The China Business Network is proud to be a supporting organization of the upcoming China FastTrack Forum taking place on Jan. 24th at Tysons Corner, VA.

A big thank you to the event's co-sponsor Tien Wong, Chairman and CEO of Opus8, Inc. private investment firm and the Business Alliance of George Mason University for extending an invitation for friends of The China Business Network to attend the event at a special rate of $89 (compared to $149). Just enter CBN upon registration to receive the special rate.

Also, following the conference, we would like to invite everyone in our local chapter in Washington D.C. to attend the networking reception. It'll be an excellent opportunity to network with others in the China business community.

For more information, please visit:

http://www.businessalliance.org/chinafasttrack.html

I would like to announce that I am now an expert on China, an expert on Social Media and an expert on Networking.

No really.

Is there such thing as a China expert?

Is there such thing as a Social Media expert?

Is there such thing as a Networking expert?

I'm very wary of the word "expert" when it comes to China, Social Media and Networking. The more involved I get in all 3 in building out the next phase of The China Business Network, the more I'm convinced that there are no experts in any of these areas. Specialists? Yes. Advisor. Yes. Experts. No.

China is too multi-faceted for any one person to say they are an expert on China. I wish people who call themselves a China expert would clarify what area of China their expertise lies in.

Social Media. Are there really experts on social media? The more time I spend in this space, the more I feel like people are still making it up as they go along.

Networking Expert. Some of the biggest examples of people who don't understand what networking really means are people who call themselves networking experts.

Just blogging out loud here. I just notice these days that when I come across someone who proclaims to be an expert in any 3 of these areas, my bullshit meter goes ding! ding! ding! to the red zone in much the same way when I come across people who name drop their entire rolodex in the first 5 minutes of meeting me.

I think all this started when someone emailed the other day and said they were looking for help from a China expert and was wondering if I was available for speaking or advising engagements. First of all, totally flattered but freaked out at the same time. You mean some of you out there want to pay me to tell you that doing business in China is less about rocket science and more about just jumping right in and getting used to it? Very cool. I also have a few friends who keep telling me I should start my own little PR business on China, social media and networking because apparently it's obvious I like all three. Sounds like a lot of fun but the idea of account management and managing client relationships scares the crap out of me right now and I'm definitely no expert in any of them nor do I have the time to make a full time gig out of it.

Don't get me wrong. If some of you out there feel I can really add value and want to pay me to speak at your next seminar, conference, meeting on why China isn't rocket science I'd be an idiot if I said no without learning more so drop me a line. If I can't help you I can point you to someone who can.

But in the meantime, I'd much rather continue building the platform that will allow those who are real consultants and "experts" to find those who are looking for them. We have some really exciting developments and partnerships to announce in the coming few weeks and months so stay tuned...

In the meantime...here's some free China advice from me inspired by Lucille Ball.

Doing business in China kind of reminds me of one of my favorite I Love Lucy episodes of all time. If you could bottle what it's like to do business in China, it would be a bottle called CHINALONGTERMSTRATEGY.

The script would go something like this...

[begin script]

Hello friends, I'm your ChinaLongTermStrategy girl.

Are you tired, run - down, listless about wondering how to do business in China?

Do you poop out at trying to enter the China market?

Is your company or brand unpopular in China because there's a huge disconnect between the frustrated local management in China and the clueless senior executives trying to remote control China operations from headquarters outside of China?

The answer to all your problems is in this little bottle. ChinaLongTermStrategy.

ChinaLongTermStrategy contains advice, insight, opinion, and secret ingredients on doing business in China.

Yes, with ChinaLongTermStrategy, you can spoon your way to doing business in China. All you do is take a great big tablespoonful after every fire you put out and every regulatory gray zone you navigate your way through. Mmmmmm.... It's so tasty, too! Tastes just like candy!

So why don't you join all the thousands of happy peppy people who have been living and working in China for the past few decades and get a great big bottle of ChinaLongTermStrategy tomorrow!

Thats China-Long-Term-Strategy! (wink)

[end script]

...anyways, I kind of feel like Lucy sometimes when it comes to promoting the idea of doing business in China. Having lived and worked there for a number of years myself and having my own spoonfuls of experiences and horror stories that would leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth, I sometimes forget how challenging it is! Still, if you can get through a few spoonfuls of China, the benefits of sticking it through do start to transpire in one way or another. Thought it was kind of funny to compare for the sake of cracking myself up today.

Ian Sullivan, Vice-President of i-level Media Group gives us his advice on doing business in China.