One article makes it clear: Xiaohongshu bloggers should not sign contracts with MCN!

With the rapid development of content industries such as content and short videos, there are more and more bloggers, and of course, more and more content cooperation organizations, namely MCNs.

Of course, speaking of Xiaohongshu , MCN is still an unavoidable topic. The agency + blogger hit it off and signed a cooperation contract. I believe that many friends who use Xiaohongshu and have a certain number of fans will definitely receive private messages from MCN agencies from time to time, asking about contract matters.

So what does MCN mainly do, what roles does it play between brands and bloggers, how will signing with MCN help bloggers, and is it necessary to sign with an MCN agency?

1. MCN

Let us start with the definition of MCN. MCN actually originated from abroad and is an industry model derived from Youtube . However, with the development of the domestic content industry, the concept of MCN was introduced into China. In response to China's large-scale content production and content consumption needs, Chinese MCN agencies have developed rapidly in recent years, and their number is also increasing.

Just like the development of content, from distribution on all platforms to precise vertical platform, the same is true for institutions. Some institutions only focus on a certain platform, hoping to fully understand this platform and make it bigger and stronger. For example, some only do Douyin or Xiaohongshu, and some specialize in MCNs such as Toutiao and Zhihu . In addition, there are some institutions that cover all platforms . Of course, there are two situations for institutions that cover all platforms. One is that the scale is indeed large enough, and the other is just shouting blindly, and none of them are done well.

Of course, what we introduce and explain here is generally the situation of Xiaohongshu MCN.

In fact, MCN is like an economic company in the entertainment industry, acting as a bridge of communication between creators and brands. Its essence is to provide services to both influencers and brands at the same time, helping influencers grow and monetize better, and helping brands achieve better marketing results.

For bloggers, these MCN agencies are responsible for signing bloggers for business cooperation matters, helping bloggers connect with brands and partners, and communicating the form and amount of cooperation; on the other hand, they help bloggers output content. For example, general MCN companies will help bloggers plan topics, post-production of pictures and videos, etc.

However, in our understanding, better MCN agencies can do something more long-term, which is to help creators grow better, receive professional content guidance, and let bloggers learn to create excellent content based on each person's specialties and advantages.

Rather than simply providing content production services for creators, after all, it is very easy to mass-produce similar content on an assembly line. However, if creators want to walk their own path, differentiation is the most important thing. It is better to teach people how to fish than to give them fish.

2. Types of Creator Contracts

Generally, bloggers can sign MCN in two forms:

①Signed blogger

Signing a contract is the most widespread and basic form of cooperation. It is also the form of cooperation that Xiaohongshu’s friends are most likely to encounter. Generally, if you have more than 5k followers on Xiaohongshu, MCN students may send you private messages to ask if you have signed a contract. Do you have any intention to cooperate with any organization?

This type of cooperation is called signing a blogger. The creator has the ability to produce his own content and a certain fan base . After signing the contract, the account still belongs to the blogger. In addition to helping the blogger connect with business cooperation, the agency will also provide the blogger with certain content guidance and platform support, recommend topics, etc.

The blogger usually gets the majority of the commission, such as 60% to 40% or 30% to 70% etc. However, bloggers need to be aware that content guidance requires professional skills. If the organization does not have the professional ability to produce content, guidance will be useless.

In addition, some bloggers actually underestimate the ability to guide content. I can tell you a joke:

It is said that when cars first became popular, an engineer from a small factory was invited by General Motors to deal with an engine problem. The engine was broken, but none of the engineers at General Motors could solve the problem, so they specially invited this very famous engineer to solve the problem. Later, the engineer studied the engine for a while, then drew a line on the outside of the engine and asked the people from General Motors to cut off the coil inside and replace it with a new one. Then the people from GM asked him how he charged the fee, and he said, a total of $10,000. The people from GM were shocked when they heard this, and asked him how he calculated the fee and why it was so expensive? The engineer said it would cost one dollar to draw a line, but it would cost $9,999 to know where to draw the line.

Everyone must have heard this story, but do you know what happened to the engineer behind it?

Of course, jokes are just jokes after all, but they seem to be a good example of where the value of mental workers lies, and bloggers should not think that guidance is worthless.

②Incubate bloggers

Incubation is a more in-depth cooperation model. Generally, organizations will have higher requirements and benefits for such accounts . For example, the ownership of the incubated account belongs to the company, and the profit sharing ratio is mostly reversed from that of the contract. The company accounts for a large part of the business cooperation profit sharing ratio. Naturally, the content of this account is generally planned and produced by the organization's operation team. The blogger himself only needs to appear on camera, record or participate in topic selection and production, which is similar to the star-making model in the entertainment industry.

Some classmates said that this is too unfair a clause? The account is not mine and the share is too little, why should I cooperate? This issue needs to be viewed from another perspective. The organization provides manpower and material resources without receiving any benefits, and then runs the risk of completely losing the account if the influencer is unwilling to run away. Why would the organization do such a charitable event? Actually, there is no reason.

Therefore, in my opinion, the most reasonable cooperation model should actually be signing a contract, that is, the agency only provides guidance, participates in business cooperation, and does more things for monetization, but does not produce content for the influencers.

In addition to the above two signing methods, there is another type of affiliation , which is to be registered with a certain MCN, but the account, content production, and business cooperation are still the responsibility of the blogger himself. But even so, the agency will provide the blogger with some of the latest platform developments and topic recommendations. Of course, there may be no other guidance at all.

3. Is it necessary to sign an MCN contract?

Although there are many MCN agencies now and there are many news reports about MCN agency signing scams on the Internet, in fact, signing a contract with a reliable MCN agency also has many benefits for bloggers.

Every profession has its own specialties. Bloggers are generally better at producing content, but they are not very familiar with brand docking and business cooperation. They are not clear about the current situation of the industry. For example, how to formulate quotations in business cooperation and how to handle the authorization of notes and pictures in the cooperation. If you are not careful, you may be cheated. After signing the contract, MCN agencies will help bloggers to manage this content. They also have a better understanding of the industry situation and will strive for more rights and interests for bloggers. Creators can also better and focus more on content creation.

Especially in today's era of business cooperation, where there are both good and bad companies, and business cooperation generally does not involve contractual terms, MCN agencies can better help creators avoid various risks in business cooperation, such as some influencers not being able to receive payment after promotion .

Secondly, when creators create content on their own, they may not be clear about the platform rules, which may easily lead to account violations and traffic restrictions, or they may be delayed in getting the latest information from the platform. Signing with an MCN agency can solve these problems, because professional agencies will inform contracted bloggers of the latest platform news in advance. For example, everyone can know the recent news that Xiaohongshu has cracked down on promotion as soon as possible.

Ultimately, whether or not to sign a contract with an MCN agency is something that everyone can choose based on their actual situation . If you sign a contract, there are many news about MCN contract scams on the Internet, so you must choose a reliable agency, preferably:

1. The company provides guidance on content

2. The company provides business docking

3. The influencer is responsible for the content himself (and the influencer must be responsible for the content himself, so that he can stand out from the cookie-cutter assembly line content)

4. The account belongs to the expert

5. Do not force influencers to accept business cooperation that is inconsistent with their style

The above is some popular science about MCN!

Author: Mr. Elk Sky

Source: Mr. Elk Sky (milusir94)