My 1999

Xia Wei thought for a while and then said: "Mr. Xu, based on the development during this period, I think the general direction does not need to be adjusted.

The strategy of surrounding the city with the countryside, and the game ‘Search for Monopoly’ works best. "

The so-called strategy of encircling cities from rural areas is to provide free search services to large and small European portals, e-commerce websites, and community websites.

Let’s surround Google, which is cooperating with Yahoo.

Although these small and medium-sized websites have limited individual influence, when they are united, their influence is no worse than Yahoo, and even stronger in certain countries.

This strategy is not his attention, it is entirely the experience accumulated by the company in long-term marketing and promotion.

This is something he is happy to see.

As the company grows, one person's power is limited, and everyone needs to work together.

By cooperating with these websites, Bing Search can quickly expand its business.

Be known by more and more people.

The 'Search Monopoly' was the idea of ​​Qu Guangyun of Hongmeng Xiangjiang Company, and it has been promoted to all subsidiaries in recent years.

The gameplay is very simple.

After registering a Bing account, you can play the game listed on the Bing homepage.

Users only need to answer five questions and can use the Bing search engine to find answers.

If you answer correctly within five minutes, you can participate in the lottery.

With such relaxed conditions, anyone with a normal IQ can answer the question correctly.

So almost everyone participates in the lottery, and every draw is sure to win.

The prizes range from big to small. The big prize can be a car or even an apartment; the lowest is one hundred game coins.

Game coins can only be used to play Hongmeng games, so searching for Monopoly also promoted Hongmeng games, killing two birds with one stone.

In addition, in order to increase the influence of ‘Search Monopoly’.

Every time such a grand prize is won, a video will be recorded live and then broadcast on the TV station to expand the influence.

In this way, it not only expands the influence, but also cultivates users' search habits.

In just three months, Bing's user base has grown from zero to 12 million, and it's still growing rapidly.

Of course, whether it is the strategy of surrounding the cities in the countryside or the subsequent search for Monopoly, the whole process will cost money.

But Xu Liang is not afraid of burning money.

We have just raised US$560 million. After excluding the half left in East and Southeast Asia, we still have more than US$200 million left to burn.

“In addition to the two major promotion strategies we formulated at the beginning, I will try other things such as buying the team’s chest advertisements or temporarily staying at the game.

It was found that the effect was not very satisfactory, mainly because the fund utilization rate was not high.

More than half of the people who watch football don't care what their favorite team's chest advertisement is.

In comparison, in our Monopoly game, even the lowest reward is 100 game coins.

It not only promotes our games and completes the secondary utilization of funds, but also creates revenue for us.

In the past three months, with the rapid growth of Bing's registered users, we have successfully integrated "Legend of Legend", "Bubble Hall", "Bubble Show", "Red Moon", Games such as "Millennium" were promoted.

It currently has 7 million registered users and 250,000 are online at the same time.

Last month it generated revenue of 12 million euros.

Although it did not offset our expenses, it also saved us 60% of expenses.

And as Bing's registered users continue to grow, game users will continue to grow, and our revenue will increase.

According to the current development trend, in another seven months, our revenue will be able to balance our expenses.

Therefore, we should use resources on the two main promotion methods of surrounding cities in rural areas and searching for Monopoly. When their effects are no longer obvious, we can then consider other promotion methods. "

Xu Liang thought for a while and then agreed.

Xia Wei is the first person in charge of Hongmeng European Company, and he has a clearer feel about the market here than himself.

There is no need to give blind orders.

"anything else?"

Xia Wei nodded, "Mr. Xu, I would like to apply to establish branches in Russia, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal to fully enter the European market except the United Kingdom."

Xu Liang did not object immediately.

"Tell me your reasons?"

"Italy, France, Germany, Russia, and Spain are the major economies in Europe and are crucial to the development of our Hongmeng. There must be a branch to coordinate Hongmeng's local development.

Although Portugal is common, Portuguese is the official language of Brazil.

As long as we can occupy the mainstream in these markets, the European market will be stable.

Moreover, Europe is a whole. If we cannot consider this market as a whole, it will be difficult to compete with Google, which has already occupied a certain market share and has the help of Yahoo.

Mr. Xu, you said that the Internet is winner-take-all, and we cannot admit defeat from the beginning. "

Xia Wei's words shocked Xu Liang, and suddenly he realized the shortcomings brought about by his past life memories.

This memory made the power of Google deeply rooted in his heart.

Therefore, when considering Bing's development strategy, they will subconsciously put themselves in the position of the weak.

In fact, Google still has not turned a profit. Although it occupies a dominant position in the English market, its development in the international market is not as good as Bing, which started early.

In terms of technology and financial strength, Bing is not inferior to Google, which is still in its infancy.

There is no reason to fear them.

This is why Xia Wei wants to change.

He didn't know Google's future. He only regarded it as a strong competitor, but he had no fear.

