Getting to know the locals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

(Photo above) During my visit to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia to facilitate a 2-day training workshop I had the pleasure of meeting up with fellow trainer - UK-based Susie Stubley of Castalia Coaching - and the head office team from Marcus Evans Asia.

As you can see we were captured enjoying a few drinks at a local bar, reciting tunes from The Sound of Music, and generally having a good time!

Pictured (left to right) Christine, Anusha, Jacqui Smale (Marcus Evans Regional Director Asia), Susie Stubley, me (Stuart Ayling).

The photo below shows a street scene with the fantastic lighting effects that are typical of the CBD area in Kuala Lumpur.

Business and people in Jakarta, Indonesia

The photo above shows me with Duncan MacDonald of dMAC Insurance Brokers during my recent visit to Jakarta Indonesia. Duncan is an Aussie who is now been based in Jakarta. He is also the Vice President of the Indonesia Australia Business Council.

Duncan gave me some great insights into doing business in South East Asia, and in particular Indonesia. If you have plans of expanding into that region I am sure Duncan would welcome hearing from you.

The photo below shows me with Peter Wharton of Admanta Brand Communications. Peter, originally from England, has worked in many South East Asian countries and has called Jakarta home for over 10 years. His agency works with many of the larger companies in Indonesia on their branding and advertising campaigns.

Over a few drinks Peter and I shared our views and ideas on corporate branding and communications strategies. In fact we got so involved that time flew by and we just caught the last restaurant for a meal before it closed for the night.

I originally made contact with both Duncan and Peter through my membership at international online networking service Ecademy.

'Impatient' and 'Cheapness' are hallmarks of web users

A great post by Gerry McGovern on his blog cites feedback from hundreds of participants worldwide as describing the overriding characteristic of web users as - Impatient.

His message, don't waste your efforts on fancy self-serving website layout and graphics.

He also says Cheapness is the emotion that dominates the web. People want stuff for free.

Don't take this as negative comments about web users. Be realistic.

I am not saying that every visitor to your site will be a 'cheapskate', but they will all be impatient and be looking for something of value.

Is your website easy for users to understand? Can they quickly get to what they want?

Do you offer freebies (of a relevant nature)? These could be articles, tips, video, resources, white papers etc.

Websites must be designed to be self-service by the user.

If your website doesn't appeal to the impatient and cheap-minded web user, you will be missing out on business.

B-to-B email lists cost 20 to 30 cents per name.

A report at BtoB Online states that the cost of Business to Business permission email lists is the highest of all list types. The average price is US$275 (AU$315) per thousand names. This price is down US$2 versus the previous quarter average.

The average cost of newsletter lists is US$178 (AU$204) per thousand. That is, US$0.178 (AU$0.204) per name.

This information is sourced from list management company Worldata, and shows that the average cost per lead for b-to-b programs is US$4.55 (AU$5.22).

Ray Tesi, Senior VP at Worldata says "Most in b-to-b are anywhere between US$3 (AU$3.44) and US$10 (AU$11.46) per lead".

From their previous study Worldata reports business-to-consumer permission-based email lists cost on average US$170 (AU$195) per thousand.