Women entrepreneurs cash in on online marketing tools

CEBU, Philippines - Financial consultant and business owner Hannah Amora woke up to a devastating news one day: her months-old son had to go through a surgical operation for a congenital heart ailment. With a striving job that could only give her so much and six months to cross before everything gets too late, where now would she go?

She went to Facebook and Twitter. And now, her son, now about two years old, already knows how to smile back at her.

This was only one of the many confessions women technologists and entrepreneurs shared during the recently concluded Cebuanas on the Web, the first women and tech summit in Cebu held at the Oakridge Pavilion in Banilad, Mandaue City.

Organized by independent community Google Business Group (CBG) Cebu, the summit converged over 150 women, young and old alike from the business sector and the academe, to tackle down ways on how Cebuanas could take the lead in their respective fields if they maximize social media and online advertising.

The summit specifically called on women entrepreneurs to trail-blaze in their businesses by cashing in on technological advancements, particularly by making the most out of the Internet, amid a corporate world that is dominated by men.

Several speakers led by keynote speaker Melanie Ng discussed how certain Cebuanas pioneered some of Cebu’s big retail stores today and mentioned the strengths of the Internet in providing extra mileage for businesses.

Given a good online campaign that is directed to its intended audience, women can fully benefit from the advantages of today’s online tools, the speakers said.

For example, after knowing the predicament, Amora hired the assistance of a group that is expert on social media management. Together, they came up with an online campaign to raise funds for her son’s surgery.

After three months of extensive online campaign, they were able to generate the needed money for her son’s medical expenses and even exceeded their expectations, proof that online advertising is also a powerful medium.

Aside from the social networking sites, the popular video-sharing website YouTube can also be used as another advertising platform, as video is still considered the most pervasive and powerful medium today.

However, the speakers pointed out that there is more to online advertising than Facebook and Twitter. Other tools from Google like Google Plus, Analytics, Adwords and Gmail, among others as well as an established website are also seen as effective channels to get information that are relevant to making economic decisions for businesses.

Opportunities, challenges

“Women in my field should be opportunity seekers. Sometimes there are opportunities that will require you to work harder. When my client says ‘no,’ I tell him ‘okay, I will get back to you later’. I never stop until the 20th try,” said Vanj Padilla of GBG Pangasinan who offers online reputation management services.

Padilla, whose first love was not technology, said one way to outperform men is to keep innovating. “Dapat laging may bago. You have to have bigger dreams. Never settle for anything average.”

A single mother, Padilla admitted the greatest challenge for women in her field is to juggle the roles of an entrepreneur and a parent, especially knowing that her industry is reined by men, whose focus and energy on work is not divided. But she said most of this challenge can be overcome by a good sense of time management.

Meanwhile, for Daryl Bihag of JCI Womandaue, passion is key.

“When I was a kid, I dreamed of becoming a businesswoman. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else than that,” Bihag said. “Now I am managing my own travel agency.”

Asked which business idea to push through amid a plethora of business ideas that a startup entrepreneur may venture into, Bihag said “go back to what you really want to do in life.”

Bihag encouraged participants to review what it is that makes them happy as entrepreneur prospects. If a business idea has a purpose and makes you happy, then you will be able to get through every challenge you will face, she said. (FREEMAN)