah, no, I hope we can help you with more. Yeah. I mean, I, I’ve been following you on Twitter and your social media. You know, you, you’ve been an early adopter and ambassador of, you know, social media, marketing and building brands, both business and personal brands online and, and, uh, so I thought we bring you on today.

[00:05:39] There’s only so much we can cover with, with your expertise, but you know, I know you maybe haven’t. So much spirits in Asia, but I think a lot of Asia sellers and manufacturers must be contacting you or your various portfolio of companies to help them in the U S market for getting more sales, getting more traction.

[00:05:57] I’m sure they probably send you some stuff that makes you [00:06:00] bite your tongue or cringed because they’re probably not doing it the right way. So I think that was kind of like my angle for today is maybe those spam emails you’re getting or whatever. Yeah, it’s an interesting take because, wow. Um, you know, I’ve done business with people where English is certainly not their, their first language and you know, use translators, things like that.

[00:06:23] But the, the, but most of the time it’s, you know, everyone speaks English well enough for. For that to work. And, uh, in fact, I’ve been told that if I go back to Thailand, I, I don’t need to worry about speaking Thai, fluent in Thai, but having spoken for 40, and they said, Oh, you don’t want to do that.

[00:06:44] People would think, you know, you’re just a guy trying to speak Thai. And I said, well, you know, I. Actually get it. I lived there for a couple of year, but, uh, and, but, you know, act like you’re just the American coming in and needing help and and a, that’s not me. Um, and so I tried to communicate, but what I, what I find is odd, is how sometimes, uh, you know, people try to, uh.

[00:07:08] And get right to business, which, um, I thought that was the American thing to do. Um, you know, it’s like we want to offer you a cell phone case. Yeah. We’ll reimburse you after you buy one and, uh, on Amazon. Well, you know. I don’t need a cell phone case and, and the, and the value of your cell phone case and probably wouldn’t get me interested anyway, but I love to help.

[00:07:38] So I read through the thing and then I go, and you want me to buy it first? Only if I give you a good review where you will reimburse me. It’s not how we do business. Um, and. And so yeah, it’s because I’ve had that kind of experience. But frankly, um, I’m very much open, even though it’s not my business at all.

[00:08:00] I’d be very open if somebody contacted me and say, we would like to do it. Right. Um, and because I know that, uh, that that’s possible and I know how to hook people up with the right people to help them. And so having the, I, I wouldn’t dare sell something in Asia without having a local partner.

[00:08:20] Um, nothing to do with the language. It would be, you know, I want the culture of somebody that understands that market. Um, and, uh, and so I would suggest the same thing for America. And I’m here to be, you know, one thing I know I am is an American. Rolling like it or not, you know, it’s, you know, I’ve got, you know, six decades of a practice being an American.

[00:08:46] It’s, it’s true. I mean it, but I mean, it’s like you said, it’s kind of pull from what you said. Uh, it’s not language only. Of course, English skills were getting better all around the world with education and, and maybe media and entertainment or movies in the U S [00:09:00] but, uh, I think it’s more the culture, you say, right?

[00:09:02] Like the way how not just seeing Good English and your pitch in an email to an influencer or a marketer, but, uh, what you’re saying or how you’re saying it and then like you another, maybe we can hold it for a second point, but S I, it’s true. Americans are known to be direct, but I am sure like these emails where buy my product, give me review, and I give you the money back.

[00:09:22] Obviously it’s Way too direct. A getting to know you before that it’s not to get through the deal. At one time, I sold advertising for a Spanish radio station and the deals we would get, um, it was incredible. First of all, things I’d never heard of. I was working in media at the time at, you know, in the advertising game.

[00:09:46] And I would know about all sorts of national brands. I read the trades, I knew what was going on, and that was my specialty, was for a local station, help get the, the national ads come in. And when I went to work for the Spanish one, they had stuff [00:10:00] that I, that normally I saw on TV. Now this is many years ago.

[00:10:03] So, so today it might not be the same, but, um, but. Then the promotions they would come up with when, you know, when, when, well, I’ll just say Caucasians, uh, white people, whatever, um, your, you know, just people who thought they were doing something good by going right out to the specialty markets and not just saying, you know, learn to speak English and Southern, that things is just insane.

[00:10:29] There was one where they wanted to give away some, uh. Some, some money and the amount of money was suddenly a lot less than what they would do. It was an English promotion and it’s like they just weren’t getting it. And then since it was the Hispanic culture, they thought differently about some of the things that were being asked to do.

[00:10:50] And the guys I work with who, you know were. From, from, uh, I think every one of ’em was from Mexico back in the day, cause it was Southern [00:11:00] California. And, uh, those Hispanics, they knew the market, they knew all sorts of, I learned so much, only worked there about six months. And I learned so much from, from being immersed in that thing and in what those people, same as when I went to, uh, to Thailand.

