How to launch a trans-

national services business

using social media and
bilingual skills
Fernando A. Labastida
 The 10 + 1 elements of
starting an international
services business
• Your knowledge/skills
• Your passion
• What makes you unique
• What you need to learn
• Your target market
• What content are they interested in?
• Your own network
• What channels can you reach them with?
• Your platform
• Your call-to-action
• Luck & Timing
•
 Your knowledge/skills
• Spanish
• Latin American business culture
• High-tech market
• Sales & Marketing
• Blogging
•
6 M o n th s in
M exico w ith
m y A b u e lita &
Tia
 Your passion
• Volunteer work
• Travels
• Studies
• Interests
D.R. 1985

Paraguay 1987

Guanajuato 1986

Volunteer
work
Travels
 What makes you unique
• Bi-lingual: English Spanish, written &
verbal
• Knowledge of high-tech market
• Growth of the Latin American
software outsourcing market
• Growth of Latin American software
applications market
• Bridging the two cultures
 What you need to learn
• Copy-writing
• Marketing
• Social Media
• The lay-of-the-land: major players,
etc.
Lay of the land

Jorge
Zavala, CEO
TechBA
Silicon
Valley
 Your target market
• Not everybody’s your target
• Focus on a profitable niche
• Softtek, Hildebrando & Neoris vs.
• 100s of smaller players
E stra s
ol
 What content are they
interested in?
• What interests them is not what you
think
• “Mercadotecnia en EEUU”
• “Cómo vender software”
• Controversial / generate passions
 Your own network
• Who do you know from your work
life?
• Who do you know in your
family/personal life?
• Your LinkedIn / Facebook connections
Javier Murillo
 Channels to reach your
target
• Twitter?
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
 Your platform
• Blogging: Wordpress stand-alone
• Free theme vs. Paid Theme
• Thesis Theme
Your call-to-action
Luck & Timing
 Resources
• www.copyblogger.com
• www.jslogan.com
• www.junta42.com
• www.axeleratum.com
• www.hubspot.com
• www.ducttapemarketing.com
 Books
• Get Content, Get Customers, Joe
Pulizzi & Newt Barrett
• Inbound Marketing, Brian Halligan &
Dharmesh Shah
• Crush It, Gary Vaynerchuk
• Trust Agents, Chris Brogan & Julien
Smith
• Duct Tape Marketing, John Jantsch