Many people assume it is an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) issue.

Photo credit: Johnathan Nightingale

They usually want to “fix” the SEO problem.

But is it really an SEO problem or is it something else? Many times, it is a combination of factors.

Seriously, you can focus on SEO all you want (and the easiest way to get right on the first page of Google is just advertise using Google Adwords and there you go, right at the top) but what’s really the main problem?

Here’s some email advice we gave Anita when she asked us why her company website wasn’t doing too well.

=====

Dear Anita

An SEO problem is not always about the keywords and search terms.

In most cases it is the overall website that has problems plus it concerns marketing because your website is basically your marketing tool that helps customers differentiate you from the rest of the other websites offering the same products or services.

To answer your question why your website isn’t ranking well for the search terms that you need, you have to look at:
* how your website is built (its code, structure and overall architecture)
* if your website content is fulfilling the needs of your website users
* if each of your webpages include specific keywords not only within the website text but also in the page title?
* your internal links – are they done well?
* your images – do they have ALT and Title tags in order? Also, do they have captions?
* your calls-to-action?
* your compelling message about how your business is unique and can serve the customers who come to you?
* personality – does your website reflect the personality of your business?

Once you’ve done that, also check:
* how often are you updating your website and when you update it, are the keywords included?
* are you updating items that makes sense for your customers?
* how are other websites linked to you, if any?
* what ways are you using to market your website?
* how are you communicating with your customers?
* what campaigns do you have for them?
* what external PR work are you doing?
* how regularly do you tell customers about your website and what can they find there that’s useful to them?
* what is your analytics programme telling you about the people who visit your website? (what can you infer from these data to help you improve your marketing?)

To help you further, here are 3 other blog posts we wrote about this SEO issue.

http://redboxstudio.com/2011/09/website-design-or-seo/
http://redboxstudio.com/2009/05/its-not-about-the-freaking-seo-and-heres-why/
http://redboxstudio.com/2012/07/20-things-we-know-for-sure-about-your-website/

In the spirit of the Malaysian General Elections that’s happening on 5 May (Sunday), we’d like to join in the fun and have our own Ini Kali Lah.

We want to give you, yes, YOU a chance to own your very own website with our Ini Kali Lah Sale.

It’s an unbelievable 50% discount off our semi-DIY website system, Redbox Easyweb. So that means instead of paying RM799, you get to buy Redbox Easyweb at RM399! Is that a deal or what?!

So if you’re in business or just started a business and are in two minds about getting a website, let us assure you that THIS IS IT.

This is THE deal you’ve been waiting for from us at Redbox Studio. (Go and watch the intro video here and see the fab things you can do with your own website.)

Our Ini Kali Lah Sale runs from now until midnight on 6 May (which is next Monday) so you better hurry if you want to grab this website system (which includes domain name and premium web hosting) at this super incredible price.

So if you’ve been hemming and hawing over getting a good website at a cool, cool price, then get yourself a Redbox Easyweb website (and don’t forget, fill up the Reference ID of when you order with “Inikalilah”).

Malaysians have never felt this inspired, excited, angered or feverish and perhaps there will be history in the making!

We’ll just have to cross our fingers yeah!

Happy voting folks!

Yet the rain didn’t dampen the spirits of those who signed up and turned up!

Our friends and clients who turned up had no expectations – after all, this was the first time we were doing this.

But honestly, we figured after a one-year hiatus of our website workshops (we managed to organize 20 of the website workshops over the course of one and a half years), it was time to get back into events again. But not about websites or how to create a kickass website or how to attract website visitors or how to write for a website.

Nah.

We’re far more interested in marketing because in our 15 years of designing websites for businesses, we realized one thing that most small and medium size business owners find toughest is marketing.

Dissecting Marketing

Marketing challenges are often the bane of most small business owners. As small business owners, we struggle with lots of daily frustrations: managing our teams, managing customer expectations, fire-fighting at times, ensuring the steady flow of orders and prospects, closing the sale, meeting with prospects, doing paperwork, delivering on what we promised etc. You know the spiel.

We hoped that bringing together a group of people to talk about marketing would make this topic less formidable than it actually is. And like any good support group, we cheer each other on and learn from each other.

Nic and I talk about marketing ALL THE TIME. As partners in business and in life, we’re so immersed in marketing that we can’t tell when to switch off!