[00:11:15] You know, I lived there all the time. I was never. A tie, right? Again, yeah. It wasn’t like I decided to live there or had many decades, and I still wouldn’t have been a tie. It’s just not my culture. Um, and I was a, you know, as a white guy living in Thailand. And so, um. Um, I guess my point there is it’s, it’s, you need somebody that’s native to the, to the culture to help out.

[00:11:39] And the more we do that, the more then we blend and can do things together. It’s not about being segregated and different, and, you know, it’s not like I’m going to hire somebody to run my business in Malaysia and then expect them to, you know, just, you know, run a separate business. That’s the way they [00:12:00] used to do it.

[00:12:00] Um, I would want to blend, you know, love them and leisure. Um, you know, I love getting that, but I wouldn’t dare think that I knew what was going on. Everything about the culture, cause I don’t have a lifetime of experience. So partnerships and getting together and more communications. The answer right.

[00:12:18] I guess probably people listening are wondering. I, I’ve talked to quite a few of the potential people thinking like this, you know, of course they would love to work with an American expert or a person in their industry. I think one, I think they’re probably scared of the cost, or maybe they would just wonder how much are or what kind of deals.

[00:12:38] Obviously his business is tricky. There’s not like a template copy paste, but is, is there any insights you could share of what they should expect or budget for something like that? Ah, yeah. Well, again, right. I actually do some things now where we’re, the funny thing is, I never thought about myself as being anybody to be a model or anything like that, but you know, you get old enough and you got it.

[00:13:04] Experience, so I can help people. Right. And then what I’m finding is I do a lot of work in, in blockchain and cryptocurrencies and things like that. And I, I, the offers I get there are, they want me for being who I am and the money we work out, you know, whether or not it’s a, you know, Uh, you know, flat fees and percentages or anything.

[00:13:26] Um, you know, whatever it is, the deal can be made. But then, um, one of the things I realized that I could do was being the different voice. And so I have a, you know, Eastern European customers, a really regular other countries in Europe, and then, uh, several that are, you know, it’s, there are people that are Chinese, so you’ll see a website and there will be.

[00:13:51] Five faces that look somewhat alike and then there’ll be me and I just, I laugh every time I think about this cause I feel like, yeah, [00:14:00] I’m, I’m somewhat famous for what they, what they want to know. I am a T a top rank influencer for those things, but, um, when I just look at it on the surface, I say, well, isn’t that a lot?

[00:14:12] It’s like putting on a. Uh, you know, here in America we talked about putting on a token and, uh, you know, today trying to be diverse and putting all the people you can, which is great. Um, because, you know, I, I never realized this cause growing up, everything I saw was. Bunch of white people in the advertising, white people in the, in the TV shows, and now I look at it and every time some new barriers broken and they do something else, the gay couple or whatever, I go like, okay, I want to be accepting of that, but then I understand that it’s not me.

[00:14:46] And I just, you know, I’m, I’m OK with it. But I think to reach a market, you kind of need that diversity. And in fact, if I was putting together a, a board for anything now, I would seek to have, you know,] I don’t need to learn more about being a white man. I need the things. And which is weird because then you’re just kind of like, you’re looking for the differences there.

[00:15:09] But, uh, yeah. I don’t know. I’m kind of rambling on this subject. That’s something I pointed out a lot, but in business, we really try to not pay attention to that and say, Hey, how’d he get the job done? So you wouldn’t hire me to say, do something you can do remotely. You would hire me to be an advisor, and again, to be clear, I didn’t expect today to be pitching something.

[00:15:34] It’s good. For example, I’ll be, of course, people can contact you if they’re just, I think, but they’re all they are, is more interest like a, for this type of like, I guess this representation, you know? I mean, of course. Yeah. Is that brands. I know you work with lot block chain, but like also for eCommerce brand, you know, in China or in Asia.

[00:15:57] It gave a whole lot of thought to this. Um, uh, you know, a couple of prints of my book. I have a friend who is lived in Tai Taiwan and around the world and he was a college roommate and you know, we met up a few years ago. We, as this part of talking about it, he says he’d like nothing more. Then to be able to take a trip to China and speak to people and help them, and you don’t understand the market or whatever.

[00:16:21] We haven’t found an angle to sell anything that way, and that’s the only reason why we decided not to do it. Um, and I’ve got, you know, several American expatriate friends who are interested in doing that then, and I, and one who, uh, uh, the guy who just picked up a, he had a MBA. And a couple of years working for consulting companies and he just, you know, picked up his family and moved to China and, uh, lives in, you know, a nice place there.

[00:16:53] The cost of living is less than being in the U S and, and, uh, he said, well, tell me what you do. I’m a bestselling author. Oh, how was that? Well, you can always saw hundreds of thousands of copies of my book. What is it? What is it about anything I want? You know, because the market is, the market’s so huge for being able to help people and do that.

[00:17:12] And I don’t want to be, you know, like I say, I would never want to be a token, but if I was doing that, say, yeah, that’s the way to do it. Work with whatever group wants that. So if anybody listening decides what they really like to do is make more, you know, bridges between Asia and America.

