How to make a business networking platform work in Asia?

I would create an account with Manageflitter and/or Followerwonk - both integrate with Twitter. I know that many people feel negatively about Twitter but here's why it's great, especially for your quesiton: There are no privacy settings. Facebook and LinkedIn have tons of walls you run into while cruising around looking for potential buyers. And the other social networks are not conducive to time-effective/cost-effective networking for other reasons. With these tools (Manageflitter and Followerwonk), you can search the bios of Twitter accounts for DPC, TPA, and any other relevant keyword. You can search within your location, or throughout Twitter as a whole. From there, the tools allow you to classify (List) or interact (Follow) them. After that, I'd encourage you to engage them subtly, by favoriting and retweeting a few of their Tweets over several days. Then begin a conversation with them, ideally about a mutual interest or some random thing they specify in their bio. After a back-and-forth tweet or two, bring up your services tactfully. Ask them honestly if they need what you are offering. If they don't, maybe they know someone who is. At the very least, you'll have a relevant networking partner/friend! Another very valuable use of your time would be to post in LinkedIn groups. They are more professional than Facebook groups, and it's common for people to post jobs and other networking opportunities there, as well as pitch their own services. (See the lengthy URL at the bottom of this answer for an example). Hope that helps - I'd love to talk more; there are several other ways you could go about connecting with DPC's and TPA's online. Thanks, Evan http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1783783&trk=vsrp_groups_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A1618903721380231777057%2CVSRPtargetId%3A1783783%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary

Your assumption is not true. They don't care where you come from. Time is money regardless of where in the globe you come from. Ask for advice not money if you are going in cold. Don't send your deck, don't attach anything to that email and make sure the email is max four short sentences. Here is how to get a response: Subject: Seeking advice Body: Line 1. Name.. working on a product in X space that does Y. Line 2. I saw you have experience with X space and Y products. Line 3. I would like your advice on (user acquisition, scaling, blah, blah). Make sure you do your homework on what area the investor is an SME. Line 4. Ask one very specific question. Thank you for your time Name DONE! It works and if you want to talk I can explain further which VCs this has worked with. As the saying goes ask for money you get advice. Ask for advice you get money. In an ideal world you want to have a warm intro. But hey those are not always easy to come by so you do what you have to. What is the worst that can happen investor says no? Or doesn't respond? Who gives a shit you tried.

Twitter is actually a great prospecting tool, and these are people you should absolutely be engaging with as a brand. The key is to engage without coming off as spammy. Instead of "Buy our product now to solve your issue", try something friendly like, "Hey XYZ! We'd love to help you [solve problem]. Let us know how we can help!" or "We'd be happy to put you in touch with one of our experts on this topic. Let us know if you'd be interested in chatting." In other words, as long as you're focused on providing value over pitching your products, your responses won't come off as spammy, and you'll not only be able to get more qualified prospects from Twitter, but you'll also grow a stronger and more lovable brand presence.

I imagine a lot of it happens in private FB groups already. I'm a member of Dynamite Circle, which is a private community of location independent entrepreneurs http://www.tropicalmba.com/innercircle/

Absolutely. I have done this in various aspects of my business, either as a consultant for film projects or as a sponsorship consultant / referrer and in many other aspects. There's a nice quote - it escapes me who said it - but "Your network is your net-worth" - what they mean by that is there is incredible value in who you know, but not just that - it's really WHAT you know, about how to HELP them. Couple of ways you can make money by introducing: - Find out what someone (or a business) needs. It could be more sales / clients / or a service. Then figure out how to get paid for that. Let's say a business sells XXX service for $10,000. If you were able to bring them a new customer willing to spend that, do you think they'd be happy to pay you a 10% referral fee? Probably, as long as they have a healthy profit margin, and you agree this upfront. If you bring people what they need, they will usually be happy to share the proceeds with you. In my own example, event organizers for major celebrity events often ask me for help to introduce sponsors, for which they pay a commission. The equation is easy - they need sponsors to finance their event. So if I help them find a brand, or advise them on doing that, they pay me some of the proceeds for making that introduction. It helps them achieve their goal quicker. - The other way is online. Many companies run "affiliate" or "referral" schemes. Just like Uber will give $10 of free rides if you share with a friend, online companies often give fees for clicks or leads to potential customers. Just do a search for "affiliate marketing" or look up sites like Clickbank or Peerfly. If you have a good online network, social network or email list, you will be able to make money by letting your contacts know about things that interest them. The great thing about referral income is it is often a percentage, and so it has great leverage for you. The more the client spends, the more you earn, for often the same effort. So focus on referring either big clients, or a wide spread of small ones, but be careful of too much effort on one small client! Hope this helps.