I clearly remember that before the Spring Festival in 2018, an old colleague Wenxin who was a host at Jiangsu Economic Channel gave me a call. In addition to holiday greetings, she also asked me a question: Brother, what are you doing now? Do you want to be a self-media in Toutiao today?
I was running an online store at the time, which was pretty successful. It will take three years to achieve the crown. But running an online store is tiring on the one hand. Every day I was busy arranging for people to make products (we were making immortal flowers), packaging and shipping, communicating with buyers, and coordinating with the courier guys. I was so busy. In fact, these are nothing. Because being busy is basically my normal state. Every day is like being in a state of progress . The most important thing is that there is no freedom. This made me feel very restricted and uncomfortable.
Because I am a person who particularly likes to travel. "Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles" is my life goal. Therefore, if you don’t go out for a walk every year, you will always feel like you are missing something and feel unhappy.
When I was running an online store, there were so many orders every day, especially when it came to Valentine's Day, Chinese Valentine's Day, Mother's Day... I was overwhelmed, and there was an explosion of orders. As for me, I have a problem that I cannot change to this day, and that is "obsessive-compulsive disorder". No defects in the product can be allowed. Therefore, every flower gift sent out must be reviewed and inspected by me. This is also the most important reason why we have been operating an online store for several years and the praise rate has remained high. But then you all know how tired I will be.
In this world, people with "obsessive-compulsive disorder" are the most tired. because they always demand "perfection". is therefore strict with itself and equally strict with its employees. But it seems that only in this way can the products we produce can be invincible in the market and be welcomed by customers. During the years when
was running an online store, I actually had many places I wanted to go, but in the end I only went to Xinjiang once. I ran around the Tianshan Mountains and went to Sailimu Lake, Ili, Kalajun, Bayinbuluk, and Turpan. I saw snow-capped mountains, grasslands, deserts, and the Gobi Desert. I feel like a child, running freely on the vast land and singing loudly under the blue sky.
The unrestrained and unrestrained feeling like a wild horse is really great.
Oh, by the way, I am a horse. Born in 1966. It seems that people born in the Year of the Horse naturally love freedom and do not want to be restricted or bound by any worldly things.
So when Wenxin asked me, I had already given up on running an online store. I have been looking for a new development direction since about the end of 2017. At that time, some radio and television stations invited me to be a host again, but I turned them down. I would rather do something where I can control both time and space. At this moment, I received a call from Wen Xin.
Wenxin said, then you can try to be a self-media. This job can be done anywhere. As long as you have an laptop or , you can complete it successfully at home, on the road, or in every corner of the world, as long as there is an Internet connection. Moreover, you have been a host in traditional media for more than 20 years, and you are also a contracted author for many magazines. Your articles have been reprinted many times by " readers ", " youth digest ", etc., so for self-media, you have more Many advantages are available.
Wenxin’s words made my blood boil.
But at the same time I also have concerns. That is, self-media is the world of young people. I, an "old guy" who is over fifty years old, can I still do it?
And although I have worked in traditional media for more than 20 years, ranging from news programs to entertainment programs to emotional programs, I am really a "novice" when it comes to self-media. I'm afraid that if I make a mistake, my son and daughter will think, "Dad is old and can't do it any more."
Being a father also has dignity, okay?
But I have another problem, that is, I want to try everything with .
What I say most often is, how do you know if doesn’t work if you don’t try it? If you try, you have a 50% chance of success. If you don't try, you won't get any results.
And the harder the bone, the more I want to "gnaw at it".
Wenxin said, I now have several accounts to operate, and I am too busy. One of them is most suitable for you. The account
is the "DJ Yaqing" that everyone sees in the "Toutiao account" .
I remember asking Wen Xin, can I do it?
She said, no one is more suitable than you. because you have stories, life experiences and insights, and you also love watching movies, and this account is related to movies.