Even when we’re on holiday somewhere, our eyes and ears are peeled and sensitized towards marketing. Like our trips to Hong Kong. In a way it’s an excellent way to keep the marriage good and strong because unlike most couples who have been married for a long time, we do find lots to talk about. Marketing especially. How to improve our business. How to manage our team better.

Anyway, China House Cafe made our “meeting” a lot more interesting. While snacking on slices of quiche Lorraine, orange blossom cake, brownies and sandwiches, we got down to the business of the day.

Do You Hunt, Trap or Farm?

Nic kickstarted it with a thinking and writing exercise to get our guests “warmed up” that cold, rainy Saturday morning.

It is infinitely better to be a “farmer” than to be a “hunter” or “trapper” when it came to marketing for small businesses.

You can easily determine who’s a hunter or trapper each time you get bombarded by hard sell, pushy sales people or cheap and lousy deals. Their tactics are exactly like what a hunter or trapper would do – hunt you down or trap you up! Sleazy stuff indeed.

And that makes customers run for their lives whenever they see businesses like these.

If you want a more enjoyable business, aim to be a “farmer”. A farmer never needs to “hunt” or “trap” his prey. He knows exactly what he needs to do to take care of his sheep (your customers are proverbially under your care so you have to take care of them well). A marketer with a “farmer” mindset nurtures his customers, treats them well and continues to harvest a good crop each time when customers buy again and again.

Is it tougher to be a farmer? Of course. As a farmer, you need to take care of your customers and continuously ask, “What else can I do for them in ways that are valuable and useful for THEM?” It’s not about YOU; it’s about THEM.

Everyone had a chance to discuss the concepts and contemplate on the type of marketing they were engaged in. For once, our guests (many were hands-on business owners) had to really ask themselves some tough questions about who they were serving (and whom they didn’t want to serve which was just as important) and which role they were currently playing (hunter, trapper or farmer).

It was quite an enlightening 2 hours where everyone had time to state their opinions, voice their fears and really go deep into self-reflection.

Our marketing discussion soon spilled over to three hours and by 1pm, it was getting more animated.

Nevertheless we promised to have another marketing session like this again and we hope you can join us this time for more coffee, cake and marketing concepts and tactics.

One of our guests, Dr Mike Thair of IndoChine Natural said this on our Facebook page: “An excellent meetup…..we didn’t have high expectations, and generally “marketing” is a bit of a black box to us. However Nic’s conceptualisation of the various marketing roles is probably the best piece of marketing information we have ever received, and this instantly snapped into place a lot of things we haven’t really understood to-date. At last, a marketing person who makes sense!!!!! Also great to share the ideas and opinions of other business owners as well. Really looking forward to the next session!!!!”

Thank YOU to all who made it and we hope to see you at our next Marketing Mojo Meetup in June!

Sign up for 26 June (Wednesday)

Our Marketing Mojo Meetup on 26 June will be from 2pm to 6pm. Yes, it’s a Wednesday and we’re planning to do it at China House Cafe again. (Why? Because the cakes are great and the ambience is just right.)

In fact, we have a guest speaker on 26 June. He will remain a “mystery” man until then.

Again, the early bird fees apply. It’s RM50 per person (valid if you sign up before 30 May).

If you sign up AFTER 30 May, it is RM100 per person. Registration closes on 31 May. First come, first serve. The next meetup will be in September and we don’t repeat topics.

If you want to be notified of our future events, contact us and we will update you as and when we have our marketing workshops and events.

* Not sure where China House Cafe is? Here’s the map.

Trust us, this June session will be highly interesting. As always, it is an opportunity for you to talk about marketing, exchange ideas and meet new friends. Aside that, the food’s good and we have a guest speaker. Remember, this is about serious marketing so only for people serious about their businesses.

Book yourself a seat for 26 June session using the form below. First come, first serve.

Here’s something exciting for you!

Our clients and friends over at Crystal Yacht Holidays Langkawi are giving you a chance to win a romantic sunset cruise for two persons worth RM500 in an easy Facebook contest which we set up for them.

(If you’d like to increase your fans, reward your fans or raise your popularity levels and get in front of more people on Facebook, we suggest an easy-peasy contest like this. Just contact us for a discussion especially if your Facebook fans aren’t exactly growing in the right direction.)

What we love about the contest is this: No slogans needed, no purchase needed.

