E-commerce is rampant in the circle of friends: This is not the way to make money from acquaintances

The debate about WeChat business is getting more and more intense, with some criticizing it and others praising it. Too many onlookers are paying attention to whether WeChat business can be done and whether it has a future. Looking at one wealth creation case after another, it is inevitable that you will be tempted, but when you really get involved, you find that WeChat business is not as good as you imagined.

To do WeChat business, you must first have a correct mindset. The e-commerce stall is too big, like a tennis court, while the WeChat platform is too small, at most a ping-pong table. It is ridiculous to use a ping-pong table to play tennis. So, don't expect WeChat business to become the mainstream of e-commerce and overthrow Alibaba. YY is fine, but it is unrealistic.

Don't expect to get rich by doing WeChat business. All good stories are carefully packaged to deceive children. Of course, it doesn't mean that there is no opportunity for WeChat business. While seeing its bad side, we should also find potential opportunities. It is okay to use WeChat business as a side job to make some extra money. Once WeChat business is used as a main business, it is a life or death.

Why is WeChat business not suitable as a main business?

If you have no experience and rashly make WeChat business your main business, the risk is very high. The key to "WeChat business" lies in the word "business". Full-time WeChat business will inevitably magnify the "business" flavor infinitely, and there will inevitably be excessive marketing in the circle of friends. WeChat business is based on transactions between acquaintances in the circle of friends. Excessive marketing can only produce the effect of alienation. People who are familiar with you will find you annoying, and those who are not familiar with you will find you disgusting. Blocking is the ultimate fate.

The reason is simple. If you are a full-time WeChat businessman, you are very eager to make transactions, so you will keep checking your friends' circle, hoping to facilitate transactions. The more you check, the more your friends will be disgusted, and the less transactions you will make. This vicious cycle will not only lead to death, but also disability. It is difficult for full-time WeChat businessmen to keep a calm mindset. If their mindset is not right, they will only go further and further astray.

If you start your WeChat business by joining and stockpiling goods, it means you have fallen into a deep pit. First, the franchise fee is to tie you down. After paying the franchise fee, you will not quit easily. At the same time, the merchant can gain a lot through the franchise fee. In addition, once you accept the stockpiling method of payment first and goods later, the upstream company will transfer the risk to you, and you can only bear the pressure of stockpiling goods and endlessly refresh the screen. The only thing you can do is wait for death.

WeChat merchants make money, but the money is taken away by a few big players. Where does the money come from? Most of it is "cheated" from lower-level franchisees. This method of franchising and hoarding goods is very common in the traditional retail market. Is it meaningful for Weishi to do the same? This method does not deserve the high-sounding title of "WeChat merchant". At most, it can only be called "selling goods on WeChat".

Business with acquaintances is not a taboo, and "trust" is the foundation of the development of WeChat business

What makes WeChat business different is that it makes full use of the trust relationship between acquaintances and then generates transactions through trust. It is not impossible to generate transactions between acquaintances. This kind of thing is also very common in real life.

For example, you have a good friend who sells mobile phones. Where do you buy a mobile phone? You will definitely buy it from your friend.

Example 2: There are two fruit shops downstairs from your house. Shop A is owned by a friend of your friend, and you both know each other, while shop B is a total stranger. Which shop would you go to for fruit? You would go to shop A because of your friendship.

Example 3: You want to buy a new computer, but you don’t know much about computers, so you ask a friend to help you buy a computer. Your friend recommends that you buy the 007 model at store A. Most likely, you will follow your friend’s recommendation.

In life, such examples are everywhere, and everyone has encountered them. It is human instinct to seek help from acquaintances when there is a problem, and the transactions generated in the above examples are all achieved out of trust in acquaintances. Therefore, business with acquaintances is not a taboo, and "trust" is the foundation of the development of WeChat business.

The biggest problem in the early days of e-commerce development was the lack of trust, so sales and reviews were very important in online shopping, which led to the emergence of industries that faked orders and faked reviews. WeChat business can naturally solve the trust problem, which is a unique advantage of WeChat business. In addition, payment and logistics are no longer a problem. Logically, WeChat business should have a very good future, but it is currently a mess.

Treat WeChat business as a side job so that you won’t destroy the harmony of your circle of friends due to excessive marketing. The biggest advantage of WeChat business as a side job is that you won’t have to go hungry because you can’t sell anything. Without the psychological pressure of running a business, you won’t frequently post in your circle of friends, and you won’t be blocked or blacklisted. Only by not being blocked or blacklisted can you continue to do WeChat business.

In fact, it is not unacceptable to occasionally post a product information on the circle of friends. What we should be afraid of is those who post information endlessly. When we see such people, if they are friends with whom we have a good relationship, we should choose to block them. If they are strangers we don’t know, we must block them.

Wechat business is a business among acquaintances, and there are not too many acquaintances. Counting elementary school classmates, junior high school classmates, high school classmates, college classmates, former colleagues, current colleagues, various friends, and friends of friends, 300 to 400 people are already the limit. Based on these 300 to 400 people, if you manage it well, you can develop more friends (more potential buyers), which is much more valuable than frantically adding some strangers who are not familiar with each other and then frantically brushing the circle of friends. It is still okay to make some extra money as a side job of Wechat business.

WeChat distribution helps reshape the micro-business market

WeChat officially opens all interfaces to third parties, which is also intended to sort out the micro-business market. Previously, micro-businesses were rampant and lacked a reasonable living environment. Completely opening up the interfaces and relying on the power of third parties will help change the current chaotic situation of micro-businesses.

Among them, the active involvement of third parties in the development of WeChat distribution can have a positive impact on the WeChat business system. WeChat Business, which has been developing WeChat distribution malls for traditional enterprises, quickly responded and launched a distribution system for WeChat merchants. Soon after, third parties such as Koudaitong also announced that they would enter the WeChat distribution market.

From the experience of the trial, the WeChat distribution system has several effects on the reshaping of WeChat merchants. First, there is a clear backend management system between the lower-level WeChat merchants and the upper-level distributors, and the marketing and CRM of the headquarters, distributors, and terminal WeChat merchants can be visualized; second, the distribution system can provide WeChat store pages for lower-level distributors and terminal WeChat merchants, and shopping in the circle of friends has more e-commerce characteristics; third, the WeChat distribution system has the function of sending goods on behalf of the upper level, which means that the lower-level WeChat merchants do not need to stock up, which provides a hotbed for the rapid expansion of part-time WeChat merchants.

For headquarters-level operators, the purpose of developing micro-businesses is to infinitely expand terminal coverage capabilities. More micro-businesses mean more potential purchasing power. Facts have proved that WeChat is not suitable for the e-commerce model of traffic conversion, so it is necessary to develop as many terminal micro-businesses as possible and give full play to the personal influence of each micro-business.

In order to rapidly develop the scale of micro-business, the threshold should be low. Franchise fees should not be collected compulsorily, nor should goods be forced on subordinates. All operating costs should be borne by the headquarters, freeing micro-businesses from operating pressure and not cluttering up the circle of friends. A friendly micro-business circle of friends environment is more likely to produce conversions.

Each micro-business is an important entry point. When many micro-businesses are added together, the performance will naturally have a chance to go up. The value of micro-businesses does not lie in exploiting micro-business practitioners, but in leveraging the commercial value of practitioners' acquaintances. The biggest role of the WeChat distribution system is that it can systematically liberate micro-business practitioners. Micro-businesses only need to exert their communication capabilities without affecting their relationships in the circle of friends.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.