* This is an elephant in the room story.  The names have been changed to protect their identity but the story is solid truth, so help me mama!

Last year at an exporting event, in a room of international trade advisors, BettySue was shocked and offended by an IIS. You know the type. He was in need of showin’ off with a little TDS-Talking Down Syndrome mixed in, definitely an IIS - an International Intellectual Snob. This wasn’t my first, nor my last experience with this species of human, however it was my most memorable.  
 
During an open group exchange, this young gentleman, obviously very skilled in international commerce, stood up and shared a short story about a recent business owner he met in his daily work.
 
Long story short, (because ya’ll know I can tell long stories) he shared his experience with a potential exporter who had a successful small business and wanted to expand internationally.  He chuckled as he recalled that this man “didn’t even know what a Harmonized Tariff- Schedule B number was, much less how to spell it.” He said it with such an air of arrogance that my blonde BettySue hair stood on end. For those of you that don’t know me, my hair is usually about 18 inches high but rose to a full 24 inches from the bottom of my bangs to the top of my coiffed curls.
 
As we say in Gun Barrel City, I was “as mad as a hornet when their nest is jabbed.”  I wanted to stand up and shout, “the man you are snickering about probably makes more than everyone in this room!” but one numbskull remark didn’t deserve another. And, if I had said anything, I would have stood alone. There were a number of people in the room that chuckled right along with him. I quietly sat there and realized to my horror that there are a lot of folk with IIS syndrome in the export and import world.
 
BettySue has experienced the chill of more than a few IIS (including some in higher education). How can we possibly hope to encourage exporting if this is the attitude of those who are supposedly trying to help?

Is Nightmare on Elm Street motivational?
And it’s not just the snobs, it’s the horror stories that are told over and over again that curl my toes...in a bad way. Anyone who has been to an export conference has heard from the podium, a chilling export horror story. It grabs everyone’s attention in the room, but it seems to do more harm than good. Save the Halloween stories for, well, Halloween.
 
In the government world (yes, I was there for a short time) the jargon is a little different but not by much. It’s all about NOT making a mistake. As you can guess, risk is frowned upon and not high on the agenda. (Does anyone see the disconnect here to entrepreneurs whose middle name is risk?) They often communicate more what you “can’t do” rather than “working through.” Government people who take the “can do” approach are those that have spent time in the private sector. They know that risk is part of any business so instead of a hurdle, ya might as well look at it like a speed bump and zip right through.
 
Of course, there are exceptions. Exporting is business expansion. And as with any expansion, caution is advisable. But this should be informed caution and not Nightmare on Elm Street fear. And it should be supported by people that stand next to, rather than look down on, those they are trying to help.
 
As a lifelong entrepreneur, I feel that I can speak for other small-to-medium size enterprises, so let me be clear.... export horror stories do NOT motivate potential exporters and the arrogance of International Intellectual Snobs just piss us off.
 
Turn exporting hurdles into speed bumps.
 
Since BettySue’s training, The Riddle of the Exporter, aims to make exporting an easy to understand #Exporting8StepProcess by mixing facts with fun, it’s often perceived from the outside as too simple. While great training should look simple, there is nothing simplistic about it.  
 
The Riddle of the Exporter™ covers all the facts from the Schedule B/HTS number to the ECCN (Export Control Classification Number) to the DCS (Destination Control Statement). The facts are presented in a way that is absorbed and remembered. There is no TBU (true but useless) information and "no death by PowerPoints". Experts in finance and logistics are Included but no IIS are allowed in the room.  
 
The goal of everyone in the room is to give potential U.S. exporters information to know about the export process. When they do take the jump, they know how to find the specific experts and the right questions to ask - without being disrespected by an IIS.
 
So what is the cure for IIS Syndrome?

1. Don’t be like that young man...all hat and no cattle, ever!
2. Know that the person who is the recipient of your advice probably keeps his success stories under his ten-gallon hat.
3. Paint a scenario of turning export hurdles into small speed bumps with the right tools.
4. Speak their language and encourage exporting for all the right reasons. With just a little help from you, these savvy business owners will be in tall cotton with their new exporting gig.

 
We love newbie exporters!  In a short amount of time, using common sense adult learning techniques, we can take a novice exporter and turn them into an informed participant ready to seek the next level of expertise. If you’re newbie exporter or a banker with a newbie exporter, give us a jingle, we’ll light the way.
 
It’s time to get excited about exportin’!
Yours truly,
#BettySueExportQueen
Export Training for Entrepreneurs Written By An Entrepreneur
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On average, 60 percent of invited guests will show up to a party. If you invite closer friends only, about 75 percent will come. - Epicurious
 
What happens when you invite strangers? To a business event?
 
Having spoken, trained and attended numerous events over the last several years, hosted by public and private agencies, we decided to conduct our own informal poll and found the numbers to be even worse. Not only were there a smaller percentage show up to the event, but there were very few of the people we were really trying to reach in the room.
 
We found that 90-94% of the room consists of government employees hosting the event or speaking and service providers looking for clients. Only 6-10% of attendees were actual exporters - the people we were trying to reach.
 
So we’re asking why are there no exporters at exporting seminars?
 
Maybe we haven’t heard about it because no one wants to admit that they have the wrong people in the room. It’s easier to say, “we had 30 people” or “a great turnout” rather than adding “but they were the wrong people.”
 
Exporting, tariffs and international trade are a big deal in U.S. business and search for these terms are on the rise. So, why are organizations - both public and private - struggling to get exporters into the room?
 