Unlike those “terms and conditions apply” things which we dislike intensely, this contest gives you a chance to try their highly popular sunset cruise when you win it. Of course you have to get to Langkawi but hey, the prize is worth RM500 and you get to bring your dearest darling along.

All you have to do is visit their Facebook page, like them and you get a chance to collect “lucky draw” tickets. The more tickets you get, the higher your chances of winning the sunset cruise prize. You can even “spin” the fortune wheel daily to amass more lucky tickets and raise your probabilities of winning.

So what’s the sunset cruise about? You can check it out at their website.

Or watch this video which shows you some of the sun and fun you’ll enjoy, courtesy of Backpacking Asia.

We’ve been on the sunset cruise a few times already (even with our team a few years ago) and everyone just loved the idea of spectacular calm water sailing in Langkawi.

Oh and did we mention the free flow of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on the yacht? This is Langkawi after all! I had a Pina Colada the last time I was on the yacht!

Contest closes 30 April so you better hurry!

In the last 6 years that we’ve accepted interns, we’ve always done our per-selection in typical ways. We look at their resumes, Skype or talk to them on the phone and finally called them in for a face to face interview.

In the past we played too safe and did the usual interviewing. That was our mistake so sometimes we got saddled with students who were not good for us. We had to endure them for at least 3 months.

This year, Nic and I got sick and tired of the usual spiel. Like really, really sick.

For one, most applicants copied off each others cover letters and resumes anyway. And in our years of interviewing potential hires and interns, we know that grades really don’t tell much.

A bunch of A’s don’t mean a thing these days especially in Malaysia when top scorers are a dime a dozen.

You can’t smell enthusiasm or see the sparkle in a person’s eyes until you meet him or her. I hate the word passion because it’s so bloody overused in today’s world but yes, I call it fire in the belly thing.

And is that fire a roaring one or it is almost dying out in embers? To see that we have to meet these young people.

But you know, we can’t meet everyone so we decided to let them “disqualify” themselves.

The first task – we challenged them to film a video of themselves and telling us why they should intern in Redbox Studio.

This was a daunting task but you get a lot of interesting videos too. They either shone in the video or they floundered and flopped.

Then came the second challenge. We told them we paid the barest minimum. Again, the candidates disqualified themselves. If you want an experience at Redbox Studio, your allowance isn’t going to matter much. This was a true test.

Finally if you can accept the nominal allowance, we invite you for a face to face interview. (But there is a twist to the nominal allowance. In fact the interns we select will have a chance to make some real money using their entrepreneurial skills.)

Finally we shortlisted 5 students who managed to meet these “challenges”.

So we called for a face-to-face meeting. They thought they were arriving for an interview.

But we brought out Quarto and Gobblet, two very clever yet simple board games made by French board game developer, Gigamic.

Games are a fantastic way to gauge a person’s true colours and none more than when you’re engaged in a competitive battle to win.

For these students, it was their first time ever playing board games. Sure they’ve played Candy Crush Saga and FarmVille and countless other online games but a new and intriguing strategy board game was alien to them.

We split them up into two teams and made them challenge each other. Who won was secondary to their game ‘personality’. You could see who took risks, who took the lead and who made better decisions.

Using this method, we had a much better idea of who would be a good fit for us in Redbox Studio.

Plus if you asked any of our previous interns, working with us is always a fun and challenging experience. We don’t treat interns as minions, helping us xerox documents or do filing work.

What you do get is an eye-opening and mind-expanding experience you will never forget. Of course we have also fired interns who didn’t quite fit but generally we are easygoing, happy folks.

What we want is to provide interns an environment where they learn the real stuff. It has to be a symbiotic relationship, not host-parasite. Both sides must benefit mutually.

If you’re a business owner, take our method and modify as you see fit to vet, sift and sort new hires or potential interns. Running a business is hard enough without having a massive headache with interns who are always green and unsure of themselves.

Do you have a method or system to vet new hires or interns? What methods do you use? Please share! Or if you use this method of ours, let us know how it works for you.

Teoh Poh Yew is a teacher, author, entrepreneur, speaker and corporate trainer.

Her area of expertise is in creativity, maths education and training of trainers’ programmes. Besides parents and students, she has wowed corporate leaders, teachers and trainers with her creativity-infused mathematics in Malaysia, Singapore, China, Denmark, United States, Germany and India, among others.

