I am a retired American living in Thailand, who just can seem to get the hang of just relaxing all day long. I've tried, and been extremely successful at times. Taking a trip to a tropical island for a few days, great food and drink on the beach, crystal clear water, you get the point, yeah, on trips like that it's easy to kick back and do nothing more than play all day. But those are the exceptions, the vacation if you will. But, believe it or not, for some of us anyway, a permanent vacation just doesn't work. Sigh.
The people and businesses here in Thailand, specifically here in Pattaya, are just beginning to discover the power of the internet. What a fantastic opportunity for someone like me, who has some knowledge of the internet, and most importantly understands the the marketing power it brings to those who understand how to take advantage of that power.
Being an Entrepreneur at heart, I have begun fiddling around with a several business ideas, all of them sharing one common theme - Marketing on the Internet brings huge results. My first two primary areas of interest, Web Site Development and Marketing Consultant, are described below.
I have quite a number of ideas floating around in my head, so stop back from time to time to see where I am headed. Also, please feel free to visit my blog (a first for me) and say Hi. If you have questions or any requests, feel free to ask. And remember, thanks to the power of the internet, you do not have to be here in Thailand to take advantage of my services.
I was recently given a link to an online book called Getting Real. To say I was impressed would be quite an understatement. Though it is written by and aimed towards computer/website programmers and developers, the philosophy it espouses is really applicable to about any business. I am putting a link to it here for two reasons, first because I hope others will read and benefit from it, and second because it is the same basic philosophy I am doing my best to follow.
If you have any questions about visiting Pattaya or Thailand in particular, or need any special research done, please feel free to ask. In the nearly one year I have been living here I have learned a lot, and have developed quite a number of resources about Thailand.
Rick
A large majority of the foreign visitors to Pattaya are fully aware of the internet, and do take advantage of it while preparing for their trip. Many hours are spent every single day by people contemplating a trip to Pattaya, researching, looking for the right hotel, finding the best resturants, the best entertainment venues, and so on. I spend a significant portion of each day reading what visitors, prospective or actual, have to say, what they are looking for, what they are looking to avoid. I am reading comments from approximately 15,000 individuals, the vast majority of whom are repeat visitors to Pattaya.
I can get your message to this select group of people, people who are highly likely to be visiting Pattaya soon.
Ever had a disgruntled customer? Who hasn't. Sometimes they have a legitimate complaint, sometimes not, but if they become vocal about their complaint and tell their friends, or worse, take their complaint public on one of the many Pattaya Forums, your business can suffer. Human nature shows that unhappy customers are far more likely to become vocal about their experience than the happy customer. We expect to be satisfied when we enter a business, if not, we would not even enter. Though it takes an exceptional experience to motivate a customer to make a positive comment publicly, we tend to be quick to broadcast our bad experiences.
A part of my service is facilitating resolution of the issues, percieved or real, which have resulted in an unhappy customer. I provide a vehicle for an encourage unhappy customers to contact me and let me help sort the problem out. I will get the details of their complaint, and bring to you, along with my honest, unbiased opinion on the validity of their complaint. If you wish, I may offer suggestions on how to resolve the issue, however, you as the business owner make the decisions. I will assist as needed in communicating your response back to the customer. When the customer is pleased with the results, which in my experience is most cases (no business owner wants to have unhappy customers if it can reasonably be avoided), I will work to capture favorable comments, and get them read. Stories of unhappy customers made happy by a prompt and fair resolution of their complaint are very powerful marketing tools.
An additional service I offer is to monitor the primary Pattaya forums for any mention of your business, good or bad, and report the results of my efforts back to you. I am a member in good standing on all of the major Pattaya Forums, and can keep you informed of what your customers are saying about your business.
Business can be tough in Pattaya, very tough. This year has seen dwindling numbers of tourists for a variety of reasons, a sad but true fact. What numbers will come during the upcoming high season is yet to be known. Let me help you increase your market share of however many tourists actually arrive.
I am not going to say that I an expert at designing websites, there are some extremely talented people around the planet that far far exceed my talent. I am, however, skilled at developing a website that meets your needs and is very effective in getting your message to the audience you want to see it. My personal philosophy is to keep websites relatively simple, refrain from many of the bells and whistles that so many sites use these days. From my personal experience, most of these bells and whistles do little more than cause the website to load more slowly, and often irritate the viewers.
As I work, I focus on your intended audience, the user of your website. I concentrate on making it easy and fast for him to find what he needs to answer his questions. The home page is my starting point, it is the most important page on your site, that is where the first impression is created. This is where we need to display in broad terms your goods and/or services. We need to give the user reason to want to do business with you, reason to continue past the home page to the secondary pages to gain more details on your offerings.
Let me give you an example of what I am saying. I know of several clubs in Pattaya where the owners specifically use their sound system and music selection as a marketing tool. For them, I would suggest they not have music load and play automatically on the home page, this takes time to load, and sometimes may irritate the viewers. Instead, put a button so the viewer can play the music or not, as he wishes. Give him a link to a listing of the music available in your club, perhaps with a button to be able to play some of them, again, if he chooses to do so. If your sound system is audiophile quality, then let's say so on the home page, but we should save the details for a secondary page where we can show the details of your high end sound system. This allows the user to get the information he wants quickly and easily.
I do recommend use of photos and/or graphics on your website, when used properly, they do enhance the appearance of your site,
and often offer the user information he is seeking. I can add any image you already have (in jpg or jpeg format), or can take them
for you. I use a 7.2 megapixel camera which takes a high quality image. Here is a sample photo I have taken, one of the local
businesses I don't think can benefit from a website. 
Businesses are generally difficult to find in Pattaya, especially for foreign visitors, first timers and frequent visitors alike. I do recommend all of my customers include a picture of their business as seen from the street to assist new customers in finding your business. I also recommend including a simple map showing the location, along with address and phone number. Once your website convinces the viewer they want to visit your business, we want to make it as easy as possible for them to find you.
As I said, I do not claim to be an expert in all of the very latest technology for website design that is out there. The good news, though, is first that I know my limitations, and second that I have quite an impressive group of experts available to me as needed. I am talking the best of the best. I have access to their products, and their time, which obviously will come at a fairly high price. If your needs exceed my capabilities, I not take on your work. Instead, I will refer you to another firm fully qualified to meet your needs.