Launching Our Man in Hanoi – the business
Relax, this post isn’t about to descend into a social mediaesque yawnsville of a conversation about how I could “monetise” this blog.
There will be neither Our Man in Hanoi t-shirts nor mugs.
However, this post is something of a milestone not only for the blog but for me and my time in Hanoi.
I mentioned some time ago that I had accepted an invitation to join an international PR company. Unfortunately it soon became apparent that culturally we weren’t suited. They are good guys doing great work but we had different ways of working and priorities and such is life.
Anyway it served to remind me of what my original plan had been when I decided to return to Vietnam. That was largely to use the skills I had picked up in a career spanning journalism, public relations, public affairs, fundraising and social media, to assist people here in Hanoi.
I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to do a couple of talks on social media recently. I greatly enjoyed doing presentations for the British Embassy and British Council. I was also hired to do a similar session for a group of very keen librarians on behalf of the World Bank locally.
Since splitting with my former employer, I’m also in talks with a local restaurateur who needs my help, and there are other clients on the horizon.
I don’t want to sell myself as “the social media guy” because, quite frankly, that is just a small part of it. But if there was a single line that best describes my aim it’s this: Ensuring content, detailing what you do, reaches both existing and potential customers via traditional and social media.
From there it’s about building a buzz large enough so that businesses, NGOs and organisations become noticeable enough to come to the attention of, not only potential customers, but also bloggers, photographers and the media both locally and internationally.
Ideally I shouldn’t be “doing” social media on behalf of clients. So the aim is to train you and your staff as we go. Eventually you can take on as much of this work as you feel able.
I’ve very very excited about this. I want this to be service-driven and for my future work to come from recommendations from very satisfied customers.
In the meantime, this part of the blog isn’t going to change. There may be a little bit of client info sneaking in but only if they’ve something to say that fits in with the general tone of the writing and photos on here. Business information will be kept to other pages. This blog continues to be a story of my time in Hanoi
With that in mind it only remains for me to say – for more information go here.
All the best Steve with the new strategy and focus
Good luck with it all Steve – and belated congratulations on the nuptials!
Best wishes for you, Steve, on this venture into business. I hope you will be able to serve Vietnamese businesses, too. Opening a business and getting married at the same time — high stakes living is best, and I enjoy reading about it on your blog.
Hi Steve – Good Man for having the courage to leave! – Easy for me to say – Hard for you to do!
I can hear what you are saying on your pitch (http://ourmaninhanoi.com/work/) – And I can hear why you are saying here – in this blog – And good for you ensuring your feeling win the fight for direction.
Can I offer some thoughts?
Your offer pitch is warm and is inviting, but it has no edge (not a criticism, just a statement) ….So its great for customers that haven’t really focused on its specific needs or core value and tend to only talk about general requests of things like ….Little bit of help – “more traffic” – “Better Brand” – etc
- You might be saying to yourself: “I do what I do…so lets talk about what you want me to do for you” – Having this attitude it’s fine – nothing wrong with this – If you are looking for a lifestyle business everything is good.
On the other hand you might want to establish edge
If you want to establish edge – And only if you ‘want to’ – then separate out the words and the meaning in your offer and place it into a new site:
Here is what I mean about the words:
Decide on the state of mind of your prospects – and what you are offering i.e
1. Your offer could be “This is why social media is good and what it does” or
2. You might be saying “I know your Huge Throbbing Pain” (even NGO’s, volentary, charity orgs have type of pain).
Which ever type ……SHOUT…the WORDS that enable potential customers to recognise what you offer and for them to see their ‘unconcious need’ being solved by who you are.
You need a new web site to do this task (for either Huge throbbing pain – or state of mind type business).
You need to know who is your potential customer and what they are thinking – Go find them and engage them – Blog about the goodness or the pain in their lives – join their groups tout / twitter / friend / comment / like / recommend in every place they go (on the web).
Here is a hard question:
What are your key words going to be? – Vital for Social and search optimisation alike.
