3:00 Beijing time is also 19:00 UK time. At this moment, open the overseas version of TikTok on your mobile phone, and you may see Yan Guanghua, a 25-year-old Chinese girl, selling clothes, shoes, wigs, jewelry to exotic audiences in English... Occasionally she caught a glimpse of the background outside the window, the night fading in the morning light, and the daylight lighting up little by little.
After 4 hours of live broadcasting, Yan Guanghua turned off the camera, briefly returned to her residence in the morning sun, and at 10 o'clock, she returned to work.
In China, consumers have long been familiar with the e-commerce sales model of live streaming with goods, but in the vast overseas market, everything has just begun. Yan Guanghua is a cross-border e-commerce anchor. Before becoming an anchor, she was an oral Teacher at an English training institution in Chongqing. Less than 3 months after entering the cross-border e-commerce field, a short video of her live streaming in English with goods has received millions of hits on the Internet, and the number of clicks on topics related to "teaching and training teachers to transform cross-border e-commerce" has exceeded 100 million times.
Photo by Li Chuyue
Convert the track
As night falls, the "nine-to-five" office building enters a rest period. Yan Guanghua's live broadcast is about to begin.
The elevator reaches the 16th floor E, and Yan Guanghua sits in a white office. She had just moved into the new office less than two weeks ago, and there hadn't been much of a decoration yet. Aside from a women's handbag on the desk that vaguely reveals the gender of the office owner, it's so simple that there's almost no trace of a private.
Yan Guanghua loves white. In addition to wearing white clothes, she uses white tables and chairs, white water glasses, and even her laptop is decorated in pure white. She's seen a video on an overseas video site about white as a color that reflects luster and can help you be more popular in important unfamiliar situations.
At 21:30, another live broadcast was about to begin. Yan Guanghua took off her glasses, patched up her makeup, and walked from the office to the live broadcast room.
The live broadcast room is slightly more crowded than the office. Women's clothing was hung on a whole row of shelves, shoes, hats, etc. were piled aside, which were all items that Yan Guanghua had selected by herself. Yan Guanghua panned the samples on the shelves and adjusted the order of placement.
In the center of the room is a cylindrical "small stage", facing the mobile phone holder used for live broadcasting, four or five filllights around the high and low distribution, and the TV screen is hung on the wall for projection, so that the anchor can more clearly see the message of the audience on the mobile phone and real-time interaction.
The brisk background music sounded, and Yan Guanghua adjusted the angle of the mobile phone, stood on the small stage and began to broadcast live. Her English is not exactly standard but absolutely fluent, and her tone is high, fast, confident and sophisticated in front of the camera.
At the end of the room, curtain-like fabrics are squeezed in a corner, and pulled open can be used as a simple dressing room. When the live broadcast needs to be dressed up for display, Yan Guanghua will walk into the curtain to quickly change clothes, but will not stop talking. She would count down for fear that the audience would leave on the other end of the camera.
Yan Guanghua, who is broadcasting live. Photo by Li Chuyue
Partner Fei Teng, standing off camera, is recording a short video for her.
Fei Teng is a colleague of Yan Guanghua in the former company. At the beginning of October last year, Fei Teng, who was in charge of the operation work, found that the new anchor was "very soulful" in front of the camera, from language to physical expression is very infectious, in order to attract business, but also in order to let the merchants engaged in overseas sales understand cross-border live broadcast, he filmed a video of Yan Guanghua's live broadcast.
Soon, the video, which was less than two minutes long, received millions of views. Before the release of the video, Fei Teng had a title - "Education and Training Teachers Transform Cross-border E-commerce". Related topics quickly attracted attention when the "double reduction" policy landed.
Yan Guanghua, a 25-year-old native of Chongqing, previously studied simultaneous interpretation at a university in Hebei. After graduating from university, she worked as an Oral English teacher in the education and training institution in her hometown of Chongqing, and after teaching for a year, she became the backbone of the organization.
But she didn't feel enough. "I'm not willing to be just a teacher." Yan Guanghua blinked his big eyes and said. The work of an English teacher is not too difficult for her. During college, Yan Guanghua had an internship in sales in Shenzhen. She found herself enjoying and excelling at this kind of challenging work. Although it is hard work, the performance is outstanding, which makes her feel a sense of accomplishment.
