From Taobao intern to the father of Pinduoduo

Chapter 14 Internal Commendation

Inside the office.

Wang Zaixing watched the ranking of "Brother Li's Shop" soar on the monitor, his heart burning with excitement. But the cold air from the air conditioner cooled him down considerably.

He opened a webpage, puzzled—it was a post on Tianya Forum.

He clearly followed Lin Mu's operating method and told a story in the Tianya chat section about a small factory owner who went bankrupt because he couldn't keep up with the times. He thought it was quite inspiring, but why didn't it get much traffic?

Is it that Tianya Forum is not suited to this kind of gameplay?

He also tried it on Baidu Tieba, but the result was equally unsatisfactory, with very few participants.

Wang Zaixing wanted to learn from Lin Mu, but he felt awkward and embarrassed to ask.

Just then, Lu Hai walked over and said, "Dayan, prepare a speech. President Lu is very satisfied with your marketing plan this time and wants to hold an awards ceremony for you, where you can share your operational experience."

"You're definitely going to get a big year-end bonus!"

Lin Mu replied with a smile, "It's all thanks to the leaders' discerning eye that I was given this opportunity."

Wang Zaixing's eyes lit up—this commendation meeting couldn't have come at the right time!

He was too embarrassed to ask Lin Mu directly, so he figured he could secretly learn a thing or two at the sharing session.

At his workstation, Lin Mu typed away on his keyboard, drafting a speech. He knew that this operation was destined to become a classic case study in e-commerce operations, and this speech would most likely circulate within the industry. Perhaps ten or twenty years later, when he had become an industry leader, this speech would still be dug up and read.

Therefore, this manuscript must be carefully polished and cannot be carelessly done, otherwise it will become a black mark on history.

Inside the CEO's office.

Lu Zhaoxi opened the speech draft submitted by Lin Mu in his email and began to read it carefully.

At first, he was vaguely worried that Lin Mu was being petty and would hide the essence of operations in his speech, afraid that others would learn it.

But after reading a few pages, he felt relieved—this employee had a broad perspective.

This speech is of extremely high quality; laypeople might feel as if they've gained a sudden, profound understanding from reading it—but that's just an illusion. Behind those meticulously broken-down points of knowledge lie a wealth of details that defy description.

If an outsider sees this and thinks they've learned it, and tries to copy it exactly, they're guaranteed to fail every time they try.

But for an expert like him, he could see the many tricks hidden between the lines.

This article broadened the horizons of experts like Lu Zhaoxi, giving him a new perspective: Is there potential in combining e-commerce with community?

……

In the afternoon, the conference room was packed.

Taobao's C-end shop assistants range from P1 to P5 levels, and even several management positions in the M series have voluntarily come to join.

Many employees were eagerly anticipating Lin Mu's presentation—ranking first in its niche category and achieving weekly sales of over 2 units, this achievement was truly remarkable.

They were all curious about how this "amazing colleague" operated.

Lin Mu stepped onto the stage and said, "Distinguished leaders and colleagues, good afternoon! Thank you all for giving me the honor of saying a few words here."

……

"The first step is to create content that evokes emotional resonance."

"When I heard Li Zhi's story, I realized it was excellent material for dissemination, with great potential for sharing. At that time, I had an idea: as a Taobao shop assistant, perhaps I could help him."

"Then I thought, since I have this idea, will netizens who hear this story feel the same way? They don't need to do much, just having the thought of 'supporting him with the next order' is the most practical help they can give him."

"To achieve this, the first problem to solve is: how to get more people to hear this story?"

Lin Mu explained in detail why he chose Baidu Tieba for traffic generation—the core of which lies in "segmentation" and "personalization".

"Tianya operates on a 'forum selects people' model, while Tieba operates on a 'people select forum' model. I chose the World of Warcraft forum because of its large user base and because its active users are mostly young people. Those who can afford to play a paid game like World of Warcraft generally have some spare money and are willing to try online shopping."

"Moreover, netizens nowadays love to share and be funny. As long as a story goes viral, they will spontaneously spread it a second time and even participate in co-creation, creating a group meme."

"Once a group meme is formed, the effect is completely different. This store will immediately stand out from a group of mediocre underwear manufacturers—it will no longer be an ordinary store that sells goods, but a store with a story and warmth."

Next, Lin Mu shared specific details, such as adopting a serialized update approach: "Publishing 1000 to 3000 words daily to maintain user engagement and follow-up, which is a strategy borrowed from the operational logic of online novels."

"In addition, I pay special attention to interaction. As long as a netizen's comment is even slightly interesting, I will reply and interact in the comments. In this way, I can create the sense that 'the account is operated by a real person,' and at the same time satisfy the netizen's psychological need to 'be seen.'"

Lin Mu spoke at length for four or five thousand words, and the waiters listened with nodding heads and deep thought. As for whether they could actually learn anything, that depended on their individual comprehension.

For example, Wang Zaixing is still puzzled: he has adjusted his strategy and posted in the World of Warcraft forum, so why is there so little buzz? Is it really that much dependent on storytelling ability?

After the sharing session ended, Wang Zaixing finally couldn't hold back and stepped forward to stop Lin Mu.

After hearing his question, Lin Mu asked, "Fugui, what kind of products do you deal in?"

"It's a throw pillow," Wang Zaixing quickly replied. "I specifically checked the quality, it's absolutely fine. The store also transitioned from being a manufacturer on Alibaba, so after-sales service is guaranteed."

"Would it be convenient for you to let me see your post?" Lin Mu asked.

"Of course it's convenient!"

Lin Mu followed Wang Zaixing to his workstation, where many curious and eager-to-learn waiters also gathered around, hoping to take the opportunity to learn from him.

Lin Mu quickly glanced at the posts Wang Zaixing had made on Tianya and Tieba, shook his head and said, "Fugui, you were wrong from the very beginning."

"What do you mean?" Wang Zaixing asked anxiously.

Lin Mu explained, "The core purpose of the post I managed was to tell a story; selling products was just a side effect. The focus was entirely on the story. Didn't you notice? I never actively asked netizens to buy products in the post. It was all because netizens spontaneously wanted to help me and actively sought ways to support me that I 'reluctantly' opened a Taobao store."

"Even after the store opened, I didn't rush to list products and grab traffic. Instead, I invited netizens to choose the main product image together and create a collaborative product. Throughout the whole process, I focused on storytelling and interacting with netizens. Selling products was just a side thing."

"Your post feels selfish and stereotypical, as if you're telling everyone: 'Come listen to my story, and then you can buy things.'"