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Interview:
Binh An Nguyen, founder and director, Asian Directory
of South Australia
Media
Man Australia continues to explore the world of
new media, portals and new ways of doing business.
What's
your background?
Born
and raised in Vietnam, I came to Australia in
1991 when I was 8 years old. Having a natural
interest in I.T, I began studying Computer Systems
Engineering at Adelaide University in 2001. During
my University years, I was employed by HPA (Hermes
Precisa Australia), a business services company
that specialises in delivering inbound and outbound
communication management, results processing and
information management. While working at HPA,
I was struck by the idea that is behind the Asian
Directory of South Australia, and was so passionate
about it that I decided to quit the job to pursue
this business career. I then went through NEIS
(New Enterprise Incentive Scheme) training, and
developed ADSA in 2006.
What motivates and inspires
you?
One
of the thing that motivates me a lot is seeing
progress. When I see progress, I am more inspired
to complete the task and fulfil my desires. I
also find a lot of my motivation from reading
other people's inspirational success stories.
This creates a powerful energy within me to want
to do the same and succeed in whatever path I
choose to follow. However, the biggest motivation
in my life would be my parents. I want to prove
to them, that I can be successful and let them
be proud of me in front of their friends.
How
did you break into new media?
I
just created the website.
What
is the Asian Directory of South Australia all
about?
The
Asian Directory of South Australia (ADSA) is a
business directory specially designed to help
businesses market their products and services
to the Asian community in Adelaide. ADSA runs
an online search engine completely translated
into the main Asian languages spoken in SA, currently
Chinese and Vietnamese, with the view to expand
to other languages such as Korean, Cambodian and
Japanese. Complimenting the online search engine,
is also a fully-translated directory book, printed
every year and distributed, free of charge, at
the major Asian groceries around South Australia.
How
did you design and model it?
The
online search engine has special algorithms designed
to show the most relevant search results first,
by examining the business' name, the listing's
keywords and description, as well as the area
in which the business is located. Users of the
online search engine can wish to search in English,
Chinese or Vietnamese and have the option to filter
their results to only those businesses that are
located around a specific area. The directory
book is designed for Asian adults who prefer the
traditional method of reference books over the
Internet for information and/or those who do not
have an English speaking background or IT knowledge.
The book is structured in categories, for easy
searching of particular industries or services.
Is
ADSA similar to what Google China is? Why or why
not?
Google
China is a Chinese version of Google and is often
used by users with Chinese-speaking background
to find information. However, this is usually
only useful to find Chinese websites. While Google
does have a translation system, their translations
are done by machine and are often incorrect. An
English word may have many different meanings,
and there is no way the machine can calculate
accurately which definition is meant by the webmaster.
At ADSA, we use real people to translate the English
contents to Asian languages. This translation
is then rechecked many times to make sure that
it uses the correct terms and interpretation.
All English content is duplicated with Asian translations,
and hence can be easily searched by an Asian user
in their own language.
Why
is ADSA better than Google China for searching
of some information?
ADSA
replicates its database to another version translated
in the supported Asian languages. So for example,
there may be an English-content database, which
is useful for English speaking users who perform
search queries in English. This database is also
replicated and translated to Chinese (and other
supported Asian languages), and Chinese users
will be searching from the Chinese database. This
functionality can allow Asian users to easily
and effectively search for English content in
their own languages.
Is
ADSA censored? Explain…
While
the contents within the ADSA search engine and
the ADSA directory book are censored, their clients'
contents may not necessarily be so. For example,
ADSA may allow adult categories such as adult
stores, and the contents of these listings, such
as pictures, words, will be censored, but once
their website is clicked on, or their shop is
visited, they have the permission to show and/or
sell whatever content they want.
What
can ADSA give readers that Asian newspapers can't?
Asian
newspapers are published regularly, usually every
week. Because of this nature, they are a good
place to advertise certain events, sale discounts,
or other short term promotions. ADSA is a business
directory, designed as an information reference
for finding businesses in South Australia. This
allows its users to keep the book throughout the
whole year as a source of reference; just like
the Yellow Pages, but in their own languages.
ADSA also provides an online search engine available
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
ADSA
is more than just a business directory. We are
a community of users and businesses alike, working
together to solve each others' problems. We work
closely with Chambers of Commerce, Business Enterprise
Centres and other business organisations to help
users and businesses find the right solution to
their problems. ADSA really is the ideal solution
for dealing businesses with the Asian market.
