Chapter 300

Zhichun Road, Weibo Conference Room

The head of operations reported to Yan Li: "Our online and offline promotional campaigns are proceeding smoothly, and the Hundred Stars onboarding initiative is in full swing."

"As of 10 a. . today, Weibo's registered users have surpassed 50, 00."

"Over forty celebrities have been verified; others are being contacted, and we expect at least 100 to 150 more stars to complete verification and post their first Weibo within the next two days."

"While verifying celebrities, we've targeted their personal tieba, fan groups, blogs, and other fan hubs to drive traffic."

"Last night, we also reached out to multiple media outlets and portals to widely promote the Hundred Stars onboarding."

"…"

Yan Li listened intently; the celebrity strategy sounded simple, but it wasn't just about pulling people over.

You had to leverage each star's influence—targeted traffic drives, promotional emphasis on platform impact—in short, make the most of this opportunity to make the world and the public aware of Weibo as quickly as possible.

Currently, there are more than just Weibo and Fanfou as microblogging platforms; there's also Taotao under Tencent.

Fanfou targets elites; its users are mostly niche circles and university students, winning with content, but its scale is tiny.

Tencent's Taotao has a sizable user base; Tencent's traffic pool is too powerful—pop-up recommendations drove over 100, 00 registrations on day one.

But Tencent didn't execute Taotao well—no content, no distinctive features, and overshadowed by its elder sibling QQ Space; despite its size, its momentum is weaker than Fanfou's highly active and loyal user base.

Weibo's celebrity-focused strategy is something Fanfou and Tencent simply cannot or find extremely difficult to achieve.

Fanfou, as a startup, has no access to celebrity resources at all.

Tencent may be powerful, but most of its current business areas have no ties to the entertainment industry; to launch a celebrity strategy, it can only throw money at it—and even then, results are uncertain.

So, under conditions of not burning cash recklessly, the only ones who could pressure Yan Li in the celebrity space are:

Sina and Sohu!

Both began as portal sites, later expanded into blogs; Sohu even launched a video platform. Over the years, they've come to represent new media and have cultivated extensive celebrity and influencer networks.

Other internet companies, including Tencent, also have such resources, but due to later entry or insufficient emphasis, they lag behind these two.

At least for Yan Li, this entertainment tycoon, his short-term focus is solely on Sina and Sohu.

Weibo has just begun and hasn't yet shown much brilliance; everyone is still watching.

Sohu's attention leans more toward the current hot trend—video platforms—while Sina is somewhat tempted; internally, it has considered microblogging, but its size makes turning the ship difficult.

Sina Blog is currently the most popular blog platform, thriving with abundant internal resources and vested interests; it's impossible for a new Weibo to immediately shake its corporate strategy.

Yan Li estimates that even if Sina immediately prepares a Sina Weibo, it won't allocate full resources—and internal friction between Sina Blog and Sina Weibo is likely.

By the time Sina realizes Weibo will replace blogs and become the dominant trend, and commits fully to developing Sina Weibo:

Yan Li's Weibo will already have accumulated sufficient first-mover advantage!

After silently listening to all reports, Yan Li spoke: "The Hundred Stars onboarding is unquestionably the most powerful traffic driver so far. Dig deep and spread wide—use this card thoroughly."

"Don't slack off on online and offline promotion; though its effect isn't as dramatic as the Hundred Stars, it's a steady, long-term opportunity for publicity and momentum."

"Later, we must also plan carefully for the onboarding of the Hundred Celebrities, Hundred Enterprises, Hundred Institutions—though their influence may not match the stars', they greatly enhance Weibo's usability and value."

"By Spring Festival, in roughly two months, no matter what methods you use, get our registered users to over one million."

If you're short on users, fake the numbers—in this industry, you can't tell a compelling story without a million users.

Weibo currently holds one unplayed card: Yan Li himself.

As a highly prominent new business magnate, he brings traffic to JD. om—and he can bring the same to Weibo.

So Yan Li will bind Weibo to his personal brand, telling his story alongside Weibo's—not just to investors, but to the public—to dramatically amplify Weibo's influence.

But storytelling requires timing; Weibo has just started, and for Yan Li to appear now would be meaningless—risking turning Weibo into his personal website.

So he must wait—until Weibo achieves tangible results and influence, then he steps in to add fuel, making the fire burn even hotter.

Afterward, Yan Li held a special meeting with the content department.

If content isn't handled well, no matter how many people you attract, they won't stay—it's all wasted.

So Yan Li placed special emphasis on content: even if traffic grows slowly, if you create one explosive event, a flood of users will come quickly.

Content also strengthens user stickiness and loyalty; even if competitors emerge, they won't lure users away.

"This photography and literature contest is still too niche, lacks buzz—go for something explosive, popular, and highly participatory."