What Wen Xin said made me feel a sense of mission: "Who else would it be if I were the one who could do it?" The account
has made some small achievements so far. I really want to thank Wen Xin, an old friend.
It was she who brought me onto the “ship” of self-media. As soon as the results of
came up, I fell in love with it, and I quickly found the feeling of "being at home like a fish in water".
In fact, it was very difficult at the beginning. Because I am really a "newbie". At first, I didn’t even know how to open an account. Wenxin taught me how to do it through videos.
At that time, we actually wanted to make a short video account. In Wenxin’s words, it won’t be a problem for us to appear on camera or dub. But since I am traveling in Yunnan, it is not convenient to make videos, so I will try to make pictures and texts first. However, after writing a few articles, the data was not very good, which caused me to be "severely hit" and doubtful about whether I could work in this industry.
However, I know that the more is at this time, the more we must stick to . Doubts and wavering can only accomplish nothing in the end. And as long as you persist, there may be a day when you can "clear the clouds and see the sunrise."
But how to persist? I was really confused at the time. So I set a plan for myself. In one year, even if I don’t gain a single fan base or make a penny, I will stick to it. We want to "win the reputation without steaming the steamed buns", right?
Now, in retrospect, I am a person with limited talents and talents. Perhaps my biggest advantage is the word "persistence".
The word "persistence" seems to have become the most critical word in the first half of my life.
I was born in a special era. Many special things happened in special times. My father "died unjustly" in the "cow shed" when I was 3 years old. I don't remember anything at that time, and he didn't leave any photos. So until now, I have no idea what he looks like. My eyes get moist when I think about this. When I was 5 years old, my mother took my brothers and sisters to remarry in another country, leaving me alone.
That was the first time in my life that I felt "abandoned". I was arranged to live with a relative and stay under their roof. It's like a broken baggage being thrown around. And being beaten and scolded is normal. The most unbearable thing is that no one will look at you seriously. My "persistence" at that time was "I will find my mother one day" and escape from the tiger's mouth. At that time, I watched a ballet movie called " Red Detachment of Women ". Wu Qinghua, who "runs away until he is beaten to death", became my role model in life. So I often "ran away" and asked everyone I met about my mother's whereabouts. Every time I was caught, I was tied to a tree and beaten severely, but it still couldn't change my "persistence".
The greatest sorrow in life is that the greatest hope in your heart suddenly fails, right? When I was 14 years old, I accidentally learned from a fellow villager that my mother had passed away two years ago. What does mean as a "bolt from the blue"? What is " thousands of arrows piercing the heart "? What does "losing all hope" mean? At that moment, I had the most vivid experience.
At that time, almost everyone around him said that this child, without a father and a mother, would have a hard time making a difference in this life. I heard it and was hard to believe. So I gritted my teeth and didn't say anything to argue. I just immersed myself in studying and studied hard.I think I should take something out and show it to everyone to prove that the children of the "Old Zhang family" can still "live their own lives" without their parents. This became my new “persistence”.
I became completely independent when I was 17 years old. During this period, he worked as a worker in a factory, sang in a dance hall, and learned Peking opera from a master. In my spare time, I actively participate in various cultural and entertainment activities, whether dancing, singing or reciting, and I win awards almost every time. I remember that Teacher Guo Hong, a veteran actor at the Chongqing Repertory Theater, was very fond of me. She often invited me to her home to teach me lines and acting. She also recommended me to join the crew and participate in filming, and I became addicted to being an actor.
At that time, Chongqing Repertory Theater was a very sacred place in my heart, and I really wanted to be an actor in it. But at that time, the drama market was already in a slump. Teacher Guo Hong suggested that I could take the path of being a host. So I participated in the "Host Contest" held by Chongqing TV Station in 1988 and won the second prize. Then it was a matter of course that he entered the newly established Chongqing Economic Station.