Now before I go further, there are exceptions. When export training is mandatory, such as with the Bureau of Industry and Security, there are ONLY exporters in the room. Who else would voluntarily suffer this inhuman form of torture and Death by PowerPoint? There are also trade groups whose mission solely focuses on export/import and of course, their audience is interested exporters. 
 
So, why are we struggling to get the exporters into the room?
 

1. Marketing. Unfortunately marketing from government groups is designed by people who know exporting, but don’t understand business marketing.  An entrepreneurial mind thinks differently. So a government approach to a marketing campaign and education will not work (or at least it hasn’t yet). The possibility to recession-proof a business (one of the biggest perks of exporting) should get anyone’s attention, yet it falls on deaf ears because the message is lost in a bunch of government jargon.
2. Connecting. The powers that be, federal or state, may think a slew of tired blah, blah, blah marketing, impersonal emails, and links to training will cut the mustard. Doesn’t work!
   
3. Boring training that is the same old, same old. All export seminars today (except The Riddle of the Exporter™) are painfully boring and offer a slow Death by PowerPoint  - which I personally believe falls under the U.N. Convention Against Torture. The latest approach is sending new exporters to watch hours upon hours of videos.  Doesn’t work!

 
So, how do we fix it?

1. These are smart, sharp people.... treat them that way. At The Riddle of the Exporter™, we don’t want to show them how smart we are, we want to show current and future exporters how smart they are. These are sharp business people that have handled challenges a lot tougher than exporting. Once we show them the steps, they realize that if Betty Sue from Gun Barrel City can export, they can export. Touching their passion and showing them there is an easier way to understand a tough topic that has great benefits is our goal.
2. Change the mindset at the top. The solution to the problem does not lie with the individual government agency employees. The people of the USEAC, SBA, EX-IM, BIS,   Census and state international trade specialists  are full of knowledge and eager to help. You can actually reach these people by phone and they return your calls! The solution lies with the mindset at the top.
3. Deviate and do the uncommon. We subscribe to the theory of “Positive Deviance.” Positive deviance is an approach to behavioral and social change based on the observation that in any community there are people whose uncommon but successful behaviors or strategies enable them to find better solutions to a problem than their peers, despite facing similar challenges and having no extra resources.  The Riddle of the Exporter™ is definitely uncommon in the world of export training. We take hard-core information, apply proven adult learning techniques and make edutainment-an entertaining, interactive, compelling learning scenario that works.

 
Will things change? We believe they can. What do you do that is uncommon? Any new ideas on how to get exporters into the room and people to the party? Please share.
 
Let’s get people excited about exporting!
#BettySueExportQueen
 
The Riddle of the Exporter™
Export Training For Entrepreneurs By An Entrepreneur
 

Elyse Eriksson, Creator of Betty Sue, Export Queen
 
Although I have trained many people across a variety of industries, I’m not a trainer by trade.
 
My business life has been as an entrepreneur with ventures in manufacturing and product export and import. Along the way, I discovered that I was sharing with other entrepreneurs the process of exporting in a way that was easy for them to understand. I turned my ideas into a business and the result was The Riddle of the Exporter™ with Betty Sue as our imaginary client.
 
So who is Betty Sue, and why is she important?

Meet Betty Sue, Export Queen and small business owner, along with her husband Earnie Earl, from Gun Barrel City, Texas. In Texas everyone has two first names. Live in Texas long enough and we’ll give you one! Betty Sue is known for her Texas-style big hair and sparkle. You will know she is in the room when you hear, “Betty Sue is my name and exporting is my game.”
 
While Betty Sue is from Gun Barrel City, Texas, she could be from Toad Suck, Arkansas, Bullfrog, Utah, or Egg Harbor, Wisconsin. She represents the best of small town and small business, using her common sense backed by hard work. She’s exported many of her products around the world including her Rattlesnake Olive Oil and Rhinestone Studded Night Vision Goggles. She is certain that exporting can change any small business just like it did hers.
 
Betty Sue, Export Queen, loves exporting and has been speaking about the joys of exporting to just about anyone who will listen. She does this by sharing The Riddle of the Exporter™, the 8 Step Exporting Process workbook and the e-learning game. ‘Fun’ is her middle name and she creates fun even while sharing serious information. The important thing to remember is that if Betty Sue can export, anyone with common sense and business sense can export. 
 
Betty Sue’s goals are:

• To show people an easy to understand, common sense exporting process
• To give people the confidence to step forward when opportunity arises
• To give interactive, entertaining seminars
• To create a forum for exporting discussion
• To host an export reality TV show
• To get people excited about exporting!

 
Look for Betty Sue’s blogs, coming soon!

• The elephant in the room:  Why are there no exporters at exporting seminars?
• The elephant in the room:  Are you an I.I.S. (International Intellectual Snob)?
• The elephant in the room:  Why exporters aren't coming to the party!
• The elephant in the room:  Will it take another recession to get us exporting?
• The elephant in the room: Newbie Exporters: A Blessing or a Curse?
• The Trade War Question:  Advance or Retreat or Hold the Line?
• The Grand Canyon gap between university programs and international jobs!
• Export seminars: Free and bad is not free!
• Why your expansion by exporting isn't as difficult as you might think!
• If you don't know the Ws of the export process, you don't care!

 
Connect with Betty Sue! Or the entrepreneur behind the name, Elyse Eriksson  on LinkedIn
Twitter @exportconnector