New Media and the Internet: Blessing or Curse for SMEs and Entrepreneurs
TweetAs an entrepreneur, you own your new idea. You may actually have a revolutionary idea that will change the lives of many. Or it may be the case that you are evolving an industry and know how to make it work better.
Having this idea is great, but you need to let others know about it. Otherwise, there will be no customers and no customers means you will soon be out of business. There are many things to consider when getting your name out to the people who may buy your product. The Internet is one of many possibilities, the one we will be looking at here.
What is available to you as an entrepreneur?
The Internet offers you a myriad of opportunities to promote your brand (to learn more about our view on brands, please see our earlier article: weblink). We would suggest you closely link your brand to the tools you are using. Here is an example: If you produce a product for youth, you should be utilizing the platforms that your audience frequents. Facebook for example. Should your target audience be older and less tech-savvy, this approach may not work. Yes, you may have to think about font sizes here as your readers may not be able to see the small fonts on Facebook.
Depending on your budget, you can use a mix of many tools. Here are just a few worth considering if you run a small business:
- E-Newsletters: This amazing tool tells you who reads your news, who forwarded it and most importantly, which e-mails bounced. A bounced e-mail is an indication that your contact has moved on. Remember, you know that person and new client acquisition is away more expensive than keeping current ones. Pick up the phone, call them to update the email. It also shows that you care about their business and them personally
- Search Engine Optimisation: Given that your website may not be large, this can be an affordable option. Given that more than 70% of users carry out an online search before ANY purchase, it is important to come up relatively high in the search results. This will get you short listed more often. While this is not a guarantee to sign up new clients, it improves your chances.
- Syndicated E-PR: If you have something news-worthy, you may want to prepare and distribute a press release. Magazines, trade journals and newspapers might pick up this news and publish it (free!). As you may not know whom to send the release to, you can use service providers that will, electronically channel your news to the right people. You can even specify where it should go, depending on your target market’s geography.
The other side of the screen (aka. Flipside of the coin)
However, with the new medium also comes a host of difficulties for others, the small companies.
While today a website is a must (with more than 70% of users searching online before any purchase), some companies struggle with the new media. Budget constraints and the lack of dedicated staff to manage online accounts are just two issues. Basic understanding might be lacking and some may fall for service providers offering a cheap solution that will cost a lot in the long run.
Above we suggested using Facebook for a youth brand. While the actual account is free and using the medium is free too, there is a certain cost that needs to be associated with this. You may want to call it an ‘opportunity cost’ if you, as the owner of the business maintains the account. You have the choice between posting something on Facebook or doing something else. Maybe meeting a supplier that can offer you a better deal, thus improving your bottom line. Alternatively, you can appoint one of your staff to handle the account.
Then there is the question of whether or not that person is able to communicate the brand in the correct manner. Or if the investment into a dedicated person is worthwhile. Or, if it might make sense to outsource to a specialist company to ghost-write for you. The last option then requires you to be able to identify a suitable and reliable partner. Not an easy task either.
Some of the tools will also require long-term thinking. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is not something that you start and stop every now and then. It should be carried out continuously over extended periods of time. The simple reason is that the dynamics of change are in a constant flux. Today, your audience finds your site looking for a specific term. That term may change next month. Then the terms in the back of your site need to be amended too. As a result, one needs to keep going with SEO, which can put some restraint on budget and cash flow.
Can a website really sell your business?
The short of the long is: it depends. From our (Launchpad’s) point of view, a website can assist in the sales process. Unless the site is meant to be the, or one of the main sales channels (Amazon, E-Bay), then the site is probably a step in the sales process. Let’s be honest. If you are a service provider, your offer will be tailored to the needs of your clientele. You will not be able to sell a six-month consultation package off the shelf.
Your website can only suggest what can be done. The final offer will be determined in personal discussions. Your website needs to look good and has to be up-to date. However, you may not need the biggest and fanciest site. What is important is that people find your site and have the opportunity to contact you.
Quoting The Adcontratrian, here is a thought: What is more important? Engagement with people or selling your product? While it can be fun to chat with stakeholders on Facebook or to up-load a video to YouTube, always ask yourself if the activity translates into sales. Maybe a networking event will yield better results?
Here is a simple question that I haven’t been able to answer myself: We have two websites, one blog, we send out e-newsletters every month. Yet 67% of our business originates from networking events that we attend in person. (Having said that, every time we attend a networking event, people we know comment on our E-Newsletter).