My "persistence" at that time was to be a qualified and excellent program host. On Chongqing Economic Channel, I broadcast premature news and did lifestyle programs. In 1995, he joined Chongqing Radio and hosted programs such as "Music Pop Style" and "Double Holiday Entertainment Circle", and interviewed a large number of film and television singers. It has laid a certain foundation for engaging in the self-media industry in the future.
In 1998, I was arranged to host the night talk show "Jingye Speaks to You", and unexpectedly became the host with the highest listening rate in Chongqing. I clearly remember the day on January 31, 1999, when I called on the citizens of Chongqing through a program to search for the girl Anna who committed suicide. That night, it seemed that all the taxis had gathered on Binjiang Road, and too many citizens had joined the search for the missing person. Finally, at around one o'clock in the morning, at the intersection of No. 1 Bridge and Binjiang Road, they finally found the missing person wandering by the phone booth. Girl Anna.
This program made me truly realize the social responsibility that a program host must bear. It also pointed out the direction for me to engage in journalism in the future, that is, "tell the truth, do practical things, and spread positive energy."
Since then, I have spoken out and hosted programs on Jiangsu Economic Channel, Beijing Communications Channel , and Jiangsu Kunshan Channel. I have never forgotten the responsibilities and mission of a journalist. Until now, even if I am working in self-media, I still strictly demand myself according to the standards of a professional media person-every word and everything I say must be based on facts. There are some baseless things about , no matter how high the traffic is, we will never say anything. At the same time, delivers correct values, which is what I have insisted on doing from beginning to end.
I think this is probably an important reason why so many headline number friends have always liked "DJ Yaqing", right?
As a person, whatever I do, it is "either don't do it, or try my best to do it well." I think that since I agreed to Wenxin, I shouldn't betray their trust. Therefore, in order to be a good "DJ Yaqing", I really suffered a lot.
At first, I didn’t know where to start. After numerous communications with Wenxin, we decided on the main direction of attack, which was to start from the fields that we were most fond of and familiar with. And my biggest hobbies are reading books, watching movies and traveling. What I want to do most is to introduce the good works of the past to more good friends. Many people have done this before, but most of them gave up halfway. And I just want to "persist" in getting it done.
For this reason, I read books and look up information day and night. I also continued to read and learn the methods and techniques of other self-media people during my journey. Gradually, I discovered that although self-media is also a way of communication, it is very different from traditional media. It is faster and the mode of communication is more down-to-earth. And these are the focus of my study.
A person who knows how to keep learning will always make progress.
It took me almost two months from being able to barely write two or three articles in the first week to becoming the main creator of the account "DJ Yaqing". In April 2018, I wrote my first article with over one million reads. The number of fans increased by thousands in a single post.
This makes me more confident. At the same time, we also explored some key points of self-media creation. In fact, self-media, like other traditional media, spreads valuable and nutritious things. I often hear some self-media creators complain, why do the things I make have no traffic? Looking at what he posted again, it was completely worthless and nutritious. Some are just a photo, add a sentence, and use such "opportunistic" methods to deceive traffic. Do you think the platform is "stupid" or do you think you are "too narrow-minded"?
In fact, if you want to do anything well, there is no shortcut.
Those who think they are "very smart" are actually mostly unreliable. is too narrow-minded. It may taste some sweetness at first, but in the end, it is he who is often fooled. Because he only has "little cleverness" but no "great wisdom".
Later, after the account "DJ Yaqing" achieved some success, it attracted many accounts to transfer, plagiarize, imitate and wash the manuscripts. For a period of time, what Wenxin had to do every day was to report porters and plagiarists on various platforms, and she won every battle. Those people do things like "stealing" and defrauding "unearned" income, but in the end they will become the targets of the platform's key crackdowns. Everyone must remember that "getting something for nothing" is never the right way. Only through hard work can you reap a real harvest.
So from the very beginning, we have positioned ourselves as "insisting on being original", and outputs knowledge, information and ideas. In , we don’t make things that are worthless or nutritious.
