1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Zhang Youan is very good at leveraging power. No matter what kind of publicity it is, he can always find a tricky angle.

Zhou Yan always felt that the current underdeveloped media restricted Zhang Youan's performance.

If Zhang Youan were placed in such an Internet environment more than 20 years later, he would be like a fish in water.

Of course, if Zhang Youan were put in more than 20 years later, it is very likely that his propaganda methods would have to take the crooked path, because without taking the crooked path, it would have been difficult to achieve the desired effect.

This time Zhou Yan held a concert in the Forbidden City, and Zhang Youan was personally in charge of the publicity work.

Because he personally took charge of the event, the momentum of this event was greater than what Zhou Yan and CCTV had expected.

Originally, Zhou Yan only wanted to reserve some tickets for Japan. After all, Japan is relatively close and the fans are very willing. He did not consider other countries at all.

But after Zhang Youan took over, he sold the tickets directly to North America.

There are not many tickets. A total of 240 tickets are released to North America for the three shows. Each ticket is not expensive, only 499 US dollars.

The two hundred and forty tickets were divided by Zhang Youan into four parts, with sixty tickets in each part.

He distributed the first copy to major bookstores in North America.

The second portion was distributed to major record stores.

The third copy was given to the TV station.

The fourth copy was given to Zhou Yan’s fan club in North America.

As for how these tickets should be released, it is left to these organizations to arrange. Zhang Youan doesn't care whether they sell them or give them away.

"By the way, how are the sales of Shutter Island?"

Because of the ticket issue, Zhou Yan thought of the novel again.

"Shutter Island" was released in North America on April 18th. Ten days have passed since then, and the sales data has not come out yet.

"The specific data has not yet come out, but based on the existing data collected, the sales volume in the first week should be between 100,000 and 150,000 copies, which basically confirms the top spot on the bestseller list."

"What is the sales level in North America?" Zhou Yan asked.

Zhang Youan smiled and said, "It's very high. In North America, they usually release the hardcover version first, and then the paperback version. The price of the hardcover version is basically twice that of the paperback version."

"What I mean is, first harvest a wave of loyal fans."

Zhang Youan smiled and nodded, "Yes, at the beginning, we must first make money from these long-awaited readers, because they are more willing to spend money on hardcover editions. If the first issue sells well, we will use the paperback edition to seize the market. The paperback edition of your book should be coming out soon. Books are very different from records. Many records have very high sales at the beginning, but then the sales will steadily decline, even those records that are very popular and have good reputations. Novels are different. Many novels sell averagely at the beginning, but the sales may increase more and more later, and even stabilize at a very high sales volume for a long time."

Zhou Yan nodded. He understood what Zhang Youan said.

After all, music and novels are two different art forms, so there will be differences in the process of dissemination and sales. It is very normal for novel sales to decline.

For example, "Shutter Island" had good sales in the first week because there was not much publicity in the early stages and Zhou Yan himself had a lot of fans.

Because of the good sales in the first week, more bookstores will want the book, and there will be a sudden increase in the exposure of "Shutter Island".

Bookstores are the end point of book promotion and also the most effective end.

Letting bookstores put books on the shelves in front of the store and sell them is better than any other publicity.

In the future, the sales of "Shutter Island" may continue to grow.

"The new book is selling very well at Little Bear Bookstore this time. Harry Kane told me that in his bookstores, more than 4,000 copies of Shutter Island were sold in the first week."

"So many?" This data also surprised Zhou Yan.

In one week, only 100,000 to 150,000 copies were sold in North America... Even if 150,000 copies were sold, the sales volume of Harry Kane's bookstores only accounted for a few percentage points.

Zhou Yan didn't know how many bookstores there were in North America, and how many of them were selling "Shutter Island", but the sales volume of just a few bookstores accounted for a few percentage points, which seemed exaggerated no matter how you looked at it.

"Indeed, there are many of your fans who usually gather at Harry Kane's record and bookstore. Your works are better sellers in his store than in other stores. This time, it's all thanks to the tickets we gave you."

"The tickets also played a role?"

