Chapter 877: Feelings
Zhu William arrived very quickly and arrived in Yanjing the day after Lin Weimin called him.
Lin Weimin first played the role of a good host to welcome him. After a night's rest, Zhu William formally came to the Guowen Society for a visit and exchange.
Zhu William was able to found a literary website like Under the Banyan Tree, so he must be a young literary man and has a natural affinity for the Chinese Literature Society.
The office building of Guowen Society is more than 40 years old, and it exudes an old atmosphere from the inside to the outside, but it does not prevent it from shining in Zhu William's eyes.
Lin Weimin took him to the editorial office of Contemporary and said to him with a smile: "The sofa you are sitting on now was made by Yan Gang, the husband of our editorial teacher Liu. In the past twenty years, famous domestic writers have sat on it, including Cheng Zhongshi, Lu Yao, Yu Hua, Mo Yan..."
Lin Weimin called out the names one by one, and Zhu William vaguely felt a strange sensation in his buttocks.
"Look, this is the manuscript of White Deer Plain. Cheng Zhongshi gave it to our Guowen Press in 1993."
When Lin Weimin was talking to Zhu William, Yang Xinlan brought over a manuscript and Lin Weimin immediately introduced it.
When he heard the three words "Bailuyuan", Zhu William's eyes lit up. He took the manuscript excitedly and couldn't wait to read it.
After a long time, he finally put down the manuscript with satisfaction.
Zhu William stayed in the National Literature Society for half a day and toured the place inside and out. Although the facilities in the building were already old, they also showed the profound history of the National Literature Society.
After coming out of the Classical Literature Editorial Office, Zhu William couldn't help but sigh: "The Chinese Literature Society is really profound and full of talented people!"
Lin Weimin smiled, led Zhu William upstairs, and said, "I just introduced to you some of the work results of our Guowen Press in copyright development. Now I will show you our website content editing room."
There is a nameplate hanging on the door of the office on the east side of the fourth floor that reads "Website Content Editing Room".
Lin Weimin and Zhu William pushed the door open and walked in. There were several desks scattered in the office, and each desk was equipped with a computer.
"President!"
The young editors who were working in front of their computers saw Lin Weimin coming and hurriedly stood up to greet him.
Lin Weimin waved his hand gently, motioning them to sit down, "You guys go about your business."
He then said to Zhu William: "You have also visited our official website of Guowen Press. It has been online for nearly four months. Now there are more than 80,000 registered users. The most lively one is the reader forum. People who are willing to visit our official website are more or less interested in literature.
Some time ago, we held an Internet writing competition, which aroused the enthusiasm of many users. Now that the competition has ended, many readers still insist on posting articles on the forum every day, which is also a source of manuscripts for our Guowen Press.
However, our Guowen Press has too many editorial offices and publications, and users' creative works are of various types. We had originally planned to open an email submission channel next year, but everyone's enthusiasm for creation is too high, and a large number of manuscripts are posted to our forum every day.
I thought that the content management of the website also needed to be handled by editors, so I might as well set up a website content editing room.
These are all young editors from our Guowen Press, and this is Mr. Zhu William, the person in charge of the Shanghai Rongshuxia website..."
Lin Weimin introduced the situation of the official website of Guowen Publishing House, and introduced the editors and Zhu William to each other.
After the greetings, Zhu William looked at the work of several young editors with curiosity in his eyes.
He runs the Rongshuxia website alone, and only he knows the hardships involved. If he had such an editorial team, how could it be as hard as before?
After observing the editors' work for a while, Zhu William was thoughtful.
Seeing that it was almost noon, Lin Weimin said, "Let's have lunch in our community. The braised lion's head made by our canteen chef is a must-try. Come on, I'll take you to try it."
During lunch, Lin Weimin did not discuss the website with Zhu William, but instead talked about the various tourist attractions in Yanjing.