As of today your home page – http://ourmaninhanoi.com is optimised for the following top 5 keywords (in order of optimisation value):
1 Hanoi
2 Vietnam
3 Man
4 Blogs
5 Saigon
“Now think !” – If you had to work out what this home page was about – My guess would be (without looking at the page) – Something about a man in Hanoi (or possibly Saigon) talking about blogs – OK this kinda works – or its close to what is there on your blog – so the key words work – at least at this level of consideration.
THEN think about how people will find you for your new work stuff – You need a new set of words
Don’t fall into the trap when thinking that Social networking will do the whole job – It won’t
Social networks will help you connect and converse – and its eventual success will depend upon having either 1). A critical high number of connections or possibly 2). A handful of very influential contacts.
- If you do not have either you need to step up the pressure.
Just to give an example of who you are competing with on your current keywords are (in order of the most optimised on your current keywords).
1. Wikipedia.org/wiki/hanoi
2. Hanoi.gov.vn
3. Vietscape.com/travel/hanoi
4. Hut.edu.vn
5. Vnu.edu.vn
These are taken from Google.Vn and .com – Your competitors for the existing key words are huge (Three .edu’s and Wikipedia rate very high for most engines – social and search) – I know that you are not trying to compete on these words right now – BUT you need to start to think about how you will with your blog / web site and its new key words.
Hear this – Its important!
Key words in social networks are just as important as key words in google search engines
So you need to know what people / customers are looking for – while understanding what you are ACTUALLY offering – find the words they will use to reach their goal – because you are going to supply them with these words in your new blog or web site (use the words in your Title, Headers, Description, Alt tags, italics, bold mark-up etc).
OK – Lets take a break – Let me just say that you just might not want to go all focused and worried about who will provide you with the work you need “All I need is faith – and all will turn out fine” – But whether you like it or not – its all about control – If you don’t know who your customers are and you don’t bother to find out their words they use to get solutions for their unmet needs …..ANY road will take you there!!
For my five penny worth – If I was advising you (and you felt like how I feel – Obviously impossible, but hopefully you get my point) – I would advise you to focus upon the real value that you have.
Who are you?
A writer and tech savy guy with a journalistic, volunteering history and very importantly you are also in a place where (some) commercial enterprises want to get their products and services.
i.e into Vietnam.
See the following companies as an example:
http://www.open2.net/theosadventure/vietnam_summary.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00scx8q
You could be the first connection for businesses who want to come to Vietnam – Cultural understanding – you become their eyes and ears for them to ask and you consult for them on what is important for them to know before coming to Vietnam – You offer to do the initial groundwork for them – then they take over and visit the country (or not) – once they have the right information!
This might not be your cup of tea, but I’m just trying to help and illuminate other possibilities that might not seem obvious (because we all live in the shadow of someone else…Amen!).
Anyway – I hope you see this help in the spirit I have wished it – Just to contribute.
But as you already know the most important thing is state of mind…..So good luck and let your adventure Begin……..Yikes….this feels good!
Kind Regards
Jeremy
Good stuff, Steve. You’ve got a lot to offer.
Vietnam 720 – thanks for your support.
You too Peter – if you ever feel like outsourcing then let me know – reasonable rates ;o)
Layered – well, as a business, and with me working at home, there isn’t a huge outlay – that said there is pressure to start making money from the off. That wedding is still to be paid for.
Jeremy – thanks for your considered response. Some good stuff in there although I think we may have very different views on some aspects of it.
Michael – thanks very much indeed. Here’s hoping others see it that way.
Go for it Steve. I think there are some great opportunities to pursue in what you’re planning, and to stay sane and happy!
Very much enjoyed meeting you in Hanoi. I’ll be coming back for sure. Who knows maybe there’s a chance to work together in the future.
Excellent, it sounds like you’ve found your niche and calling (and one that will allow you to actually have a life outside of work — not to be undervalued) … and in less than a year on the ground to boot. Congratulations, wishing you much success!
Sounds like a pretty exciting venture. Congratulations and best of luck.