At the beginning of 2021, the overseas version of TikTok has opened up sales functions in the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and parts of North America, which means that sellers do not need to go through a third-party platform and can directly sell goods through short video platforms.
After experiencing the ban on overseas e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, for Chinese sellers in the field of cross-border e-commerce, the emerging live streaming is undoubtedly a new opportunity.
Yan Guanghua, who is looking for a job, has come to inspiration, likes to do sales, and has the advantage of English language. Since Chinese can live stream the goods, why not in English?
She opened the computer, repeatedly entered the permutations of "cross-border", "e-commerce", "English" and "anchor", searched intuitively, and quickly found a job opportunity for cross-border e-commerce anchors.
Overtaking in corners
In order to familiarize herself with the live broadcast process, Yan Guanghua initially did auxiliary work around foreign anchors. On the fourth day of employment, the foreign anchor who was supposed to be broadcasting was temporarily absent. When he learned that he was about to come off the bench, Yan Guanghua was only 2 hours away from the start of the first live broadcast in his life.
However, rather than nervous, Yan Guanghua felt more excitement. "I like to show myself." Yan Guanghua said. In college, although she attended a "three-book" college, she never hesitated to teach colloquial language to college students at prestigious universities.
The camera opened and she quickly calmed down. Although she had the manuscript prepared by her colleagues, she was basically useless and played on the spot according to her own ideas.
The day of the live broadcast happened to be the Lunar Qixi, the product sold in the live broadcast room was yoga clothes, Yan Guanghua not only recommended the product, but also introduced the "Chinese Valentine's Day" - Qixi in the live broadcast, hoping that customers who wanted to watch the live broadcast bought the yoga clothes sold by her live broadcast as a gift to the other half.
"The introduction of Tanabata was also a temporary thought, and at that time I thought that foreigners also spent Tanabata." Looking back, she thought it was funny.
What is surprising is that Yan Guanghua's live broadcast "debut" has achieved remarkable results, and he has completed the sales of foreign anchors for one month with only one live broadcast. She remembers people placing orders during the live broadcast, and the whole office cheered after the broadcast.
Since then, the company's live sales performance has improved. Yan Guanghua found that it was not so difficult to bring goods in English. Overseas markets are being rapidly developed, live broadcasting platforms are constantly improving sales channels, and the live broadcast climate of cross-border e-commerce is also heating up.
On January 13, 2022, the Ministry of Commerce released data showing that cross-border e-commerce has increased by nearly 10 times in 5 years, continued to maintain double-digit growth in 2021, increased the scale of market procurement trade by 5 times in 6 years, and reached a record high in exports in 2021.
Li Huazhang has been engaged in cross-border e-commerce trade for more than ten years. During his study in France around 2005, he came into contact with the early e-commerce platform eBay and worked part-time in e-commerce trade. After returning to China, because he was optimistic about the development prospects of the cross-border e-commerce industry, he chose to work in a foreign-funded e-commerce company, first engaged in translation, and then turned to commercial operations.
In 2009, Li Huazhang started his own cross-border e-commerce company. In the following years, the online consumption model gradually moved towards the public, and the consumption volume also showed explosive growth.
He believes that behind the rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce is the "Made in China" and the sensitive industry smell of Chinese businessmen that have had a solid foundation for many years.
As the "world's factory", China has a complete industrial chain and rich manufacturing experience. Under the shadow of the epidemic, whether it is Europe, the United States or Southeast Asia, the overseas industrial chain and supply chain have been greatly affected. However, China's anti-epidemic achievements are remarkable, maintaining a relatively complete supply chain, and the traditional advantages of "Made in China" are as always.
Yan Guanghua also observed that there are also video bloggers abroad who play a role similar to "good things" to promote products to the audience. However, the advantage of China's e-commerce is that it has a complete supply chain, which can not only ensure logistics, but also improve after-sales service.
At the same time, in terms of basic communication networks, logistics, electricity, etc., Chinese merchants also have more emerging advantages. "5G communications in China have become widespread, which is a prerequisite for being able to do live broadcasting. Many countries have imperfect infrastructure and are still stuck in the 4G or even 3G era, and this marketing model certainly has no room for development. Li Huazhang introduced.
As the world's largest single market, any idea or idea has a sufficient audience in China as a test market to verify the viability of emerging business models. Cross-border merchants firmly believe that the live streaming mode that has been relatively mature in China can be reproduced overseas.