"It's not easy to come to Yanjing. After visiting our Chinese Literature Society, you can visit these attractions when you have time."
Zhu William was chewing something and nodded, but his expression was not focused.
After dinner, Lin Weimin invited Zhu William to his office.
The two sat down and drank a cup of tea. Lin Weimin said again: "William, have you ever thought about how literary websites can make a profit?"
When he heard Lin Weimin's question, a trace of confusion flashed across Zhu William's face.
"Advertisement."
Nowadays, there are only two profit models that most Internet companies in the world can find: one is to sell software like Microsoft, and the other is to sell advertising like Yahoo.
Under the Banyan Tree is a literature website. It cannot sell software, but it can sell advertisements at best.
"You are a literature website. Although you are developing well, your traffic is inherently insufficient. How many advertisers would be willing to place ads on your website?"
Lin Weimin's words made Zhu William silent. He used to work in advertising, so how could he not know the shortcomings of the Rongshuxia website? "
Literary websites have inherent deficiencies, and Zhu William has never thought about making Under the Banyan Tree a very profitable website, but at least it should be able to maintain a balance between income and expenditure, so finding a profit point is crucial for him and Under the Banyan Tree.
But this is easier said than done. Whether in the United States or China, so many Internet companies are troubled by the problem of profit model. This is an industry problem.
"I still have enough funds, so it shouldn't be a problem for me to hold on for a few years."
In desperation, Zhu William said this.
Lin Weimin admired his courage to work for love, but immediately asked, "But have you ever thought that even though you can afford to lose money, will those amateur authors who contribute to Under the Banyan Tree continue to work for their interests?"
When Zhu William heard this, his expression froze. He opened his mouth, thought for a long time, and finally said: "These users came for interest from the beginning, and most of them should be willing to persist for their interest.
However, if Under the Banyan Tree continues to maintain its current state, these users will definitely not stick around. There will probably be a constant turnover, with a new batch of people perhaps every few months or half a year.
If this is the case, it is still somewhat detrimental to the development of Under the Banyan Tree. With so many authors leaving in waves, Under the Banyan Tree always lacks sedimentation..."
Zhu William muttered to himself with a frown on his face. If the development under the banyan tree was based on this scenario, it would almost be a dead end.
He thought for a long time, and finally stopped struggling. He said to Lin Weimin: "I have imagined before that we can connect with publishing houses and magazines to promote the works of our authors and cultivate a group of famous authors."
Lin Weimin said: "This idea is fine. Internet literature is still in its infancy and cannot do without the support of physical literature. But you should also understand that this approach can make authors famous and bring some fame to Under the Banyan Tree, but it is difficult to provide substantial help to the development of Under the Banyan Tree."
Zhu William nodded, "That's right. It's too difficult for literary websites to develop independently nowadays. It seems that the best way is to rely on a big tree."
Zhu William was very clear that Lin Weimin was guiding him, but he was also very clear that what Lin Weimin said was true, so he admitted it very straightforwardly.
"You should be very clear about the reason why I invited you here today. The resources that our Chinese Literature Society possesses happen to complement Under the Banyan Tree. At the same time, we are also willing to invest time and money to foster the growth of Under the Banyan Tree."
Zhu William looked at Lin Weimin and asked the questions in his heart.
"Doesn't your company have an official website? The user activity is also very high. It might be a good idea to run it as a literary website."
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Of course we will continue to operate our own website, but this does not prevent our Guowen Society from investing in Under the Banyan Tree."
Hearing this, Zhu William looked puzzled. He already had it, so why should he invest in someone else's website? Moreover, investing in Rongshuxia would definitely be a losing business in the short term.
Looking at his expression, Lin Weimin asked, "William, I want to ask you, what do you think of China's Internet market?"
Facing Lin Weimin's question, Zhu William pondered for a moment and said, "China is a big country with a population of over 1 billion. Although the current scale of Internet users is less than one-third of that of the United States, I believe that the potential of the Internet market is undoubtedly huge. With China's current development speed, it will sooner or later surpass the United States in terms of user scale in the future."