[00:17:30] Uh, by all means, contact me. I, because it’s something we’ve done a whole lot of. Well, a whole lot of thought on and, and really don’t even know what the businesses, I’m making this up as I’m speaking. is great. But yeah, at one time we had a, we had a discussion about capital because there were people wanting to invest, uh, they hold crypto currency or whatever, and they wanted to invest in the US.

[00:17:57] And, uh, uh, you know, and I, again, I heard that there’s, you know, investment around the world. That’s not my, you know, finance is not my thing. And we got talking about a fund and, uh, the, the terminology we used was the, the bridge between China and in the U S and I got it. Yeah. That’s great.

[00:18:19] I’d love to have the bridge. A build a bridge and send the money on over we got some contacts too. If you have a small business and you want to export something to U S um, you know, you got a list of people that are expert in that and we’d be happy to make introductions. So I think, um. I guess the bottom line is, as I talking to you and you know, thinking through my history, I’ve got like, yeah, this is something that is just there.

[00:18:51] We just don’t do it enough because again, there’s a big ocean between Asia and USA Yeah, that’s true. Oh, yeah. I mean, I think getting smaller every day. Yeah. I mean like literally, I can give you an example of one. Yeah. I mean, a lot of, a lot of the factories are sellers in Asia. China wants Maybe they do realize they can’t do everything remotely.

[00:19:11] You know? They even have to have a good team, but they just asked me how, I don’t know. I know it’s hard to get, maybe not your raise or can you give like a range of something people would pay for? I guess what they’re looking for is like a representative, I guess you can call it an advisor or an agent or sales rep.

[00:19:31] yeah. There’s always been people who do import export kind of things and what they are. They’re looking for is if there’s some volume of something that they can import in Excel and then they take over and do that. I mean, that’s how all the Japanese brands got in and then the rest of Asia from there since, so that’s been going on my whole lifetime.

[00:19:52] The difference today is that you actually could set up an English website. Sell to people in [00:20:00] the U S and act as if it’s a US product. And I know some people doing that and they, or you could just get representatives to help you through the things like, is the copyright when you write to the Americans, um, you know, and that sort of thing.

[00:20:16] But then that’s just a matter of hiring skills. I think. Um, we often think about going, uh. Going to Asia to get a better price on something. We know of the, you know, the differences in wages and such, but, um, you know, did I think getting into the U S market, a small fraction of whatever you’re making there, it should be dedicated to accelerating.

[00:20:42] I mean, I know when I go to Amazon and see a listing that was written by somebody. Where English isn’t their first language. I am confused. And also the way Amazon listings work. Weird cause you know, putting. Words in the title make a difference in. So some people write [00:21:00] very long titles to say, you know, this is just a regular commodity item, but instead it has zap Al many ounces and colors and all that kind of thing, crammed right into the, uh, the title for it.

[00:21:14] So it’s bad enough to begin with. But then, um, you know, a native English writer will talk about it in a different way. Um, and, uh, and so that’s one thing. And, and boy, the cost of hooking up with somebody that, uh, she is, she, I mean, you know, I’ve seen, I’ve seen everything from.

[00:21:39] Percentage of percentage of the, of the gross that happens to, you know, just making a good American wage. One person taken a job. Uh, my son now works at that way and he pays, you know, he gets paid a U S wage, but. He does an awful lot, and I’m always encouraged him [00:22:00] to change the way he does things.

[00:22:02] And hopefully his employers aren’t listening. But yeah, no, no. I’ve met the employers. They’re very nice people. And, uh, yeah, they’re not, you know, nobody’s looking for a change there, but, but before he took this particular job, I said, uh. You know why, why limit yourself to one company?

[00:22:21] Focus on what you do good. And you can offer something cheap. So if a U S wage is $5,000 U S then you do, you do something that’s $500 to us. So a 10th of the price, but then with some help and some, you know, growing the company a little bit, you can soon have 20, 30, 50. Um. Ah, you’re just doing that.

[00:22:45] Um, well, another friend has his base in Bangkok and he, you know, he charges a, uh, there’s a minimum that you need. And that’s probably the hurdle that, that when you’re asking for pricing that hurdle is that you’ve gotta be able to pay enough to get somebody’s attention. So if you came to me and said, I’ve got this little thing I’d like you to do.

[00:23:09] And w, you know, you say, well, how much money do you have? It doesn’t really matter what the task is. Do I want to bother setting up a business relationship and transferring the money? If it’s going to be, you know, the cost of lunch. You know, I don’t have a company to sell a commodity product that would be in an affordable price.

[00:23:29] And so, you know, when I, I normally get paid, you know, it’s thousands of dollars to even consider a gig. Uh, other people would do it for a little bit less, but it just depends on what you’re buying. But yeah, try not to buy a commodity, try to make a partnership and then, you know, expect to pay some money for it.

