It has been an exciting week for the Malaysia web/tech scene with the Open Web Asia – Southeast Asia conference happening in Kuala Lumpur on 13-14 July. The TWIA crew hosted a live show with Serkan Toto (@serkantoto) from TechCrunch & Brian Wong (@brian_wong) formerly from Digg and now followFormation as our guests. We touched on some hot topics with great seats about InMobi’s 8M fund-raising success, the feedback about the Open Web Asia Conference and interesting start-ups which caught our eye, how Asian start-ups should improve on their pitching so to attract investors (and Asian investors should be more harsh on feedback to the entrepreneurs here) and Serkan’s interesting prediction for Asian companies in the next few decades. A special treat for all our listeners that you can view the video of the live show here.

You can watch the This Week in Asia Live Show Video from Satoo.TV.

Photo credited to Shereen Shah and Sham Hardy: The panel comprising of (from the left) Bernard Leong, Daniel Cerventus, Serkan Toto, Brian Wong, Michael Smith Jr and Chew Lin Kay.

As 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

In the first part of the Guerrilla Entrepreneurs series I’d like to start by introducing the Guerrilla Entrepreneur.
Is this you?

Balance
You are an entrepreneur on a journey. You control your enterprise, not the other way around. Because you cherish your freedom as much as you do your work, you never compromise on a balanced work life.

Passion
You are passionate about your work. You are good at what you do but constantly look for ways to improve your skills.

Leader
You realize that no man is an island and rely on your allies to build your business. Your customers, employees, team mates and suppliers follow you because they believe in who you are and what you stand for.

Cutting Edge
You are a feverent and intelligent user of technology, to conserve two of your most precious assets – time and money. Huge marketing budgets are nice but not essential for your success.

Laser Beam Focus
You have initiative, insight and guts. You succeed because your efforts and focus defeat larger and better-funded competitors.

Brand Champion
You are in it for the long haul. You aim to build a business that will last and are willing to invest in the marketing of yourself and your brand.

Peak Life Experiences
You seek experiences that money cannot buy. You want work that is satisfying, enough money to enjoy, great health and fun in daily living. You will have your cake and eat it too.

Big Picture
You are passionate about making money but you are even more passionate about giving back to the family that raised you, friends that supported you, society that nurtured you and world that you prospered in.

(Thanks to Guerrilla Entrepreneurs)

Sound impossible that an entrepreneur can be all of the above? Well stick around and during this series I will introduce you to people who not only embody the above but are also open to showing you how you can be a Guerrilla Entrepreneur and practice 21st Century Entrepreneurship. If you are someone already a Guerrilla Entrepreneur, then drop me a line! I’d love to chat with you!

Catch you soon!

————–

Guerrilla Entrepreneur Series is part of a greater mission to empower people to live a life of passion, balance, abundance and the greater good.

In 2 weeks time, we will be celebrating one of the biggest web tech events to reach the shores of KL. The sea.openwebasia.com conference will draw to Kuala Lumpur startups, investors, developers, evangelists and a whole lot more from all over the world.

So i was thinking right. What have we done so far? What kind of message will they bring back with them? Guy Kawasaki made a visit 2 years back. He talked about visiting Batu Caves and chicken wings in Jln Alor. haha As a Malaysian, I’m really proud of these things, but heres my question, when do people start talking about the companies and startups of Malaysia?

How do we compare against our neighbours to the South? I attended Unconference in 2009, and Echelon in 2010, and story is consistent. That Singapore produces startups of quality, with innovative ideas, refined products & potential for scalability. Wait a minute, so do we. BUT – They support this (and this part is really important) – with a network of human relationships stretching from Singapore to Shanghai to Silicon Valley and back .

This network provides Singapore with a not so obvious but huge advantage.
1) The ability to bring their startups global in the shortest time possible
2) bring investors to their shores, and not have their startups move away.
3) exposure to the world and vice versa, in terms of how they execute startups, following the lessons and learning from mistakes of not just Singaporeans but global level startups.

This didnt happen overnight, Singapore made investments years ago planting young interns in Silicon Valley (the folks at E27.sg remembers this, and Echelon happened 6 years later)
Now theres alot more that makes up a startup ecosystem but for the purpose of this post, i wanted to draw attention to this.

The last couple of years, Malaysia has been investing in the tangible. Financing via Preseed and Cradle, training and workshops via the same entities. I don’t think we pay enough attention to human relationships. Just because there is no obvious ROI to it, doesn’t mean its not part of the ecosystem, which I suspect is the way we operate today.

This is a call to action, that when Open Web Asia happens, we make an effort to build relationship with our international guests, to work on simple projects together, collaborate, co-invest, and etc. To be honest I dont exactly know what to do, but i do know something has to be done, and the timing is right. hence tagging all of you guys, whom I consider leaders and visionaries here and elsewhere.

