GBG Sonargaon presents “Building a successful online presence”
GBG Sonargaon along with partners Artis and British Council hosted a workshop on the use of digital and social media to build a business and help foster growth for young entrepreneurs. Held at the campus of United International University (UIU) in Dhanmondi, it consisted of a series of seminars on various issues ranging from marketing on Facebook to the spread and use of e-commerce sites.
The first session of the day, conducted by GBG Sonargaon's very own Senior Manager Salim Sadman Pathan, was on viral and sharable content to promote a business. He explained the necessity to engage and build solid relations with customers rather than to just find people who like pages, and the various steps involved in the process, using local renowned firms who do it every day as examples. He stressed on the importance of providing interactive experiences to customers via Facebook, Twitter, and other online media.
Next on the mic was Zia Ashraf, the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Chaldal.com. He gave interesting insight on the e-commerce and advertisement campaigns of websites like eBay and Amazon, and talked about where Chaldal.com fits into all this. Ashraf went on to discuss how websites like these could revolutionize consumer buying behavior, and the obstacles that are separating them from instant success.
The next three sessions signaled the launch of GBG Women, a global initiative by Google in 2014, to catalyze women entrepreneurship and leadership via training sessions, events and workshops. The sessions were led by GBG's female web trainers. The first of them, Narmin Tartila, spoke about her experiences as a woman entrepreneur -“Building a business is all about finding insights, connecting dots, and being persistent”.
The second session by GBG Women held by Zakia Zerin, the Head of Social Media at Grameenphone, who pointed out just how vital social media sites like Facebook and Linkedin are in building businesses today.
Ambareen Reza, Country Director of Rocket Internet. She introduced the audiences to Rocket Internet, one of the world's largest e-commerce focused venture capital firms and startup incubators. Using the case of Food Panda, she spoke about the difficulties of running online delivery businesses in Bangladesh, for example, the issues faced with logistics and delivery. These factors need to be kept in mind by any entrepreneur looking to enter this business. Reza emphasized on the need to be dedicated and patient when starting up in unchartered territory, and advised the audience on the smart usage of social media to cultivate good relations with their consumers.
The final speaker of the evening was Arif Nezami, UIU grad and Country Director of Startup Grind, a global startup community designed to educate, inspire and connect entrepreneurs. He talked about the importance of user experience, the tech aspects of conducting a business on the Internet, and had plenty of tips for web designers and Facebook entrepreneurs. His main advice to all budding entrepreneurs out there – believe in the power of simplicity.
The event was short but sweet, and not to mention highly informative and super interactive, with lots for any newbie or future entrepreneur to take away and immediately apply to their own online promotion strategies.
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