Welcome to the thread Francois Goelo !
And welcome as a ZSUN shareholder.
Take the financials tab from zsun.com
and you will see that total shares are 10M and public float is 2.5M. I also have information that at 0.5M of the 2.5M has been sold as REG S stock which will convert to common stock in about Feb 2000. This will give stability and mean that a large proportion of ZiaSun shareholders will be in it for the medium to long haul.
Actually I hadn't visited the ZiaSun website for a while and it's really been uprated! Have a look yourselves: zsun.com
Especially interesting for anyone who does not have any background in this stock is the interview with Anthony Tobin. I will post it here because it deserves to be recorded. In my opinion Mr Tobin has a very clear grasp on how to use the new forum of internet services and apply the traditional wisdom of good sensible, profit generating management practice to really generate shareholder value from them. This is an internet stock with all the growth potential of yahoo, but there are real SERVICES being sold (not potential advertising revenue) to generate profit!! This is not hype, this is not vapour, this is one of the only internet stocks I know of that's profitable and whose management knows how to add services around it's websites to continue growing its earning and thus SHARE PRICE!
Anyway here is the interview:
INTERVIEW with
Anthony L. Tobin
President and CEO of
ZiaSun Technologies Inc
Tony, ZiaSun Technologies is relatively new in the Internet business. Please tell us a little about the company's philosophy.
ZiaSun has a mission to buy and support small to medium sized technology-related companies, particularly those that are involved in some way with the Internet industry. ZiaSun provides support to give innovative technology companies the capital they need to compete. Our first two acquisitions have been Momentum Internet Inc and Momentum Asia Inc. Others are to be added shortly.
How do Momentum Internet and Momentum Asia fit into the ZiaSun strategy?
Well, first keep in mind that we want to make acquisitions that fit the overall ZiaSun strategy but at the same time we want the subsidiaries to support each other. This is very important to us. In other words, we want a cross-fertilization system where the different companies and products feed off of each other. I think you'll find this is somewhat unique in the Internet business right now.
Okay, so tell us more about Momentum Internet and Momentum Asia.
Momentum Internet (www.momentumplus.com) has been in existence for over four years. Their primary offices are in Hong Kong and Manila with its main servers in California. My basic description is that Momentum is an Internet publishing and marketing company with emphasis on its unique marketing strategies. Momentum Internet publishes five major Internet products. We have Swiftrade (www.swiftrade.com) which is an on-line stock trading system, M Finance (www.mfinance.com) a global financial news site, PINMail (www.pinmail.com) a web-based e-mail system, MediaHits (www.mediahits.com) a web banner advertising network, and Search Dragon (www.searchdragon.com) which is an Asian directory and search engine.
And Momentum Asia?
Momentum Asia (www.momentumasia.com) has been around for a number of years. They are in a unique position based in the Philippines to produce high quality yet low-cost support to the Internet industry mainly through graphic design and customer service networks. Much of the work produced by Momentum Asia supports the technical and marketing operations of Momentum Internet. Although Momentum Asia also has many top quality clients of its own that are not part of the ZiaSun group.
Can you give us an example of some of these clients?
Sure. FedEx, Enron Power, Ritchie Brothers and Subic Telecom to name a few.
More precisely, what benefits does Momentum Asia get from being based in the Philippines?
Well, generally speaking, the Philippines is a very low-cost location for business. Office space rental is inexpensive, labor costs are particularly low and, specifically, Momentum Asia's operations are in two special "free port" zones of Subic Bay and Clark. Yet, even with its very low operating costs, there is a vast supply of talented, well-educated staff who are all fluent in English. It is a great place from which to operate our business. For instance, the Clark customer service center office building is massive offering an excellent working environment plus plenty of room for growth or subcontracting expansion while costing the company very little.
Let's go back to Momentum Internet for a minute. Tell us more about some of the Internet products.
An important point for the Internet products is that they all support each other from a marketing perspective. At this time, however, I would say that our most important and most profitable product is Swiftrade. It is one of the first on-line trading systems to reach out to investors not living in the U.S. but who want to invest on U.S. stock markets. This is a huge market. One way it reaches out is with its customer service centers in Asia and Europe. Also, it is a very sophisticated system allowing direct-to-floor trading by way of a U.S. based stock brokerage and a U.S. based clearinghouse. And it is fully insured just like the major American on-line trading systems.