To be continued…Part 2

An overview of marketing and branding for entrepreneurs in 6 parts – Part one, branding

Wikipedia tells us that “An entrepreneur is a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome.” Which means that, as an entrepreneur, you are also responsible for most of your branding, marketing and advertising. These are vast areas of activity and we are trying to shed some light onto some of these issues that concern you. We can only focus on a few key things, but we aim at providing you with tips that you can utilize right away.

So, what’s a brand anyway?

Does your company have a brand? It sure does, as a brand is simply a synonym for “idea”. Let’s take a famous brand. “Google” for instance. All the name does is to spark a reaction for you to say “Search-Engine” or “Online Search”. When you start your business, you make a clear decision as to what the purpose of the firm is. That idea (see above) is your brand. When people see you, your logo and your other collateral, there should be a similar reaction. Your target audience should associate you with the service that you provide. Many people talk about branding in the context of an on-going activity. In our view, this is not the case. You define your brand once and then you keep working on making that brand successful. Only if the purpose of your company changes or if external factors force you to do so, you may have to “re-brand”. But then you are back to the same place where you have an idea that you need to communicate.

What does a brand look like?

Imagine an iceberg. Only 10 % stick out of the water. This is the portion that people will see. In the marketing context, that is your logo, advertisement, brochure etc. Underneath the surface lies the positioning, SWOT and PEST (SWOT = Strength, weaknesses, opportunity and threats PEST = Political, economical, societal and technology) analyses. Then there is the competitor analysis and much more. Everything that is below the surface shapes the look and feel of your brand. For instance, if you are in banking, certain colours, shapes and tones of voice apply. In the banking sector, you speak a specific language which differs from say soft drinks. The trick is to look different than your competitors. You also want to ensure that people like what they see. Remember, you never have a second chance for a first impression.

Since we are on this topic of impressions, let’s talk about the idea of being “cheap”. It is possible to focus on low cost, thus offering lower prices. However, you need to make sure that you don’t LOOK cheap. You still need to appear to be a trustworthy and caring company. This can be achieved by making sure your marketing material looks good. As an example: Air Asia. Ahhh! Cheapest flights (Now, that is the idea. In reality, MAS and Cathay Pacific can be cheaper). Note how Air Asia offers low cost but their material is top notch.

We use the idea of brand promises as the guiding light for an organisation. A simple statement that encapsulates what the place is all about. You can use it even for HR purposes. Let’s say your brand is to be “The provider of the most sophisticated websites”. If a client is asking you for a crude and un-sophisticated website, the answer is “Thanks, but we don’t do that”. Or if someone with very serious and stuck up applies for a job in “The funniest Kindergarten in town”, you turn them down.

Is a tagline really required? And what should it be?

Chances are that the name of your company is used by others. More importantly, not many people know what your company is doing. Today, you have about 7 seconds to communicate your brand. If your name and tagline can explain to someone what your business is all about, you have a winner. Many taglines don’t make sense. In fact, they are very important. Only when your business has grown to be a player that everyone knows and recognises, and then you may want to drop the tagline. Taglines used to be called “Bromides” after the plants that sit on other plants. And that is what they do. They go along with your logo. A good tagline enhances the brand.

Is your brand aligned with internal and external audiences? If not, you have a problem!

Now that you have decided what you are doing, what your organisation looks like etc, it is time for the field test. If people think of your place what you want them to think, then you have done a good job. If your target audience doesn’t associate you with your services and product, then you have issues. The same applies for your staff. EVERYONE and please allow me to emphasise this, EVERYONE, within the organisation needs to know what your brand is. As stated above, it will guide the organisation. The brand is the north star of corporate navigation. If people don’t know, then they steer into all directions and it is hard to move towards the chosen goal. As an exercise: Get someone from outside the organisation and let her/ him ask 10 staff across the organisation about the brand and what the organisations is all about. If you get 6-8 identical answers you are in a good shape. If you get 10 different answers, then you need to think about what went wrong.

Can a brand have more than one product?

Any brand should be treated as a single entity. “DingDong – We announce people” produces doorbells. If they were to offer car horns, they should create a new brand and whole new entity. If you think of it, you go to Royal Sporting House for your sports needs. Not to buy a coffee. The rule number one in marketing is to never confuse the customer. Your brand needs to be absolutely clear to them. It comes full circle. A brand is an idea and people can only connect one brand with one idea. So, if you are looking for a door bell, DingDong is the place to go. If you need a car horn it is a different vendor. Trouble is that you will have to manage a multitude of brands as opposed to products. That means that you need to have a website, brochure, logo, collateral etc for each brand that you have. However, this also comes with good news. Strong brands make more money and attract better suppliers, have more loyal customers and staff.

How easy is your branding really?

The most difficult part is to say “No!” to opportunities. If you are clear about what your brand does and doesn’t you are in good hands. There will be a time when people come to you and offer you money for something that is somewhat similar to what you are doing or simply because they think you can do it. It is best to turn these offers down. It hurts, yes. Think again. A hairdresser is good because all they do is to cut hair. They don’t offer haircuts with a service for your car. It is easy to attract customers if you are clear about what you offer. And if you are an expert, people happily pay more. Be absolutely focused! You may want to engage the help of third parties to do a brand audit in order to check where you are standing. The reason is simple: your clients, suppliers and staff may not tell you the truth about your brand, whereby they typically open up to a third party. You can then use the insights gained and incorporate this into your business.

