The Payoneer Forum Lahore, January 2015
After a successful event in Islamabad, we decided to open the Payoneer Forum in Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city. With more than 350 attendees under one roof we had a great evening of networking and informative guest speakers. Here’s a glance at the event roundup
Session 1: Freelancing with Elance
Salman Hijazi, CEO of Advertency
Salman is an Elance “Mobilizer”- Holding seminars to educate people about Elance and promote the practice of freelancing in Pakistan. He also established his own business while working with the freelance marketplace. Salman is an inspiring young entrepeneur who shared many tips about freelancing and his own journey to success.
“I Started off with freelancing just to try and earn some pocket money for myself. Two years later I’m CEO of Advertency, a software house that acquires 90% of our clientele from Elance. Payoneer helped me transition from a solo freelancer to a fully sustainable company, all while in pursut my bachelor’s degree.”
Session 2: Global Payment Solutions
Arif Malik, owner DesignGuru Communications
He is the owner of DesignGuru Communications one of the top creative agencies in Pakistan and was recently selected as Payoneer’s Brand Ambassador in Pakistan. Arif discussed how Payoneer helped him overcome common payment hurdles to build a global business. He talked in depth about Payoneer services, fees and upcoming releases while also discussing with the local community about shared common issues they face especially related to transaction fees and limits.
Session 3: Building your Online Freelance Career
Saad hamid, City Manager Elance-oDesk
Saad is a technology, innovation and startup evangelist who specializes in social media communication & marketing. He is focused on building an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Pakistan and helping accelerate startups as the Communications and Partnerships Lead at Invest2Innovate. In another parallel role, he serves as the City Manager for Elance-oDesk platforms and work with the local community to assist new and existing freelancers.
Saad volunteers with TED as TEDx Ambassador to Pakistan and Curator of TEDxIslamabad. He also manages various communities such as Global Shapers Islamabad Hub supported the World Economic Forum, GDG Islamabad by Google.He discussed how to get started with your freelance career as well as provided tips to already established freelancers & companies.
Session 4: Freelancing as a Digital Marketing Consultant
Usman Latif, Director of Marketing Digital Marketing Pakistan
Usman is a digital marketing strategist with years of experience in digital media marketing, growth hacking and brand promotion. He has worked with many companies, media agencies and direct international and local clients to help them grow their digital presence and attract the right audience to get an effective ROI. He holds a Masters in Mass Communications and is one of the most highly rated freelancers on oDesk.Currently, Usman is working with different agencies around the world and is working on his course to teach others to become a successful digital marketing professional.
He explained how one can successfully implement different elements of a communication model to understand the basics of digital marketing and then apply the same model to their own businesses. In his talk Usman discussed how freelancers should focus on all the communication elements, including the sender, message, channel, receiver and feedback and the possible communication barriers. He also related the explanation with real life examples.
Once again I would like to thanks everyone who attended the event, speakers and all local volunteers for their hard work. We hope to see you at the next event!