Poh Yew is also the founder of “Creative Maths”, a licensed programme available in Malaysia and Singapore plus the author of 3 books on mathematical magic.

Like the previous interviewees, Poh Yew is a stellar example of someone who is truly doing what she loves and her passion shows in the way she talks about mathematics!

Her eyes glow with enthusiasm. Looking at her now, you’d never know that she was once a secondary school teacher who taught Mathematics for 11 years.

But as always, let me introduce this steel magnolia properly.

I first met Poh Yew at a Mensa Penang event when I was doing my Master’s. I had been introduced to Mensa Penang via its then chairman, Mr PC Sim as I had wanted to do a qualitative study on a few students who were Mensa members.

I started chatting with Poh Yew when Nic went off to take his Mensa test (which he passed and later became a member of this high IQ society).

Poh Yew was truly passionate about mathematics. I didn’t realize that she was an author, a Mathematics educator and an enthusiastic trainer besides being a mother until much later!

At our next encounter, Poh Yew kindly presented me her book and card deck. These two products of hers were used to teach children how to love mathematics and how to make mathematics fun and magical again. (If you want to buy her products, drop by my friend/client’s educational toy shop – Precious Ones – at 56, Lorong Selamat, George Town, Penang.)

Poh Yew says at the onset of this interview that she’s “very fortunate to be born as a self motivated person”.

What made you take the path less travelled?
I wanted to become a teacher since Primary One. Since my Primary School days I’d been observing how good teachers taught and I told myself, “When I grow up I want to teach like them.”

When I eventually became a teacher, I was very “fortunate” to be posted to a school many teachers wouldn’t want to go. My 17 year old high school students could not do multiplications. There was a girl who could not do 13 times 9!

When I looked at the situation, I told myself, nobody wanted to be in this situation. Something had gone wrong somewhere – these students needed help.

So I decided to find ways to help them, I stayed in the same school for 10 years to do my R&D. I started to buy Primary 2 to Primary 6 books for my Form 5 students. I convinced them that they must start from where they had stopped learning.

In 1998 I brought my students to a Mathematics Project Competition. One school performed a Mathematical magic trick – that was the first time I came across maths magic! I was so fascinated and that started my journey in search of recreational Mathematics!

Was there anything in your childhood which influenced what you’re doing right now?
Both my parents were very creative and they were problem solvers.

How do you consistently sustain your love and interest for maths and creativity?
They are my natural talents and passion. Every time I work on them, I get energized! And my passion is infectious… those who come near me will get “infected”, too! (Krista’s note: Yes, this is absolutely true!)

Where do your ideas for books, products and seminars come from?
I attend a lot of international conferences. I learn from the “giants”. I read a lot of books on recreational mathematics. I have more then 100 such books in my collection. I watch a lot of Youtube.

My strength is to connect whatever I see to my work – maths education, teaching skill, parenting skill, training skill and creativity. I always quote my source of references and most of the time improve or create an interesting variation from the original version.

How did you make that transition from being a teacher to becoming a trainer? How was the process?
The first person who inspired me was Mr. Gan Ah Seng, the President of Malaysia Speakers’ Association from 2000 till now. He had spoken in many countries and he speaks in 5 different languages! When I attended his programme in 1994, I was so inspired by his great personality and success that I told myself, “If Mr Gan can do it, I can do it.”

From that day onwards, I started to visualize that I stood on a big stage and many people were listening to me. Six months later, I was invited by another great mentor of mine, Dr. Janchai Yingprayoon, to speak in Thailand. That was my first speaking engagement overseas.

In 2003, I met another important mentor in my life – Mr. KC See. I quit teaching in 2004 and became a professional trainer after graduating from KC’s Certified Professional Trainer’s Course. KC offered me a lot of opportunities to speak in foreign countries. I’ve another great mentor, Mr. Kwong Lok Wah, a Vistage Business Coach, who helps me to push through my comfort zone from speaking to teachers and parents to speaking to corporate clients.

Who is your hero/heroine? Why?
Besides all the names I mention above, my greatest heroes and heroine are the Buddha, Mother Theresa, Gandhi and Maria Montessori.

