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Permalink Reply by Hanna Park on February 11, 2011 at 8:09am

Hi Conor, congratulations on starting your language consultancy business.

"Also, social media wise, how useful is it to promote yourself in Korea?"- I would like to hear what other members think but I think in S. Korea social media wise people still use daum.net's cafe' or naver.com's group cafe's to promote oneself.

 

It usually involves creating a group cafe' and putting lots of info divided into sub files / categories. I briefly looked into the promo flier and it seems you have a great Korean partner who probably is very familiar with these Korean social media streams.

Korean social media promo

1) Create a Korean daum/naver group cafe

2) Promote on relevant discussion platform

3) Do an initial group meeting to meet members and explain what you teach/ services

 

as an example of what I did a long time ago when I was conducting a dental study group of Korean dentists preparing for the Californian dental board exam:

 

1) Created a Daum cafe ( daum was more popular around 10 years ago)

2) Briefly put up a promo title ( kept it very brief) on the Korean dental association professional blog site

3) Began conducting study groups ( rented Yonsei U.'s dental school space etc)  

 

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Permalink Reply by Lara Tosh on February 11, 2011 at 1:27pm

I really like the sounds of idea number 3 ^.^

~thanks Hanna!

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Permalink Reply by Lara Tosh on February 11, 2011 at 11:26am

We're very much in the same boat ^.^

...I'm good at what I do, but am clueless as to how to promote myself beyond my telephone contact list -which sounds identical to yours in terms of it's scope ^.~

Presently, I'm swamped in my present job -but I will be wanting to get my "self promotion" ball rolling in June ...am actually trying to free up some time to get things going BEFORE June.

 

Will need to give this some real thought & should be actively writing something in response to your question on Sunday -at the very least, let's share what we've each figured out so far ^.~

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Permalink Reply by Don Southerton on February 11, 2011 at 12:07pm

It's very important that you been seen ( virtually) as highly skilled.  Crafting some White Papers and Case Studies showcasing you skills, expertise, and services goes far, especially when folks do a search.  

 

I'd do lots of postings sharing real information vs. plugging your business in Blogs, Korean sites like Naver, FB, Twitter, etc, Let people see samples of what you can do, and if they like, some will use your service.   

 

Starting a business ( in Korea or anywhere) takes twice as long as you planned, and costs twice as what you planned to budget for the launch. 

 

It's like rolling a snowball slowly at first until it builds up speed and rolls on its own...

DS

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Lara Tosh on February 11, 2011 at 2:26pm

Thanks Don!

...excellent advice! ...I think that's one of the first, most supportive, generative places where I chould focus my efforts.  I'm presently in a rather demanding contract which is requiring that I sacrifice on my life-sustaining "my stuff time" -which I took & have chosen to stay in because we need to build our bank account (in order to fund the next 4 years of intensive "my stuff time" ^.~ ...our Maslow's must be met!).

For me, the above showcasing activities are several of the things I love doing most in "my stuff time" ~and there's no reason why I can't simply sift through my "snippets of writings" and start crafting them into publishable "somethings".

 

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Permalink Reply by Eun-Shil Park on February 11, 2011 at 9:50pm

"Starting a business ( in Korea or anywhere) takes twice as long as you planned, and costs twice as what you planned to budget for the launch.".........thats so true, Don!

 

I do always warn potential entrepreneurs coming to the Korean Market about this. Many times my client gets angry about it and disagree with that but I know what it will take to enter a new market and you cannot only rely on your present "Rolodex".

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Permalink Reply by Conor O'Reilly on February 11, 2011 at 8:10pm

Thanks everyone.

 

Hanna, how easy is it to set up a naver or daum cafe? Do you know any specific sites that would be useful for posting my business's services? I know that there are many out there but I want to attract the right clients - small-medium enterprises, non-profits...or anyone else who'll pay on time ;)

 

Don, is it worth my while building a website or professional blog - something that would also include an online portfolio with links to articles and websites I have worked on? I already have a physical portfolio of work done which is mostly magazine and newspaper promotional work but is of a high standard, most of which have weblinks. I know that larger consultancies in Korea do have a lot of success with their websites, but their business is helping people do business in Korea, not helping Korean companies communicate better with businesses outside of Korea - which is where I imaging/half-hoping that I'll get most of my clients.

 

I think that I'm fortunate to not have to rely on this as my source of income. That said, it's not something I want to leave waiting for something to happen. My full time job gives me enough free time so that I can focus on this. All I have invested so far is time, and if it means that I have to invest more time before it turns to cash I am lucky I have lots of time - just don't talk to me about cash ;)

 

Conor

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Permalink Reply by Eun-Shil Park on February 11, 2011 at 9:59pm

"but their business is helping people do business in Korea, not helping Korean companies communicate better with businesses outside of Korea - which is where I imaging/half-hoping that I'll get most of my clients.".............

 

Conor I have seen quite often that korean companies are trying to create a "little Koreatown" in for instance an european country. Most of the time they do fail in their attempt to succeed to enter the foreign market. Especially the SME-businesses has to focus to close the gap between foreign country and Korea itself.

 

All your future success will depend how you can juggle between their view of life and yours (which is westernized). So you have to really know where you are standing for as a person (your personal attitude/lifestyle/communicationstyle/the right businessconnections). Only then they are maybe willing to pay you as an advisor.

 

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Permalink Reply by Don Southerton on February 11, 2011 at 10:33pm

Your pick the best online tool... website or blog.  I prefer Blogs since they offer more flexility and grow over time. 

I'd begin by posting your past work mixed with new commentary on your industry.

 

Posting interesting Korea-facing content to KBC is a great way to share your passion, too.  :)  As long as it has broad appeal and is not outright business advertising we'd encourage posting some cool content on KBC. 

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Permalink Reply by Eun-Shil Park on February 11, 2011 at 10:03pm

O yeah and before I forget to tell you: You have to do some projects for free (in Korea) to build up a portfolio so the koreans can see you are actually "already' working for koreans.

 

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Permalink Reply by Don Southerton on February 11, 2011 at 10:27pm

Right, I think that in many cases Korean firms want to an example of what they will actually be getting in advance. They want to be 100% sure you can do the job.

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Permalink Reply by Conor O'Reilly on February 12, 2011 at 3:26pm

Hi Eun-Shil,

Thanks for your replies everyone. 

 

I have a portfolio of sorts - most of it is promotional articles for events in magazines, many of which have weblinks. I also have worked with a few non-profits and businesses so I'm in the process of reconnecting and finding out if they were happy with the job I did, do they need any more work done, and would they be willing to recommend or refer me to other potential clients.

 

I definitely regard having evidence of previous work as a necessity when looking for more work - especially in terms of cold calling or advertising. Referrals are different, but still it would help to show the width of my diversity.

 

I think that it's important for me to note that I will not be offering advice - I need as much as I can get myself right now - mainly because I'm under-experienced and under-qualified. I will offer communication solutions: writing, editing, translation services as well as classes in writing, speaking (more discussion/problem solving) and presentation delivery. This is where I am experienced and qualified.

 

And I will not be directing myself purely at Korean businesses and the likes - there are plenty of people and businesses who need these services where English is there first language. The reason I've focused on this aspect is because it's probably the largest market. I might be wrong of course.

 

Thanks for the advice on the blog/website Don. It has got me thinking. Unfortunately, someone already owns my name (as a URL that is) so I'm trying to come up with a clever substitute. My current website is named after a nickname I earned in university and I'd like to avoid explaining it to possible clients. For me, right now, the best thing about a blog is that it can be set up relatively cheaply.

 

Conor

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