Currently, Weibo's content mainly comes from user posts and interactions, news reposts, and these small events and contests.

Yan Li reviewed them: effective, but not striking enough.

"Plan two major campaigns: one tied to the Spring Festival film season—critique movies, compare box office figures, conduct interviews with creators; anything related to Spring Festival films, post it—even copy good posts from other platforms and repost them under our account."

"The other: a beauty pageant. Our current users are mostly entertainment fans—give them something to do. Launch the 'First Weibo Goddess' election, following the World Cup format: open auditions, group eliminations, finally selecting one winner—we'll award her."

"First choose women, then men—not just goddesses and gods, also sub-categories like 'Four Ancient Beauties' or 'Four Republican Young Masters.'"

"Don't hold them all at once; space them out. After each selection, promote it heavily—solidify the title. The louder their fame, the more Weibo benefits."

"…"

Yan Li's move was a later-generation internet tactic—though strictly speaking, the pattern had long existed; Hong Kong had frequently used it.

But old tactics don't matter if they work: fans compete fiercely, bystanders flock to the spectacle, and Weibo gains traffic.

Content department staff scribbled furiously—this beauty pageant had serious potential.

One vote per user per day—users would have to vote daily; invite a new user and get an extra vote—perfect for driving traffic.

Add a voting topic square for heated discussions and arguments, even let the contestants themselves campaign—engagement and buzz would skyrocket.

"But, Boss Yan, aren't we risking offending people?"

Leading the charge, riding on celebrity hype—some will inevitably feel uncomfortable.

Yan Li looked at the one who raised the objection: "If you're afraid of offending people, then pack your bags and leave."

So what if we offend people?

Weibo is a public opinion platform—won't there be more offenses later?

Once Weibo grows, especially these stars, they'll all have to bow to Weibo's authority—so what if we offend people?

Besides, this event, while riding trends, also gives exposure—everyone wins. If you lose, blame yourself for low popularity or bad looks.

In this era, being a nice guy doesn't make money—let alone become a big shot.

With Yan Li's words, the content team grew even more excited; they weren't afraid of offending people—they feared negative fallout leading to shutdowns or being made scapegoats.

Now that the boss had their back, they could go all out—they were internet veterans; stoking controversy was their specialty.

"Let me stress again: offending people isn't a problem—I'll back you. But absolutely avoid sensitive topics, strictly monitor speech, update forbidden keywords in real time—no room for carelessness."

Yan Li was serious; some people he could offend, others he couldn't.

An unregulated or loosely monitored opinion platform is terrifying—Fanfou died because of this.

From the moment Weibo was founded, Yan Li repeatedly emphasized: uphold the red line.

He'd rather Weibo be called a mouthpiece by some than become a gathering ground for rebels.

If Weibo fails, Yan Li has other businesses. But if Weibo "fails," he's in trouble…

…

After the meeting, Yan Li went to Weibo's office. As a startup, this office was far smaller than his other offices.

Less than ten square meters—just a desk, a bookshelf, two sofas, barely enough space; even the coffee table was miniature.

Yet, being in this small office actually ignited Yan Li's drive to "conquer the world."

Many entrepreneurs aren't short on money, yet they persist in working—not just for the thrill of commanding their company, but for the satisfaction of building something successful.

The feeling of creating a massive company from nothing is exquisite.

He pulled out his phone, walked to the doorway, took a photo of the office, then posted his first official Weibo after registering.

【New Weibo, new beginning!】

Yan Li's Weibo account was among the very first ever created—he got it before Weibo even launched.

The profile picture was Weibo's logo: a minimalist, abstract tech-blue waveform symbolizing the posting, spreading, and connection of Weibo information.

This was personally approved by Yan Li after multiple proposals—simple, memorable, highlighting the key selling point.

Behind the icon was a golden "V" mark—the official Weibo verification; individuals used yellow V, enterprises and institutions used blue V, distinguishing them from regular accounts and preventing impersonation.

The name was simply 【Yan Li】—no frills. Below it, the bio or official verification text was equally simple.

【Businessman, actor. Employed by Weibo, Yi'an Film & Television, Yi'an Cinema Chain. Representative works: The Legend of Xue Rengui, Emperor Wu of Han, Sword of the Loyalist…】

His followers were already substantial—whether Weibo had given him a recommendation boost or not, his follower count had surpassed 2, 00.

His following count was low—only a few Weibo executives. Yan Li decided to follow back familiar faces among his followers and observe their Weibos.

Fan Xiaopang was among the first to onboard; she was famous, popular, and one of his own—a key target for Weibo's traffic promotion, now nearing 5, 00 followers.

Though she'd only just joined Weibo, Fan Xiaopang had already posted two or three Weibos.

The first was a formal greeting, the second a selfie, the third asking fans and passersby to follow her, claiming she'd be active on Weibo and so on.