How
have your been collaborating with the Local Chamber
of Commerce and the Port of Adelaide?
I
am in the process of creating a community of alliances
consisting of the Port Adelaide Enfield Chamber
of Commerce, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in
SA, the Korean Chamber of Commerce in SA, the
Western Area BEC, the Inner West BEC, the NEIS
participants and the Young Business Accelerator
Program. This large community of businesses will
provide assistance and support for one another
in all areas of business; from marketing and managing
staffs to import/export. The project is a forum
with regular breakfasts/dinners for members to
interact and network.
What
languages is the information already translated
in?
ADSA
currently offers human translations into Vietnamese
and Chinese, with the view to expand translations
to other popular Asian languages such as Cambodian,
Korean and Japanese.
Who
are your mentors?
I
have business support from the Western Area BEC
and the Inner West BEC, both offering business
advice services. I am also waiting for NEIS approval
after which, I will have a personal business mentor.
I am also involved in the "Young Business
Accelerator Program", which will commence
in approximately two weeks. Being part of this
program means that I will gain a personal business
mentor for the length of the program, which at
the moment, is estimated to be 10 months.
What
do you consider to be the highlights of your life
and career, to date?
What
are your current projects?
Who
have been your biggest supporters, and what clients
have been able to really take advantage of ADSA?
My
biggest supporters would have to be the Port Adelaide
Enfield Chamber of Commerce and the Western Area
BEC. They've listened to all of my suggestions
and have shown interest and support towards them.
The
clients that can take the most advantage of ADSA
are usually those who are located close to the
Asian-populated areas such as Hanson Road, or
those who have a large portion of their customers
being Asians. This includes colleges for international
students, restaurants, groceries and import/export
businesses.
Why
is ADSA such a good resource for the import /
export / trade sector?
ADSA
offers a bridge between businesses and the Asian
market. We have relations with the Chinese Chamber
of Commerce in Adelaide, the Korean Chamber of
Commerce in Adelaide, the Vietnamese Nam Uc Tuan
Bao Weekly Newspaper, the Chinese Weekly Newspaper,
the Chinese Evolution magazine, the Japanese YouYu
Adelaide magazine, and a huge network of Asian
business owners. In addition, one of our main
supporters is the Port Adelaide Enfield Chamber
of Commerce, who deal with a lot of shipping due
to the nature of the area. We also have connections
to the Chambers of Commerce in Asian countries,
such as Hong Kong, China, Korea and Vietnam.
Have
restaurants been able to take advantage of the
service?
Restaurants
seeking Asian customers gain great benefits from
the directory service. ADSA has plans in the future
to install a recommendation system and a rating
system, whereby members may recommend or rate
a certain restaurant (or businesses from other
industries) to further influence other users to
try out the services offered by certain businesses.
We also have plans to employ a 'business of the
month' section, which will be promoted on the
front page of our website for maximum exposure.
This section will cover only businesses we feel
are worthy or have had magnificent changes/success
in the past month.
Would
you ever consider selling the business to MSN,
Google or Yahoo!?
ADSA
is a project that I created and worked hard on
from scratch, so I will not sell it to anyone.
I will however, consider a partnership with a
worthy company.
When
will you be actively "rolling out" and
ramping up ASDA to make it entirely relevant for
all of Australia?
ADSA
is initially started and tested in South Australia,
but we have plans to expand our services to all
of Australia. When we feel the time is right,
the ADSA business directory will become nation-wide.
What
do you do to relax?
To
relax and free my mind and body, I like to spend
time with my family and friends, as I feel that
nothing is more important than having good relationships
with friends and family. Success is a measure
of fulfilment, and my family and friends are the
biggest factor to my fulfilment.
What's
your motto?
My motto is to live life with no regrets.
At
ADSA, our motto is simple: we strive to help your
business succeed. This is why we spend more money
promoting the service to our users than we do
advertising to our clients, because we believe
that your success is our success.
Where
will you be in 5 years?
In
5 years, I am looking to have a branch in Melbourne
as well as Sydney, with my directory services
being offered Australia wide. I also hope to be
able to start looking at creating a system mainly
for the import/export/trade sector where I can
bridge Australian importers and exporters with
the Asian market or vice versa.
Website
ADSA
Profiles
Asian
Directory of South Australia
Port
Of Adelaide
Asia
Asian
Media
Portals
New
Media Entrepreneurs
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