Huayu 2002, I'm going to dominate the music scene!

An Ming had already been persuaded by Song Mo's words.

It wasn't that he completely believed Song Mo's words, but rather that the prospects described by Song Mo were so appealing that he was willing to believe them.

Luo Hongming, who had been listening nearby, finally couldn't help but ask, "Um... Brother Song, that ringtone thing you mentioned, is it really going to work?"

Song Mo looked at him and laughed: "Hongming, do you believe that ten years from now, when you look back, this Flash animation you made will actually be more effective than CCTV's GG?"

Luo Hongming opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

He was just an art student who only thought about finding a job in Beijing after graduation, then marrying his girlfriend, having children, and living a good life.

He didn't have any grand ambitions, and although he didn't quite understand what Song Mo was saying, he was still greatly shocked.

Song Mo stood up. "Hongming, this animation is pretty good, better than I expected. Give me your bank account later, and I'll send you another 1000 yuan as a bonus."

Upon hearing Song Mo's words, Luo Hongming finally snapped out of his daze, his face flushing red. "How can this be? We already agreed on the price; I can't accept this money."

Song Mo said without hesitation, "Let's keep things separate. Don't be shy about the bonus."

Luo Hongming scratched his head, but said firmly, "The ideas for these animations were actually given by you. I just followed the requirements. I really can't accept this bonus."

Hearing him say that, Song Mo's impression of him improved even more, and she became even more convinced of her original idea.

These days, being greedy for money isn't necessarily a bad thing, but people with principles are still more trustworthy.

At this moment, An Ming gave Song Mo a deep look, "So, what do you plan to do next?"

He believed that Song Mo must have his own reasons for bringing this up with him today.

Song Mo didn't hide anything, "Ever since Xuecun's song 'Northeasterners Are All Living Lei Fengs' became popular last year, there are new online songs every day."

"Therefore, what we are facing is not simply uploading songs to the internet and waiting for them to automatically become popular."

"We need to take the initiative and find ways to promote these songs so that more people can hear them and see the animations. Only in this way can we make our songs popular as soon as possible."

"I'm not bragging, but I have no doubt about the quality of these songs. What we need to do now is get them to our target audience as soon as possible."

Having worked in the short drama industry in his previous life, Song Mo knew that in this initial stage, it was essential to boost morale and make some exaggerated claims to better motivate everyone.

An Ming frowned and asked hesitantly, "So, what exactly do we need to do?"

Luo Hongming was feeling uneasy. He felt that what Song Mo was about to say was very important, and it seemed inappropriate for an outsider like himself to stay there.

Just as he was hesitating whether to leave first, Song Mo spoke up, "My method is very simple: seize control of the BBS, but to do that, there aren't enough of us."

At this point, he turned to Luo Hongming and asked, "Hongming, would you like to work with us?"

"Me?" Luo Hongming asked, somewhat confused. "I only know how to use Flash, so I'm afraid I won't be of much help."

Song Mo smiled and said, "I already said that if we want to attract a large number of users, we can't do it alone. I think you can find some classmates to join us. Just treat it as a part-time job. The work is not difficult. You just need to post on the BBS."

Luo Hongming paused for a moment: "You mean... posting and replying?"

"Yes, it's posting and replying to posts." Song Mo nodded. "I'll teach you how to do it, and you can lead your classmates to do it the same way."

An Ming, who was listening nearby, suddenly interjected, "How much money are you planning to spend promoting these songs?"

Song Mo glanced at him: "I'll give you 100,000. You can control the overall direction. How to divide it and how much to divide is up to you. In the early stages, we'll focus on promoting the songs 'Mice Love Rice' and 'Two Butterflies.' This amount should be enough. If it's not enough, come back to me."

Song Mo wasn't sure how much it would cost later, but he mainly relied on online promotion. The biggest expense was probably labor costs, which was 30 yuan per person per day, or 900 yuan per month. If he hired 50 people, that would be 45000 yuan. Later, he might have to buy recommendation slots from various websites, so it should be close to 100,000 yuan.

An Ming was stunned: "One hundred thousand?"

"Yes, 100,000." Song Mo's tone was calm. "This money should last for a while. The promotional period is only about a month, and if we're lucky, it won't take that long."

An Ming stared at him for several seconds, then suddenly sighed: "You kid...you've got some nerve."

"I'm very confident." Song Mo picked up the water bottle and took a sip. "Besides, this money is being spent wisely, it's a good deal."

Luo Hongming, who was listening nearby, was a little stunned. One hundred thousand yuan? He had never seen so much money in his life.

Song Mo's previous talk about ringback tones and 200 million users had no impact on him as much as the 100,000 yuan he was receiving at that moment.

He licked his lips and couldn't help but ask, "Then... what should I do?"

"Don't rush, let me explain slowly." Song Mo put down the water bottle and began to analyze point by point.

"First, our target platforms are these places: Xici Hutong, Tianya Community, Mop, NetEase Community, Sohu Community, Jiutian Music Network, and some Flash websites."

He counted on his fingers: "Xici Hutong is the stronghold of artistic youths. We need to focus on the music section and the original music section. The users here have higher aesthetic standards and may mock our songs, but mockery is fine. As long as there are people criticizing, there will be buzz, and the more noise there is, the more popular it will become."

Song Mo didn't care about being scolded, just like how celebrities in later generations are popular even if they are criticized.

Song Mo continued, "Tianya Community is currently the center of public opinion fermentation, and posts are easily reprinted by portal websites. We need to post in the entertainment gossip and music and film sections, and the titles need to be edgy. I've thought of three directions: one is to play the victim, one is to create controversy and provoke, and one is to express unfulfilled talent."

Controversy, provocation, and feeling unappreciated are easy to understand. The more controversial an issue is, the more attention it receives. And feeling unappreciated has been a focal point of Chinese thought for thousands of years.

Playing the victim and appealing to sympathy targets the weaknesses of netizens in this era.

In 2002, netizens were simple and honest but very curious, and they liked real stories and emotional resonance.

To put it bluntly, they're easy to fool; they're all as innocent as little white rabbits.

Before experiencing the bizarre events on the internet, they generally had little wariness of sob stories and tragic events.

In fact, let alone 2002, even 10 years later, The Voice of China still relied on playing the victim as a selling point for the show.

He was once ridiculed by netizens who said that if he had a happy family, he should never go into singing.

He looked at their somewhat bewildered eyes; clearly, they didn't know how to play the victim.

Therefore, Song Mo casually gave a few examples.

"For example, titles like 'This is the last file on my computer. After posting this, I'm going far away,' 'To support my sister's college education, I work as a laborer during the day and sing at night. This song is my blood and sweat,' 'My mother is getting old and hard of hearing. I want her to hear this song before she can't hear anymore,' 'She got married yesterday, but I'm not the groom. This song is my last gift to her,' 'On my 48th day of unemployment, the landlord came to collect the rent. I sat on the overpass with my guitar and sang all night.'..."

An Ming and Luo Hongming exchanged a glance, both dumbfounded.

"This...isn't this a lie?" Luo Hongming asked in a low voice.

Song Mo coughed and said righteously, "This is not called deception, this is called a necessary propaganda method."

At the beginning of the millennium, the Internet was a novel thing, and its rapid, unregulated growth was perfectly normal.

Didn't Ma Huateng also pretend to be a young girl back then, specifically to deceive the burly men in chat rooms?