Tian Dot Com provides comprehensive online platforms

TO MAKE things easier for brides, mothers, and mothers-to-be, home-grown company Tian Dot Com Pte Ltd provides comprehensive online platforms for all their wedding and parenting needs, says its founder and CEO, Ng Chin Leng.

When he started the business 19 years ago, for the first five years the company was a one-man enterprise. Through sheer hard work and persistence, Mr Ng has built up the business to achieve about S$1.3 million in revenue annually. And he now has a tight-knit team of 17 staff.

Mr Ng says that his first platform was SingaporeBrides, which is a one-stop website that provides comprehensive wedding planning and inspirational resources to soon-to-wed couples.

"Reaching thousands of readers every day in Singapore, our unique position makes us the perfect platform to bring together Singaporean couples, talented wedding artists, and quality wedding vendors and products," he highlights.

While SingaporeBrides was founded on April 1, 2000 to give couples a simpler way to plan weddings through the Internet, in the past 19 years the company has steadily grown to meet couples' needs with expansion into fashion galleries, informative articles, and inspirational shoots.

"Our vision is to harness the latest technologies to make wedding preparation and parenting an increasingly enjoyable, simple, and convenient experience in the constantly evolving digital world," says Mr Ng.

The second platform, SingaporeMotherhood, founded in 2005, is a modern family lifestyle website for parents and parents-to-be. "Packed with informative feature articles and expert advice on all aspects of pregnancy, baby and child health, development and enrichment, SingaporeMotherhood is the place to find out what it is like to raise a child in Singapore - from those glowing nine months to babyhood, toddler times, preschool years, primary school days, and beyond," says Mr Ng.

"Mums and mums-to-be bond via our forums as they share parenting experiences (Baby's first smile! What to do when Baby's not pooping? How to handle a meltdown?), participate in one of the most active online marketplaces, and enjoy exclusive offers from our partners. Our events listing keeps readers updated on family-friendly activities and happenings in Singapore, while a directory of parenting-related services lets our partners offer exclusive promotions to a targeted audience," adds Mr Ng.

Last but not least, SingaporeMotherhood has an active social media presence, using platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and YouTube to keep readers up to date with the parenting scene on the little red dot that Singapore is.

"SingaporeBrides and SingaporeMotherhood will continue their progress into different mediums to be even more comprehensive resources for couples as they journey into marriage and parenthood," says Mr Ng.

He says that SingaporeBrides is the country's first and largest online wedding resource with almost 600,000 pageviews every month and 6,000 to 9,000 unique daily pageviews. "Combining our passion for anticipating couples' needs and modern wedding preparation behaviour with our knowledge of SEO (search engine optimisation) best practices, we have become the country's leading source of information for wedding preparation through informative directories and list articles, and our content consistently ranks highly in search engines," he adds.

From being a purely digital service, SingaporeBrides has recently expanded into wedding showcases. This year it co-organised the country's largest wedding showcase, The Singapore Wedding Fair (TSWF), in March 2019, with over 6,000 attendees and S$3 million in sales over the two-day period, says the company.

"SingaporeBrides is celebrating our 20th anniversary next year, and we will be pleased to present TSWF 2020 with a line-up of contemporary, creative wedding vendors and exciting cash backs and prizes to give away, all packaged in an inspirational and interactive wedding fair experience like no other," says Mr Ng.

"Our hope is for TSWF to revolutionise the wedding fair experience in Singapore and become the ultimate destination for couples looking for stunning inspiration as well as great deals, where they and their families and friends can enjoy an interactive and fun day while checking items off their to-do list."

The company continually innovates in response to evolving digital usage patterns and changing wedding trends, such as by offering couples virtual tours of wedding venues, creating a mobile-friendly site, and pioneering innovative services such as QR code wedding event check-in systems. "Our vision is for SingaporeBrides to stay as the country's leading wedding resource by continuing to anticipate and meet couples' needs online," says Mr Ng.

The Singapore-focused company says that its SingaporeBrides and SingaporeMotherhood teams have always been a close, tight-knit group. While SingaporeBrides was a one-man startup by founder Ng Chin Leng, today the staff is composed of editorial members in SingaporeBrides and SingaporeMotherhood, supported by Web developers, a sales team, and accounts.

"I believe in nurturing a creative and open work culture for our steadily growing team, one where the freshest ideas can bloom in the community of like minds. I constantly encourage creativity and independent thinking in my staff and give them ample opportunities to contribute to the company's vision," says Mr Ng.