[00:23:48] But if you get it right, that person should be willing to participate in the profits and it’s well worth trying, let’s put it that way. Yeah, I think I’m. Maybe it’s a mix of fixed plus plus profit share. I guess also depends on your current track record and maybe the, if the brand, if there’s an established brand already, maybe on Amazon, you know, a lot of these, a lot of ones I’m talking to are trying to go multichannel.

[00:24:15] Maybe they are on Amazon or listings. Okay. But now they’re looking to kind of go more multichannel or even offline. I have seen, and it’s usually, it’s generally people that are of Asian descent that have. You know, they’d come in and lived in California. Huge population like that. Um, and, and when you get into, you know, uh, uh, you know, people were in their twenties and thirties.

[00:24:38] Now, they probably have grown up here and, but, you know, you go back a generation or two and the context they have, you know, in, in China or they make new ones, uh, you know, or people they went to college with the. There’s now way a growing trend. I was just reading about, about the number of people that come from come from [00:25:00] Asia to study in the U S and you never really get assimilated in the U S culture are just, you know, getting the good education and going back home.

[00:25:09] And I read that. I go like, gosh, I don’t want it to be like that. I want us all, you know, make, make deals, get V network, know each other better. And so I’m, I’m a little bit too old to consider going back to college. So, um, it won’t be me that does this, but I would encourage anybody to, you know, go ahead, go ahead and meet somebody.

[00:25:32] And that’s what’s happening is, you know, where. Where my children grew up. There was a, you know, their friends were, were mixed, you know, from wherever we were in Southern California. So there are lot, lots of people from Mexico, they’re Asians, they was blacks, there was, you know, whatever.

[00:25:48] Whereas, you know, again, in the fifties and sixties. It was hard to see a face that didn’t look like yours. And so that was good for them. And, and what I’ve found is that, that they’re [00:26:00] actually inventing brands using Asian manufacturing. Uh, you know, uh, the network of factories in China to get this stuff made.

[00:26:08] Well. And then I’m selling it as if they’re a us company selling it, and that’s a completely different business model. Then then a, you know, just finding somebody to represent. And then on the other end there’s me, you know, I mean. The people I represent, I end up being the, you know, the old guy that helps out.

[00:26:29] So, uh, which of course I think I could do anywhere, but, uh, in the, in the case of Asia, uh, you know, it would be, it’s more of just, Hey, you’re an atrium. You have the network. You actually know the people. Um, I do a lot of trade shows. I encourage people to go to trade shows and meet, and it’s always been an odd thing.

[00:26:50] I see. I go to the. Consumer electronics show here. The, you know, one of the biggest that happens in Vegas, probably small by Asian comparison, but you know, we had a couple hundred thousand people here the first week of January every year. And it’s always been the, you know, the place to see the new electronics.

[00:27:08] Well, gosh, of course we know where it’s made. It’s coming from Asia, right? But there will always be the little section where they put all the, all the, you know, the. And then I, sometimes it’s even by the region and groups together and you know, the, uh, the candy they put out, uh, the literature they print, everything they do is like, whether they’re doing a, a local show and then taking it on the road.

[00:27:39] And the companies that are huge, the household brand name. Uh, you know, they’ve invested in building a brand that is recognized by, by the well, globally, but by all means for the U S and so, um, so there’s a lot of ways to do it. I think that. You don’t, you don’t [00:28:00] build a brand by coming over and hoping to sell it a little bit, and that’s going to build your brand.

[00:28:04] You know, that’s a branding. It’s a very, can be a very expensive way to go about it. But the reason why branding works so well is that, that, that investment in being recognized. So people want and ask for your product by name. Um, whereas a lot of the stuff we end up getting is, is commodity.

[00:28:23] And then we either put the brand on it or sell it as a commodity. So, uh, but whatever it is you want to do, you can. And today, gosh, um, uh, you know, I meet probably, I think it’s about a dozen a day right now. New people through LinkedIn. And you know, they find me, they asked me a question, they ask for connection.

[00:28:47] I tell them about where they can go. My new business comes from the connections and LinkedIn, uh, and uh, you know, and it doesn’t really matter where they’re coming from. I T you know, I [00:29:00] want to treat everybody equally. And so, you know, it’s just like, there’s more possibilities. We know what to do with.

[00:29:08] So I don’t think it’s a matter of breaking in as much as it is. Is, is getting partners you can trust. And by all means, I would look at having a, you know, if I, if I was on that side, I’d be saying, where can I go and get the partnership? Where can I make friends with somebody in the U S and, uh, today, online.

[00:29:28] That’s an easy entry. And you know, in my case, if I don’t, if I don’t know the answer to somebody, I’m an, I’m. I feel motivated to help out. As long as you’re not asking me to review your cell phone case and then send in for reimbursement, I’m okay. I’m open to anything. And if it’s a, you know, if I think it’s ridiculous like that, so I like go somebody treat somebody rudely about it.

