booktalesy Chapter 8 Preparing for Traffic Diversion
Chapter 8 Preparing for Traffic Diversion
Lin Mu refreshed his account backend, and thousands of private messages popped up—some were greetings, some were sharing their own experiences, some were offering advice, some were even from internet companies wanting to sign him, and some were even asking for his bank account number to transfer money to him as assistance.
He returned to the original thread and typed a reply:
"I suddenly received a lot of private messages in the background. Thank you all for your kindness! I especially want to thank those friends who wanted to transfer money to me. We met by chance on the Internet, and I am really touched that you are willing to trust me so much."
No need for a money transfer; I'm not here to beg online.
I won't give up. I'll try to clear out this inventory and minimize the losses...sigh.
Scrolling down the comments, Lin Mu realized he didn't even need to create a new account to stir things up. Some netizens had already proactively suggested, "OP, we trust you! Why don't you open a Taobao shop? We'll do our part—after all, we'll buy underwear anywhere, so why not give you a hand!"
A large number of netizens immediately echoed this sentiment:
"Yes! As long as it's not some junk that tears easily, I'll buy it myself and get my friends to buy it too!"
"OP, hurry up and open an online store! Share your address!"
"Count me in, I'll help you boost sales!"
Lin Mu sighed inwardly: "Netizens back then were so kind. It's a pity that such a pure online atmosphere can never be returned to."
Just then, a bombshell reply suddenly appeared at the top of the thread, making his pupils shrink:
**Lu Zhaoxi: Hello, I'm Lu Zhaoxi, the CEO of Taobao. Your story really touched me. Are you interested in opening an online store on Taobao? I'll assign someone to connect with you and teach you how to operate it.**
Hmm? Lin Mu wondered to himself: President Lu Zhaoxi? Most people outside the industry think that Jack Ma is still the president of Taobao; only those in the industry know that the current CEO is him. Could this really be President Lu himself?
"Beep beep beep—" His phone suddenly rang, interrupting his thoughts. After answering, Lu Hai's voice came through: "Dayan, President Lu saw your post! Quickly go and interact in the thread!"
Holy crap, it really is President Lu!
Lin Mu quickly commented on that reply: "I just checked, and this person really does seem to be the current CEO of Taobao (stunned)! Guys, I think I'm about to become famous? I'm going to start researching how to open an online store!"
This reply immediately caused an uproar in the thread:
"Holy crap? A big shot really got involved? The president of Taobao actually came to Baidu Tieba?"
"66666, this is amazing!"
"Really? Isn't Jack Ma the president of Taobao?"
"OP, you're about to take off! Congratulations!"
"Open a Taobao store quickly! My wallet is starving!"
"Leaving my spot in the front row to witness a miracle!"
……
Let's rewind to half an hour earlier, to the Taobao president's office.
For executives like Lu Zhaoxi, there is no such thing as a complete rest time; all free time is fragmented. After finishing a round of work, he suddenly remembered what his subordinates had reported—Lin Mu's special marketing strategy of "using Tieba (Baidu's online forum) to tell stories and attract traffic."
"Send me the link to that post on Baidu Tieba," he instructed his assistant.
Lu Zhaoxi clicked on the link, intending to just glance at it, but he was immediately engrossed. By the time he came to his senses, more than half an hour had passed, his inbox was piled with dozens of unread emails, and there were several contracts waiting to be signed on his desk.
He rubbed his temples, secretly praising: This kid's got some skills! His ability to control his emotions is really strong; he managed to keep me engrossed for so long. An ordinary netizen would definitely be completely captivated.
Lu Zhaoxi was even more surprised when he checked the post data: hundreds of thousands of replies, conservatively estimated at several million views! He had also frequented Tianya and other forums in his early years and knew how exaggerated this data was—Lin Mu was definitely a genius storyteller.
Whether the story is fictional or based on reality is irrelevant to him. What matters is that this is a completely new model for driving traffic, and it deserves support.
"In that case, let's give him a hand." Lu Zhaoxi smiled slightly and personally edited the reply.
……
The next day, as soon as Lin Mu arrived at the company, he found his workstation surrounded by snacks, and his colleagues in the department were already in an uproar.
A group of female colleagues surrounded him, chattering away:
"Dayanzi, is the story in your post true?"
"Did Sister Xiaoyu really become a giggler later on?"
"Was there any hidden story behind the poster's death?"
Lin Mu responded with a smile, handling each question with ease.
Not far away, Wang Zaixing secretly watched this scene and was truly impressed—Lin Mu had managed to make that post so popular that it even alarmed President Lu to personally intervene. Lin Mu's performance was sure to be excellent, but he didn't know just how good it would be.
He turned his gaze back to his computer screen—a post from Tianya Forum. He wanted to follow Lin Mu's example and use the traffic of online communities to drive customers to the merchants he was partnered with. He had already chosen a merchant with decent product quality and planned to test the waters.
Just then, Lu Hai walked over with a glass of iced Americano, smiling as he handed it to him: "I heard that you young people all like to drink this, so I brought you a glass."
Lin Mu took the straw, inserted it, and took a big gulp. The bitter, sour taste instantly spread through him, and he quickly thanked the team leader, saying, "Thank you, team leader!"
"Your post was really well written; I almost couldn't resist giving the author a tip." Lu Hai gave a thumbs up, then changed the subject, "By the way, President Lu asked me to pass on a message to you: You did a great job. If you need anything in the future, just email him."
"Wow—" A low murmur rippled through the crowd. No one had expected Lin Mu to be able to "go straight to heaven" and gain such favor from President Lu.
……
On the other side, in Li Zhi's small factory.
Lin Mu hired a photographer to take product photos of the underwear—he had already arranged with Li Zhi to reimburse this expense and subsequent online marketing costs once the store became profitable.
A makeshift photography table was set up in a corner of the factory, with two light tubes shining on the table. Under the light, exquisite gift boxes were placed, and inside the gift boxes were neatly stacked silk underwear of various colors.
Watching from the side, Li Zhi exclaimed in admiration, "Brother Lin, I never imagined there were so many tricks to running an online store! If it were me taking pictures, I could just put the underwear on a mannequin, snap a couple of quick photos, and that would be it. But you put it in a gift box and used this kind of lighting; it doesn't look like underwear at all, it looks like some kind of expensive gift!"
"Images are only one aspect," Lin Mu explained. "You can also add text to images using Photoshop, and text is also crucial—users look at the image first, then the text on the image, and finally the details page. The style of these three elements must be consistent to attract users to click through."
He paused, then continued, "Doing these three things well will solve the 'user acquisition' problem; optimizing the product interface and comment section will solve the 'user retention and conversion' problem. However, for you, user acquisition and retention are not a concern now; it all depends on how much customers buy into it. But these are the core competencies for opening a store on Taobao. I won't help you anymore; you'll have to learn them yourself."