In the past, it was an era where products reigned supreme. Now we have entered an era where channels are king, or rather, traffic is king. Being able to manage crowds and traffic is far more important than being able to manage products. Look at the people making money online today—they are all the big live streamers with massive traffic. Their success stems from their huge fan bases. No matter how low the conversion rate is, multiplying it by a large number of people will yield substantial profits.

In today's era, the quality and cost-effectiveness of your product have no inevitable connection with your ability to sell it. With traffic and an audience, you can earn much more than others.

Building channels and driving traffic fall into two categories: online customer acquisition and offline customer acquisition. Acquiring customers means cultivating crowds—popularity equals profitability. The more people you can attract, the stronger your monetization and conversion capabilities will be, and the more money you can make. Let's first explore offline customer acquisition methods.

Offline Customer Acquisition: Networking

You'll find that people who earn significant profits usually have excellent interpersonal relationships and networks. They can gather a large group of people around them. To acquire customers through networking, you first need to ask yourself if you have the attributes of a "network hub." If you do, making money will be much easier.

Some professions are inherently "network hub" roles. Their job characteristics naturally bring people together—for example, teachers, insurance agents, and social workers. Their work requires interacting with various groups of people, and the information and resources from these diverse groups are enormous. Sometimes, by serving them, you gain the advantage of priority access to information—something that peers in the same industry cannot provide.

What if you don't have the "network hub" attribute? It's simple: seek out people who do and befriend them. Leverage their networks to help you make money. But there's a crucial premise: the essence of all interpersonal relationships is value exchange—no exceptions. If you use someone's hard-built network, you must pay the corresponding "usage fee." Don't try to freeload. If you approach a "network hub" with the intention of getting something for nothing, you'll lose them quickly.

All businesspeople should remember this: if you cross a river using a bridge built by someone else, no matter who they are or how close your relationship is, you must pay the "toll." This is the rule of the game. If you don't understand this rule, you'll never master the game of business.

Online Customer Acquisition: Traffic Conversion

In the past, online customer acquisition mainly relied on text-based content from WeChat Official Accounts. Now it has shifted to short video-dominated traffic platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou. Online customer acquisition costs much less than offline acquisition and has a higher conversion rate. It requires no physical space or upfront investment—all you need is traffic.

Its basic operation follows the "Three-Pool Theory": convert traffic pools into sales pools, then turn sales pools into customer pools. Those who build deep customer pools are what people refer to as "doing private domain operations."

No matter how much traffic you have, you must retain it to operate it effectively. That's why some stores offer free air conditioning and even free summer refreshments in hot weather. These are ways for merchants to keep customers. As long as you're willing to stay, you'll unconsciously have the urge to make a purchase. Even if customers don't buy immediately, you must provide services that allow them to have a hands-on experience. The deeper the experience, the easier the conversion. So you need to find ways to lock customers into your "traffic pool."

For ordinary people, the real opportunity for entrepreneurship doesn't lie in creating groundbreaking products, but in efficiently connecting people and channels.

Products are cold; channels are warm. Your trust endorsement, personal charm, and the process of carefully selecting products for your audience—these are themselves the most valuable "products." In this era of oversupply and scarce attention, the ability to "be seen" is far scarcer and more valuable than what is "produced."

Therefore, learn to observe crowds, nurture relationships, and generate traffic. Invest your limited energy, time, and capital into building your channel network and trust assets. When you truly understand and practice the principle of "channels are king," you'll discover that the secret to business has always been hidden in "people."

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