How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 40 is about the service industry.
If you're looking at the money on paper, many businesses are making a lot of money.

However, in reality, most businesses still end up losing money when the year-end accounting is done.

In his past life, Wang Yao had seen many people like this, who treated cash flow as profit, and were ruined as soon as the cash flow dried up.

Only products that are sold and converted into money are considered products; everything else is a liability.

Moreover, it is inherently difficult for ordinary people to accumulate initial wealth, so they must proceed with caution at every step.

For ordinary people, there's only one way to truly generate cash flow: through intermediaries.

For a listed company that manufactures a company, claiming to earn 1 billion yuan a year may be inflated.

But for a livestreaming e-commerce host to say they earn 1 billion yuan a year, it's probably more than 1 billion yuan.

Live-streaming e-commerce hosts didn't appear out of nowhere. In modern times, they were distributors; in ancient times, they were brokers; and in prehistoric times, they were shamans—they just changed their names.

This world is a giant intermediary.

What I said to Ni Ni was indeed meant to give her a warning, but it wasn't entirely meant to scare her; I just hoped she wouldn't get carried away.

Online stores are definitely profitable now. At least with Taobao's current size, Wang Yao can guarantee making money with monthly sales of up to 500 million yuan in the clothing category.

However, relying solely on existing inventory is not enough. When the time is right, we still need to learn from the model of Han Du Yi She: pre-sales + brand = high premium = high repurchase rate.

Wang Yao had specifically studied the 4P system of Han Du.

1. Product – Solving consumer needs

A wide variety of products and categories are needed, requiring numerous sub-brands. However, each sub-brand has a clear positioning and a defined consumer group, capable of meeting the needs of customers with diverse preferences.

2: Place – Providing convenience for consumers

The online flagship store offers 24-hour customer service to answer consumer questions and concerns.

Product seeding and exposure, leveraging public media to promote brands, and endorsements by K-pop stars can solve consumers' difficulty in making choices.

3: Promotion – Consumer Feedback Membership System

The brand's membership system increases user stickiness, offers discounts from time to time to encourage repeat purchases, and provides activities such as lucky draws for overseas trips and tickets to K-pop star concerts.

4. Price – Positioning of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods

Targeting middle and lower-income consumers, the products are priced between 100 and 300, which is within the acceptable range for the general public. They are sold in bundled packages to stimulate consumer purchasing decisions.

This is what Wang Yao didn't tell Ni Ni: making money through a business model.

It's not that I'm unwilling to share, it's just that she wouldn't understand even if I told her.

If she can understand the logic of outsourced operations, then she has the aptitude for business.

Moreover, it will take a long time to build up a standardized business model for online stores; the main focus now is on developing a team.

When Wang Yao returned home after assigning Ni Ni the task of expanding cooperation with suppliers, he found Zhou Cong sitting in front of the computer, grinning foolishly.

"What are you laughing at?" Wang Yao asked curiously.

"Brother, do you know Liu Yifei?" Zhou Cong jumped up on the spot, his face showing madness.

“I know her, but we’re not close. What’s wrong? Why didn’t she take a picture with you and Zhou Xun?” Wang Yao asked, frowning.

"That's Liu Yifei!" Zhou Cong muttered to himself.

"Yeah, I've never heard of you being a fan of hers," Wang Yao asked, puzzled.

"How can there be any man in the world who knows Liu Yifei and doesn't brag about it to his brothers?" Zhou Cong exclaimed.

"It's not worth bragging about who you know, but it's worth bragging about when others know you." Wang Yao rolled his eyes at him. "What happened at the theater later?"

"I didn't notice, it must have been Chow Yun-fat and the others answering questions from the media. My head is still buzzing."

"You have no idea, the moment I saw Liu Yifei take off her sunglasses and mask, I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. Bro, we can't really invest in Girls' Generation, can we?" Zhou Cong said in a daze.

Previously, Wang Yao said he would help him make money and become friends with Girls' Generation. He just thought it was a very positive goal. But after getting to know Liu Yifei up close today, he suddenly realized something.

Yao Ge isn't just bragging; he might actually be really awesome.

"Brother, I think you need to learn to demystify things that aren't directly related to us, otherwise it will hinder our personal growth," Wang Yao said earnestly, seeing Zhou Cong's detached, soul-stirring appearance.

"What do you mean by exorcising demons?" Zhou Cong was taken aback.

"It's about thinking that no matter how outstanding others are, it has nothing to do with me. We need to view the world objectively with a dialectical materialist perspective."

Liu Yifei and Girls' Generation are indeed very talented, but their excellence is essentially manufactured or packaged.

What we should value and learn are the methods and models for cultivating these excellences, not these superficial appearances. Don't be blinded by these glittering facades. We should focus on ourselves, because only then can we befriend these people on equal footing, instead of looking up to them. They are excellent, but we are just as good.

Wang Yao patted Zhou Cong on the shoulder earnestly.

"Brother, do you mean you and Liu Yifei are friends?" Zhou Cong's eyes lit up.

"As long as you listen to me, I can become friends with whoever you want to meet in the future." Seeing that he clearly hadn't grasped the essence, Wang Yao could only give up and chuckle.

I wonder when this kid will realize that being a celebrity is a service industry.

"Brother, don't worry. From now on, wherever you point, I'll go! I'll definitely exceed expectations." Zhou Cong said solemnly.

"That's good. The online store's revenue has been good lately and is almost stable. Since you're at school, focus on building up the customer service team and hiring more female part-timers, preferably those who are good at writing essays."