Yan Guanghua's staged success is regarded as some kind of corroboration. In October 2021, invited by the Douyin platform, Yan Guanghua appeared at the sub-venue of the China Entrepreneurs Boao Forum "Insight into the Digital Economy and Decoding New E-commerce" and introduced his transformation experience with a speech entitled "English Teacher Transforms Overseas Anchors to Open a New World of Cross-border E-commerce". At the scene of the speech, Yan Guanghua simulated a clip of live English with goods. After the meeting, someone came to the scene to seek cooperation.
More and more people are starting to enter the game. In Tonglu, Zhejiang, the principal of an English training center, after many days of "brainstorming", hit it off with the CEO of an e-commerce company and led the entire team to conduct a "trial broadcast". The 5-6 hours of continuous broadcasting "testing the waters" every day, the new number began to show a blowout on the 5th day - in the absence of any input, the transaction volume of the 5-hour scarf was nearly 1300 pounds, and the number of spectators exceeded 9000.
When Yan Guanghua broadcasts live, he will maintain interaction with the audience in the comment area. Photo by Li Chuyue
Not just speaking English
In the third month of entering the cross-border e-commerce field, Yan Guanghua and several friends partnered to start a business and set up a new company. She has set up a cross-border live broadcast training course for people trying to transform into cross-border e-commerce anchors. Half of her students are former peers of hers, English teachers at education and training institutions.
Yang Jiaojiao is one of the followers. Yang Jiaojiao has worked in the education and training industry for four or five years. Compared with Yan Guanghua, she spent more time in the field of education and training. Last year, she just bought a house in Chongqing, and her life was relatively stable and comfortable.
Under the influence of the policy, the education and training industry market, especially the primary and secondary education and training industry, began to shrink. Yang Jiaojiao, who has always had entrepreneurial dreams, plans to leave the classroom.
"I read a lot of books and started thinking about what kind of life I wanted." Yang Jiaojiao recalled. She calculated the sunk cost of changing careers, and instead of resigning immediately, she observed for a while in her position as a teacher.
There are many people who hesitate and feel confused in their choices. Yan Guanghua had received a lot of help messages, but it was different. Some people worry that they are not beautiful enough, and some people worry that their spoken English is not good enough.
In fact, before joining the company, Yan Guanghua did not know anything about live broadcasting, and even felt that live broadcasting was "a bit noisy". But after entering this industry, she watched a lot of live broadcasts with the mentality of business learning, repeatedly put herself in the position of consumers, and thought about why she wanted to place orders.
In her opinion, cross-border live streaming is not just about speaking English. It's an industry that requires full commitment. Therefore, when a primary school English teacher told Yan Guanghua that she was very interested in cross-border live broadcasting, but did not want to give up the teaching position in the system and only wanted to do cross-border live broadcasting part-time, she was directly persuaded by Yan Guanghua to quit.
Yan Guanghua observed the cross-border anchors around him. Many foreign anchors just regard live broadcasting as a job, only take a salary, get off work at the point, although there is a foreign face but still the performance is mediocre; there are also translations of several years of overseas life experience, and there is no single for a month after entering the job.
If you want to be a successful cross-border anchor, a lot of time investment is essential. "Since I was a child, my personality is that I like a thing, and I will fight for it."
"Their English level may be better than mine," Yan Guanghua said, but he also has an advantage, which is a passion and effort for sales.
In her view, although consumers come from different cultural backgrounds and the form of live broadcasting is new, the core of sales in cross-border e-commerce has not changed, and it is still a service industry that meets consumer demand and emotional experience.
According to her observation, most of the overseas clothing is simple in design, and the basic model is the main product. However, China's women's clothing market is much richer. She found her own "niche" in the selection of products - a type with a sense of design that highlights femininity. For example, the one-neck off-the-shoulder sweater she just changed into, the furry neckline is printed with animal skin patterns, and some people like "gorgeous" in the live broadcast.
Preparation outside the lens determines the state in front of the lens. Each live broadcast, Yan Guanghua usually lasts for three or four hours, without any break in the middle. Before clicking on the live camera, she needs to plan, select, and prepare the "talk" in advance to ensure high-frequency output that lasts for several hours.
In addition, she must also control the rhythm of live broadcasting and respond to the interaction of the audience at any time.
