Qingdao, Shandong, is a beautiful city with mountains facing the sea, and the weather in Qingdao is still cool and pleasant when the temperature rises above 30 degrees Celsius in early summer.
Zhong Jianhua, a friend called him Huazi, is a rock climbing enthusiast, on weekends when the weather is good, he will always go to the wild rock field of Jinling Mountain near Qingdao with his climbing friends.
In the summer of 2018, many new friends joined the climbing squad, and the girl named Tiedou was particularly cute. She is not very tall, often two ball heads, and laughs sweetly.
"Her first impression of me was that she was 'silly white sweet' and curious about everything. For example, when we go outdoor rock climbing and a millipede crawls through our camp, girls who are usually afraid of bugs will walk away, and those who are not afraid will ignore it. But Iron Bean was different, she went to the millipede and crouched down, observing it over and over again and loudly greeting everyone: 'Wow! Come and see, what is this? ’”
Later, I became familiar with it and learned that Tiedou worked in Qingdao Customs. She climbed very quickly, and everyone agreed that the girl was talented. At that time, the short video had not yet exploded, but Tiedou already had 20,000 or 30,000 fans on the Douyin APP.
"At that time, I was simply sharing my life with everyone, and at that time, there was a challenge of holding an apple in my arm, so I just tried it and didn't expect it to succeed!" TieDou's cute appearance is in great contrast with the "strange power" of the arm to crush the apple, and this video burst into flames, accumulating valuable original fans for her, and the arm clamp apple has also become one of her personalities.
"Every time I participate in a reality show on local satellite TV, I will perform an arm clip apple, and now I clip it all over David TV!" For this interview, I specially bought two pounds of red Fuji to try it, and I couldn't break it.
During the snow season in 2018, Tiedou borrowed 3,000 yuan from Huazi and went to the Genting Ski Resort in Chongli, Hebei Province. Hanako did not know that Tiedou was carrying hundreds of thousands of debts at that time, nor did she expect that he would become Tiedou's partner a year later.
Today's Tiedou has 4.636 million fans on Douyin, and as of December 20, 2021, a total of 796 videos have been released, with a total of 67.37 million likes, making it one of the most popular outdoor sports broadcasters in the Douyin app.
Of all her videos, skiing is the most popular, with 50 episodes of the "Iron Bean Take You - Ski" series receiving 160 million views.
Iron Bean skied for the first time in 15 years during the snow season. "At that time, I was very excited to hear that the bid for the Winter Olympics had been successful, and I felt that the bid for the Olympic Games had been successful, how could I not ski?" So she had never been to a snow field at that time, and bought a complete set of snowboarding equipment in one go.
Recalling her first skiing, she said: "I grew up in all kinds of sports, and I think skiing should not be difficult." As a result, on the snow track, my mother did not know me, and was picked up by a group of snow friends. They said, 'Girl, you can't be so slippery!' They taught me the basics of skiing, and we still occasionally ski together. ”
Iron Bean has an innate talent for outdoor sports, no matter what kind of sports, it can always get started quickly. "Before the end of the 2019 snow season, it should be my best time to ski, and it wasn't difficult to make a turn 540. But since the company was officially established in the summer of 2019, there has been no time to practice properly, and now the level is far less than before. ”
When I flipped through Tiedou's short video, I found that many viewers felt that skiing wore helmets and snow goggles, and suspected that her skiing video was done by a stand-in. So I decided to go to the snow park myself to visit the video shooting of the Iron Bean team.
When I saw Tiedou in Genting, it was already 12:00 noon. In the video, she is always full of vitality and strength, and friends who have watched her videos say that she is bold and atmospheric, straight and cute, and indeed has the style of an Inner Mongolian girl. The real iron bean is not as energetic as in the video, and even a little whispered.
"The real me is quieter than in the video, except for outdoor sports, I like to write calligraphy, play the guqin, etc. when I rest." The performance in the real person and the short video is indeed somewhat contrasting.
Due to business shooting, in the past week, Tiedou has spanned half of China, from Shanghai to Shenzhen and from Shenzhen to Sanya. After that, it flew back to Tianjin and drove from Tianjin to Chongli. Just arrived at Genting Hotel the night before.