You should know the tactics we used to stir up trouble in the fan groups on Baidu Tieba before: first, let them get familiar with the process, then promote and recruit people on various social media platforms.
"Let's gather some repeat customers from our online store into a QQ group. We can offer coupons for joining the group. There are still ten days left this month; let's see how many people we can attract," Wang Yao chuckled.

We can start operating and maintaining our private consumer domain now.

“Campus recruitment, right? I can directly cooperate with the student union.” Zhou Cong was a person with a very quick mind, and a brilliant idea flashed in his mind.

"Oh, more or less." Wang Yao was taken aback. He was rather aloof in college and had never experienced being recruited by the school to buy phone cards.

However, this keyword reminded him of the group-buying industry, which is not yet well-developed in China.

As far as I can remember, the first group-buying website was Manzuo.com, which was established in January of this year. It was named after Groupon, a US company.

Meituan was founded in March after Manzuo.com had already achieved a certain scale of operation.

In the past, most rebirth novels with timelines around 2010 would use the group-buying war as the main plot, so Wang Yao was quite well-known.

However, Wang Yao wasn't very interested in projects that were too complicated and risky. He preferred simple and straightforward projects. But if he had the opportunity in the future, he could take on more promotional work for group-buying websites.

These capitalists are quite willing to spend money.

However, if the opportunity arises in the future, I might consider investing in Eme, which was also incubated by an angel fund.

The next morning, Wang Yao was pulled by Chi Xin to meet with the publicity team of "Confucius" for a meeting.

Meishe may have some standing in the internet industry, but in the mainstream film industry, it's only slightly higher than ordinary media, and can only sit at the back of the meeting room.

After Wang Yao and Chi Xin quietly took their seats, they glanced around at the people present.

The meeting room was arranged according to the industry standard of left being superior to right.

On the left is the client, and in the front row are the film's main creative team, including director Hu Mei and small investor Ren Quan.

Director Hu Mei has a very impressive background. She is a female director with impeccable political credentials. She belongs to the fifth generation of directors, along with Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige. However, she specializes in historical dramas and is considered one of the top directors of historical TV series. She is the director of "Yongzheng Dynasty", "Emperor Wu of Han", and "Qiao Family Courtyard".

After all, being able to make a film of the caliber of "Loyalty" speaks volumes about their ability.

Ren Quan made a lot of money last year and set up his own studio in preparation for moving behind the scenes. The movie "Confucius" was the first big production he invested in, but unfortunately it was a huge loss. In the end, he only managed to get a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival.

The two creators were in high spirits at this time. After all, with such a large investment, such a luxurious lineup, and such a great IP, anyone would be complacent and would find no reason for the box office to flop.

Their target was the film's main distributors, Huaying Group and Dadi Culture. One is a domestic giant, and the other has considerable influence overseas. Judging from their setup, they wanted to promote "Confucius" globally.

On the right is Party B, and at the head is Chen Lingjuan, the top distributor of New Pictures Film Company, also known as "Double Zhang". She is currently the true ceiling of domestic film distribution, without exception.

He single-handedly planned the publicity and distribution of top domestic productions, starting with "Hero" and progressing to "House of Flying Daggers" and "Curse of the Golden Flower," handling everything from public opinion and box office success to awards with remarkable clarity.

Ni Ni is also in charge of the publicity and distribution for the "The Flowers of War" project, which she will be participating in.

However, she is extremely low-key. Wang Yao got to know her because of the famous "Ip Man 3" ghost box office incident. At that time, she bluntly said that she only took 1800 million yuan for publicity and distribution, but the ticket company reported a budget of 2 million yuan, directly exposing the black box office fraud.

He's a filmmaker who still has some professional ethics.

And sitting to Chen Lingjuan's left were Yang Zi and Huang Shengyi?
The brand name in front of the two was not Juli Film & Television, which had recently gained fame, but Huotianxia Media Company.

This piqued Wang Yao's interest, because the mastermind behind the ghost box office of "Ip Man 3" was rumored to be Yang Zi, but Chen Lingjuan almost took the blame.

Judging from the intimate relationship between Chen Lingjuan and Yang Zi and his wife, it's likely that Yang Zi is still working for her, but he betrayed her later for personal gain.

Yang Zi is one of the most adept at cashing out and skirting the edges of fame in the entertainment industry that Wang Yao knows. His current company, Huohuo Media, was later merged into Kuailu Group and is also the behind-the-scenes capital of "Ip Man 3".

Based on this, they created an advanced model of "film financialization," selling crowdfunded films and "box office revenue securitized financial products" through P2P platforms, raising more than 140 billion yuan. Then the scheme collapsed, and the boss was arrested after five years in exile overseas.

However, Yang Zi, who played a key role in the whole affair, quietly profited immensely.

As for whether Huang Shengyi next to him was truly naive and innocent, Wang Yao wasn't quite sure, but she was certainly the perfect target for attention, being obedient and well-behaved.

The remaining media outlets on the other side are mostly industry insiders or theater chains, so there's nothing particularly noteworthy about them.

However, it is indeed one of the top marketing and promotional setups in China.

If "Confucius" still performed so poorly at the box office, then there's definitely something to it.

As a junior karami, Wang Yao didn't even have the right to speak.

All I could do was sit quietly in the corner and listen to the big shots pontificating and giving their opinions, occasionally clapping along to liven up the atmosphere.

I was twenty that year, sitting there like a lackey.

　Thank you all for your support and encouragement!
　　I have no way to repay you except to write more!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)