Gautama Buddha left behind a systematic approach to cessation of suffering. Whenever I face any life problems, I remember his words and I’m fine again. I radiate loving thoughts to my students and all beings through a very systematic approach call “Loving Kindness Meditation” (Metta Bhavana). This practice gives me a lot of energy to love and serve my family members and others.

I respect and admire Mother Theresa and Gandhi because their sacrifices influenced the whole world. Both of them were very gentle yet could inspire the whole world.

Maria Montessori also left behind a very comprehensive and natural education approach which lasted a hundred years. I wish I could also leave behind an effective method of teaching and learning maths that can last a long, long time.

What are your plans for the next 2 years for yourself and your business?
I’m working towards duplicating my work by grooming like-minded young trainers to teach my programme and also converting my programmes into mobile apps so that they can be accessed by the whole world.

In your opinion, why do you think you’ve achieved a level of success that’s so very different from the countless others who teach maths and creativity?
First, I believe that everyone should develop their careers based on their natural talents. My natural talents are teaching, maths and art. My maths lessons are art-based because I love to produce beautiful teaching aids. It helps that my work is my hobby.

Second, identify gaps and help to solve people’s problems. I do what I’m doing not because it can bring me lots of money.

I develop all these different approaches towards maths education simply because I saw a gap between what school teaches (i.e. to memorize formulas, to pass exam, to enter university) versus what society wants (a graduate who can solve problems and come up with innovative solutions to address global competition). When you help to solve people’s problems, rewards come naturally.

Third, do it with love, lots of love. You will get lots of like-minded people who will support your cause. Of course it takes time to prove to the world that you are doing the right thing.

What is it that do you do better than anyone else? (Or what is your “secret success tip”?)
Loving, caring and giving.

What do you consider a breakthrough or life-changing moment? When and how did this happen?
When a group of Professors specializing in Creativity and Giftedness in Maths Education (especially Prof Linda Seffield , USA, and Prof. Hartwig Meissner, Germany) appreciated my work and invited me to speak in their universities. I met them in 2003 in a maths conference on creativity in Bulgaria.

If someone were inspired by your work and would like to follow your footsteps, what tips would you give them? What should they do first?
Serve in the area of their natural talent with lots of love and passion.

Is there anything that makes you mad or frustrated?
I cannot stand people who complain about their situation and do nothing about it.

What makes you truly happy?
I’m happy most of the time. What makes me truly happy is when my work touches people’s life. What makes me truly happy is when my achievements and my children’s achievements become walking examples of what I preach. What makes me truly happy is that I can be so healthy that my mother doesn’t have to worry about me.

=========================

Find out more about Poh Yew’s programmes, workshops and products at her blog: http://www.pohyewcreativeparenting.blogspot.com or website: www.creativewizard.com.my

Coming up: Yet another teacher follows his heart and lands in the most unlikely of places – the theatre!

Discover a way to tap into great marketing ideas when you join us in our first ever Marketing Mojo Meetup on 6 April (Saturday)!

This is an invitation-only event held at the exclusive China House Cafe on Beach Street from 10am to 12 noon for friends and clients of Redbox Studio (that means YOU!).

How You’ll Benefit:

[unordered_list style="tick"]

• Discover new marketing ideas for your products and services
• Meet new friends who are business owners just like you
• Learn new time-saving technologies to help you become more productive
• Get the latest updates and news on what you can use to boost your business
• PLUS a mini marketing course with hands-on exercise

[/unordered_list]

As a client, you’re already miles ahead of your competitors when you commissioned us to design your website.

You know you can really go much farther. That’s why we thought, what if we could organize a meetup to introduce clients to each other and leverage smarter ideas and tactics?

After all, our clients come from diverse industries. You have an amazing story to tell and interesting marketing tactics to share. Plus we’ll share with you ours too so you’ll learn all the things we do that you can use too!

Whether you’re just building your business or have been in business for years now, let’s meet to get fresh marketing ideas in an Aussie-style cafe that’s just as sexy as it is unique.

Grab The Early Bird Price

All clients receive a discounted price of RM50 – that’s a RM50 discount off of the regular price of RM100 (early bird rate expires 29 March; after 29 March, it’s RM100 per person).

We’ll be enjoying the private upstairs meeting venue (named “Upstairs At Victoria”), coffee, tea and China House Cafe’s to-die-for cakes.

This is our first time bringing together clients to network, share and learn marketing with us.

Come for coffee, come for the cakes but most of all, come to learn how to grow your business by learning from each other.