Is it that our websites are wrong and don’t work for us (could be, I admit) or are people just more open to a face-to-face? Maybe they check out the websites after meeting us to validate that we are for real?
Look at your online assets like it is your business attire. Just wearing a suit (having a website) will not sell your services or products. But NOT wearing any attire will certainly not help. In essence, you need to have an online presence (wear business attire) and that attire needs to be appropriate for your business.
Big brands dominate the internet
In today’s interactive arms race, SMEs might be the ones losing out. Perhaps it is time that service providers educate them? Or maybe a new paradigm is needed where less is more and tailored solutions for SMEs are easy to understand and apply? Perhaps there is too much hype around interactive and the web isn’t really that good for building your business?
About Launchpad
Launchpad is a full-service, branding, marketing and communications group of forward-thinkers, devoted to brands that will shape the 21st Century. As Asia’s only partnership of strategic, marketing, creative and technology people, the group has diverse backgrounds, vast experience and a long track
record of solving tough marketing challenges. Launchpad’s expertise spans marketing, advertising, design, branding, digital / interactive, technology, and beyond. We work best with brands that have ambition for growth and want to make a difference. Launchpad is your ‘marketing lift-off in Asia’.
Stefan Pertz is the Group Managing Director of Launchpad Sdn Bhd.
Passionate about marketing, Stefan has practiced what marketing textbooks teach. He set up direct distributions in Singapore and Sydney, helped to open offices in Hong Kong and Malaysia. The successful launch of a new brand under his supervision resulted in the client, a postal service, being nominated among the top 10 direct marketing providers. The name Launchpad (Your marketing lift-off in Asia) depicts the sole reason for its existence: the company boosts companies in the region to new marketing heights. Learn more about Launchpad: www.launchpad.com.my or www.launchpadnews.com
Read MoreOpen Web Asia – First Time In KL!
TweetOpenWebAsia – SEA is a regional technology and web business conference that brings together top minds in the web technology space.
In 2008, Open Web Asia was hosted in Seoul, South Korea at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill.
For the very first time, in 2010, Malaysia is privileged to be selected as the host of this inaugural premier summit . This year it will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at Crowne Plaza Mutiara Hotel, on the 13th and 14th of July 2010.
The theme for Open Web Aisa – SEA 2010 is “Web Innovation In Asia”. Never before has Malaysia hosted a congregation of the worlds leading technology giants from all across the globe, with unprecedented speakers from Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Facebook, Tech Crunch, Digg.com and BANSEA just to name a few.
In Seoul, Korea Open Web Asia attracted 500 global leaders and delegates from across the globe to discuss on a Pan-Asian perspective on web businesses and groundbreaking technology waves that will shape the future of the world.
This global conference is produced by the Open Web Asia Workgroup , Malaysia Entrepreneurs , MSC Malaysia Innotech, IASA (International Association of Software Architecture), & Social Media Club KL.
Aaron Tan Dani Christine Songco Michael Francis Smith Jr Mohan Belani
Chairman Technical Program Manager Director Director
IASA Google Yahoo e27
Asia-Pacific San Francisco, USA Southeast Asia Singapore
Lichi Wu Simone Brunozzi Dr. Serkan Toto Brian Wong
APAC Sales & BD Technology Evangelist Writer Business Development
Former AdMob Amazon Tech Crunch Digg.com
Singapore Asia-Pacific Japan USA
Dr. Gang Lu Prof. Wong Poh Kam Patrick Chanezon Aaron Tan
CEO Chairman Client & Cloud Advocacy Brisbane Lead
Kuukie & Mobinode BANSEA Google MEGA
China Singapore San Francisco, USA Australia
WEB INNOVATION IN ASIA
This conference addresses current issues in the area of:
a. Enterprise Web
b. Government 2.0
c. Mobile Applications
d. Android & iphone Development Platforms
e. Could Computing & Location Based Services
f. Venture Capital & Funding
g. Social Media & Social Gaming
h. Architecture & Standards
WHO IS OWA FOR?
