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This chapter is excerpted from 'Doing Business in the United States: A Guide for Small Business Entrepreneurs with a Global Mindset'. As nations and regions worldwide enter a period of political-economic transformation and undergo changes in accessibility and market potential, the US market remains an attractive destination for entrepreneurs, small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), and other business entities with a global entrepreneurial mind-set. Books and other sources dedicated to starting and doing business in the United States often focus on academic or large corporate audiences, making them less attractive for aspiring entrepreneurs or SMEs with a global attitude setting their sights on the country. This book strives to serve as a concise guide to understanding the American business landscape from an international business perspective. By and large this book is designated for foreign-based entrepreneurs and SMEs aspiring to expand into the potentially attractive and robust, yet also highly competitive, American market. US-based readers will also find it instrumental and highly relevant in developing their knowledge base and analytical toolbox for perfecting their competitive edge. The book begins by discussing the process of internationalization of the SME as a competitive strategy. It looks at the pros and cons of expanding internationally from the SME's standpoint and rationalizes international expansion as part of the strategic triad of benefits, costs, and risks. Factual illustrations include cross-country comparisons contrasting the United States with comparator countries in terms of their business attractiveness. The book offers numerous analytical tools and frameworks designated as practical applications addressing key aspects of starting and running a business in the United States. The remaining part of this chapter suggests a practical application grounded in the SME internationalization. This application integrates the main aspects and key components of a background research involved in an SME internationalization decision. Why the United States? The book shifts to discussing the bright and dark sides of doing business in the United States, including its role and place in the global marketplace and comparative business potential and attractiveness. The costs and risks of starting and doing business in the United States are discussed at the national and regional levels with multiple examples and factual illustrations from California, the largest state characterized by high business potential and a complex socioeconomic-political landscape. Small business and entrepreneurship, its environment, dynamics, and business start-up logistics are examined at the national and regional levels. Marketing is the heart of any successful business enterprise in the United States and therefore the material in the remainder of the book discusses the fundamentals and contemporary trends and applications in marketing. Chapter 3 examines the challenges in persuading consumers to change attitudes and shift behavior and offers strategies and tactics to help the SME break into the US market and stand out and succeed. In this chapter the book strives to facilitate understanding of the diverse and complex American consumer landscape through the lenses of generational cohorts, geography, and ethnicity. This analysis includes marketing applications and analytical tools such as the 4Cs, SWOT analysis, and additional research resources to better understand market entry opportunities and dynamics within the United States. Branding, the core of strategic marketing in the United States, is the subject of discussion in the concluding chapter of the book. Building and activating the brand, developing and building a strong and differentiated brand as foundation of any successful market entry strategy, and the marketing mix (product, promotion, place, and price) form the building blocks of the company brand and are designed to convey the customer value proposition and deliver actual customer value. As part of the analytical and factual support featured in the book, the authors discuss the process of measuring, testing, learning, and optimization - called marketing analytics - as vital to helping businesses optimize and maximize their marketing mix strategy and execution.