Do you earn a fortune every day after graduating from college? Is it so simple to make quick money through live streaming? Time. Zhejiang | Zhiyang | Occupation
Farewell to the generous reward big brother, put away the spotlight, remove makeup, turn off her phone, evening is the most free time of the day for Yu'er. She blew the summer evening breeze, watching the commuters rushing by and feeding the stray cats.
After graduating from undergraduate studies, Yu'er worked full-time as an entertainment anchor. Leaving the campus and returning home, she was accustomed to guarding a screen alone, searching for resonance in the virtual world, and searching for gold everywhere.
Dreamchasers like Yu'er, there are still many in the live broadcast room. As employment becomes increasingly competitive, young people are starting to target the live streaming industry. This week, Weibo released a survey showing that among nearly 10000 recent graduates surveyed, 61.6% said they would consider emerging professions such as internet celebrities and live streaming when seeking employment. Some people claim that the live streaming industry has driven over 100 million job opportunities.
"Just graduated, I became an internet celebrity, earning over ten thousand yuan per month, staying at home, relaxed and free." Recently, social media platforms have been filled with such stories. But is reality really like this?
Just graduated and earned a thousand dollars a day
A battle between single player and traffic
Yu'er's "work" is a magnificent and lonely battle.
Exquisite makeup, choose a beautiful dress, set up a makeup board, adjust the lighting, turn on the camera and sound card. At this moment, the house suddenly became lively. Yu'er raised her voice, shouting and joking, and spectators rushed into the live broadcast room, rockets and carnivals flying on the screen.
Yu'er, a Hebei native born in the 2000s, studied new media in college and became an entertainment anchor after graduation. She doesn't like sitting in a grid and is not interested in the workplace. She yearns for freedom, but she doesn't lie flat.
Continuous broadcasting for four hours, must be non-stop. I don't know when my elder brother will come, so I need to chat with him at any time to make him happy. In order to keep him, I also have to sing and dance. She stared at the data, how many people came, how many big brothers generously rewarded, and a live broadcast "sound wave" determined her income.
She tirelessly tinkered with techniques such as lighting, selecting sound cards, using special effects, and even tying her hair, sharing her insights online. She is the big sister in the hearts of the young anchor, who solves problems, encourages and inspires. She always says, persist more, try more, and there is hope.
She has a set of secrets to let the audience into her own live broadcast room, which is worth millions of dollars.
At the beginning, when there was no one in the live broadcast room and a vast sea of people, who would brush themselves? She was very distressed and started making short videos and making vlogs. She became a female anchor after the 2000s, learned the daily life of live streaming at home, and learned how to make money through live streaming. She carefully designed her voice broadcasts, dressing up, pondered messages, and provided emotional value, gradually mastering the rules of traffic.
Big brothers always come and go in a hurry, suddenly breaking in and swiping away in a few seconds. To retain people, one must react quickly, sometimes with a low eyebrow and a smile, gently twist one's waist, and sometimes take the initiative. "If you need a gift, just say it, don't feel embarrassed, and have thick skin.".
Yu'er found that 80% of people in a live broadcast are attracted by short videos. The most surprising time was when she broadcasted all afternoon and earned over 2000 yuan. In over half a month, she earned tens of thousands of yuan and quickly gained hundreds of thousands of followers. With the arrival of traffic, more and more business collaborations came knocking on her door.
A trendy news reporter asked her, "The live streaming industry is coveted by thousands of people, and the traffic battle is fierce. What is the secret to success?"? She said lightly, it's all luck.
What is luck? She couldn't figure out whether it was a beautiful face, a sweet mouth, or a talent. But relying on her youth, she wanted to give it a try, even if she bumped into the south wall and was covered in injuries, she couldn't afford to start over.
Being an "anchor" is not dignified and unstable, it is a youth meal. Yu'er has heard too much ridicule from others. She swallowed all the grievances and became calm: "You can eat youth meals, eat them reasonably and legally, don't break through the bottom line, and ensure your income, even earn more than your peers.".
Looking at those anchors who earn over ten thousand yuan per month, aside from luck, most people overlook their efforts.
After the last episode of the season, turning off the camera, Wanwan cried. She doesn't even understand why she has genuine feelings for people she knows so well?
However, when she saw someone sticking to the live broadcast room, waiting for four hours from start to finish, someone asked her, "Where can I see you in the future?" Her heart was moved. Out of professional requirements, she responded with restraint: "In the Internet waters, it's fate to see you again."