What about promotion? Are you getting clients?
We spend a fair amount of money promoting Swiftrade on-line and in traditional media. We are always testing, but we have found some on-line vehicles that are very successful for us. This has brought us a steady growth rate from all around the world. We have Swiftrade clients from all regions of the world - big countries and small countries alike. But this is what we want - a fully global service.
The on-line stock trading business is pretty fierce. What are your future plans for Swiftrade?
The key to Swiftrade's future will be its global nature. In that, I mean that Swiftrade will soon begin offering its users the opportunity to trade on a number of different stock markets around the world in addition to the major U.S. markets. We will have the Hong Kong and London markets on-line very soon. Beyond that, Swiftrade has developed its so-called "plug and play" system. This allows stock brokerages from almost anywhere in the world to use the Swiftrade system as either a stand-alone branded trading system for their own clients or as a Swiftrade branded partner offering all Swiftrade clients the opportunity to trade via their brokerage and local stock market.
Hong Kong and London?
Yes, we are in the process of concluding agreements with brokers in Hong Kong and London to add these markets to Swiftrade. This will make Swiftrade a true Internet portal for investors all over the world who will be able to trade in Europe, North America and Asia, all from one easy to navigate website.
By the way, tell us more about MediaHits. What is it?
MediaHits fits very well into the Momentum synergy strategy. It is a web-based banner network that supports MediaHits banners on over 8,000 web sites around the world. We control the entire banner network where we can sell ads and, importantly, we can promote any or all of our own Internet products. Basically, we can put our own banners up on over 8,000 sites with almost seven million impressions per month at essentially no cost to us except the costs of supporting our own network. This is a very powerful marketing tool for us - and something very few - if any - companies have access to in this manner.
What is the plan for ZiaSun?
ZiaSun is one of the few Internet related companies that is actually profitable. What we plan to do is to continue to support and build Momentum Internet and Momentum Asia by plowing back profits. ZiaSun will also continue seeking new Internet-related company acquisitions or joint ventures.
Anything new on the horizon?
There is always something new at ZiaSun! The industry moves so fast. We are currently in advanced negotiations with a US on-line stock trading seminar company. An officical announcement on this is expected in the next few weeks.
Also, we are planning a new Asian e-commerce venture to be called "Asia For Sale" (www.asia4sale.com). The website will have three major components: Industrial Auctions - Business Barter - Home Shopping.
Home Shopping? That sounds exciting.
Yes, very exciting. The Home Shopping element will allow anyone in the world the ability to open an on-line retail store offering products direct from manufacturers in Asia and other parts of the world. These on-line stores can be opened in minutes.
The service will be launched in Asia in a joint-venture with Hong Kong Telecom's "Netvigator", the city's leading Internet service provider. We view this as an outstanding new business. Initially, this on-line mall will be geared toward shoppers in Hong Kong, but it will quickly be expanded globally.
Frankly, most Internet companies do not make money. How does ZiaSun attain profitability and maintain it?
Two main things. First, we do not rely much on advertising revenue to support our business model. Advertising revenue on the web will be a major force in the near future but it has not been in the past and is not right now except for a few very famous Internet brand names. We make our money based on more creative and innovative business models, in other words. Second, we keep our costs low. We have expanded quickly, but we look for all cost efficiencies. As I mentioned earlier, the operations in the Philippines affords us outstanding cost efficiencies - almost all personnel growth will be focused on the Philippines be it for Momentum Asia or Momentum Internet. Moreover, our programmers also tend to work double-time! And many have equity stakes so are working more as entrepreneurs rather than employees. This keeps our cash position healthy and our bottom-line strong. In the end, this is the important thing. We want to be a profitable ongoing concern - not an Internet stock flash-in-the-pan.
Do you look at the ZiaSun stock price?
Yes, every day! Our investors are critical to our success!
Tony, thank you very much for your time. |