We plan to have this event every three months once so that we get to meet, talk and share about marketing, business, productivity, technology and lots more. But it’s limited to 20 persons.

** As a client, you may bring friends or staff. Fees are RM50 per person before 29 March (after 29 March, friends/staff pay RM100).

*** All fees to be paid before the event proper. First come, first serve please. No walk-ins please.

A lot has been happening in Redbox Studio – good happenings but still, it takes everyone’s involvement and effort and one thing led to another. And that is why this interview has been a tad late in arriving.

Anyway, we shan’t sit around and mope, shall we?

This engineer (whom we’re featuring this time) has become a good friend in many ways.

He “discovered” us online one day some years ago and we ended up becoming firm friends and have met up each time we go to Kuala Lumpur (which actually isn’t very often but enough to meet the people that matter).

In fact, if you want the back story on him (and you seriously should read his highly interesting marketing techniques and how sexy ladies feature in his marketing) you can read this blog post which we did back in 2007!

Yikes.

That is how long ago we’ve been friends.

This year, I decided to delve deeper into his brain and see what truly makes Yeo tick.

Let’s see, how shall I describe him? He’s witty, always eager to learn (a firm trait of any business owner) and never watches TV. He’s often tinkering with his audio stuff, making them better and better.

He’s also a self-confessed dog lover and takes his dog-walking seriously every evening.

In fact, he takes his dog super seriously!

Tonto, his obedient dog, is a joy to watch as he’s truly pampered by Yeo who takes time to make dog treats on his own! This guy is not even averse to tasting the dog treats, just so he knows its yummy factor. (I love my cat, Margaret and I do feed her boiled fish but still, I wouldn’t want to taste my pet’s fishy snacks!).

Yeo still holds his day job because I believe he secretly enjoys his day job! Yet he’s having a pretty good time in his hobby-turned-business too. It is a testament to the adage, Do What You Love and The Money Will Follow.

I am leaving his answers untouched, yes, even the non-capitalization of each sentence because that demonstrates his eccentricity.

If only more people were like this!

Tell us a bit about yourself and why you’re doing what you do now (who are your products for and how did you start).

i’m a boring china man who wants another stream of income!

seriously, it all started in 2002. i have been building audio equipment for own usage since i couldn’t afford commercial gears but boutique audio components like resistors and capacitors are so expensive here. this is understandable as it is a niche market. in fact i find it cheaper to buy stuffs overseas and ship them here. since i figured there must be folks like me in the same situation, it makes sense to try to acquire local distributorship of such components and sell them locally.

and that is what i did. it helps that these manufacturers are also small players so they are very conducive to business. thus it was quite easy to acquire distributorship.

i started my biz by acquiring local distributorship and selling them locally. over the years, i gradually began to design my own gear and this slowly led the path to where i am today, being more of a manufacturer rather than trader and selling overseas a lot more than selling locally.

What made you take the path less travelled? What inspired you?

it was meant to fulfill my need! ha!

when studying in the usa, i appreciate the convenience of internet business and could see its potential, so when i wanted to start this biz here, the internet presents itself as the best choice since i could start up a biz while still holding a day job, with minimal start up cost and minimal day involvement.

What is a typical day like?

well, i hold a day job so there goes 9 hours! so most biz activity is done off office hours, during weekends and during holidays.

some aspects of it is pretty routine.

• check email. if there is a new order, process it – package it, arrange for fedex pickup.
• answer customer queries via email or via forum.
• product development. try out new circuit ideas. implement in current products.
• replenish stock. email supplier.
• write new article for website.
• if customer sends back units to be repaired, work on them.
• purchase new engineering tools, purchase audio components to try out different ideas.
• improve website. update script, add marketing tools, fix script bugs etc.

so all in all, there is a huge variety of activities so it’s hard to describe a typical day, but it should cover most activities above.

Apart from running your business, what do you do?

i’m a “lousy” engineer in an engineering company.

What did you invest in when you started?

i started off by taking distributorship of products so taking stock was the bulk of my start up cost. i think i spent a few thousand ringgit back then.

How long have you been in business?

started in 2002, so it’s exactly 10 years now. and i remember that was march 2002!

