"Your north balcony doesn't have much sunlight, but it's still bright, and you planted this (carnation) just right."
"In front of and behind your house, wherever there is land, you can plant it (sunflower) with a needle."
Zhou Kun, 39 years old this year, describes himself as a man who "throws flowers and messes with grass", and he shares the little knowledge of planting flowers on the Internet in the form of short videos and live broadcasts - everything is revived in spring, as long as it is a flower, you can live by throwing it into the soil; Summer is dominated by long-leaved ones; Autumn planting of various bulb flowers, lilies, vermilion, hyacinths, tulips; In winter, New Year's Eve flowers and snow willows are planted, all of which are seasonal plants.
Zhou Kun sells flower products on Douyin e-commerce live. Photo courtesy of interviewee
People watched him plant flowers in his short videos and live broadcast rooms, and also asked various questions, "What should I do if the leaves are yellow?" What is the reason for not blooming?" He hopes to help more people grow flowers through his explanation, "Maybe one day in the future, flowers will become a very popular pastime like roasting, red wine, coffee." ”
In the spring, the plant flowers
Every morning after nine o'clock, Zhou Kun would drive to a small courtyard ten kilometers away from his home, located in the north of Beijing, to "take care" of his flowers and plants.
More than 500 flowers were planted in the courtyard rented by Zhou Kun, and "it took half a day to water these flowers every day." Each flower is watered differently, in addition to pruning, fertilizing, etc. according to the growth of the flowers and leaves.
Zhou Kun is watering. Photo courtesy of interviewee
Overwintering is not an easy task, and different plants adapt to different temperatures. The indoor temperature is above 20 degrees Celsius, and there are some plants that are not hardy, including green plants and vermilion red with red flowers; A simple greenhouse was built behind the house, with a temperature of about 10 degrees Celsius, with goldenrod with small yellow flowers and mini roses with small pink flower bones; The open land is a "winter scene", the gray land shows a little yellow "grass", here are planted plants that can survive the winter in the north, "the roots are alive, and in April, these flowers will sprout again." ”
The yard was rented for two years, and the flowers were planted more and more, and every spring, the yard was full of fragrance. People walking around the neighborhood at night came to take pictures, or ask for a little knowledge or two about preserving flowers and plants, "People like beautiful things, but many people have the experience of planting flowers to death, so they stay away." ”
This middle-aged man who likes to "throw flowers and mess with grass" has now turned his hobby into a career, bringing more than 6 million people to "play with flowers" on Douyin.
"Crossing the Kanto"
In 2007, Zhou Kun graduated from Beijing Forestry University majoring in grassland science. He recalled that at that time, "forestry" was an unpopular major, "It was not a passion, and when I was admitted, I went to study." ”
After graduation, Zhou Kun worked as a reporter for China Flower News. Nine years later, he thinks it's a "job that can see the head," going to work at the newspaper during the day to write articles, then going home at night to spend time with his children, "every day and so on."
At that time, new media platforms were just emerging, and he used the knowledge he accumulated as a journalist to post pictures and articles in today's headlines, talking about "how many varieties of Ziwei" and "common poisonous plants on the market". He found that the income brought by these contents was not bad, insisted on creating, and had a monthly income of nearly 10,000 yuan, and he decided to quit his job and do new media full-time.
The family's opposition was loud, and he resigned from an "iron rice bowl" that his parents and wife considered stable. For nearly a year after he quit, his mother-in-law thought he was unemployed and hanging out at home.
"Income" is a problem that has to be considered, and his wife can't help but ask him at that time, his son is about to go to kindergarten, where will the tuition come from?
But soon, the advent of TikTok allowed him to find a new track and source of income, and it changed his life dramatically. Zhou Kun registered an account on Douyin @KunGe playing with flowers, transforming the former graphic creation into a short and concise short video, and the response was very good. At this time, Douyin e-commerce gradually emerged, and Zhou Kun, who had accumulated a certain amount of "dry goods" content, had a stable fan base, and some merchants approached him to help promote products. Although he has never been exposed to the business of bringing goods, Zhou Kun pondered and found that this is similar to the work of a flower industry reporter - in the past, his core job was to help companies find buyers and facilitate transactions, and now he is directly from merchants to consumers.
The first time he sold it was the monthly season, and as usual, he explained how to grow it in the video, but hung up the product link. That time, he sold more than a hundred orders, "The merchant is my friend, and we also sold it with the mentality of trying, but we didn't expect to sell so much." ”
Zhou Kun filmed at home. Photo courtesy of interviewee
But he had the feeling of "breaking into the Kanto", "At that time, the short video platform was a new industry, and no one knew what the next day would be like. It's like a plain with no people, and I can grow whatever I grow. ”
Like greenery
Soon after coming to Douyin, he encountered a bottleneck in his creation - he had talked about some of the best-selling plants on the market, and he didn't know what kind of content he was going to do next, "I don't want to copy myself."