Wan Wan, a Jiangsu native majoring in journalism and communication, stepped into the trend of live broadcasting after graduation, did public opinion analysis, official account operation, catering anchor, changed four or five companies, mixed in the front, middle and back stages, and had a bitter taste. Now, she works as a live streaming anchor for an MCN company and is busy broadcasting for 7 hours a day.
Wanwan's old fans often praise her for her eloquence, good looks, liking her style, and being willing to spend money with her. She cherishes such affirmation, "They make me feel that the anchor is a very important presence.".
After live streaming for a long time, she gained a lot and became more confident. In addition to honing her expression skills, she also learned a lot about things she didn't understand, such as products, marketing, and psychology. She relied on her own little by little learning and training.
Last year, by chance, she participated in a live streaming competition in the city. In a one minute impromptu review, she defeated her opponent and finished sixth. She obtained a senior certificate as a live streaming salesperson and was also recommended to join the Municipal Talent Association, which made her parents very proud.
The external reputation is not good, but Wanwan wants to correct the name of the anchor: there is no distinction between high and low professions, relying on ability to become a anchor can also do well.
The Truth at the Bottom of the Career
A live broadcast only earns a few cents
At present, the live streaming industry is in full swing, driven by fame and fortune. Many graduates are diving into the sea, some are standing at the forefront of the storm, earning a thousand dollars a day, but more novice novices are floating on the seabed.
In a search on the Internet platform, there are many attractive posts, "The secret of earning more than ten thousand yuan a month" and "How to be a head anchor in a month". In the message area below, the "bottom" anchors are all looking for experience and good luck.
"When it is more, it will earn a hundred and ten yuan. When it is less, it will earn a few cents." As soon as the new number was created, Zhiyang could not help but complain that it would cost 50 yuan to do a live broadcast. Every day, it is losing money, and the live broadcast room is still empty.
Zhejiang native Zhiyang just graduated this year. In her opinion, being an entertainment anchor is primarily about researching men. Study what style the older brother likes, whether it's a sweet girl or a mature woman, whether to wear a camisole or a plaid skirt, how big the filter should be, and how sweet the voice should be tuned. As for high emotional intelligence and good internet sensation, that's an additional bonus.
But all these efforts are not the genes to become internet celebrities.
Zhiyang has an ordinary appearance and no talent, so she can only endure it hard. At the longest, she broadcasted continuously for ten and a half hours a day, with an average audience of over a thousand. However, she was a newcomer and had no familiar faces. When people came, she left, and in the end, she earned two hundred yuan.
To become a new anchor, it is important to cultivate a new account and establish a positive image, which can lead to internal friction and a tendency to lose one's mindset. There was no audience, and as she played, she pulled down her stinky face and was full of anger. Later on, she didn't even put on makeup when she put it on. It is visible to the naked eye that one is earning less and less.
The anchor is not suitable for everyone. Zhiyang fully understood that like her, with average qualifications, she couldn't find a loyal elder brother to protect her and couldn't be a good content anchor. She relied solely on luck to make money. Nowadays, on the platform, young people are the majority with average purchasing power. "There's no such thing as a foolish big brother who spends all day swiping money!"
Making big money easily from a job is a unique wish for graduates, but ultimately it's just a dream.
"The reality is really cruel," sighed Cao Yu, a native of Jiangsu. She never thought that being a live streamer would require patience and scolding. Someone scolded her in person, you're really impolite. You only have money in your eyes. Some people like to boast about themselves or speak frivolously, and in the face of these, she can only pretend to be deaf and mute.
As a newcomer and unfamiliar with the business, Cao Yu also joined the "union", which is the team responsible for managing the anchor. They say it well, they will push you traffic, teach you operations and language skills, and take you to the broadcast together, but they run away before they finish teaching, and you will still have to be deducted commission points, earning only three to four thousand yuan per month.
Cao Yu is a fresh graduate in 2022. She believes that at this time, it is not suitable to work full-time as a broadcaster, but rather as a part-time job. She has a two-year graduate status and can continue to look for jobs. Staying at home full-time every day can easily shatter one's mindset.
Why is mentality prone to collapse? Several anchors have admitted to reporters that the income in this industry varies greatly and is extremely unstable. In the face of crowds rushing to grab dividends and traffic, after several rounds of competition and screening, there are too few people who strive for success every day.