[00:29:54] Um, so I may later tell the story as a joke in a podcast, [00:30:00] but a person, when they come to me, I try to say like. I got to see where they’re coming from. And, um, you know, so my best advice to anybody anywhere is you want to do more business, make connections with people, and build a trust relationship where it goes beyond what can you do for me in the transaction and how can we help each other?

[00:30:23] Um. Um, I guess that’s my best advice. Makes make sense. Yeah. At LinkedIn, LinkedIn is obviously, I’m amazing. It’s also one of the few social networks as far as recording this today is at least I know is not blocked in mainland China, which is great. And so it’s definitely a great place to find partners and approach them.

[00:30:43] And Oh, I at least, I see the trend is people actually registering us companies and trying to. You know, trying to build a rather, like you said, with maybe Japan having a distributor, they kind of want to be their direct importer and distributor himself as the ones I’m targeting [00:31:00] to at my house.

[00:31:01] Uh, you know, again, I probably say things that. I’m thinking back and since we’ve been talking and things, they said that people could be offended. Um, cause you know, I can’t help being an old white American. Um, so, uh, but you know, uh, not a lick of prejudice in my. Training or my view of what I want to be, but I’m also, I don’t worry too much about being politically correct.

[00:31:29] Um, so, you know, at my age, I’m now, you know, I’ve now determined while I’m, I may never grow up, I’m, I’m not going to, uh, worry about what other people think, but let me put that all aside and say, what, what can I do to it? Do to help the most. And it’s like, yeah, make those kinds of relationships.

[00:31:49] I’m just totally amazed at what can be done. Um, uh, you know, I live in, uh, I live in a house that, uh, is in an, in a neighborhood that it is the Asian part of Las Vegas. Um, and, uh, you know, next door is a house full of people that speak very little English and, uh, they happen to be the landlord on my house.

[00:32:12] And it’s, uh, yeah. I just, every day’s fascinating to see things of, uh, uh, you know, well, the late, I’ll tell you the latest went and there’s a guy lying on his front lawn. People don’t do that. They don’t put out a man and take a nap on their front lawn in the U S I don’t know where in the world they do that.

[00:32:30] But this guy was, and you know, I didn’t bother to ask him. He was asleep. And you know, he doesn’t speak English, but he’s also the handyman that fixes anything at my house. So. You know, and he doesn’t, sometimes they ring the door, they read the doorbell if they need to come in the house. But if they’re working on the yard or something, I, they just appear.

[00:32:51] And you know, and so it’s just so interesting to see that and be inexperienced that I love. I love that. That’s one of the [00:33:00] greatest things about Vegas. So, uh, there’s so many different people here and nobody’s been here for, you know, forever. Very few families are, can say they’re here for three or four generations.

[00:33:11] Um. Um, and so we immerse in whatever it is and try to have that communication. And it’s, I know what I felt like when I moved to a foreign country. Thought I was no good at the language. I actually hardly ever talked when I went out in public. I could understand what was going on, but I hardly ever, ever said anything.

[00:33:33] And, uh, when I learned that I could. I don’t think I’ve shut up since. Um, and that’s what made me become great. You know, a, a T, a storyteller and a heavy, heavy talking dude, whatever you call that, a verbose. And it was because, you know, one, I read a lot. Um, and so I, I do know about a lot of things.

[00:33:57] I have a lot of experiences, but I love putting it in, in, in telling a story, and I love figuring out what the other person would want. Not can I get somebody to do things my way, but can I help somebody who has a new way of doing something to do it differently or how they’d like. And try to put that in as a simple story to tell people.

[00:34:19] So, um, I, I’d welcome any, any connection from your, uh, from your listeners. All right. Play me. I’m. Um, I’m in LinkedIn. Again, it’s the easy way to do an email’s pretty universal. So, um, you know, find me, find my website. I don’t think it’s blocked anywhere. Hopefully not stock. Sounds great.

[00:34:40] Warren, this has been a great talk. I know it’s also late later for you too. So I think we can kind of get to some closing remarks and then, um, what, what would be like. Should they be a certain goal? I mean, are you looking for a company size before they start? So maybe approach, [00:35:00] no, I know. I know.

[00:35:03] For, again, my friend, I believe his starting starting amount is to, is to be able to get a pallet of goods over to the U S to a list and sell on Amazon. Now he’s not in the business of marketing the product. Once it gets here. He’s helping them get the, the logistics of shipping it, and then, then, you know, set up to have the listings and sell, things like that, but one pallet of goods.

[00:35:31] So not very much at all. Um, you know, and then the other example I know of is, you know. They deal in containers. So they may get one, or they may get, you know, a hundred different products in a container, and that manufacturer then, you know, puts that stuff together based on what they’re trying to sell, and then they get them listed.