Zhou Kun decided to think differently, tell his own story and record his gardening life. In his yard, the ivy has white webs that are "hoho" by red spiders; Every time it rains, the flowers planted will get a disease..."The problems I encounter, netizens may also encounter." It is also common to raise flowers to death, it is impossible to cover everything, just like playing a game, this one loses, just another handful. ”
Some fans said that Zhou Kun is more like the brother next door, fiddling with his own garden, talking about his planting experience and problems, which are also their problems.
In order to plant good flowers and answer the questions of netizens, Zhou Kun learned new knowledge, "The technology I talk about is not actually my innovation, as early as decades ago, even a hundred years ago, people were using it, I just used my own words to deduce, with my own flowers to demonstrate to everyone." ”
For example, when he planted gardenias himself in the early years, he did not understand, and used yellow mud and soil, "the kind that is hard, knock can not be broken, water can not be poured into it at all, one raises one dies." ”
Later, he learned that he wanted to use "grass carbon soil". In his daily creation, he will compile his experience of planting flowers into short videos, and then hang links to related products. This kind of delivery video is reasonable, saves users the trouble of searching for products, and is popular even if there is "implantation", and the sales performance is quite good. He is also happy to introduce these "cheat tools" for raising flowers: "For example, some fertilizers can help plants repair the root system, and the flowers that novices spend a little time to grow may be the same as veterans spending a lot of time, reducing the difficulty of planting flowers for novices, and this thing has market value." ”
His principles in content creation and delivery have never changed, and he still insists on trying it himself and speaking with facts. The merchant asks him to recommend the goods, he will go to the side to inquire whether the store owner is reliable, and then look at the quality of the goods sent, "Look at the leaves, there are no diseases and pests; Look at the root system, whether it grows well. "Plant these flowers in your yard to see if you can raise them well, and then decide whether you want to recommend them to your fans.
Screenshot of Zhou Kun's live broadcast room on Douyin. Photo courtesy of interviewee
On the afternoon of February 8, Zhou Kun, as a representative of high-quality creators, was invited to participate in the "Find Companions and High-quality Content Sharing Session" of Douyin e-commerce. Based on his content creation experience on Douyin e-commerce, he talked about four insights, one of which is that "sincerity is the biggest routine". Zhou Kun said that he had seen some experts deceive and exaggerate the role of fertilizer, and he was reluctant to do so. "If you use this kind of video to bring goods, and people don't have this effect at all after they use it, isn't that a slap in the face? No one will believe you for a long time. Zhou Kun said at the scene, "The flowers, plants and plants I sell, soil and fertilizer are all used by myself, and everyone sees that I use these methods and materials to raise flowers so well, they will naturally place orders." ”
Zhou Kun also introduced another experience of bringing goods on the spot: professional content in layman's terms. Zhou Kun said that at one point, he described an insecticide by saying, "This is an insecticide that is tactile, gastric toxic and systemic." Netizens left a message at the bottom of the video: "Please speak humanly." So, he changed his expression: this insecticide can make insects rot when they are touched, eat and die, not only that, he will also lurk, hide on the roots and leaves of flowers, as long as the insects come to gnaw, take it at that time, "The content I talk about cannot be too far from the public's life, can not output too many too difficult technology, find ways to help everyone, make it easier and easier to grow flowers." ”
Zhou Kun mentioned that this way of telling also makes the insecticide he brings very popular, and a single video can sell thousands of orders.
Zhou Kun spoke as a representative of high-quality creators at the Douyin e-commerce "Find Companions - High-quality Content Sharing Session". Photo courtesy of interviewee
Yu Guoming, professor of the School of Journalism and Communication of Beijing Normal University and chairman of the China Media Economics and Management Professional Committee, said at the meeting that people's consumption has changed from satisfying "hard demand" in the past to satisfying "soft demand" today. "Soft demand" means the interest of consumption, which is linked to satisfying user identity and pursuing a better life. This also requires the e-commerce industry to build a good content ecology.
Now, when people ask Zhou Kun again what he does, his mother-in-law can clearly say "bring goods". His income is also steadily increasing, such as a short video teaching people to breed hyacinths, which sold 2,000 orders a month.
Zhou Kun's favorite plant is green plants, he said, green plants do not have such explosive moments as "flowering", but it grows every day, has vitality every day, flourishes, "This is what I pursue." ”
Text/Chen Yajie
Proofreader/Liu Yue