A set of data can confirm: according to the report on the development of China's online performance industry, 95.2 percent of the anchors whose main source of income is live broadcast have a monthly income of less than 5000 yuan, while only 0.4 percent have a monthly income of more than 100000 yuan.
Salary cuts, layoffs, and peak traffic
Live streaming industry with brakes applied
In the past few years, the myth of internet celebrities benefiting has been constant, and celebrities have switched to selling products, breaking through the threshold for live streaming institutions. Why are so many college graduates, even highly educated individuals, willing to become internet celebrities nowadays?
"In the current environment, there are some impetuous voices. For some young people, the pressure of survival and economic pressure is relatively high, and they think that anchors come in money quickly. However, this is a misunderstanding. Many live streaming institutions, especially small and medium-sized anchors, are reducing their salaries severely." Professor Zhu Yongxiang from Zhejiang University of Media told reporters.
Indeed, for most people, this year has been even more difficult. Salary cuts, layoffs, and peak traffic have led to the occupation of live streaming rooms by digital humans and AI. Amidst the pain and suffering, anchors are undergoing a reshuffle.
Senior live streaming industry expert and director of Xigu Digital Retail Research Institute, Xiongge, told reporters that based on his observations, the average salary of anchors in Hangzhou and other places has dropped from 20000 yuan to around 8000 yuan. The live streaming of merchants has started using AI digital humans and other methods, reducing costs and weakening the demand for anchors.
"Live streaming has gradually become less internet famous and has moved towards an ecosystem centered around the supply chain. Currently, many celebrities have stopped broadcasting, and the flow of top influencers has also declined. This is an inevitable process for the industry to move from explosive to stable." Xiongge said.
Having been struggling in the live streaming industry for many years, Jiang Hongfeng, the initiator of the China Digital Live Industry Alliance and the founder of the Jeff Live ecosystem, witnessed the most glorious period and now sees the market becoming more rational.
"There are still internet celebrities who earn tens of millions of dollars annually, but it is becoming increasingly difficult and rare. The peak of anchor salaries has passed, and the salary of most live streaming practitioners is not significantly different from other industries," said Jiang Hongfeng.
The reporter noticed that from the recruitment platform, there are still many live streaming companies recruiting graduates, and some even recruit people with "zero experience" and "no educational background requirements". Xiongge believes that graduates have low costs, but most people cannot become anchors. The vast majority of them work in basic operational positions, such as customer service and field control.
"It is impossible for 60% of graduates to become internet celebrity anchors." Jiang Hongfeng also said that the live streaming industry does require a large number of talents, but most of them are jobs outside of anchors, such as many peripheral positions such as operations, directing, filming, editing, etc., and the demand for talents is relatively strong.
From the market environment perspective, being an anchor is not very friendly to graduates. Zhu Yongxiang said that in the fierce market competition, the traffic has reached its peak now, and all parties are dividing the stock. Coupled with the complex traffic rules of the platform, it is difficult for newcomers to enter at this time.
According to the report, as of June 2022, there are over 24000 MCN institutions in China. In terms of anchors and users, as of 2022, the cumulative number of anchor accounts has exceeded 150 million; The cumulative number of content creator accounts exceeds 1 billion.
After the big waves washed away the sand, the live streaming industry entered the second half. How should we take the road?
Zhu Yongxiang believes that in the past, anchors were mixed, but now the live streaming industry is becoming more and more specialized and professional. Broadcasters need to establish a strong trust relationship with users and consumers, have a thorough understanding of products and user needs, and achieve efficient matching between the two, which is called professionalism.
"The live streaming industry may seem to have a low threshold, but in reality, it has very high requirements for people. To become a host, one must have excellent physical fitness and mentality, long working hours, high-intensity content output, and strong stress resistance." Jiang Hongfeng said.
Zhu Yongxiang also reminds graduates to ask their inner love when choosing a career. In this highly competitive era, love is the strongest internal driving force. "If college students flock to become internet celebrities for the sake of money, it is a waste of college resources and also a waste of their own talents."
Nowadays, when you open the live streaming software and swipe it casually, the lights and shadows still sway and the sound and color are noisy. However, those who are greedy for wealth and indulge in dreams are destined to hear the sound of shattered dreams in the live broadcast room.