"I gave Harry Kane a total of 15 tickets this time, and he used them all for the event. Anyone who buys Shutter Island in his bookstore will have a chance to win a lucky draw, and the prize is the right to purchase a ticket."

Zhou Yan smiled. No wonder Harry Kane’s store sold so many tickets. It turned out that he got so many tickets.

Zhang Youan only gave the bookstore 60 tickets in total, but he gave 15 of them to Harry Kane, which accounted for a quarter of the total.

This is what Harry Kane deserves. His Little Bear Record and Bookstore has already gathered a large number of Zhou Yan's fans, and he himself has also helped Zhou Yan a lot. He should be credited with the smooth publication of "Shutter Island" this time.

"Harry is still not generous enough. I thought he would give it away directly. Even if you win, you have to spend money to buy it. This prize is not very attractive." Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"One ticket costs 500 US dollars, so 15 tickets would cost 6,000 US dollars. If he gives them away, he won't make any money this time. And just giving away the quota has already made people very motivated. Some people who won the lottery can't come to China, so they just sell the tickets. It's normal to buy them for 500 US dollars and sell them for more than 1,000 US dollars."

From this perspective, Harry Kane has actually given concessions to readers.

He could have kept the ticket and then sold it for more than a thousand dollars and made a profit from the difference.

For fifteen tickets, he could earn at least six thousand dollars.

For Harry Kane, there is no need to make this kind of money. He still hopes to run his record bookstore well.

Of course, although Harry Kane doesn't care about not earning more than 6,000 US dollars, it will not be a loss-making business. He still has to make what he should earn.

"What's a thousand dollars changing hands?"

As the two were talking, Yang Dongsheng came over from behind. For this performance in the Forbidden City, he and Zhou Yan were still in charge of the entire process. The two sides had collaborated several times and were quite familiar with each other.

"Director Yang is here." Zhang Youan smiled and explained, "I just said that concert tickets are sold to bookstore and record store owners in North America. If they are sold for $500, they can easily resell them for more than $1,000."

"They're selling so well." Yang Dongsheng was amazed. "Why don't you keep the profits for yourself? You can make at least 500 dollars more per ticket. More than 200 tickets can make more than 100,000 dollars."

Zhang Youan smiled, "We can't make all the money, and a hundred thousand dollars is not a lot. What I want is that these tickets can bring publicity. Besides, if we sell them ourselves, we may not be able to get so much money." There was something else Zhang Youan didn't say. If someone bought the tickets and then resold them at double the price, the fans would be able to accept it and would not have any objections. At most, they would just feel sorry that they didn't have the money to buy them.

But if they simply double the ticket price for take-out, it might cause a public outcry and fans would also have objections.

Just like those celebrity concerts, no matter how rampant scalper tickets are, fans rarely attack the celebrities. They may even say that the celebrities have great influence, so scalper tickets can be sold at high prices.

But if the owner were to set the ticket price at tens of thousands of yuan per ticket, he would be scolded to death.

By then, even if the fans don’t curse, the scalpers will, and will also stir up the fans’ emotions.

Helping more people make money is the key to marketing. Only when more people make money will they be willing to help you promote your product.

In fact, the price markup of Forbidden City concert tickets in North America was even greater than Zhang Youan knew.

Zhang Youan did a great job in promoting the concert this time. Music fans in North America are paying close attention to the Forbidden City concert. Although the journey is far, due to the large base of fans, there will always be some who are able to come.

But there were too few tickets for Zhang Youan's shows in North America, just over 200 in total, divided into three shows. Some people bought several tickets at a time.

How can we divide the votes into so many with so few tickets?
If there is a huge gap between supply and demand, then prices will also fluctuate greatly.

Some people got the tickets but couldn't come to China, so they sold them for one thousand US dollars, but others also directly added a price to the tickets and sold them.

Some tickets have a small number of transfers, and you may only get one or two thousand.

But some tickets change hands many times, and in the end each ticket can cost several thousand dollars, which is especially troublesome if some people want tickets for consecutive seats.