Lin Weimin laughed. "Like you, I am optimistic about the development of China's Internet. With China's population base, even if only one-tenth of the population uses the Internet in another 20 years, there will be hundreds of millions of users. With such a market size, it is extremely difficult for a single company to occupy the entire market share. Literary websites themselves are not a field that can breed giants, and our Guowen Press invests in this field because we value the positive impact it can have on the Chinese literary field in the future."
In 1997, wanting to invest in literary websites to make money was nothing but a pipe dream. Zhu William himself did it for his feelings and dreams. Lin Weimin said that Guowen Publishing House wanted to invest in Rongshuxia in order to influence the literary field in the future, which won his approval.
After accepting Lin Weimin's opinion, Zhu William no longer had any resistance to cooperating with Guowen Publishing House. He asked, "Then how do you want to cooperate?"
Lin Weimin said seriously: "Under the Banyan Tree is now affiliated with Shanghai Online. I hope you can move the website to Yanjing and set up a separate company. Our Guowen Press is willing to invest 2 million yuan and only wants 50% of the shares of the new company."
When Zhu William heard Lin Weimin's request, he was slightly stunned. He was really surprised that he wanted 50% of the shares right away.
He had started his own business before and was not a rookie entering the business world.
Rongshuxia has 100,000 independent IP visiting users. Lin Weimin offered a valuation of 4 million RMB, which was very generous. However, what Zhu William could not accept was the cession of 50% of the shares.
“You want too many shares.”
Lin Weimin said slowly, "William, I think you should understand. Rongshuxia is different from ordinary Internet companies nowadays. It is unlikely to find too many financing channels. The future development of Rongshuxia needs you and our Guowen Society to provide blood transfusion for it. So it won't do you any harm if we take more shares."
"And I think you should also understand that only publishing companies or media companies with a background like our Guowen Press would be willing to contact a website like Under the Banyan Tree. It would be a win-win for both sides."
"Our Guowen Publishing House is one of the most powerful publishing houses in the country. We have nine publications with sales of more than one million copies, covering a readership of hundreds of millions. We also have an elite editorial team, which will become an important support for the future development of Rongshuxia.
Including several cultural industry companies under our Guowen Society, they can also play a boosting role in the future development of Under the Banyan Tree.
I know you have money and you have run your own company. If our shareholding is too small, how can you support Rongshuxia with all your strength?"
Lin Weimin looked at Zhu William's expression and said, "We want 50% of the shares. The rights and obligations of both parties are equal, which is also a manifestation of sincerity. You can sell the advertising company to run a website like Under the Banyan Tree that is doomed to lose money. You must also believe that our Guowen Press is by no means a company that pursues profit. Guowen Press carries the lofty mission of leading the development of Chinese literature."
Both shareholders hold 50% each, which seems balanced, but it is likely to hinder the development of the company in the later stage. However, it also seems to be an attitude of expressing friendliness and trust.
Lin Weimin's words immediately opened up the discussion. Instead of talking about money, he talked directly about sincerity and feelings.
This kind of rhetoric doesn't work on those old foxes, but it is very effective for Zhu William who was able to sell his thriving advertising company and lose money to run the banyan tree.
His expression relaxed, and after hesitating for a moment, he said, "The website will be moved to Yanjing. I hope that Guowen Publishing House can help Rongshuxia build a complete editorial team."
"no problem."
Lin Weimin also discussed some specific details of the cooperation with Zhu William. As Lin Weimin said, Guowen Society is sincere and passionate. After a frank exchange, Zhu William was extremely satisfied with the cooperation between the two parties.
Lin Weimin stood up and extended his hand to Zhu William, "Happy cooperation!"
“It’s a pleasure to work with you!”
(End of this chapter)
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