What is your workplace like?

i’ll snap the messiest photo and email you later.

as i don’t have a dedicated work place, the line between “home” and “work” is blurred. my audio stuffs are scattered throughout the house. wifey has given up on me! (so i win!) i have a small room as my lab. it is extremely messy but i know where everything is located. one of my friend described my room as a garbage dump. i still think he is being kind.

i have some pretty decent engineering tools. i have soldering/desoldering irons, multimeters, oscilloscope, function generator, logic analyzer and a listening test setup. i also have a bench drill and various wood working tools.

What aspects of your business do you enjoy the most?

the ecstastic look of happy customers, the smile, the grin, the non-stop nods… and also the friendship i developed with my customers. through this hobby/biz, i have met some wonderful folks, completely beyond my social circle, who in turn have enriched my life in so many ways.

What are your plans for the next 2 years?

i have some ideas to develop more interesting products. i need to acquire other skills first so it’s going to be an exciting journey.

What do you do better than anybody else?

i’m no specialist. i feel that i’m an all rounder. i like to play with different stuffs and learn (and relearn) new skills. so i don’t pigeon hole myself into just one specialty. i think this is very important in this day and age whereby having a broad range of skill sets is just as a valuable, if not more valuable, than specializing in just one skill set.

so there is nothing i’m better than anyone else.

How has growth been for your company?

from 2002 till 2008, growth has been fantastic, almost doubling in revenue every year. the past 3 years have been slower due to a few reasons, but mainly because the economic slowdown does impact a globalized biz and also lack of new cutting edge products.

What do you consider a breakthrough for your business? When and how did this happen?

there was no major breakthrough but there were a few small significant ones.

1. making own products to sell. this is a lot more interesting, and profitable, than trading. have to design (for performance, for ease of testing, for reliability, for future upgrades), manufacture (supplies, logistics), market, customer service… didn’t realize what world i was entering but i learned fast!

2. implementing a shopping cart script on the website. before this, have to answer 20-30 emails every day. but once have the shopping cart script set up on site, ordering became a lot easier for customers. no one should do online biz without a good shopping cart script!

3. facilitated an “open source project”. one of my product was heavily modified by my customers. they reported their results on my forum so this prompted more folks to try out the mods and more experiments all over the world. this product just got better and better, thanks to the sheer engineering effort and generosity of sharing of my customers. so i witnessed and facilitated this “almost” open source project. it wasn’t designed with this in mind but things just happened and i’m grateful for the experience. i was truly humbled and learned there is just so much one could do on your own but building such a community and being part of it is simply magical. i learned so much in such a short time! this is truly the power of the internet.

What are the top reasons customers have bought your products or services?

i think they like me.

i believe my products give my customers better enjoyment of music rather than sound. there is a huge difference between the 2. there are music lovers and there are sonic effect lovers.

music lovers want less between the music and them. there should be no equipment at all, meaning whatever audio gear you use to play music, it should be transparent. the flow of the music, the emotion invoked, all should reach the listener easily. in simple words, the listener should be touched by the music.

sonic effect lovers are those who are in love with their audio gear rather than the music. they have tremendous pride in their “system”. it is rarely about the music. sonic effect lovers also like to impress friends with gunshot, tornado etc sound effects.

it is easy to tell the diference between the 2. music lovers have way tremendous music knowledge. sonic effect folks may have rm200k systems but no more than 20 cds.

i think my philosophy is more agreeable to the music lovers.

What do you think is your most successful marketing strategy for your business? Also, what is the least successful marketing strategy you’ve used?

i don’t really have any business strategy. i’m guided by what’s more “fun” and interesting rather than what’s going to bring me more moolah so if there is a successful marketing strategy, i think the most successful got to be setting up and implementing the shopping cart script as well as facilitated the “almost” open source project.

some folks like the way i name my products after beautiful women. i don’t know whether this could be considered a strategy but it is a lot more fun to say “i listened to charlize and she sings very well!” rather than “i listened to your amplifier and it sounds great!”. audio nuts are just too serious so you have to help them relax!

What would your advice be to those thinking of starting a business from the ground up?

just do it. be adaptable. you need to have passion in what you do. making money is not a reason to start a business.

sorry, couldn’t limit to just one.

Made any business mistakes you regret?

if my approach were more aggressive, focussing on improving sales and revenue every quarter, i may be driving a new benz and living in a bungalow now…

nah!

seriously, i can’t think of any business regrets.

What is the biggest challenge you face during your daily schedule?

