INTERVIEW with Anthony L Tobin
President of ZiaSun Technologies Inc
Tony, first, can you please tell us a little about yourself?
Sure. I started my career as a journalist in the UK, and moved into public relations, government information services and advertising. I have lived and worked in seven different countries -- the UK, Australia, Holland, Iran, the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong.
I have worked for two governments, Hong Kong and Singapore. In Hong Kong I edited a number of hard-cover books for the Government Information Services and advised many other government departments on local and international public relations.
In Singapore I was attached to the Ministry of Information and the Prime Minister's Office, where I advised on the media and mass communication.
I'm British, 53, married with three children. My son Jason (24) is an actor in Los Angeles (where else!?). Check out his website at www.jasontobin.com.
I also have two younger children, Michelle (11) and Shaun (8), who are both at school in Hong Kong, where I am currently operating from our Asia-Pacific Headquarters.
Last summer while on vacation in rural Wales I found the house in which I was born. It's now a guesthouse offering tourist accommodation. Myself and the family even got to sleep in the very room in which I was born. I just couldn't resist putting the house on the web! Check it out at. Bryncoed (www.bryncoed.com).
Although I was born in Wales I grew up in Essex, England, near a small town called Southend-on-Sea where my father was recently elected the local Mayor.
How did you get into the Internet business?
We were in the advertising business in Hong Kong and started our Internet involvement by doing some website designs for a couple of clients, including Barclays International Funds Asia and a local law firm.
I saw the huge global potential for on-line publications, and quickly got hooked on the world wide web as an amazing marketing and distribution tool.
Have you ever been involved with a publicly listed company before?
No, ZiaSun is the first.
Are you an avid day trader?
No. I'm rather conservative. ZiaSun is the only stock I hold, and my shares are restricted, meaning I can't sell them at the moment. They will become unrestricted gradually over an 18-month period starting late this year. You can say that I'm a long-term investor. Always have been.
So, you have no interest in seeing the stock price rise rapidly?
Not really, although I have to admit it is very exciting!
However, I believe my job is to make the company work as a business. To get the fundamentals right. The products and services working smoothly. I'm a perfectionist. Just ask my colleagues!
If, in the process of building the business, the stock price increases, I take it as recognition for the excellent work of the team, a dedicated group who have all put in the extra time and effort to get the business to where it is today.
We will get our rewards in due course, but we are not in this for a quick dollar.
Are all of ZiaSun's investments confined to wholly owned subsidiaries?
No. We also have strategic venture capital investments in other publicly listed non-Internet companies to give us a broad and diverse portfolio.
Does ZiaSun intend to list on Nasdaq, instead of OTC BB?
Yes. Our US lawyers and accountants are in the process of completing the necessary documents so the application can be made for ZiaSun to become a fully reporting company on Nasdaq as soon as possible. We have all the assets and other qualifications necessary. For further details please see Financials.
Are we going to see some audited accounts for the company some time soon?
Yes. The US auditors are in the process of finalizing the 1998 audited accounts. It has taken a little longer than usual as the auditors had to visit our wholly-owned subsidiaries' facilities in the Philippines and Hong Kong several times to complete their due diligence.
Where do you spend most of your time?
I am constantly on the move between our offices in the Philippines, Hong Kong and the US, and I was recently in London finalizing a deal for our on-line stock trading service, Swiftrade. Home base is currently Hong Kong.
ZiaSun 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 being added.
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 the different companies and products to supplement and cross-promote 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.
Momentum Internet is an Internet publishing and marketing company, with emphasis on its unique marketing strategies, and has been in existence for more than four years. Primary offices are in Hong Kong and Manila, with its main servers in California.
Momentum Internet publishes five major Internet products. Swiftrade which is an on-line stock trading system, M Finance a global financial news site, PINmail a web-based e-mail system, MediaHits a web banner advertising network, and Search Dragon which is an Asian business directory and search engine.
Momentum Internet Inc seems to be the highest profiled Internet company in your group. Who manages it?
That's correct. Momentum Internet holds all of our Internet assets, i.e. the on-line publications, and the company is managed by John Hirsch, who is also Director of Marketing and Sales.
John has been with Momentum Internet now over a year helping to drive traffic and clients to the Momentum Internet on-line publications as well as playing a key role in sales and content development.
Originally from Denver, Colorado, John has built up 17 years of media and marketing experience working both in the US and around the world. He spent 10 years with Dow Jones, in the US and Hong Kong with The Wall Street Journal and The Asian Wall Street Journal. He also gained more marketing experience at Gannett Corporation working for USA Today International in London and Hong Kong.
And Momentum Asia?
Momentum Asia 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.
America OnLine (AOL) recently conducted a customer service pilot project in ZiaSun's building at the Clark tax free zone in the Philippines.
They discovered what ZiaSun already knew ...... they could achieve huge savings (running into millions of dollars) by relocating its on-line customer service facilities to strategic locations in Asia which benefit from low-cost rent and labor. AOL's pilot project is now being expanded.
When AOL moved from ZiaSun's office and expanded into their own building late last year, we took over their former space for our customer service operation, ServiceLive.
Momentum Asia's "ServiceLive" is a 24-hour, e-mail based customer service that provides real-time customer service to client sites.
If a client operates a high-traffic website which places a premium on responding to customer needs, but has limited personnel and financial resources to provide such quality service, ServiceLive is an ideal business solution.
As the Internet grows, there is an increasing focus on premium interaction between businesses and users. Many high-traffic sites today subcontract home workers for their customer response needs, resulting in a fragmented and costly operation.
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. This offers an excellent working environment, plus plenty of room for 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 US but who want to invest on US stock markets.
This is a huge market. Our system allows direct-to-floor trading by way of a US stock brokerage and a US clearinghouse. And it is fully insured just like other major American on-line trading systems.
What about promotion? Are you getting clients?
Yes, our growth rate is steady. We have substantial budgets to promote Swiftrade on-line and in traditional media. We are always testing, but 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 business.
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 US markets.
We will have the Hong Kong and London markets on-line very soon.
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.
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 and/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 shortly.
Also, we are planning a new Asian e-commerce venture to be called "Asia For Sale". The website will have three major components: Industrial Auctions - Business Barter - On-line Shopping.
On-line Shopping? That sounds exciting.
Yes, very exciting. The On-line 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 one of Hong Kong's leading Internet service providers. 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 for Momentum Asia and Momentum Internet will be focused in the Philippines.
Moreover, our team is very hard working! Many have equity stakes, so are operating 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.
Tony, thank you very much for your time.
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