Not long ago, YouTube star Michelle Phan wowed the beauty products market when she succeeded in setting up a personal cosmetics brand by just uploading makeup tutorials to YouTube.

To this day, her success is hailed as a testament to the power of the Internet.

Now, thousands of others are trying to emulate Phan in China. They boast huge online following. The ability to transfix eyeballs online, especially on social networking platforms, these days translates to celebrityhood and riches. In China, there are 688 million Internet users, so the knack of influencing even some of them could make one a "key opinion leader".