How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 17 "The School Beauty Has Arrived"

Wang Yao's proposal was quickly approved by He Ming.

Then He Ming pretended to visit Qu Shou at the hotel, putting on a dramatic performance of "best friend relationship," and said she wanted to avenge Qu Shou and make the scumbag receive the punishment he deserved.

Qu Shou was deeply moved and wept bitterly. After that, the two sides reached a consensus in accordance with the plan.

However, Qu Shou made a request: to appoint Zhang San as his lawyer.

There was little profit to be made in this project, it wasn't He Ming's area of ​​expertise, and it was also the area where he was most likely to be blamed, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

That very night, the accountant transferred the lawyer's fees, and the contract was signed.

Then he instructed Wang Yao to take good care of Qu Shou before leaving.

“Miss Qu’s acting skills are quite good; perhaps she could pursue a career in acting,” Wang Yao said with a light laugh.

"He can't compare to He Ming. If you hadn't told me the reason, I would definitely have believed that he was really doing it for my own good." Qu Shou sighed softly.

"You should rest well these few days. Leave the rest to us," Wang Yao waved his hand.

"Mr. Wang, I'm begging you." Qu Shou's feelings towards Wang Yao remained complicated.

The other person made her feel threatened, but they were also her only lifeline.

"Don't worry, I'm not just helping you, I'm saving myself." Wang Yao smiled and left the hotel.

I took a taxi to Haidilao in a shopping mall. Today I'm going to have a welcome dinner for Bai Ke and the others.

"Brother Yao, over here."

As soon as Wang Yao stepped out of the elevator, he saw his cousin Zhou Cong and two others.

"Mr. Yao, Mr. Yao, it's a pleasure to meet you." Luo Hongming still looked like a shy college student with kidney deficiency.

He hasn't reached the first stage of Wang Dachui's career yet, and he doesn't have the "husband" vibe that has made him famous.

"Just call me by my name. We've known each other for over two years, and this is our first time meeting in person," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"If I had known you were this handsome, I would have traveled a long way to see you off last year," Luo Hongming said with a smile. "This is my roommate Liu Hao. You two worked together before."

"President Yao, you can call me Xiao Ai, I'm the ultimate uke." Liu Hao didn't have a beard, so he didn't look like an uncle.

"I've heard so much about you. Your username on Tieba is so catchy, it's hard not to remember it." After shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries, Wang Yao went inside to eat, chatting and laughing.

Because they were peers and online friends, they had a lot to talk about. Luo Hongming was a bit of a loner; although he didn't talk much, he was good at creating a lively atmosphere. Liu Hao, on the other hand, was more outgoing and had a lot of witty remarks.

Although she was a college student, she was also sensible and expressed her gratitude to Wang Yao for introducing her to the job, and then complained about the employment prospects of broadcasting and hosting majors.

Especially since their university, Jinling Media, is a private undergraduate institution, its degree is not highly regarded, making employment opportunities and the job market even more challenging.

"If you hadn't asked me to come to Shanghai, we would have been planning to find a job as a wedding emcee to get by," Luo Hongming said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"Don't look down on wedding MCs, they can make a good living." Wang Yao smiled. "So, do you have any other plans for the future?"

"I'll stick with you for now, and then see if I can get in touch with the right job in Shanghai," Luo Hongming said truthfully.

Liu Hao kicked him without making a sound.

Why are you so blunt?

“That works too. Shanghai has great resources in game companies and film and television outsourcing. You both have voice acting skills, so there might be a suitable opportunity. But it’s not easy to start from the bottom.” Wang Yao smiled.

"Hey, for ordinary families like ours with no connections, having the opportunity to start from the bottom is already a blessing. Anyway, I'm still young, and I don't want to listen to my mom and go home to take the civil service exam and just coast along," Liu Hao said with a wry smile.

"You guys don't need to be so pessimistic. Putting everything else aside, the radio dramas you dubbed on Tieba are still very popular, which shows that your professional skills are sufficient," Wang Yao said with a smile.

“Dubbing is a hobby, it can’t make a living. Luckily, I didn’t apply for film and television dubbing as a major back then, that’s real job hell. One of my roommates is already preparing to go back and take the civil service exam,” Luo Hongming laughed.

"Do you know YouTube?" Wang Yao asked.

“Of course, we watch a lot of shows on it.” Liu Hao nodded.

"After YouTube was acquired in 2006, it leveraged Google's advertising system to create a new UGC monetization model known as the Partner Program."

"It involves inserting pre-roll ads into the content and then sharing the revenue with the creators. According to statistics from last year, basically 200 million views could generate $1000 in revenue," Wang Yao explained.

"A thousand US dollars? That's six or seven thousand yuan! That's so much!" Liu Hao exclaimed in surprise.

"You didn't listen to a word about the 200 million views," Luo Hongming said, rolling his eyes at him.

“Two million views sounds like a lot, but YouTube has a huge audience. Even if a single video doesn’t reach that number, over the years it can add up to a considerable amount of revenue. Plus, views are cumulative. It’s a pity there isn’t such a good platform in China,” Liu Hao sighed.

“Domestic internet websites are certainly not as good as those abroad right now, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be in the future. I heard that Youku is going public this year, and maybe they will adopt the YouTube model to attract more creators. The profession of internet voice-over still has a bright future.” Wang Yao smiled.

"Mr. Yao, what kind of business does your family run? Why are you so sensitive to this kind of information?" Luo Hongming asked with some curiosity.

"How presumptuous of you!" Liu Hao rebuked.

