Katika Saisenee, 32, nicknamed Keng, has lately emerged as one of Thailand's most popular coaches for those who want to join the world of bloggers.
"I've focused on this topic for the past two years, as writing personal diaries on the Web on a regular basis is still quite new in Thailand," says Keng, the owner of Keng.com and also the IT director for Mode 2 (Thailand) Co, a Japanese-owned marketing and ad agency.
Keng started his blog in 1999 and currently updates his site about four times a week, attracting 500-600 daily visitors who are keen to start their own blogs to share their world view with others via this new mode of communication.
"Blogging is now quite easy for virtually anyone. With tailor-made software, you can start your own site with just a few clicks. At my site, we also provide all the back-up and related services," says Keng, a graduate of Assumption University.
Many youngsters start writing blogs simply to share their stories with friends and relatives. In Keng's case, he started by posting light-hearted pieces on his site, coupled with lots of photos and, later, video clips.
Besides topical issues, stories about a nice holiday or newly-discovered destinations are among the favourites.
"In fact, it could be any topic but, in the long run, you need to find your niche. For me, it's blog coaching. I'm also compiling my content in a pocket book, which should come out in the middle of this year," Keng says.
"Another example is Vinegargirl.com, started by one of my friends. She focuses on fashion, beauty and other women's stuff. This one-year-old blog attracts 700-800 visitors per day. It has the potential to compete with magazines or women's sections of daily newspapers.
"In other words, blogs allow you to publish at a very low cost, with little set-up or lead time. Yet blogs can reach a very large and diverse audience, local or international, especially the younger generation," says Keng, who has also been pushing for more e-commerce in Thailand.
In mid-2006, Keng sold off his earlier Web-design business, Hostify Co, to Japan-based Mode 2, as the latter wanted to expand its international marketing and ad agency into Thailand to especially serve Japanese clients.
"Now, marketing communications is about websites, SMS, the so-called viral marketing in which e-mail forwarding can be a powerful tool to advertise. It's already here in Thailand, thanks to video clips posted on YouTube," he says.
"The cost of viral marketing is very competitive and in some cases it could be free, but it's effective.
"This method was adopted for the marketing campaign of a major Japanese auto firm here, which recently launched a new model. You can visit the site, load your personal video clip and then write a short story about the product and your experience.
"In short, viral marketing is video clips plus YouTube plus e-mail forwarding. A popular message could effectively reach tens of thousands of people within a very short time, as happened recently here.
"The growth of e-commerce is unstoppable. The marketing and distribution of music CDs, for instance, has shifted to the Web. A Japanese cosmetics firm is also planning to start catalogue sales on the Web here shortly.
"Soon, we could have synthetic scents on an Internet device. Small guys can also tap the potential of e-commerce. In fact, there are abundant opportunities to make money by selling niche products," Keng says.
"For instance, a guy I know makes money from selling skate shoes on the Web to kids online in the provinces. It's a sideline, as the guy also has a full-time job. When he's free, he checks to see if there are orders for the products advertised on the Web.
"Usually, he'll get quite a few. Then he goes to the wholesaler and places those orders, so there is no need for inventory. The products will be delivered to customers by mail.
"There're many people making money from e-commerce this way. The trick is that you need to focus on niche items for which traditional suppliers cannot yet tap the demand or for which the demand may be too small for big suppliers," Keng advises.
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