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　　Micro blogs and macro payments

　　微博衍生“围脖经济”

　　导读：颇具人气的新兴社交平台 (platform)微博究竟潜藏着怎样的商机?又会给我们的生活带来怎样的改变呢?一起来关注吧。

　　The development of the Internet over the past 20 years has not only changed the way most people live their lives, but has also provided aplethora of new platforms for business. The advertising industry`s adoption of the micro blog, or Weibo, as a promotional tool is apertinent example.

　　在过去20年间，互联网的发展不仅改变了大多数人的生活方式，还为各行各业提供了十分充足的新平台。广告业使用微博作为促销工具，这正是一个生动的例子。

　　Ye Feng, 34, a marketing professor in Beijing, frequently takes calls from public relations (PR) companies offering to pay him 5,000 yuan ($769) for every post on his micro blog that promotes their products.

　　来自北京的，34岁的市场营销学教授叶峰(音译)不断接到公关公司的电话，对方希望他能在个人微博上推销他们的产品，并提出愿意为每一条微博支付5000元人民币的酬劳。

　　He writes an average of eight posts daily, mainly about business matters and information about his courses.

　　叶峰平均每天发8条微博，主要都是有关商务及自己所教课程的信息。

　　More importantly, he has more than 300,000 followers who read his posts on the micro-blogging website weibo.com.

　　更重要的一点是，叶峰在新浪微博上的粉丝超过三十万。

　　If Ye agreed to include product placements in 50 percent of his posts, he could make 20,000 yuan a day, just by typing fewer than 500 words, all of which are provided by PR companies.

　　如果叶峰同意在其发布的半数微博中植入广告，那么他每天将会有两万元入账。而他需要做的仅仅是打不到500个字，而这些内容则全部由公关公司提供。

　　However, he has consistently declined all offers.

　　然而，叶峰一如既往地婉拒了这些提议。

　　"I don`t want to make my micro blog too commercial," he said. "I might lose fans if I am discovered promoting products in my postings."

　　叶峰表示：“我不想让自己的微博过于商业化，如果粉丝们发现我在微博中推销产品，可能就不会再关注我了。”

　　In addition to his work teaching Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) courses at many of China`s top universities, Ye is also the founder of Sunup Consulting Co Ltd, a Beijing-based strategic consulting company.

　　除了担任国内很多一流大学EMBA课程的教师外，叶峰还是北京一家名为“日出咨询有限公司”的战略咨询公司的创始人。

　　He previously helped Shanghai Volkswagen Automobile Company Ltd to open its official account on Weibo and delivers a series of online marketing activities through his connections with micro-blogging industry insiders.

　　之前，叶峰曾帮助上海一汽大众有限公司在新浪微博上开通其官方微博，并依靠与微博业内人士的关系，协助一汽大众展开了一系列网络营销活动。

　　"The battleground of marketing is the Internet and the micro blog is the center of it," he said.

　　叶峰称：“互联网是营销的战场，而微博则是战场的中心。”

　　Micro-blogging is no longer just a tool to make contact with friends and celebrities online, reading their news and leaving comments on their pages. It is also establishing a new business model.

　　微博已不再只是供人们在线联系朋友和名人、浏览他们的新闻并在其主页上留言的工具了。微博正在建立一种新的商业模式。

　　According to Ye, a number of people in the industry have sponsored teams to operate micro blogs purely for commercial marketing purposes. He claims that these sites can earn as much as 100,000 yuan a day from this activity.

　　叶峰表示，业内很多人纯粹出于广告营销的目的，出资建立专门的团队来运作微博。叶峰称，通过这样的运作，这些网站的日盈利达十万元之多。

　　These accounts center around jokes, fashion and other light-hearted topics. Millions of people have signed up as followers.

　　这些微博发布的信息主要围绕笑话、时尚等轻松的话题。数百万的用户会关注此类微博，成为其粉丝。

　　Insiders have said half-jokingly that the influence of a popular micro blog can be compared with a national newspaper if it has more than 1 million fans. If it has 10 million fans, its impact is similar to that of a TV station.

　　内部人士半开玩笑称，如果一个微博账号拥有一百多万的粉丝，其影响力就相当于一个全国性报刊;若拥有一千万粉丝，其影响力就相当于一个电视台。

　　"Many accounts have achieved those sort of numbers already," Ye said.

　　叶峰说：“很多微博账户的粉丝数量已达到这样的数字。”

　　The Weibo account with the largest fan base belongs to a Chinese actress called Yao Chen. She mostly posts about her daily life and work, and, as of June 17, her account had attracted 8,962,014 fans.

　　新浪微博上拥有最多粉丝的账户属于中国女星姚晨。她发布的微博大多是关于自己的日常生活和工作，截至6月17日，她已经拥有了8,962,014位粉丝。

　　According to industry insiders, Yao has been offered at least 100,000 yuan for each post featuring product placements, but her agent has refused all offers.

　　据业内人士透露，已经有人想在姚晨的微博中植入广告，并提出每条微博至少支付给姚晨十万元，但都被其经纪人拒绝了。

　　Yao`s agent confirmed to China Daily that her client has received a huge number of offers, but that all have been declined.

　　姚晨的经纪人在接受《中国日报》采访时证实，姚晨的确收到了很多此类的邀请，但都谢绝了她们的请求。

　　"I have never discussed payment for Yao`s postings with any of the companies, but I think the value of her micro blog would be more than 100,000 yuan (for each post)," she said.

　　她表示：“我从未和任何一家公司谈论过姚晨发布微博的酬劳问题，但我认为，姚晨每条微博的价值应该超过十万元。”

　　Like Yao, most movie stars or singers have resisted the pressure to make their micro blogs too commercial, so the PR companies have to think of other ways of getting their message across.

　　多数影星和歌星也都跟姚晨一样，反对自己的微博被过度商业化，因此公关公司不得不另辟蹊径进行推销。

　　How to make money from micro-blogging will remain a hot topic for some time, but the Internet is a place of unpredictable changes.

　　在一段时间内，微博经济这个话题依旧会保持它的热度。不过，互联网一直都是个变幻莫测的地方。

　　"The business model for micro-blogging will become fully established over the next three to five years, but it is hard to predict its business potential after that," Ye said.

　　叶峰说：“在未来三五年内，微博商业模式将逐渐健全起来，但很难预测此后其潜藏的商机。”

　　"Changes come everywhere and at all times. Something new will replace it sometime, for sure."

　　“变化每时每刻，无处不在。敢肯定的是，总有一天这种商业模式将被新事物取代。”