[00:35:52] Um, and you know, the cost of listing on Amazon is, uh, uh, you know, cheap. I mean, [00:36:00] it’s, uh. Gosh, I believe the standard service is something like $40 us per month. Um, and so very, very inexpensive to get selling. Um, and it’s a, it to me, like it’s been fascinating to watch is Alibaba and Amazon grow to be so big.

[00:36:21] And, and, and. Don’t do well in each other’s market. Uh, and very little to do with being banned. I read the, um, Alibaba story and the U S guy that was there working on their PR marketing, something like that, guy that wrote the book, told the story of when he went to Silicon Valley where They’d opened up, uh, offices to try to, uh, build something for the U S and he described it as being, like most of the places I see when a, you know, a group of, uh.

[00:36:57] A group of people immigrate someplace. They tend to stay together. They were all living in the same house they were living. Uh, you know, as if they were, you know, like there’d be in China, in China, and, well, tell you the truth. You know, I go, I go traveling. I look for where I can get a hamburger.

[00:37:15] I don’t, you know, like. I don’t need the local food. Um, so that’s probably one reason I have never fully decided to settle in, in Asia, is that, you know, um, to, to me, rice is something I want to eat every day. Whereas, uh, you know, there, and then, you know, Jen, we all can eat each other’s food.

[00:37:38] That’s not. Like a problem, but it’s, I guess it’s symptomatic as you see people congregate together and do that. And physically, I think online’s the same way as it’s just been, you know, uh, weird to watch how, how separate things are where, I know. Um, you know, I, I read the studies, I, I know about business, [00:38:00] you know, I know there are companies that are huge that I’ve never heard of that are, you know, exist in the Chinese website.

[00:38:07] Then, um, so, and I also know is trying to personalize it and give some American beauty. I know that my daughter who has never traveled, uh, you know, have one living with me now, adult daughter, and I see things that come that she buys online. And you know, she has no problem buying something, having to ship.

[00:38:30] Uh, from directly from, from China. We know it’s from China. It does. It wasn’t listed that way, but when the package arrived, you know, Scott, Chinese characters on it, it, you know, in the packaging and just the, the, the on the mailing label, just her name is in, is in England, and it works, you know, and, and.

[00:38:50] Of what she buys. I don’t get it, but she don’t, comes in a very small package and it’s $5. I don’t know what charm and drink it to jewelry. I don’t know. You know, I don’t open the packages, but, um, we can do that. Um, and I think we’re gonna see more of that. Uh, and let me just speak a blockchain briefly.

[00:39:10] Um, the blockchain that we’re working on is usually looking at things like supply chain and trust. So that we can do business without a lot of, of, of friction. Um, and that’s, that’s what draws me to it. I think, you know, uh, most, most of us know technology is coming faster and faster. It’s not going to slow down.

[00:39:33] What, what holds it up is our, the friction of the human beings being able to use it. So you want to do business the way you always did. No, you don’t have to. I can buy something in the next one I see coming online and what I was writing about when I got interested in blockchain was in Africa where you know, and right now I don’t know of in the U S where you can buy something and you’d get us.

[00:39:57] Package shipped directly, but you know, what doesn’t work could be fixed. The hard part has been transferring the money. And so, um, uh, and I know that’s one of the things that makes Hong Kong unique is that the way it works with the Western financial system, well in the future, um, and what my, you know, my friends in Singapore telling me is.

[00:40:18] They’re setting up to where it just doesn’t really matter where the money comes from, where it’s going. And, um, you know, the smart people are figuring out whatever taxes need to be paid. We’ll get paid. And, you know, it’s not like cheating. It’s like really using the system. But the whole world of finance is built on the idea that banks, banks, and governments control the money.

[00:40:39] Um, but, you know, putting the money part aside and just talking about the logistics of shipping something, when you have good shipping and the ability to pay somebody, um, where it comes from, where it goes really doesn’t matter. So selling goods, selling services, or whatever can work. Um, and if, uh, you know, when you say, if you have the budget to build a brand, give me a call, we’ll, we’ll do that.

[00:41:03] But if not, just know that the international boundaries are just coming down to where I really believe that, uh, in my lifetime, I w I will see, you know, transit across the Pacific cut in half, or even. More is about the time that it takes to get something someplace and the big weights on it.

[00:41:25] Again, knowing, knowing the stories I’m hearing for my son is they, they come up with something. It can be put into production and manufactured in a week, uh, and you know, give it a couple of weeks to get the order done, even if it’s a new product or usually new packaging. And. Then onto a container.

[00:41:46] The delay is getting in that container, you know, moving and once it’s moving, it’s pretty fast now. And then when it gets, it gets on our end, the customs, and I think all of that stuff is going to be dropping in to be much, much faster. Boy, when I got into business, we were talking about you don’t want to order something from Asia unless you’re, you know.

[00:42:08] You’re, you’re not counting on it for six months, and now it’s, you know, six, six weeks for brand new product. Um, and I think that’s going to drop down to where, like I say, an individual can order one of something and it could be shipped and shipping is no longer the big hurdle. That was money transfers being fixed where you know, that safely can be taken care of without big banks giving letters of credit.