"In this case, can our funds support it?" Xu Liang said slowly.

“Our game revenue is constantly growing, and I will soon let Bing start bidding ranking and advertising alliance business. Together with Hongmeng Music, we can support it for at least a year, or even longer.

And we can also raise funds.

A year later, the impact of the Nasdaq crisis was basically eliminated.

We can raise more money to support the company's development. "

Xu Liang nodded, "I agree with your plan."

"Thank you, Mr. Xu."

Xia Wei said happily.

"Don't be in a hurry to thank me. I agreed to all your requests, but I want to see the results in the year-end report."

"Don't worry, I guarantee that by the end of this year, Bing's registered users will definitely not be less than 40 million."

"Then I'll just wait."

Xia Wei nodded, "Also, Mr. Xu, I hope that the company will officially launch the English version of Bing. Although I know that we do not have an advantage in English Internet searches and cannot compare with Google in the United States, but as a global company It is impossible for an Internet company to not have an English version of its website.”

Xu Liang nodded slowly.

English is the first international business language and cannot be left without it.

"I will let the headquarters develop an English version of the website."

Xia Wei nodded.

"Lao Xia, you are an old man in the company, and you know the company's strategy very well. The market in Europe is too big. If you want Hongmeng to truly gain a foothold here, refined management is necessary."

Xia Wei understood. Of course he knew Hongmeng's 'subsidiary strategy' very well.

"Mr. Xu, I suggest that the German subsidiary be formally established next year. The company has not yet trained the talents suitable to lead the German subsidiary, and the business volume is too small. If we start the business rashly, it may be difficult to meet our requirements."

The German-speaking area of ​​Europe includes Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano in Italy, with a combined population of more than 100 million.

Moreover, with its developed economy, it is a big market that cannot be missed.

Patted him on the shoulder, "I trust your judgment as to when to set up a subsidiary. The headquarters respects your opinion. In terms of personnel, in addition to finance, personnel, security, etc., we also respect your suggestions."

"Thank you for your trust." Xia Wei said excitedly.

"Haha, you are my entrepreneurial partner. If I don't trust you, who else can I trust?"

After the two chatted for a while, Xu Liang asked him to leave.

When the office became quiet, Xu Liang, who was sitting on the sofa, felt a little emotional.

Now he realizes more and more clearly the meaning of this sentence when manpower is limited.

As Hongmeng Company develops faster and faster, it becomes bigger and bigger.

It is no longer possible for him to manage everything, and even in some major decisions, he must listen to the opinions of key managers.

Fortunately, the people he chose were very capable.

Even those with slightly mediocre abilities can still handle most situations with the experience accumulated by the head office.

"From now on, I will be responsible for strategic planning and supervision, and I will completely let go of the daily management of the company."

Ring ring ring….

The ringtone of the cell phone in his pocket broke Xu Liang's thoughts.

I took it out and looked at it, and quickly pressed the answer button.

"Mr. Xu, it's me, Sun Zhenping."

“Has Enron’s share price changed?”

"Mr. Xu, I don't know why, but a lot of good news for Enron suddenly came out in the U.S. market. Now its stock price has bottomed out at $45 and started to rise."

There was some resentment in Sun Zhenping's tone.

Xu Liang understood what he was thinking. When Enron's stock price dropped to 50 US dollars, Sun Zhenping persuaded him to close his position, but Xu Liang refused.

Although he did not intend to make the last pot of gold from Enron's bankruptcy, he was certain that 9/11 would definitely cause Enron's stock price to fall even lower, and that would be the best opportunity to liquidate his position.

“What’s Enron’s stock price now?”

"$47. Mr. Xu, although I don't know who is behind Enron's market support, it must be a Wall Street predator with great energy. This is not something we can contend with, and we should close our position as soon as possible."

"Old Sun, do you think Enron's stock price can return to above US$81?" Xu Liang asked.

"Unlikely."

Although a lot of good news has emerged from Enron now, the bad news from the previous time is not gone.

Moreover, U.S. stocks are different from domestic ones. Most of them are institutional investors and there are not many retail investors.

Investors in these institutions are not all fools. When Enron's performance is confusing, most of them will choose to wait and see.

Therefore, Enron's stock price will definitely be able to rise, but it will certainly not be able to return to its high of $81.

"Then what are we worried about?"

Xu Liang smiled.

Hongyan shorted Enron twice, with the average price of its position being $81.5 per share.

As long as the average price of the position does not exceed, they will not lose money.

"Boss, this will make us make a lot less money."

"Don't rush to conclusions yet, wait and see."

After explaining a few words, Xu Liang hung up the phone.

I glanced at the date on my phone.

"Today is September 3rd."

After spending three days at Hongmeng’s European headquarters and gaining a detailed understanding of Hongmeng’s development in Europe, I flew to New York on September 7th.