The fatigue of work coupled with the temperature difference of more than forty degrees Celsius between Sanya and Chongli, Tiedou caught a cold. Filming, which was scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m., was postponed until 12 p.m. "Yesterday it was above 20 degrees Celsius, today it's minus 20 degrees Celsius."
Despite the sunny weather, the summit of Genting Ski Resort is still extremely cold, and the temperature at noon is only minus 17 degrees Celsius. Iron Bean, the photographer, the actor, and Hanako, four people stood at the beginning of the slope. In order to shoot, the four people avoided the ski tourists while looking for a suitable location for shooting. Slide down over and over again before taking the cable car back to the start of the trail.
I sat in a coffee shop at the top of the hill, basking in the sun and watching the cold wind outside roll up the ice slag on the pistes.
As an outdoor sports broadcaster, such a working environment is commonplace. The shooting of the day began at noon and continued until the sun set, the light really did not support outdoor shooting, and then turned from outdoor to indoor to continue.
"It was a relatively easy day to shoot, and it wasn't too intensive." Hanako and I sat in the work vehicle and watched As Tetsudou continued to work with the photographer, he introduced himself to me.
Influencer economy
As a partner of Tiedou, Huazi is mainly responsible for commercial work. Short video production is the "outlet" industry of this era. Before the interview, a friend told me that it costs 180,000 yuan to invite Tiedou to participate in a day's business shooting.
Hanako corrected to me: "180,000 is an offer for an independent project, not a day's shooting cost. At present, the external shooting quotation of Tiedou is 100,000 yuan a day. Prices are not set in stone and will vary depending on the project. Our recent business shoot schedule is already scheduled for 10 days later. ”
In today's traffic era, the commercial value of short video podcasts is huge, and live broadcasting and short video podcasts are considered to be the best way to make quick money. In 2018, Tiedou was in debt of hundreds of thousands of dollars because of his unladylike encounters. But through the operation of short videos, in just two years, she not only paid off her debts, but also bought a car for her parents.
Tiedou grew up in Inner Mongolia and went to university in Qingdao. Before becoming a full-time short video podcast, she worked as a photo photographer at Qingdao Customs, with stable work and good treatment, but this kind of job that she could see at a glance was never what she wanted.
In 2012, she wrote such a sentence on Weibo: "I would rather run up and be tripped up countless times than walk through the rules for a lifetime." ”
In the face of sudden debt, Tiedou did not choose to continue to rely on the "iron rice bowl" to repay debts, but plucked up the courage to change his life.
The establishment of the company is not a hot decision, Huazi helped Tiedou do preliminary market research, thinking that Tiedou became a full-time podcast with the ability to monetize, she quit her job at customs and formally established a short video company.
Today, Tiedou has entered another new chapter in life.
Huazi set the principle of receiving advertisements for Tiedou: "When we were first established, we were composed of several partners who truly loved outdoor sports, hoping that through short videos, we could influence more people and let more people go out of reinforced concrete and enter the outdoors." So we never take ads for video games. Not that the games are bad, but they are different from our philosophy. ”
At the same time, Tiedou never does anything to consume fans, such as live streaming with goods. "All of the company's revenue comes from advertising, business shoots, participation in reality shows, etc." If Tiedou carries goods like Li Jiaqi, there will be many people who buy it.
Since the rise of short video platforms, there have been thousands of Internet celebrities who have exploded, but most of them are like shooting stars, and they are gone after they bloom. Tiedou is not a top-notch Internet celebrity, but it is more and more durable, and since 2018, there have been more and more fans and traffic.
Hanako believes that it is important to ride the east wind of the short video era, but the essential reason why Tiedou's video can be popular is herself. "The tone of the video is controlled by Iron Bean, and there is no image guidance team." And Tiedou herself believes that the core of her video is only two words "sincerity".
Even if Tiedou did not suffer a debt crisis, she would quit her job at customs one day. "I knew from the beginning that the work of the public institution would not be my destination. I don't like this life of seeing at first sight, so I'm always looking for a suitable opportunity. ”
The work of being an internet celebrity is not the same as what Tiedou envisions. "If you just share your passion for outdoor sports, that's one thing, because you don't ask for anything in return. But running a company is another matter. ”
Tiedou said that when the company was first established, she was completely pushed away. Shoot videos every day, meet at night to study scripts, and make plans and PPT before going to bed. I don't sleep enough every day, and the outdoor sports that I used to love have changed from a source of happiness to a job that I have to deal with.