It is true that most of these tickets given out are connected together, but they are released separately. If you want tickets for connected seats, you have to find those who have received the tickets.

Hardison was probably the person who spent the most at the Forbidden City concert. He bought six tickets in total, with each ticket costing an average of more than 8,000 US dollars, and the total cost of the six tickets was more than 50,000 US dollars.

The reason why we spent so much money was because these six tickets were for seats in pairs.

In order to get these tickets, he paid someone to help him. In addition to the money for the tickets, he also paid someone for their hard work.

But it's all worth it.

He and Jessica had been planning a trip to China for a long time.

This time it happened that Zhou Yan was going to hold a concert in the Forbidden City. This opportunity was so rare that of course he had to take Jessica there and they had to sit together.

In fact, Hardison joined a music fan club of Y in Los Angeles, and this club also got two tickets. If he couldn't get the tickets, Hardison would take action on these two tickets.

Hardison was one of the first North American music fans to learn about the Forbidden City concert. He learned about it from his friends right after it was announced in China.

Later, when the tickets were released in China, he wanted to ask someone to help him get them, but he couldn't find the way.

Fortunately, some tickets were released in North America later, so he and Jessica would not miss the Forbidden City concert.

In fact, if Hardison had friends in China, he could ask them to buy a ticket for him in Yanjing.

Although tickets for the Forbidden City concert are very difficult to buy, even scalpers have few tickets, but as long as you are willing to pay, you can still get a ticket.

There is no need for 50,000 US dollars at all. Hardison can pay 50,000 RMB and it will not be difficult to get three pairs of tickets.

In China, although scalpers are more expensive for consecutive seat tickets, the difference is not that big, because ordinary people can just grab two tickets, and there are a large number of consecutive seat tickets on the market, and the scarcity is not as exaggerated as in North America.

If Yang Dongsheng knew that someone spent 50,000 US dollars for six tickets, his eyes would probably fall to the ground, and he would probably want to sell the tickets he got to that person.

……

In a breakfast shop in front of the Central Conservatory of Music, Hardison looked at the bowl filled with white liquid in front of him, frowned and asked the man sitting opposite them, "George, are you sure this is the drink that people in Yanjing drink every morning?"

George smiled and said, "Some people in Yanjing like to drink it. Why don't you try it again? You will get used to it later."

Hardison pushed the bean juice forward, moving it further away from him.

He just ate a pancake that tasted pretty good, but the sip of soy milk almost made him spit out the pancake.

Although Hardison has learned a little Chinese, his level is not yet good enough to be fluent in China, so this time when he and Jessica came here, they specially invited George, the local guide.

George is also their fellow townsman and from Los Angeles.

George left the United States and came to China two years ago.

After working as a teacher in several schools for a while, George came into contact with the job of director. Because of his language advantage, he became a tour guide specializing in serving tourists from English-speaking countries.

If Hardison hadn't seen other guests at other tables also drinking soy milk, he would have suspected that George was playing a trick on him.

In fact, George was teasing Hardison. Douzhi is something that many foreigners, even locals, cannot accept.

It’s just that Hardison said he wanted to experience the characteristics of Yanjing, so George arranged it for him.

"After breakfast, we will head to the Central Conservatory of Music, where Y teaches. If we are lucky, we may run into Y."

"Really?" Jessica asked expectantly.

"Well, there is a certain possibility, but in most cases you won't meet him. The Central Conservatory of Music is very small, and there aren't many places to visit, but the school environment is very special and the atmosphere is very good. There will be a free concert in the school concert hall this morning and afternoon. If you are interested, you can go in and watch. The morning concert is the 1995 Orchestra Sunday Concert, and the afternoon concert is a concert of new works by teachers from the Composition Department."

"Of course we have to go and listen," Jessica said immediately.

Of course she would like to go to a free concert.

"Then let's go after we finish eating. The morning session starts at nine o'clock."

"Well, we need to enter the venue early."

George smiled and nodded. Serving tourists like Hardison and Jessica was the easiest. He accompanied them for three meals and then listened to two concerts. A day was almost over. (End of this chapter)