As reported by Allison Enright for Internet Retailer, a recent study by Forrester Research Inc. concluded that the worldwide online population will increase 43% by 2014. It is projected to grow from 1.63 billion in 2009 to 2.32 billion forecast for 2014.

The report says that the Middle East and Africa will grow the fastest followed by Southern, Central and Eastern Europe.

Chinese consumers will surpass India while Brazil will continue to be at the top of e-commerce spending in Latin America.

The study also projects the US and Canadian online population to grow each year by 3%, but those users will only make-up 13% of the worldwide population by 2014, which is down 3% from 16% in 2009.

The European online population is expected to grow about 20% between 2010 and 2014. It would account for 22% of the worldwide online population.

With numbers like these, can you afford to restrict your business to your home country? Maybe you already do a fair share of overseas business, but if not, this may be the time to plan for global expansion.

Shipping, currency exchange and taxes are a few of the obstacles faced by global merchants. Fortunately, there are tools and resources that can make the transition easier. When you consider the demand for US products, the strength of foreign currencies and the growing online population, it just may be worth it.

The Advanced Shipping Manager and iShopUSA are just a couple of the services that can help make your leap into the international marketplace easier. Along with unprecedented control over how your shipping is calculated, the Advanced Shipping Manager allows you to enter tax rates for any country. iShopUSA is an integrated solution compatible with Yahoo! stores that provides solutions for a wide range of challenges.

They say that nothing good ever comes easily, and that may be true, but luckily there are tools to make the “good” come a little easier!

We had a great time meeting new friends and catching up with old ones.

If you didn’t get a chance to attend the IRCR or Yahoo! Summit in Chicago, Yahoo! is holding another Summit in Santa Clara California on September 13th and 14th. KingWebmaster will also be attending that event.

For an in depth look at the Chicago Summit, check out Ina Steiner’s article from AuctionBytes.com.

How often do you wait to make a change until everything seems perfect? Or, maybe you agonize over the decision forever- running over all possible scenarios while delaying the inevitable.

So why would some of us rather jump off a cliff-into shark infested waters than shake up the status quo? We all have goals and dreams and we aren’t going to get anywhere near them without making some kind of change. We should live for change-crave it-seek it out instead of hiding in the corner from it.

So what’s the culprit? Good old fear. Fear of losing it all and making a mistake of such magnitude our lives will be ruined. Fear of making a fool of ourselves. Fear of losing something  you love. Fear of the unknown. Fear of change.

Fear that if every variable isn’t perfect, you will fail.

One of the most annoying things is when you get sick just before a vacation. You’ve taken time off work, booked your trip and are looking forward to much needed R&R. The countdown has begun, you are a few days away from bliss and…you get that old familiar feeling. Tickling throat, headache-maybe you’re acting grumpy for no reason. Then you realize,”Oh (expletive!) I’m getting sick!”

Vacation ruined? I don’t think so.

Fast forward 6 months, a year-what do you remember? I’m willing to bet you barely remember the sick part. Sure, it may be  a vague part of your memory, but when it’s all said and done, it makes no difference. You have your memories, you relaxed-somehow your stuffy nose and headache doesn’t seem so earth shattering.

The key is to remember that in the moment. Don’t let the lack of  perfection get in the way of your good time-or your life. That isn’t to say preparation and planning aren’t important, they are-but don’t plan yourself into oblivion.  At some point you need to dive in head first trusting in yourself-knowing you’re on your way.

What have you been waiting to tackle?

Last summer I was fortunate enough to have my closest friends travel from all over the country to attend my wedding. The next evening, we all went to a baseball game where our home team lost miserably. With the star pitcher on the mound and about 20 of our closest friends there to share our favorite activity, they blew it. It wasn’t just a loss-it was a beating.

A couple hours later, a few of us were walking through the hotel lobby after a post game get together. I turned and spotted our home team coach sitting alone. During the season, he calls this particular hotel home so I was hoping for a sighting. Very excitedly, I did a few double takes to make sure I was seeing right and tried to casually alert the others to his presence. He saw the whole spectacle; there was no one else in sight.

I had a decision to make at that moment. Do I keep walking or do I walk over to a man I admire who surely wants nothing more to be left alone? We kept walking. I thought I was doing the right thing, respecting his privacy, giving him a break from the public eye. But, I regret that decision to this day. I’ve thought about it a million times since. Why couldn’t we have just walked up with words of support and encouragement or just to shake the hands of a legend?

I felt that our presence was a reminder of his failure, but I’m pretty sure I over thought it. Although the source for all your inspiration and everything else in life, your mind is also the primary source of the roadblocks you encounter. How many opportunities do we miss on a daily basis because we were over analyzing or over thinking? How does that add up over a lifetime?

I suspect it is a survival instinct that usually does more harm than good for us “evolved” humans. That “fight or flight” that comes at the most inopportune times-a first date, a job interview, maybe your wedding? While inconvenient, it does present an opportunity to learn something, to stretch your limits-to push yourself into new territory.

It’s understood that to break out of a mental block you need to change your surroundings for a few minutes. Stand up, move around, get the blood flowing. This forces your brain into a new thought pattern-enables it to process ideas in a new way.

What could happen if you made a practice of that in your daily life? If you pushed yourself bit by bit out of your comfort zone. Imagine what you could accomplish. Don’t you think it would be incredibly liberating and exhilarating? It would make you realize how invincible and capable you are. It can also feel pretty impossible-but it really isn’t.

So, how do you take the first step? Easy, just shut your mind up and do it. Ignore the nagging, the self-doubting scared voice and put one foot in front of the other.  Oh, and don’t look back. You will never be the same again-and you won’t want to be. You may think about the time you may have wasted, but don’t let that get you down. Just remember those days are gone forever.