[00:42:36] Um, and, uh, and then as we all use more technology and what we were doing to allow people. To not be doing some mechanical work, uh, of whatever their job is, but to focus on the part that, that relationships, cause, uh, I don’t think, uh, it, at least in my lifetime, uh, or for that matter, [00:43:00] even anybody listening’s lifetime, I don’t see the a as getting to a point where, uh, you know, the robots are completely taking over and doing jobs.

[00:43:10] It’s, it’s more of the. The, uh, the tools that are AI and automation and whatnot, so the car could drive itself. But that means that you can have a conversation as the cars driving, um, you know, with a real human being. And when you get someplace you can enjoy being with the person a and a D a doctor, um.

[00:43:34] Wrote a book, a, I just finished reading, I’m sorry, I can’t remember what it’s called, but, um, uh, uh, he was talking about, the one thing that they know works very well is doctors talking to patients, reassuring them that, you know, they’re, they’re in good hands. And, uh, sometimes, uh. You know, in, in, at least in medicine here, uh, we see, you know, the doctor’s not available.

[00:44:00] You’re talking to maybe an assistant. The doctor pokes his head in because he’s got the legal right to do this and that, and he’s, he’s moving as fast as possible to see as many patients and hours he can. Well, when. There’s a lot of, uh, uh, instead of staff, there’s a lot of automations to help him.

[00:44:18] Then you can, can get more personal. The nurse can get more personable. Everybody can, a healthcare caring for elders. Um, you know, something, I’m sure I’m likely to be a recipient more faster than most anybody on this, uh, program, but that we’ll be able to just, you know, be with each other, take care of the kids, uh, visit each other.

[00:44:40] As we get that freedom and a free up the labor to let the machines do it, we’ve got to look forward to a world like that. So why not right now, we’ll be looking at the largest market, uh, you know, you can go to, and if you can, you know, you can do it here. You can do it anywhere. Um, and in similarly in Europe, Africa, wherever you wanna sell things.

[00:45:01] But yes, it’s all about relationships, finding the right kind of people and building a relationship of trust. Okay. That was us wrapping up and I were just rambled again on. It’s great. It’s great insights. No, I appreciate your time and then sharing. So I think, uh, I think we’ll just just close up with, of course, Warren whitlock.com.

[00:45:24] We’ll link it up on the show notes and a, you said also LinkedIn, is that the best places for you? It’s always a great place to find me. Uh, I’m on, I’m on all the social media here in the U S Twitter and whatnot. I do have WhatsApp and telegram and we chat and whatever it is, but usually good old fashioned email, uh, wa, uh, you know, he’s a, is a good way place to find me and you get all that contact information@warrenwhitlock.com.

[00:45:53] Okay, perfect. Thanks so much, Warren, and enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you. Okay, so speaking of being Hawaii face advisor or their sponsor, but I mean, they’re my friends. Go Ramit. Dot. Eight K cross border payments solution for those with the Hong Kong bank making payments into mainland China and other parts of Southeast Asia, whether it’s suppliers, rent contractors, or your wife asking you for money, you can send money to their bank account and more and more countries.

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[00:46:44] My microphone’s here, but I hope you guys enjoyed that. Talk with Warren and I have my blah, blah blah section at the end. I hope, you know, I’m getting bolder in my titles and things, but white face is kind of true. I mean, I, I don’t know, sometimes I feel like white face sometimes for helping people in the U S or maybe a social security number for a bank account or marketplace to be opened.

[00:47:09] I think there’s a lot of value Americans can add to businesses in America. And I hope you guys listen to Warren. It’s not.

[00:47:41] So what we just did across borders summit and talking about this, a little retreat in January, but you know, all this online stuff, these podcasts, almost 300 shows and other other things, you know, it does, uh, it doesn’t connect the same as when you actually make that face to face relationship with somebody.

[00:47:58] So I.

[00:48:21] You know, ways to make these deals, I guess also is culture. How do you make this deal? How do you make sure they actually quote unquote do something? Or how do I know what pricing or what way to work with somebody? And unfortunately there isn’t a formula. Just like what Warren says, you know, like.

[00:48:38] Some is like revenue share, profit share, even maybe some equity in the company, especially if it’s like a new startup or it could of course just be a flat fee or a mix of mix of all of that. Right? I mean, I think you’ve got to incentivize the person. It kind of depends on how famous they are or how influential they are, especially in the exact space you’re looking [00:49:00] at.

[00:49:00] So I think you just gotta know what you want and are aware of. What it will take to attract somebody. I think LinkedIn, of course, is what he mentioned quite a few times, and that is definitely an important part of your, you know, business connections. It’s not a sauce on, as far as I know, not blocked in China right now, and it’s a, it’s kind of like networking online in almost real time or depending what time, time zone people are awake at, but definitely hop on over there.

