KUALA LUMPUR, 15 JULY 2020 – The World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation, via its WIEF Young Leaders Network (WYN) successfully held the second edition of WIEF Idealab 2020 Series today, via Zoom platform at 5pm, Malaysia time. The topic of this workshop, Taking Your Business Online: Starting Strong, Growing Fast was crafted to address the changing landscape during and post COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to assist start-ups and home-based entrepreneurs in adapting to the online business environment.
The second edition differed from the first edition of the Idealab 2020 Series in that it was a two-way workshop and was aimed to engage a smaller group of participants. Close to 30 participants, ranging from entrepreneurs to school leavers, from 20 countries, participated in the engaging and interactive workshop.
Trainer, Mohammed Yacoob Abdullah Humayun, who is the Director of client services for ASEAN region at Virtusa Inc, summarized the whole session into five major steps, which are the big why, funnels, promotion, targeted traffic and automate.
The 90-minute workshop explored various aspects of starting a successful online business, from identifying the most suitable sector of business to ways to monetize one’s passion. An entrepreneur needs to identify the Big Idea, by first looking inside (inner/core) to identify true passion or skill, before matching it with the market trend (external).
New age online business owners need to get away from thinking about what to sell online but instead focus on how to enhance the lives of others. Aside from having a great idea, effectively promoting the business is also crucial. A direct email promotion is 40 per cent more effective, with 78 per cent more reach, compared to only around two per cent for popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Public relations (PR), marketing and promotion go hand in hand. They are the essence of translating your business strategy into profit.
One of the participants, Manisha Jagan, shared her take on the importance of PR and how it is closely related to marketing and branding. PR is about communicating the brand to the market. While marketing is all about increasing sales, PR is about image building.
Online business owners need to also pay attention to their Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). To date, the number one most visited website is Google, with more than 70 billion visitors a month, followed by YouTube with 25 billion visitors and Facebook with 21 billion visitors. Video contents are becoming more effective- the longer duration will allow more paid advertisements to be pushed to the viewers.
The workshop session was concluded with question and answer session and experience sharing by the participants and trainer.
WIEF Idealab 2020 Series, second edition workshop was launched with poem performance by Zohab Zee Khan, an international artist, performance poet, motivational speaker, didgeridoo player, hip hop artist and a YouTube film maker. Zohab recited two poems and played one of the oldest musical instruments called didgeridoo. It’s an instrument developed by the Aboriginal people of northern Australia around 1,000 years ago.
To view the recording of this workshop and other WIEF Idealab Series sessions, please go to https://wyn.wief.org . Alternatively, follow WIEF Foundation on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter for regular updates on future events and happenings. Visit us at www.wief.org or contact Faizah Jaafar at +6019 399 7746 (faizah@wief.org) or Shabana at +6012 375 4957 (shabana@wief.org).
About WIEF Idealab
IdeaLab, an initiative of WIEF Foundation’s Young Leaders Network (WYN), is an established startup conference that cultivates entrepreneurs and assists in the development of startup ecosystems. IdeaLab’s relevance stems from its assorted features, developed and refined through five years, that spur key players in the global startup ecosystem to share experiences and find ways to sustainably scale up.
At this crucial time when startup ecosystems are disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the virtual arm of WYN called WIEF Idealab 2020 Series, serves as survival guide for startups during the pandemic and beyond through online discussions and workshops by industry experts. The first WIEF Idealab 2020 Series will explore durable, sustainable, and applicable strategies for longevity of the global startup ecosystem.
About WIEF Foundation’s Young Leaders Network (WYN)
Aimed at promoting cross-border business opportunities and social projects for the common good, the WYN is a global youth network for young pioneers and changemakers to connect and collaborate. WYN’s flagship leadership programme, Young Fellows, focuses on creating a top-class leadership mentality in the next generation, coupled with a strong moral compass embodied in its philosophy of altruistic leadership under the tagline Learn. Empower. Earn. Return.
WYN organises flagship programmes such as the WIEF IdeaLab (a boutique startup networking conference), the annual WIEF Young Fellows programme (a leadership programme nurturing top class leaders with a strong moral compass), the MOCAfest (WIEF’s creative arts initiative to help empower creative talents across the globe), the MOCAfellows (a creative arts residency for emerging artists), the Internship Programme (a cross-border internship placement programme), ThinkTalk (a community dialogue session) and the WYN Networking Evening (a speed networking event, bringing together young professionals from different industries).
About World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation
World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation was established in 2006. It is the organising body of the annual World Islamic Economic Forum. The Forum serves as a focal point where country leaders, captains of industry, emerging entrepreneurs, academics and other stakeholders from the Muslim World and beyond, meet to build bridges through business. The Foundation also undertakes various capacity building programmes under WIEF initiatives of the Businesswomen Network (WBN), Young Leaders Network (WYN), Education Trust (WET) and Roundtable Series (WRT).
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Role-Players Profiles:
ZOHAB ZEE KHAN
International Artist, Performance Poet, Motivational Speaker, Didgeridoo Player, Hip Hop Artist and YouTube Film Maker, United Kingdom
Zohab Zee Khan is a performance poet, motivational speaker, didgeridoo player, hip hop artist and YouTube filmmaker.
He has conducted over a thousand poetry and self-development workshops around the world. Through the use of his high energy poetry and self-development writing techniques, he inspired change and confidence in countless young people. He regularly creates online self-development as well as wellness video contents for his followers and uses his dynamic ability to connect with young people to provide tailored mentoring sessions.
In 2014, Zohab was crowned the National Poetry Slam Champion of Australia and co-founded the Pakistan Poetry Slam in 2015. His first poetry collection I Write became a bestseller in Australia within months of its release. Also, he has performed his poetry at some of the world-renowned literary festivals.
MOHAMMED YACOOB
Director of Client Services ASEAN, Virtusa Inc, Malaysia
Former Digital Officer at Maxmoney Former Vice President of Regional Vendor Acquisition & Management at Lazada
Mohammed Yacoob Abdullah Humayun is an e-commerce pioneer of Southeast Asia. As a founding member of some of the biggest and successful internet brands such as Lazada and Groupon, together with his team, they have enabled more than 10,000 SMEs to go online. Currently, he is the Director of Client Services ASEAN for Virtusa, a NASDAQ listed global digital-engineering leader.
Yacoob was previously a Chief Digital Officer, and he oversaw the digital transformation of a traditional brick and mortar money service business to a fintech company. As an experienced digital leader, he has led design thinking workshops and consulted companies for go-to-market strategies, business development and marketing across several industries from telco, banking as well as financial services, to social enterprises.
Yacoob graduated with a master’s degree in e-business management from International University of Japan and studied computer science at International Islamic University Malaysia.