Huayu 2011: Starting with Hilarious Men

After uploading the first episode of "Hilarious Men", Zheng Nan eagerly switched between various platforms.

We hope to see changes in the data as soon as possible.

An hour has passed.

Two hours have passed.

Three hours have passed.

The reality is not as expected; the data has remained largely unchanged.

Zheng Nan suspected that the few additional views were all due to support from classmates and friends.

"I watched the first episode, it was really interesting. But I saw it's been released on Youku for several hours, and not many people are watching it." Lin Wenruo sent a message.

"It's not just Youku that's not getting any viewers; it's all platforms that are seeing very few viewers," Zheng Nan replied with a hint of bitterness.

"Don't worry, don't get worked up, I'll help you get new users." Lin Wenruo knew how much effort Zheng Nan had put into this project.

Not long after, Zheng Nan saw the message Lin Wenruo posted in the 2010 freshman group of the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

[The photos and videos we took have been released. Brothers and sisters, if you have time, please go and support us.] The following are links to several platforms.

Judging from the posting format, Zheng Nan guessed that Lin Wenruo had sent it to all the groups in his QQ account.

I was suddenly moved; the friendships I formed during my school days were truly pure.

Anxiety won't solve anything! Cheer up!

Even established authors don't always get readers of their new books, let alone a newcomer releasing a film or television work for free.

Having lived two lives, Zheng Nan adjusted her mindset very quickly.

After calming down, I quickly thought about it and then went to ask the experts on the forum again.

[Master, I've posted my work on an online platform, but nobody's watching it.]

The expert is also a frequent user of Baidu Tieba (a Chinese online forum), and he replied very quickly.

[That shouldn't be the case; normally, after signing a contract with the platform, there should be recommendations.]

I didn't sign a contract with any platform; I posted for free. I've used every platform I could.

Works posted for free by individuals receive no recommendations or traffic under the platform's algorithm, so it's normal that no one views them.

The expert's words were a wake-up call.

Zheng Nan then realized that he hadn't done any publicity!

Even the best wine needs to be advertised.

Without promotion and marketing, it's very difficult for an individual creator's product (lacking brand, marketing, or product details) to become popular.

It will take a long time for word-of-mouth marketing to spread.

This also shows that Zheng Nan was deceived by habitual thinking.

In my previous life, when I was an actor, the productions were promoted by the platform, and the actors just had to cooperate.

Now that I'm a director myself, I haven't quite adjusted my thinking.

Moreover, compared to the original first season of "Men's Diary", Zheng Nan's version of "Men's Laughter" has a major flaw: there are no celebrity cameos.

The biggest star in "Hilarious Men" is probably Jiang Jinfu.

Having figured it out, Zheng Nan scratched his head in frustration; he didn't have the money for publicity.

After racking his brains for a while, Zheng Nan suddenly slapped his thigh. If we don't have money for publicity, we have to do something different!

Log in to QQ, register a random, unregistered account, and then quickly join dozens of large, highly active groups.

Post a link in a QQ group with the caption, "Today is Teacher He's birthday. Share this link ten times for a chance to win Teacher He's QQ number."

Or, if today is Ma Huateng's birthday, forwarding this link ten times will give you a chance to receive ten QQ coins from Ma Huateng.

Or, today is QQ's 10th anniversary. Share this link ten times for a chance to win a free QQ Super VIP membership.

Most people wouldn't believe something that looks obviously fake, but a small number of people do believe it and share it.

Some people, after discovering they had been scammed, felt they couldn't be the only ones fooled and wanted to make others fall for it too.

One person then forwarded it to ten people, two of those ten people believed it, and then it was forwarded to twenty people...

After sending the link above, Zheng Nan sent another message a few minutes later: "Don't easily click on other people's messages, and don't easily believe that something for nothing will fall from the sky."

"Kids, let me teach you your first lesson in society." Zheng Nan, feeling apologetic, deleted the newly registered QQ account and moved to the online forum.

The promotion on Baidu Tieba is different from that on QQ.

People who spend a lot of time on Baidu Tieba have different ideas than those who spend a lot of time on QQ.

If you say on Tieba that you can get Q coins by forwarding it ten times, the Tieba guys will curse you out.

Fortunately, Zheng Nan had ample experience in online forums and was able to address the root cause of the problem directly.

Post on Tieba: "Quick! Youku has a bug! Watch uncensored videos anytime!" and include a link to "Hilarious Men".

The post quickly attracted comments from fellow forum members.

[I clicked to watch it immediately, and it was indeed uncensored, but not the kind of uncensored film I had imagined.]

[You think the original poster is using clickbait? Not really. You think they aren't? I just really want to punch them!]

[Damn! I get scammed every day, and each time it's different!]

[What's going on? Is the link in the original poster's post about the Calabash Brothers?]

[To the person upstairs, all I can say is that it's an uncensored film, and quite interesting; it'll make you happy after watching it. I can't go into more detail.]

The comments piqued my curiosity, so I clicked to take a look!

Post in the celebrity forum: "[Shocking! The daily life of students at Shanghai Theatre Academy is actually like this...]" and attach a link to "Hilarious Men".

[I thought I'd get to enjoy some gossip, but instead I saw Jiang Jinfu putting cucumber slices on someone's face.]

[By the way, Jiang Jinfu really is a student of the Shanghai Theatre Academy; what the original poster said is absolutely correct.]

[Don't take things out of context -- excerpt from "Don't Take Things Out of Context"]

Sisters, you really need to read more books, otherwise you'll keep getting fooled by these intellectuals!

In a fishing forum, someone posted: "What?! Bro, I'm getting into a fight with a fish?!"

How big of a fish has to be to fight a human?

【Bro, send me the fishing spot.】

[Hey bro, can I borrow your wife for a bit? Send me the fishing spots privately!]

[Hey guys upstairs, click in and take a look! There are no fishing spots!]

No fishing spots? Your own fishpond?

The forum users need to tailor their approach to their specific needs.

Seeing that the posts on the forum were gaining popularity, Zheng Nan moved on to the next battlefield.

Tianya, Mop, Douban, Weibo...

Zheng Nan would post a few strange posts on any platform with high user activity to attract attention.

The results varied, especially on platforms that don't allow links, where it's difficult to attract viewers to specifically search for and watch "Hilarious Men" just by reading text.

After a flurry of activity, it was already 10 p.m.

Lin Wenruo has returned from outside the school.

"Old Zheng, what are you busy with? I sent you messages but you didn't reply." Lin Wenruo casually wiped the lipstick stain off her neck.

Last month, Lin Wenruo went for a full physical examination, and the results showed that everything was fine.

Then, because filming "Hilarious Men" required a lot of camera work, Lin Wenruo didn't go out and have fun.

Now that filming for "Hilarious Men" has finished, and it's Saturday, Lin Wenruo can have a blast.

"Publicity!" Zheng Nan replied listlessly, exhausted from overworking her brain.

"Do you have the money for publicity?" Lin Wenruo asked, somewhat puzzled.

"No money, but wisdom." Zheng Nan pointed to his brain.

"How's the result?"

"We don't know yet. We'll do our best and leave the rest to fate. Let's see how it goes tomorrow."

Zheng Nan had done everything she could, and if it still didn't work, she was at her wit's end.