At the beginning of the live broadcast, Yan Guanghua saw questions from consumers in the comment area: "The price is so cheap, it must be a scammer" "You are a Chinese why do you want to sell clothes in this live broadcast?" "Will you ship me when I pay?" ......
Once, Yan Guanghua cried as he spoke during the live broadcast: "You can evaluate the products I sell, but based on the premise of consumption." She felt aggrieved, "You didn't buy anything on what basis to say I'm a liar." Yan Guanghua, who has a straightforward personality, argues with reason in the live broadcast room, explaining the logic of pricing and after-sales service.
Interestingly, after yan Guanghua cried on that live broadcast, the number of people in the live broadcast room increased suddenly. Sometimes, in order to drive popularity, colleagues will joke about "how good it is for you to cry". Yan Guanghua said, "This can't come." "She feels that sincerity is essential while selling goods." Whether it is yellow or white, you sell them products at the same time, but also talk about human nature. ”
In order to find resonance with overseas consumers, Yan Guanghua often lingers on various overseas video websites, pays attention to the topics and fashion trends discussed by overseas bloggers, and analyzes commonalities and differences so that live broadcasts are more in line with the tastes of overseas audiences.
In the development path of domestic e-commerce, some local experience and content can be directly "exported". Yang Jiaojiao, who has just joined Yan Guanghua's team for a week, has observed that the live broadcast of opening mussel shells and selling pearls that domestic consumers have long seen, overseas audiences will still feel very novel. Because of the jet lag in the development of the industry, some Chinese consumers feel that the content that has become obsolete is still effective in attracting attention abroad, and even many people tip.
In consumer behavior, the mentality of "taking advantage" is more universal. "If you order a dress now, I'll give you this hat, and it's a special offer for you." In the live broadcast room, Yan Guanghua often pairs a set of clothes with a jewelry as a giveaway to encourage customers to place orders quickly.
Trust is built up in every live stream. Now, Yan Guanghua already has some overseas fans, and will wait on time on the other side of the earth, waiting for her to start broadcasting. Sometimes, there are even "iron fans" in the comment area to help shout, to introduce products and offers to the audience who have just entered the live broadcast room.
Yan Guanghua will also say hello to every audience who enters the live broadcast room, interact warmly with every potential consumer who enters the live broadcast room, remember their account name, and then leave a message after the next broadcast.
Yan Guanghua in the live broadcast. Photo by Li Chuyue
Embrace change
Less than a year after changing careers, Yan Guanghua already felt that everything was developing in a good direction.
When he was a teacher in a teaching and training institution, Yan Guanghua's salary was stable at more than 10,000 yuan per month, and when he first entered the live broadcasting industry, his salary once fell. Now, compared with herself a year ago, doubling her income is the norm, the numbers are still changing, and there is no upper limit.
But Yan Guanghua still did not dare to slow down easily.
"I'm not a streamer who goes down at the point." Yan Guanghua said. As long as there is another fan in the live broadcast room, she will not stop. Because of the time difference, the live stream usually ends in the early hours of the morning. After that, Yan Guanghua will immediately review and summarize with colleagues, review the live video, and summarize the gains and losses in the live broadcast. Even after leaving work late at night, she can still be seen in the office the next morning.
For two weeks, Yan Guanghua hardly rested. When you are extremely tired, enjoy a moment in the light of the sunrise, relying on continuous self-persuasion to relieve sleepiness and anxiety.
"You're not making money, maybe it's because you don't really want to make money that much." Yan Guanghua finished speaking and smiled a little. She did not hide her interest in wealth. But rather than the excitement of wealth, she enjoys the sense of breakthrough of "doing one thing well".
She was sure she was born to be a good salesman. In the English context, work is divided into three levels: job, career, and calling. Compared with the first two, calling is the highest level of work and represents a pursuit of life. "I feel as if this job is calling me." Yan Guanghua said.
Compared with Yan Guanghua, who entered earlier, Yang Jiaojiao has more gaps to fill and faces more fierce competition. Occasionally, she is confused and doubts whether she will eventually stand out. The anchor is not the terminal she wants to reach, she hopes that she can grow rapidly and go out of her own entrepreneurial path in the field of cross-border e-commerce.
The original manuscript of Jiefang Daily and Shangguan News is strictly prohibited from being reprinted without authorization
Author: Li Chuyue
WeChat Editor: Antong
Proofreader: Miss Pi