In case you didn’t know it already, the world is flat. That’s author Thomas Friedman’s way of saying the world is getting smaller, more interactive and more interdependent, among other things. It’s also a reference to flattened business processes and networks. Kind of sounds like blogging doesn’t it?

I think this flattening process will prove to be more relevant to we bloggers in the proceeding months and years. I’m going to start posting on my personal insights into the book the World Is Flat because the realities of the modern day business world and how people are applying them are absolutely germaine to what we do in the virtual world. It’s directly appicable to monetizing blogs.

Today I want to turn you on to Alibaba.com which, as Friedman describes, is an English Language web site that helps small to medium sized businesses to make deals with manufacturers, traders and sellers around the globe.

The story goes that a young business man found someone in a country to design his product and someone in a different country to produce it. Then he used Amazon.com to serve his logistical, merchandising and fulfillment needs.

Is the Alibaba/Amazon combination the next advance for your company? Look at both of them and learn more about the inner workings of each. See if you can’t make your small operation suddenly global in scale.