"When happiness is gone, I feel that the life I want is not like this."
The power of sharing
In 2021, Tiedou traveled by plane a total of 61 times, with an average of one flight every 6 days, plus high-speed rail and driving.
"I have to change cities every 2 or 3 days, and I'm always packing my bags. I often return to Qingdao once a few months, change some luggage and clothes and continue to set off. This time, I haven't been back to Qingdao for 4 months, and I haven't seen my parents in Inner Mongolia for a long time. ”
In her interactions with Tiedou, I found that she often felt vague about the specific time.
"When will you get your first ad revenue?"
"The second half of 2018, right?"
"That is, before the company was founded?"
"That's not right, that's supposed to be 2019, yes, it's 2019."
I tentatively asked How many numbers is Iron Bean today, and what day of the week? Tie Dou smiled mischievously and said, "Ten days, I really don't know the day of the week." "The tight and busy shooting work every day makes Tiedou's awareness of time become blurred. Hanako also said that they are the legendary "007" jobs.
Although the work is busy, Tiedou likes to communicate with fans private messages. Talk about her videos, talk about skiing, and talk about life. One of the fans sent a private message to Tiedou saying: "Tiedou, I have depression. I don't sleep well every day, I feel unhappy every day, I feel that the world is not worth it. But when I see your videos, I feel like you're always happy and energetic. How did you do it? ”
Tiedou replied to him: "I also have difficulties in my life, and there are also times when I am tired. When I'm not happy, I go to exercise and go outdoors. I draw energy from skiing, rock climbing, diving, and outdoor sports make me happy. ”
But when the company was founded, the outdoor sports he loved became a job, and Tiedou also tasted the pain of depression. "During that period, I really felt that I was going to be depressed, I was unhappy every day, and I was overwhelmed by work every day."
One day, Tiedou received a private message from the depressed fan. "Iron Bean, because of your reasons, I also went skiing." You know, I slept very soundly yesterday, I haven't had a good night's sleep in a long time, thank you! ”
TieDou suddenly gained strength from this private message.
"Someone went skiing because of my sharing! After that, I continued to pay attention to his vibrato, saw that he continued to ski, and also shared his experience with everyone. I'm really happy and feel like I'm doing something meaningful! To this day, I always have snow friends on the slopes greeting me and saying, 'TieDou, I skied because I watched your video!' I'll feel like I'm doing something worth it! ”
Including Tedou's mother, she also went to the ski resort because of her daughter's work and experienced the charm of skiing.
Tiedou is always full of energy and passion in short videos, and she shares the happiness she gets from outdoor sports with everyone in this way. At the same time, it also draws energy from those fans.
Hanako said, "She is often surrounded by snow friends on the slopes, and friends who have watched the Iron Bean video will always come over warmly to say hello, chat and take a photo." Generally speaking, if the shooting is not busy, we will not interfere, and Tiedou is also very willing to communicate with everyone and will get some suggestions from everyone. ”
Through the feedback of fans, she gradually adapted to the new form of work. "Find joy in your work." It was taught to her by an elderly fan.
Ringing iron beans
On January 6, 2013, Tiedou sent a Weibo post. "Make a resounding iron bean like Guan Hanqing!" This is the origin of the nickname "Iron Bean". Of course, she later found that she had misremembered that Guan Hanqing was not talking about iron beans, but copper peas. But the name Tiedou was surprisingly suitable for Shi Wei.
"Now if someone asks me why I'm called 'Iron Bean,' I'll say, 'Because I'm iron and funny.'"
From a photographer holding an "iron rice bowl" to an outdoor Internet celebrity who has now been praised by CCTV. Iron Bean has not been a smooth ride along the way. Hundreds of thousands of debts, great work pressure, but she always has the courage to make a change.
"I've struggled, I've been nervous, and of course, I've failed. But I beat myself. ”
At 7 p.m. on the same day of the interview, I had dinner with Tiedou and my party and prepared to return to Beijing at the Prince Edward High-Speed Railway Station, so I asked her one last question.
"Your information on Douyin says that you were born in 97, I don't think it's right, so how many years have you been born?"
Tie Dou smiled: "I said 97 to the outside, to the inside, I will tell you when I drink too much." ”