Are you working out how to profit from social media? If so, here’s how Eric Gnoch Fah turned his social media efforts into over a billion dollars.

Five years ago 26-year old Eric and his friend, Ethan Lin, had an idea for a new kind of travel company. What if they created a site with all sorts of exciting activities across Asia at the rates locals pay, instead of tourist prices?

The only problem? Neither had any tech experience. 

So Eric got to work stalking developers on LinkedIn. “I probably read through at least 500 profiles,” he says. And then he contacted his short list of 100 and met each one in person.

Eric recalls “It was determination, I would say. Because we knew that we were not building a business plus tech, we were building a tech plus business, he needed to be really part of the core, core, core team.”

One of those 100 shortlisted was Bernie Xiang, who says “I was actually a bit skeptical when I first received the LinkedIn message… It sounded very unusual for me to look for business partners via LinkedIn.”

After meeting a number of times, Eric convinced Bernie to take the leap and join them, and they launched their startup, Klook, in Hong Kong. 

It wasn’t easy going. Eric says “Back in 2014, there were only few travel service providers who knew about our platforms. We were literally knocking on their doors cold, hoping to form partnerships.”

The trio persevered, and gradually grew their customers in Hong Kong, then to other Asian cities, and by the end of 2018 they had over 50,000 activities from 5,000 partners in over 200 destinations, with over one million monthly bookings and $1 billion in bookings.

This week, Softbank Vision Fund invested $225 million in Klook at a $1.3 billion valuation.

That first LinkedIn connection has turned into a $1.3 billion business in 5 years. And while it took a lot more than a LinkedIn connection to create that value, it was the critical first step.

Are you using social media to broadcast or, like Eric, to connect?

While many are busy broadcasting, Eric was busy connecting.

While many are going broader online, Eric was going deeper offline.

While many are looking for 1,000 followers, Eric was looking for just one partner.

Summing up his approach, Eric says “It’s dating. It is a dating game where I would say I’m glad it all worked out.”

Who do you need to succeed? An ideal partner? Or team member? Or investor? Or customer?

They’re much closer than you think.

We’re living today in a world where everyone we need is just one small step away, yet it’s a step so many of us still don’t realise we can take. 

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.” - Thomas Edison