24 hours just isn’t enough. my biggest biz challenge is finding interested, competent and honest folks to help out.

What does success mean to you?

it doesn’t mean anything to me. failure doesn’t mean anything either. both are just phases in which we’ll go through in any endeavour we take.

(Krista’s note: We have a pair of Yeo’s custom-made horns, albeit on a smaller scale than the ones he has in his home in KL. So yes, we are his customers too!)

Yeo’s website is at: http://diyparadise.com

======

Entrepreneurship or even an interesting life happens in many ways. Some people quit their jobs and leap after their dream job (such as Alexandra Wong whom we featured a few months ago). Some people like Yeo juggle both day job and passion.

Come back for the next interview – this lady started her business because a teacher once told her that her son couldn’t learn!

Our Chinese New Lucky Draw ended midnight last night and we thank all of you who joined and spread the word.

Some of you told us you really wanted to win yourself a website but there can only be one winner.

So….drum roll please.

The winner with a very auspicious ticket number of 178 is Jason Gan.

Jason, this is definitely YOUR year as you’ve just kickstarted it with a Redbox Easyweb Pro (worth RM999) that you can use for a whole year. (In case you don’t know what a Redbox Easyweb is, it’s the easiest way for you to get yourself a website. It’s easy to use and you have absolutely full control. Check this out.)

If you were hoping to win and didn’t, don’t lose hope!

Who knows, we’ll be back again with yet another contest because this year is our 15th year in business and do we have a bunch of cool, cool stuff to give away.

So stay tuned!

The Dragon Year will soon be over and the Snake will soon slither in and take its rightful place.

But the Snake has many connotations.

And none of them are pleasant.

As a Cantonese, I can think of a lot of sayings that have the word “snake” in them and none of them are polite or nice!

Each year we send out lots of greeting cards (the kind that we painstakingly write and sign) and we also send out e-cards. Regular Chinese New Year greeting cards can be boring. The same old message on the same old pink background.

To enliven things, we often add our own personal messages – handwritten no less – to each and every card.

Because our clients matter. And we take this opportunity to thank them and tell them that we do appreciate their loyal support all these years!

But e-cards.

So this year, for our Chinese New Year e-card, we thought, why not dig up some interesting facts about people born in the year of the Snake?

The Snake may not be as sexy as the Dragon or as vibrant as the Horse (which is coming up next year) but still, the Snake must have some qualities worth writing about despite them being called sneaky and cunning and a bit on the stingy side.

So here are some things that we bet you didn’t know about the Water Snake for 2013.

[unordered_list style="bullet"]

• If you were born in 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, you were born under the sign of the Snake.
• 2013 is the Yin Water Snake year. The last time Yin Water Snake Year happened was in 1953 as the Chinese calendar goes through a 60-year cycle.
• The year of the Water Snake has already started on 4 February according to the Chinese Hsia calendar. 4 February marks the first day of spring!
• Snakes are insightful and great lovers of beautiful things. They usually have exceptional, refined taste and are often stylishly dressed.
• Blue, green and purple are the lucky colours this year.
• The year of the Snake is generally seen to be a fabulous year for businesses with ample opportunities for everyone.
• Chinese wisdom says having someone in your family born under the year of the Snake is a good omen because it means your family will have abundance and plenty to eat!
• The Snake person is also excellent in business.
• People born in the year of the Snake are usually intuitive, introspective, refined and collected. They do not get flustered easily – in fact they are graceful people!
• Famous Snake people: Oprah Winfrey, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Pablo Picasso, James Joyce, Martha Stewart, Kanye West, Pierce Brosnan, Charlie Sheen and Bob Dylan.
• The Lunar New Year dates from 2600 BC when the Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the Chinese zodiac. Chinese New Year usually falls between late January and early February.

[/unordered_list]

As we celebrate the year of the Water Snake, we wish you lots of opportunities, refinement, abundance and wisdom this coming year and all the years ahead.

Kung Hei Fatt Choy from all of us on this auspicious celebration!

Nic, Krista & the team at Redbox Studio

P/S: We are taking a whole week off for this celebration. Catch you when we get back to work on 18 February!

P/P/S: In case you haven’t heard, we’re giving away a Redbox Easyweb Pro website system worth RM999 in our Chinese New Year Lucky Draw. Super easy to join! Check it out!