Xiaoxhu of BenMo PR - Essay Example

Interview Summary: Xiaoxhu of BenMo PR. There are certain leading figures and personalities which always set a model for their successors. However, their life and struggles are often hidden from the picture. Their efforts and strategies are the key to their success. Such personalities often get the in-depth knowledge of their field due to their individual struggle and independent decisions. One such figure is Xiaochu who was born in 1979 and is related to the Chuanqing Ethnic Group, one of the 56 minority groups in China. Her educational background is not spread to a large number of universities and colleges but instead she chose to get her graduation degree from High School in 1997. She denied the college life keeping her eye on the future needs which demanded her to “get her life started and going as soon as possible”. Her finance needs led her to the modeling area and bartending but soon her creativity persuaded her on starting her own blogs on the internet and she captured the attention of huge followings quickly. Xiaoxhu maintained her double identity i.e. her real-life identity and her virtual identity in all this time period. However, she was quite successful in maintaining her reputation under both identities. In the virtual world, she was named as the best blogger in four of the prevailing web networks, Sina, Sohu, Xici, and Tianya. She was voted as the Beauty Blogger in both Tianya and Sohu and was elected to be the “basketball babe” for the 2008 Beijing Olympics website. On the other hand, her real life activities involved her service as an editor for a local Shanghai magazine and she was also on the organizing committee for the 57th World Beauty Pagent. This illuminates her ambition of not accepting the life and circumstances as they are but to develop her career and achieve her ultimate aim of being a successful person. The goal of such hardworking and ambitious people is sometimes to achieve comforts of life, wealth or some other kind of financial benefit. However, Xiaoxhu “never saw money as the main goal.” She further illuminates this idea by asserting that “even at the beginning money was just something to put food in my mouth and a roof over my head.” This clearly shows that her aims were not limited to grabbing money and leaving this world without being seen or noticed by others. Her aim was to capture the general public and make her name known to them in good words. Her success was accompanied by the achievement of her goals in her own distinct way of attracting public, specifically general public. In support of her goals and approach she clarifies that “I never cared about how much I get per job; it is always how big a public I can get to. The bigger you get, the more jobs you get, and the money will come naturally.” She believed in quality of work done and not in the quantity of money that is earned. Beginning a business requires the understanding of its nature, competence level and the gaps that exist in the market. A new company or a new business always strives to fill that gap. However, the understanding of the businessmen plays a vital role in its success. The information of Xiaoxhu about the PR companies and their shortcomings helped her in stepping towards starting her organization. Xiaoxhu “saw a big gap between what PR companies were providing to the public and what the public really wanted”. In order to fill that she put herself in the society and enhanced her understanding of what the society wanted. Her understanding of the society needs and her aim to fulfill them helped her in filling that gap that existed. She sheds the light on the country’s PR companies and claims that “Many international PR firms have recognized the potential in China and started companies here, bringing their greatly needed experience and professionalism here – and it worked fine, if not great, for the most part but there are times when that international structure just doesn’t fit right.” She recognized the need to unite the knowledge and efforts of 1.6 billion people living in China to amend and achieve the actual aims of the PR industry. She believes that “Everyone knows PR”. Her emphasis is on the need of “something ‘by the people, for the people’ – that is a wide spread network, a central figure who is relatable to by the public and accessibility.” This need and requirement of the society led her in starting the business which further flourished and achieved fame. She started her business with an aim to aid people by providing them with a platform to communicate, elaborate and resolve issues. The beginning of her career, however, was not from the foundation of her own company. She started her career with a “job in Beijing! SALT Restaurant!”. Her favorite campaign is the first one in Beijing when she “saw a new business on a business trip to plan a future in Beijing about to open and they were working with a company that” she “didn’t think was doing the best for them”. Knowing her potentials she “drafted a quick campaign and proposal and presented it.” She states that this “whole experience was so dreamy.” Her immediate response to the situation and urgent proposal being made was a miracle for her in itself. This unplanned event took the burden of starting her career. After entering the PR field her daily routine is quite “Busy!!! Emails early in the morning, meetings with clients, hours behind the computer – social networking is so important! At night, there is always a networking/industry event going on.” With such a tight schedule she hardly gets time to attend all the events so she tries to “choose wisely.” She declares about her schedule that “I don’t have a time schedule; I would work all day if there is sufficient coffee and tea.” The tough schedule and timelessness is tiring for people. About the PR industry she complains of “not having time to breathe and too much caffeine consummation”. However, she finds her work to be a source of fun and enjoyment. She insists that “work can be fun believe it or not. That if you do your job well, you can really get your message heard - and there is never a dull moment! And also, you get to have great co-workers!” She loves her work not only for the benefits she achieves from it but also for the contentment and pleasure that it brings for her. It is far easier to achieve success but way too difficult to maintain that success. Xiaoxhu is aware of this fact and hence sees her business like a tree which needs to grow more and more to provide shelter and fruit to others. BenMo was founded in late 2008 and in full operation in early 2009. She declares to highlight her ambitiousness that “I want my company to grow like a big tree and now, I am the seed. We have a long way to go” and further adds this discussion by declaring that “a tree must go through a few phases as it growths. Since the founding, our number one objective up till now was to go a long way.” She sees the clients as the “number 1 strategy in promotion of the BenMo. Word-of-mouth plays a central role of great influence” especially in ShangHai and Beijing. Xiaoxhu has a firm believe that “potential clients are more likely to trust the words of an existing client (and also friends of theirs) than something they found on the internet or the Classifieds.” This results in her efforts to satisfy the needs of existing clients rather than using the promotional techniques for the business’s success. The rapid growth of her business leads to her increasing projects. Her projects involve Pizza Hut, Maybelline, China Eastern Airlines and so on. The number of projects is increasing and the number of satisfied clients is also increasing with the same pace. Her expert advice is of great importance for the upcoming people in this area. She advises them to “always keep in mind the end user - i.e. the media, the public, etc - you can get your message across at minimal cost if you give people what they want. Also, network and network! Attend industry events (not PR industry, your clients industries) and meet people, its amazing what you can achieve by simply getting alone with people and supporting them.” In order to create good news she informs that “First you have to know the media. You have to know there game and play by their rules. Give them what they want and they will give you what you want.” She further proposes to the new comers that “you have to “know the inches” – a Chinese proverb describing the need to know how much is appropriate. One has to deliver the message and avoid consequences that may be caused by over statements. You cannot use the “if not I will just apologize” attitude for everything.” Read More