History has been made at the Detroit Autoshow. Geely, a Chinese car company, is the first Chinese car maker to show a car at the Detroit Autoshow. They plan to make them available in 2007 and will sell for less than $10,000 US.

You might rightly be asking why is this worthy of posting to a search engine marketing blog. Fair question. The reason it is worthy is it underscores what is going on in the world of globalization. Markets are opening up, borders are having less friction, and Mr. Chow wants to eat your lunch.

In the world of digital deliveries we compete with everyone that has access to the net. But we also have the opportunity to sell our services to everyone that has access to the net. So, yes the field of competitors grows daily, but so does the organizations/people we can sell to.

No two services can be exactly the same. There is always the question of quality and ability. SEO/SEM has a huge component of understanding local culture, which can not be easily learned without living it. Recently I was in Costa Rica. My wife and I had rented a car and we did a lot of day trips. Everyone outside of the resorts speaks Spanish and about as much English as I speak Spanish (which is about 10 words.) I got into the habit of using the thumbs up to indicate several things.

• Fill up my car with gas.
• Fill up my tires with air.
• Yes, that is good.

I kept saying to my wife I should really find out if the thumbs up means anything different here. I started to get concerned it might mean the same as a middle finger extended in North America does.

BTW – just so you know this is not a silly thought here is what the equivalent of the middle finger extended in UK is. It is the index and middle finger forming a V with the back of the hand facing the recipient.

Also, SEO/SEM only one company can get their client to a certain ranking for a certain KW. No two sites can have number #1 for any given KW. Currently we do very well for our clients and I don’t think we are replaceable.

Ah, but is it about being replaceable or is it about taking the American spirit to heart and capitalizing on this trend. The smart SEO/SEMs will capitalize on this trend. How we do that is going to remain a state secret, because trust me, it ain’t easy. But here’s a fair warning to Mr. Chow – I’ve made reservations at your table and my chop stick skills are coming along quite nicely.