[00:49:33] Hi, mostly accept people to add me on LinkedIn unless there have like a company logo is their face or no face, no profile photo. So at least update your profile photo and try to be a real human being. I think that’s important if you’re trying to engage with others, especially if trying to find somebody like Warren or somebody on the internet, you, um, need to show your real face and uh, be willing to put yourself out there.

[00:49:59] I was just, you know, emailing different people and. Reaching out and, you know, he just use, use it. And, uh, of course the risk is you might lose it. You know, you might lose your quote unquote lose your face if you, the risks of, you know, being a, you know, advisor or a face or a, uh, you know, the influencer, the public.

[00:50:20] Person interfacing with the internet or the world, or the, you know, industry is, if this company does something bad, you know, if something bad happens, you know, he see it all the time. And the news and tech news and finance news, you know, this company did this and this person is the representative.

[00:50:40] And, uh, you know, so when others wonders, no problem. Yeah, it sounds like, Oh, it’s so easy. This guy or girl, his face is on the air and they’re the representative in the United States and they’re the sales rep, or they’re the advisor, but. Yeah, of course. When there’s no problem, it’s not much.

[00:50:57] But when there is a problem, when there is a question ] and it’s also there, their trust, their brand as an individual, personal brand. So I hope listeners can think about that. You know, when they’re trying to engage with an expert, an influencer is more than just a face on the website. It’s somebody that.

[00:51:15] Has expertise in their field and has a network and trust, and sometimes, you know, I know, especially Chinese factories tell me, Oh, but he doesn’t, he or she doesn’t really need to do anything. It’s not about doing at that level. Right. It’s about making that one quick connection, making that one quick a suggestion or that quick idea that.

[00:51:36] Maybe you, especially if you’re notice had a world would have never found or thought of, and of course it says to you as a person maybe receiving that, I would think after you get the answer, it’s like, Oh, that was an easy one. It was obvious, but it wasn’t obvious. To you before they gave you that idea?

[00:51:53] So I feel like I’m lecturing a little bit, but I’ve been annoyed a little bit sometimes when I’m asked by people, Oh, can you introduce me to somebody in the U S and they don’t really have to do anything. I just need them to maybe open an account in my name, or I just need them maybe to introduce me to people D are there.

[00:52:13] I think it’s just some slick way to try to, you know, leverage as much of that. Person’s reputation, even if they’re not famous. You know, they do have a us ID, which can help a lot. I mean with banking, with account openings and well, you might not value that, which is, I know a lot of Chinese sellers and factors.

[00:52:31] I talked to think that’s nothing. There is a lot of risk involved that they could lose and get in a lot of trouble if something happened. And. While you might not think they’re doing physical work. That is a physical risks cause they could go to a court’s, they can get letters, lawyers can come after them.

[00:52:49] I don’t understand why people don’t realize that is something that can happen. It’s happened to me actually. I’ve had a lawyers go to my parents’ house in the U S they’re looking for [00:53:00] people in China that I dare, they think are somebody CAC. They’re associated with me so. All of these things should be involved in the compensation package for a U S rep, business development person, advisor, partner face, white face, yellow face, black face, purple face.

[00:53:21] You know, this person’s face. Honestly. What else do you really have besides your face, which is really a reputation, which is really your brand, right? Like if, if you’re just paid to be a face and then something bad happens and you know. You lose that face. You know, when people search the internet and, uh, read stuff, you know, um, of course there’s always two sides to every story, but you know, you just want to read as the face of the company or the advisor or the rep in the U S you want to reduce that, you know.

[00:53:51] So I’m finished lecturing, but you know, it has been scary for me. I mean, I know when I’m not even in an advisor, sometimes I’ve seen my face used sometimes on [00:54:00] testimonials or, or, uh, other parts of the internet. It does get a little bit scary because people have contacted me about those, the reviews or the testimonials.

[00:54:09] I’ve had people ask me, Oh, you know, this service, or you know them when I’m, maybe, I didn’t know that they had used my face. And then if something bad happens, you know. It, it hit, it hurts me, you know, maybe not going to like make me go to cry with my kids, but it, it will, uh, affect, you know, even if it’s just one person, you know, you shouldn’t have to deal with that risk.

[00:54:32] So. Anyway. I hope this helped you. I know we were kind of going onto different tangents, but I hope it gives people perspective of what it requires to find us partners or U S reps. you know, I think going on LinkedIn, making discussions with them, they’re going out onto. Uh, trade shows or events and try to be open minded.

[00:54:53] And this is just the way to make these kinds of things happen and make it attractive to them, make it attractive. How do you to structure [00:55:00] this deal exclusivity, some kind of revenue share, some kind of fixed, et cetera, et cetera. So I’d love to hear what you guys had to think. This is, think this, have to think about this.

[00:55:11] dot com slash episode 280. To get more info about running an international business, please visit our website at www dot global from asia.com that’s www dot dot com also be sure to subscribe to our iTunes feed. Thanks for tuning in.