In Japan, exchanging business cards is nearly a ceremony itself.

According to rank, introduce yourself, bow, remove your card from a formal cardholder, offer your card with both hands to demonstrate respect, take time to read the card, receive the other card in the same way, don't bend or damage the card, don't write on it, don't stuff it in your pocket, place the card on a table before you during your meeting, and definitely don't show up to a meeting empty handed.

Meanwhile, in America, small business owners buy hundreds of business cards and voluntarily throw them around parking lots, stuff them under windshield wipers, and in door jams.

Cultural differences -- such a small item, but filled with enormous differences.

Considerations like culture help truly define your targeted marketing efforts.

The folks in your database aren't just a number, not just a transaction, not just a potential lead. They're a real person, with a real culture, with a real history.

Get to know that person that intimately and leverage that knowledge in how you market to each person.

True 1:1 marketing.