QAMAR ZAMAN BRINGS BUSINESS-TECH STORYTELLING TO CAYMAN

Cayman Conversation

You would have seen his article in Caymanian Times newspaper titled “Leveraging Google Business Profile: A Crucial Tool for Caymanian Businesses.”

Now, IT expert Qamar Zaman is offering the Cayman public free access to his services through a series of tech and business advice columns through the storytelling concept.

“The storytelling platform is where I want to educate the business owner how to take steps in simple ways, like a master class,” he told Cayman Times publisher Ralph Lewis on the podcast Cayman Conversations.

“I can teach on a weekly basis through the column that we are going to talk about how can you take my 400-word story and apply it to your business every single week. And that’s a free resource we can apply.”

Mr Zaman, a former tutor at the UCCI (University College of the Cayman Islands) had left Cayman following the devastation and disruption caused by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. In the interim, he established an IT and business consultancy in the United States utilising the storytelling concept in a syndicated column to explain the business development prospects that modern information technology offers.

Where IT can seem a very complex and daunting prospect for many small entrepreneurs, it’s hard to avoid in today’s technology-dependent business environment, especially in marketing and promotion.

According to Mr Zaman, this is where the storytelling concept fits in.

“What most people do is they think about a website and they would just hire designers for a website, then put some content. But that website does not work or it does not get the awareness and they think the website is not working. The problem is not the website. The problem is the story that you want to tell to the world.”

He said profiling your business especially online is a vital tool in today’s competitive marketplace, and it’s especially necessary for small and micro businesses which are critical to Cayman’s economic success.

“Big businesses are few and run the economy, but the small businesses are the core of the business economy. They are the ones who champion Cayman…Businesses are very important, but businesses are personal brands,” Mr Zaman said, pointing out why getting their stories told is a key to success.

“Small businesses that really care for us are very, very important. So as part of the storytelling I want to help these small businesses,” he added drawing on his own track record from working with many businesses and telling their stories while providing targeted advice on how best to utilise tech for business success.

Qamar Zaman also currently collaborates with the Caymanian digital agency CaymanStory.com, a partnership that seeks to intertwine global media creating a formidable digital web design and PR (public relations) landscape.

A Forbes Council member. He is also the author of the book ‘The Mystery Behind Google Maps Ranking: How to Rank Your Business Higher’.

Mr Zaman’s weekly column will appear in Caymanian Times each Friday.