AsiaXPAT founder and managing director Paul Luciw and business development Manager John Luciw (right) operate 13 portals from its Hong Kong office.

The site has links to airlines, hotels, relocation companies, property, serviced apartments, job sites, a trading post, heath insurance, and even "personals" for meeting new people. Also popular are the "maids' channel", club memberships, directory, advice and chat forums, with the latest addition being a "Moms only" channel.

Founder and managing director Paul Luciw believes Hong Kong is an ideal base for reaching customers throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

"Hong Kong is the key to the region in terms of our business," he said. "All the decision makers are here. In terms of advertising and regional offices, Hong Kong is still where it's at. We run everything out of Hong Kong - our 13 portals across the region including Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, Seoul, Beijing, and Taipei. We had looked at cheaper alternatives but really, we are a media company at the end of the day, things get done in Hong Kong."

Over 30 per cent of AsiaXPAT's customers earn HK$1.2 million yearly (US$150,000), but Mr Luciw is still dedicated to bargain hunting on their behalf. The website offers money-saving deals from holiday contests to hotel room upgrades, travel offers, two for one restaurant deals and discounted concert tickets.

"We now have over 40,000 members," Mr Luciw said. "We are trying to keep growing the website traffic. Our revenues are increasing, advertising is increasing, and we are focusing on building up the data base.

"The secret to our success lies in local marketing, local word of mouth and search engine optimisation for potential customers overseas. This is what we do, all we do - and we spend 16 hours a day doing it. We try to be creative and constantly do innovative things. The key is not being afraid to fail. You must figure out how to turn ideas into money. And in this industry, you can't make money unless you're in Hong Kong."