"It's a clothing business, but my major is foreign trade e-commerce, so I definitely need to know more about this. Actually, the reason I invited you to Shanghai was because I was thinking about whether we could do something together," Wang Yao said.

"Shall we make our own radio dramas and make money on YouTube?" Liu Hao's eyes lit up.

"Dude, you haven't even passed your CET-4 (College English Test Band 4), and you're thinking of making money on YouTube? You'd be better off uploading raw Japanese anime." Luo Hongming rolled his eyes at him. "The subtitled versions of Ruri Shrine have a lot of downloads," Zhou Cong interjected.

“That’s illegal.” Wang Yao raised his hand and smacked him on the head. “But what Brother Hao said earlier is very correct. Video views are cumulative. Although they can’t be directly monetized in China, it doesn’t mean these videos have no value. You should have seen the self-made videos by Professor and Ao Chang, right? That’s actually a kind of potential IP value.”

Professor and Ao Chang were among the first generation of self-media video bloggers in China. At that time, they imitated the YouTube blogger model, turning their hobbies into videos and accumulating their first batch of fans.

Unfortunately, he missed the best time to monetize his traffic, but he was indeed one of the mentors for most internet bloggers.

“We’ve tried to imitate their format to make radio dramas before, but it didn’t really spark anything, and making videos is actually quite time-consuming and energy-intensive,” Liu Hao said, scratching his head.

"We used to do radio dramas because of our hobbies. Radio dramas are a very niche category, and they can't compare to games. But if we plan well, we might still make a splash."

"Besides, I've already arranged jobs for you, so what's there to be afraid of when you get paid?" Wang Yao chuckled.

"It's not really appropriate to do personal work during work hours," Luo Hongming said honestly.

"Why not just turn your personal projects into official business?" Wang Yao smiled slightly. "You should know what Tianhuo Media does, right?"

“The model economy,” Luo Hongming nodded.

Although they had only been with the company for a day, they already knew the business very well. Although they weren't actually pimps, they were just as good as pimps.

"So what do netizens like to watch the most?" Wang Yao asked again.

"leg!"

"Throw the pieces!"

"Beauty!"

The three answered at the same time, then looked at each other and exchanged knowing smiles.

Everyone has their own ambitions.

“That’s right, no one listens to radio dramas, but there’s definitely an audience for wide-angle shots. You can film your usual model interviews, edit them into interview-style videos, and put them on Tieba or Youku. If you can design some interactive storylines to increase the fun, it might go viral,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

"Xiao Luo excels at storytelling; he's watched countless films," Liu Hao recommended.

"Brother Hao has excellent interviewing skills, specializing in asking tricky questions, which suits him very well," Luo Hongming also recommended.

"Having either the Crouching Dragon or the Young Phoenix is ​​enough to bring peace to the world. I never expected to meet two of them today," Wang Yao laughed loudly.

"Mr. Yao, you flatter me. I hope you will not refuse my offer."

"Pah, pah, pah, that's bad luck! It should be this bow: 'May you be blessed with good fortune and meet a kindred spirit!'"

Luo Hongming was about to respond when Liu Hao's singing interrupted him.

"Okay, okay, let's skip the background music." Wang Yao quickly interrupted, because the people at the next table were already giving him strange looks.

Art students are naturally imaginative, especially introverted men who have a wider range of interests. Luo Hongming and Liu Hao are both outstanding creative abstract talents.

After finishing a meal, the prototype of the short video for the interview program was formed.

Finally, Wang Yao made the final decision and came up with a name.

The School Beauty is Here.

The group's inspiration flowed freely, and they talked about everything from the incompetent husband to the situation in Iraq, finally parting ways late into the night, still reluctant to leave.

Socializing between men is so pure and stress-relieving.

The main reason for making this program was to get to know Luo Hongming and Liu Hao for a period of time, to see if they were a good fit and had the necessary abilities.

After all, the two of them are still just college students. They may have many imaginative ideas, but whether they can be put into practice is another matter.

Whether the interview-style video format "Campus Belle is Here" becomes popular is not important; what's enough is that it helps to develop the creativity and execution skills of the two creators.

Most importantly, this kind of eye-catching content can be monetized because the target audience is accurately tagged, with a profile of 99% of the users being perverts, making it incredibly vertical.

As long as relevant products are integrated, direct conversion revenue can be generated. Moreover, this group of people can be directly converted into a private domain, and selling male health products can basically make money while lying down.

The current business environment on the internet is still in its infancy. Let alone monetizing private domains, even the value of public domains is still being explored by major platforms and industry leaders.

Meishe.com has the most vertical private domain of color enthusiasts in the country, but the main reason why it cannot monetize it is that its operation strategy is flawed. They completely failed to realize the consumption value of C-end users and simply treated C-end users as consumables for website valuation.

Moreover, timing is very important. Even if Luo Hongming were given the opportunity now, he might not be able to replicate Wang Dachui's classic performance.

What's more, the key figure, Professor Zha, is still working as a civil engineer in his hometown, relying on creating parody videos to amuse himself at work every day.

Unlike Luo Hongming and Liu Hao, who are both college students, it takes real ability to recruit him. It's impossible to get him to join the team with just a monthly salary of 2000 yuan and empty promises.

Most importantly, without finding a suitable opportunity to monetize, even replicating the popularity of "Wanwan" would be meaningless.

After all, Wanhe was so powerful back then, but if it weren't for the successful transformation of several key creators, it would have almost collapsed on the eve of its demise.

For Wang Yao, living in the present is the most important thing.

He is not an idealist, but a speculator who sells ideals.

(End of this chapter)