Advertising business

"Post these articles on the website."

"Additionally, content development should continue, and we'll keep collecting articles. As for the money, I'll take care of it."

Chen Yu gave his instructions.

Then, Chen Yu logged into The Legend of Mir 2.

Initially, he had planned to sell equipment in a few days, but now he decided to do it earlier.

"Breaking news! 'Legend's number one Bloodthirsty Sword is up for sale! You all know its power; I won't say more. Bidding starts now."

Although Chen Yu's studio was no longer operational, the equipment in his The Legend of Mir 2 account was still worth a lot of money. This Bloodthirsty Sword, in particular, had caught the attention of many players.

As soon as the advertisement went out, it stunned a lot of big players.

"Eternal Kingdom - Starlight: Damn, I want it. I'll offer 100,000."

"Prague - Nightfall: You think you can get a Blood-Drinker for 100,000? Are you taking me for a beggar? I'll offer 150,000."

"Soul of the King: Well, Hermit, we've been cooperating for many years. This weapon should belong to me, 250,000. Anyone willing to bid higher than this?"

It must be said that the leader of the King's Guild, Soul of the King, was quite powerful. After announcing 250,000 on the public channel, other guild leaders remained silent.

"Soul of the King, you're awesome. You outbid us again."

"Awesome? I'm not awesome, it's Hermit, is there any reason for me to pay less? You've made off with tens of thousands in my place; are you still saying you're poor?"

"What good is it to me? I spend over 10,000 every day now."

"What have you been doing, calling ten young ladies every day? They can't be costing you that much."

"Get lost! Am I that kind of person?"

"Heh, I'll transfer the money to you."

"Wait, don't transfer it directly to my account. Let's do the transaction on 5173."

"5173? There's no need for that; I trust you."

"Heh, Hermit, I'm the one who started 5173. With such a large transaction, we need to create some buzz."

"So you're the one behind 5173. No wonder you are willing to part with the Bloodthirsty Sword. Okay, I'll do the transaction on the website, and I wish your website a huge wave of traffic, hehe."

"Thank you."

Soul of the King was quite cooperative.

After a transaction on 5173, Chen Yu's account had 250,000 yuan more.

Of course, such a significant transaction stimulated other players. For a while, 5173's IP traffic increased substantially.

However, this kind of surge couldn't be sustained, just a marketing gimmick. To ensure continuous IP growth, the key was still in the content.

Nevertheless, with 250,000 yuan, Chen Yu had more confidence. Zhang Jianming and others promptly collected a large number of articles.

"Hey, guys, I want to recommend a website."

"What website?"

"5173.com."

"Oh, I know that, it's the website for equipment trading, right?"

"Yes, but it's not just for equipment trading. Recently, the website has been revamped with a lot of game guides."

"Game guides?"

"Things like treasure hunting guides, gold acquisition strategies, and PK strategies... damn, they're written in great detail."

"Don't tell me you've obtained some of this recent equipment by following these guides?"

"What else would it be?"

"Wow, in that case, I should check it out too."

If earlier, people's impression of 5173 was limited to virtual equipment trading, gradually, with the appearance of numerous game guides, 5173 began to capture everyone's attention, especially the treasure-hunting guides that were immensely popular among players.

But that was not all. With the recent overhaul of 5173 by Wang Chang, the addition of game sections and secondary pages turned into a gathering place for many players.

Here, they could find game guides.

They could upload game images and videos.

There was also a game forum.

People could share their experiences in monster hunting and gold acquisition, as well as chat for fun.

What used to be a virtual equipment trading platform and a place to read game guides had transformed into a gaming community.

However, despite the promising future, funds were flowing out rapidly these days.

The initial 250,000 from selling equipment quickly dwindled.

But don't think it was just the 250,000 that was spent. Over these days, Chen Yu not only used the 250,000 from equipment sales but also emptied his savings and the daily profits generated by the website's virtual equipment trading.

All in all, he had spent 500,000 just on content in these few days, leaving him with little money.

"Jian Ge, how is 17173 doing?"

"17173 has been quiet recently, their IP and PV traffic have dropped significantly."

"Good."

Chen Yu nodded.

17173 wasn't the same as the future's 17173. Presently, they were just an ordinary website. Faced with 5173's aggressive content investment, any advantage that 17173 had previously built up had vanished.

However, crushing 17173 wasn't Chen Yu's ultimate goal. If he couldn't survive after toppling 17173, then destroying them would be of little use.

"Jian Ge, get in touch with major game companies. We need to launch an advertising business."

Relying solely on the profits from 5173's virtual equipment trade wasn't enough to support the website's operations. To truly establish 5173 as a gaming portal, he had to introduce their core business – advertising.

That's right. Every portal website's primary source of income is advertising.

However, unlike companies like Sina and Sohu, who catered to a national audience, 5173 catered specifically to gamers.

"Advertising business, how do we go about it?"

"It's quite simple, really. We'll provide advertising services to these game companies."

"I understand that, but how much will it cost?"

"Let's start with a trial run."

After some consideration, Chen Yu stated, "1 million per month."

"1 million?"

Zhang Jianming nearly fell over. "I can't believe it, that's too much, and it's for just one month."

"It's not too much," Chen Yu shook his head. "Look at a game like Legend - it already has tens of thousands of players online simultaneously. In a month, their gaming income is in the tens of millions, and it could potentially reach hundreds of millions in the future. Asking for 1 million in advertising fees isn't a lot."

Moreover, during this period, Chen Yu had already spent over 500,000 on content. If this money isn't earned back from these gaming companies, he'll be in trouble.

Unfortunately, after Zhang Jianming contacted various game companies, the results were far from ideal. The Legend of Mir 2 operators refused to cooperate directly, and other game companies, while willing to cooperate, only offered a dozen thousand for advertising fees.

"A dozen thousand? Are these game companies completely lacking in vision?"

"Are these game companies so shortsighted?"

Chen Yu was getting anxious.

But soon, he calmed down. It wasn't that these game companies lacked vision; it was that 5173 wasn't the 17173 of the future. Presently, 5173 hadn't yet established its reputation and couldn't be considered a genuine gaming portal.

Currently, the primary advertising platforms for many gaming companies were not websites but internet cafes. They were more willing to spend 1 million in net cafes across the country rather than spending 1 million on website advertising.

Realizing this, Chen Yu felt relieved.

"Jian Ge, contact them again. But no, don't contact Shanda, reach out to NetEase."

"NetEase is willing to offer a maximum of 100,000 yuan in advertising fees."

"I know. Tell them I'll first promote their games, and the fees will be based on the effectiveness of the promotion."

"Wow, that's a great idea. I think NetEase will be very interested."

Zhang Jianming nodded in agreement.

Asking for 1 million outright would be suspicious, but if they promoted the games first and charged based on the effectiveness, more game companies might be interested.