- Investors, Venture Capitalists, Private Equity Companies
- Directors, Business Owners & Entrepreneurs
- CEO’s, CIO’s, CTO’s & IT Managers
- Technology SME’s & MNCs
- Telcos & Communication Companies
- Web Developer, Programmers & Designers
- Advertising, Branding & Media Marketing Professionals
- Bloggers & Web Technology Enthusiasts
- Educators & Standard Institutions
WE’RE GIVING AWAY A FREE APPLE iPAD & GOOGLE NEXUS ONE!!
Read MoreStartup Tips From One Of The Most Influential Investor In The World : John Doerr
TweetA few months ago we had the privilege to meet John Gage from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers(KPCB) who was down in Malaysia. KPCB is one of the top investment firms in Silicon Valley and also the world.
Who is John Doerr you may ask? John Doerr is a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers(KPCB). Along with KPCB’s partners, John has invested and sits on the board of directors of many of America’s leading entrepreneurs including: 
All We Want For Christmas Is To Be Acquired by Santa
TweetThroughout 2009 we’ve been noticing a fairly surprising trend rate of what we would call a ‘Shopping Spree’ by the Big Boys. Early start-ups and established companies have been acquired on average almost every 3 months throughout the year.
Such as Cisco acquiring Tandberg for $3.0 billion and Starent Networks for $2.6 billion. Facebook purchasing FriendFeed for $47.5 million and Amazon acquiring Zappos for $1.2 billion.
So why are these Big Boys buying companies like there’s no tomorrow and how do you get acquired if you wanted to? We managed to speak to a couple of investors and venture capitalists from Silicon Valley, China, Singapore and Israel to tap their minds on mergers & acquisitions (M&A)
If you’ve been thinking that listing your company is the best and fastest way to cash out, you might want to think again. Based on some interesting statistics, most companies exit and cash out though the process of a merger & acquisition as opposed to going for IPO.
No doubt there are companies that will achieve financial exits through IPO’s but the amount of companies that exited through M&A’s are tremendous. The significance of the amount cashed out is also higher on average.
And so we asked one of the VC’s, if this was the case, how do we plan for acquisitions to happen in the future?
His answer was, “Most of our companies that got acquired didn’t plan to get acquired per say. But because they we’re providing so much value that they gained interest. If you do not create value you would die anyway because you’re not able to sustain.”
But if being acquired contributes to a large statistic and profits of exiting, the fact that companies are able to strategize to go for IPO, how does one strategize from day one for your company to be acquired?
As we go deeper into the conversation, a few valuable insights were shared on how to subtly strategize your acquisition.
First, create a product or service that would in a certain way ‘hurt’ them. When we say hurt it actually means that will slightly threaten the competitors business in terms of market share.
For example, recently AppJet which produced EtherPad was acquired by Google. EtherPad is a real-time collaboration application similar to Google Docs. It was said that EtherPad was a slight threat to Google Docs, but that being said is not the sole reason to be purchased.
Next is by building a valuable product or service that will threaten the existing companies, and with that tremendous value you’re able to gather a large consumer base in which translates into market share. When this happens it might be a dent on the revenue portfolio of the Big Boys.
When that happens it would be much easier for the Big Boys to buy your existing business along with the entire community and consumers around it, instead of recreating the wheel. By doing this it immediately gives direct market dominance in the particular field which they are in or are planning to enter.
A very good example for this is Mint that was acquired by Intuit for $170 million and Playfish that was purchased by Electronic Arts.
Another part of the strategy is to build a platform or product that provides value and is parallel with their future directions. By being able to integrate and compliment existing business models and directions of these Big Boys. For instance Google bought AdMob for $750,000 because it was a direct extension and compliment to their business model and future directions of Google wanting to penetrate the mobile advertising market space.
The reason Google bought AppJet for EtherPad was also because they believed that the real-time technology team is able to further enhance and compliment the development of Google Wave.
Finally, another tip is to start initiating partnerships or collaboration early with the company or organizations that you want to be acquired by. Form an initial and a valuable working relationship with the company. For instance if you want to be acquired by Apple, try to do small collaborations with them so when the time comes they wouldn’t be foreign and at least have worked with your company before hand. This will ease the integration and transition amongst both companies.
All these elements have to be in confluence and goes hand-in-hand with each other in order to strategize for this particular tricky yet uncertain manoeuvre to get acquired. And if all the pieces come together, a dash of luck is all you need as the final yet essential element. So send your wishes to Santa and your wish might just come true.
Merry White Christmas!
Read More