“What do you think we are doing?” is a question you should be asking much more often. Internally and externally.

A final word of encouragement

Most successful brands have started small. You can do it too. Ensure that your material looks good, the brand expressions (Logo etc.) make sense and are appealing. Practice your elevator pitch and stay on track in pursuit of your brand building. Eventually, you will earn a reputation and become the “go-to address”.

In the next article in this series we will talk about marketing, which is often mistaken with advertising and promotion. We will show you how you can apply some simple but effective ways to go about your marketing.

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. They 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

OpenWebAsia – 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         

View FULL SPEAKER LIST here.

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

Coming live from Echelon 2010 on 2 June with the largest panel ever assembled and a major announcement, the TWIA crew is in full force for the 1st time with interesting threads of discussion ever pursued. With the major announcement for TWIA that DailySocial.net (Indonesia) and Mobinode.com (China) will syndicate our show in the future, we hope to extend our show to reach further shores that provide Asia with the analysis on news which rocked the web, mobile and tech space. In our distinguished panel, we have Dave McClure (@davemcclure), Serkan Toto (@serkantoto) from TechCrunch, Mohan Belani from E27 (@mohanbelani), Gen Kanai from Mozilla Corporation (@genkanai), Rama Mamuaya from DailySocial.net (@rampok) and the full team with Chew Lin Kay (@chewlink) and Michael Smith (@dreampipe). We start with a review of Echelon 2010 with discussion on social gaming, the shift from web to mobile browser in Asia, the start-ups launch with Foound leading the way and Dave’s thoughts on how they can improve for the future. Following on, we crisscrossed through a variety of issues crossing from country to country (China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and etc.), the travel stories from Geeks on a Plane (GOAP) and take interesting questions from our audience. Finally, we wrapped up with what all our panelists wish for Echelon 2011.

TWIA Panel Display Screen (taken by Farry Aprianto and tagged by Mohan Belani in Echelon 2010)

Editor’s Note: The sound quality is perfect after the first few minutes with some calibration from the start. Please bear with us. We will post pictures in this event once we receive them from the organizers.

One of Cerventus‘ pet project, This Week in Asia (TWIA), a podcast focusing on the Asian technology community, has been growing since its first episode on 8 November 2009. As one of echelon 2010’s media partners, TWIA has been interviewing many speakers and attendees of the upcoming event, including Daniel Raffel (Yahoo), Gen Kanai (Mozilla), Noah Kagan (Gambit) and many others.

Now for their 50th episode, TWIA is hosting a special live episode at the end of echelon 2010 conference from 4-5 pm on level 2. In this live show, they will invite those who have graced the show from the past to present and come on board to discuss how their thoughts and opinions are after the two days of exciting keynotes, panel discussions and case study presentations at echelon 2010.
If you have been a listener of the show, please come down and give them your support. The whole TWIA crew from moderator John Lim and his fellow co-hosts, Daniel Cerventus, Michael Foong, Bernard Leong and Chew Lin Kay will share how the show has been progressing and also drop a few gifts for those who are here for the event.

There are 3 interesting events that Entrepreneurs.my will be involved which will be a valuable platform for you network and expand your business. These 3 events supported by us are Wordcamp, Malaysia SME Mini congress and Echelon 2010.

We hope you make full use of these events to network and build your business connections. Register yourself and learn from the experts in each fields which includes, web publishing, online startups and building a small conglomerate in Malaysia.

This is a great event for online publisher or mainly a SME interested in creating your best online present. This is an event where you learn from the best of the industry such as blogger LiewCF and Naoko McCraken from Automatic about the the truth about SEO and many more.

Date: 22 May 2010
Price : RM 150
Entrepreneurs.my discount code for 5% BARCAMPER
For more details visit http://www.wordcamp.my

Mohamed Ali Noordin the CEO of logistics company ABX express on building a successful business in Malaysia share on the pitfall and his experience in growing a once small time . ABX Express is currently the fastest growing air express company in Malaysia.

Details below:
Date: 21st May 2010
Venue: Ground Floor, Podium Block, Wisma Synergy, Lot 72, Pesiaran Jubli Perak, Seksyen 22, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor
to register visit http://bit.ly/9CLfNz

There will be a RM 50 donation at the door which proceed will be given to Pusat Jagaan Sri Sai Orphanages in Jalan Ipoh Kuala Lumpur.
For more details visit http://bit.ly/amwbVt

Echelon is a web startup conference which brings together Webstartups from all around the region to showcase. Meet with the legendary Dave McClure, an investor from Silicon Valley whose involvement includes, Mint.com and Paypal.

Date: 1st and 2nd June
Venue: Singapore
Sign up at here.

Image for Conference from Wikimedia