What makes me extremely gratified is that because of "persistence", we have reaped many rewards in just a few years. The account "DJ Yaqing" is now on "Today's Toutiao". Our total views (views) are more than 440 million, and we have accumulated 467,569 fans.
To achieve such results, do you know how much effort we have put in?
I and several partners in our team, the oldest is born in the 50s, the youngest is born in the 70s, and none of them is born in the 80s. Their physical strength and energy are definitely not as good as those of young people. But the characteristics of people like us are seriousness, responsibility and dedication. And we are all "very stupid" people and never know how to "take shortcuts". An article often takes two days, sometimes three days, from selecting the topic to collecting materials and writing it. And making a video takes even more time.
Sister Wu, the oldest among us, was born in 1956 and is 66 years old this year. She was originally a bus conductor. She joined our team because she loves writing and movies. Although Sister Wu is old, her seriousness is an example for us to learn from. Sometimes she would write copy for several days. In order to find a specific information, she would stay in the library all day. Therefore, although Sister Wu’s output is not high, her chances of publishing explosive articles are high. For example,
was released on April 5 this year. And Wenxin is born in the 1970s. She can master and use various software such as PS, PR, and is outstanding in picture production and video editing. Many friends say that our pictures and videos are beautiful, which is mainly due to Wenxin. She is so busy every day, but collecting information and making pictures are things she cannot do. For five years, she never fell asleep past 12 o'clock on any day.
I became the main creator of "DJ Yaqing" probably from the second half of 2019. I keep writing every day and never stop. It is almost common to forget food and sleep and stay up all night. Because of who I am, if I don’t finish one thing, I can’t do the second one. Sometimes my children give me advice. He said that as he got older, he didn’t need to be so “competitive”. I nodded and said yes every time, but every time I received a task, I would immediately enter a state of "selflessness".
I remember that on May 3, 2018, I was traveling in Seoul, South Korea, and suddenly received a message from Wen Xin saying that teacher Wang Danfeng passed away on May 2. I immediately rushed back to the hotel and wrote
2020. The platform sent an invitation to the account "DJ Yaqing", hoping that we could make videos. So Wenxin asked me if I could do the dubbing? I said no problem at all. Because before this, I had recorded audiobooks for some platforms and purchased a sound card and microphone, so I could complete this work at home. Therefore, starting from June 2020, we launched a series of short videos. Many of them have more than one million views.
From the beginning of 2018, I entered the self-media industry as an amateur, and now I have become a full-time creator. I have found the joy of creation here (because I write about the topics and stories that I am most interested in), and I know He made many friends and proved his worth. I think this is the best job for me. The core of is very free. Even when I traveled in Vietnam and Thailand, the feed was never interrupted. Moreover, the fee paid by Wenxin is not cheap, so I am very satisfied. Later, I asked my daughter to join the creative team. Now, except for her college tuition fees, which are supported by me, her living expenses are all income from her own labor. I think this is very good. For a child, I think the best education is to tell her the correct way and then let her learn to be independent.
Now, our team is getting stronger and stronger. More and more people born in the 50s, 60s and 70s are joining in. Who said that when people get old, they will fall behind and be unable to keep up with the situation? We don’t believe in this evil. We "old guys" have proven with practical actions that we can do anything that young people can do. is not only capable, but can also do it better than many young people. Because our generation is serious, responsible, responsible and enterprising, and we are never afraid of hardship. And these are precisely the attitudes and spirits that today's young people lack most.
So, if there are more friends who want to join our happy family, you are welcome to send us a private message. We look forward to the arrival of more friends who pursue their dreams. allows us to be the grandfather or grandmother who rides the wind and waves in the era of self-media. We can use the fighting spirit and energy of our youth to cheer up and set sail.
This article is an original work of DJ Yaqing team. Please do not plagiarize without permission! Violators will be prosecuted!
