Making web marketing efficient…. especially in Asia. This entrepreneur has launched two websites recently and received phenomenal results in Hong Kong and Vietnam..
What’s your story?
After studying corporate finance and at the end of my internship as an auditor, it was clear I would not work in finance and I would create my own company. You can summarize my professional life as defining the best processes for efficient web marketing. It’s been 9 years now that it’s the only thing I focus on, 4 of which have been spent in HK.
What excites you most about your industry?
The fact that it constantly changes and evolves. I am a very hard worker, so I appreciate all fields where acquiring more skills and and thinking outside the box pays. Internet marketing changes constantly so if you want good results in the long term for your clients you need to keep learning.
What’s your connection to Asia?
We just launched our website in HK and got 200K visits in the first month. We got a 40% increase in the second month. We then launched in Vietnam and got 500k visits the first week. So my connection with Asia, professionally, is that we managed to get very large interest in terms of readership very fast. On a personal level, Asia fulfills all my needs. My favourite hobbie is to try new restaurants with the people I love, HK has more than 30K restaurants depending on sources.I love diving and Asia is incredible for that. I swam with sharks, turtles and I even spent a whole hour with manta rays!
Like I said I work a lot so I also need to take time to relax. The fact that there are beaches 20 minutes from my doorsteps and hikes literally 3 minutes walking from my apartment helps me decrease stress.
Favourite city in Asia for business and why?
HK clearly. Everything is easy here: hiring smart people, creating a company, raising money, networking with expats, networking with locals. The same amount of efforts really yield 5x the results I’d get in my home country.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
That is a very hard question to answer because I’ve been given tons of great advice in my life hahaha!! It also depends on the period of my life. When I started working I’d say anything that has to do with “shoot for the stars” etc.
Who inspires you?
My family, my friends, my business partners, Elon Musk, the idea I have of myself in the future hahaha!
What have you just learnt recently that blew you away?
I was reading about the sales process and came across the story of Joe Girard. He was a car salesman, the best in the world actually. He sold up to 18 cars on the same day, 174 cars in the same month. All of those were one on one sales, talking with customers. When you think about it, it sounds close to a super power: being able to convince people to buy a Chevrolet that easily makes me think of mind control.
Not only are his skills fascinating, but what’s also interesting is that he got fired from his first salesman position. He had sold a car on his first day and after two months the other salesmen convinced the owner of the dealership to get rid of him. I can’t imagine how an entrepreneur can let himself be convinced to fire the best salesman in the world hahaha!
If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
I am very satisfied with my career and life so I wouldn’t change anything. I’d assume that doing things differently has a high risk of having negative consequences.
How do you unwind?
I meditate, network / party, go on hikes, dive and travel.
Favourite Asian destination for relaxation? Why?
Corron in the Philippines because it was the most incredible diving experience I have ever had. It’s a clear water lake with a pocket of hot seawater beneath it. So you’re in clear water and then you enter a body of water that’s almost burning and where you can’t see anything anymore. Also, the whole place looks like an underwater moonscape. Incredible experience.
Other than that, Guilin in mainland China is gorgeous: the rice fields, the villages, the bamboo boating on the river, everything is stunning.
Everyone in business should read this book:
In my industry I’d say all of Paul Graham’s essays:
http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html
Shameless plug for your business:
www.hk.lazycookie.com
We create the most engaging content to turn readers into brand ambassadors on their social media. Our results in HK are simply incredible so far!
How can people connect with you?
The best is to send me an email: [email protected]
Twitter handle?
Not using Twitter
—
This interview was part of the Callum Connect’s column found on The Asian Entrepreneur:
Callum Laing invests and buys small businesses in a range of industries around Asia. He has previously started, built and sold half a dozen businesses and is the founder & owner of Fitness-Buffet a company delivering employee wellness solutions in 12 countries. He is a Director of, amongst others, Key Person of Influence. A 40 week training program for business owners and executives.
Take the ‘Key Person of Influence’ scorecard <http://www.keypersonofinfluence.com/scorecard/>
Connect with Callum here:
twitter.com/laingcallum
linkedin.com/in/callumlaing
Get his free ‘Asia Snapshot’ report from www.callumlaing.com
