"Anti-fraud police officer Lao Chen" is no longer pretending, and sells goods live for 100,000

This article tells the story of Chen Guoping, the "anti-fraud police officer Lao Chen", who transformed from a celebrity in the police force to a livestreaming anchor, and explores his challenges and controversies in the era of Internet traffic. The article details Lao Chen's attempts at livestreaming and the pressure from public opinion he faced, as well as how he tried to achieve commercialization while maintaining his personal image. It is recommended for readers who are interested in the transformation of Internet celebrities, the livestreaming industry, and the monetization of Internet traffic.

Old Chen cried.

"My family is not a family, my career is not a career, I get scolded every day, and my children get scolded with me," he said, his eyes filled with tears, and he raised his hand to wipe his flushed face. At the other end of the live broadcast room was the entertainment anchor Yu Huatian, who was dressed as the "Western Factory Father-in-law". Three years have passed since the last time the two people received so much public attention. In these three years, the anchors who were connected to the microphone have hardly changed much, while Lao Chen's life has taken a completely different path. Lao Chen's original name was Chen Guoping. Three years ago, he was still an ordinary policeman at the Haigang Branch of the Qinhuangdao Municipal Public Security Bureau. Because he promoted anti-fraud knowledge on Douyin and in major live broadcast rooms, he became an instant hit and became the much-watched "Anti-fraud Police Officer Lao Chen".

Under the impact of the sudden increase in traffic, Lao Chen took off his police uniform, resigned and became an anti-fraud internet celebrity. Live broadcasts, short videos, short dramas... His entrepreneurial journey has not been smooth sailing. In March last year, he disclosed his income in 2022, which totaled 1.33 million yuan, and donated all the more than 840,000 yuan after tax. By 2023, his annual income had dropped by 1 million yuan to 340,000 yuan. Some people sneered: "You are a good police officer, who asked you to resign and make money?" Many people also expressed their support for Lao Chen: "How many people downloaded the anti-fraud APP because of Lao Chen, I believe time will prove everything!"

What the audience didn’t expect was that “crying on the microphone” was just the appetizer of this new “farce”. At the same time, Lao Chen posted an open job application on the short video platform, calling on police departments across the country, saying that he was willing to be rehired and even do anti-fraud propaganda as an auxiliary police officer. However, when Jining Fire Department sent him a video invitation, hoping that he could go to Jining Fire Department to let more people know about firefighting knowledge, he did not join.

He unilaterally explained that the reason for not going was because (Jining Fire Department) received a large number of reports saying that he was not qualified to join, and the other party was under great pressure. In response to this statement, the Jining Fire Department did not give a clear response, saying that "it is not clear about this matter."

In March this year, Lao Chen took off the "anti-fraud" label he had worn for three years and officially changed his Douyin account name from "Anti-fraud Lao Chen" to "Lao Chen". As of press time, the total number of fans of Lao Chen's main account was 1.17 million. Previously, his main income was live broadcast rewards. On April 7, Lao Chen officially started live streaming with goods on his secondary account "Lao Chen Rural Life". The number of fans of this account is about 230,000. According to Chan Mama's data, the sales of this live broadcast were 100,000-250,000.

"What's the public job application? It's just hype! Bringing goods is the real purpose!" There are many such voices in the news about Lao Chen's bringing goods. Faced with the surging public opinion, Lao Chen responded: It is not shameful to earn money to support the family through one's own labor. There are three main ways for a traffic individual to maintain attention: either establish a deeply rooted personality, or continuously produce high-quality content, or rely on traffic news. The "anti-fraud" label has brought Lao Chen popularity for three years. After tearing off the label, it is not an easy thing for him to keep eating the "bringing goods" bowl of rice steadily.

1. Lao Chen stopped pretending and started selling products

There are clearly divided opinions on the Internet about what kind of person Lao Chen is.

"He has indeed made great contributions to anti-fraud. Why can't a positive person make money by selling goods?" Those who support him think that Lao Chen is one of the few "real people" on the platform. "Under the banner of public welfare, he is actually a traffic business, and he relies on job hunting to attract attention." Those who do not support him think that Lao Chen is fake, from crying for a job to live streaming to selling goods, everything is a script.

Jimu News once interviewed a friend of Lao Chen, who commented on Lao Chen: He is not suitable for playing on the Internet. Yu Huatian, who has been friends with Lao Chen, also agreed with this statement. As an entertainment anchor, Yu Huatian can distinguish between the Internet and reality, and will not pay attention to netizens who scold him online. But Lao Chen is different. If someone scolds him in the comment area, he will directly respond.

Many of his actions on the Internet often confuse people. The biggest controversy about Lao Chen is that he once made an indecent move in front of a female anchor with a good figure. Some netizens said that Lao Chen often does things inconsistently. For example, he posted a video the day before saying that he would turn off the reward function, turned it off for a day, and then turned it back on the next day, and then deleted the video he posted.

In addition to the Internet, Lao Chen has also done a lot of entrepreneurial projects. He devoted himself to the breeding industry in early 2023. He also stated that he had invested in an ophthalmology clinic, invested in ginseng planting and egg industry, and filmed an anti-fraud short drama at his own expense. Now as a live broadcast career of "making money to support the family", he once compared it to just his "leisure time". Not long ago, he said in an interview with "The Best People" that he "didn't make money, but eating was not a problem". Some netizens suspect that the reason why Lao Chen applied for a job and started live streaming to bring goods is probably because he lost money on entrepreneurial projects. If he can successfully transform into a live broadcast anchor who connects brands and consumers, it is almost a sure-win business for Lao Chen.

On April 7, Lao Chen started his first live broadcast on his second account, "Lao Chen's Rural Life". Previously, his first account mainly shared anti-fraud content, Lao Chen's personal life insights, and some clips of his participation in activities, while his second account mainly recorded his daily life in the countryside. The number of fans on the first account is more than five times that of the second account, so it should have more commercial value in terms of selling goods.

In the eyes of some fans, his live streaming was more like a cautious test of the waters. Perhaps worried about the pressure from public opinion, he didn't even post a preview video on TikTok before the premiere.

The main products sold at Lao Chen Shoubo are Xinjiang specialties, such as local pure milk, crisp dates, dried figs, walnuts, etc. The product prices range from 9.9 yuan to 99.9 yuan. The product with the highest sales is a local Xinjiang pure milk, which brings in sales of 25,000 to 50,000 yuan.

Lao Chen once served in the army in Xinjiang and regarded it as his second home. In his short video content, we can also see that he had already released content related to Xinjiang as early as July last year. The Turpan Commerce Bureau also specially invited him to participate in the public welfare live broadcast activity to help farmers. His contact with the supply chain should have a long history.

2. How to catch the “sky-high traffic”?

Traffic is a speck of dust that falls on the shoulders of ordinary people in the era, giving ordinary people the opportunity to become popular. Lao Chen is not a person who seizes opportunities well. To a certain extent, this opportunity was given to him by the platform and his original police uniform. From the moment he chose to take it off, the label of "anti-fraud" was inevitably discounted.

Uncle Damo, who is also a public official, became popular because of his videos of arrests. After resigning, he became a full-time blogger. With high-quality and solid video content, he has become an all-round person and accumulated a group of loyal fans. On Bilibili, a platform with a very restrained growth rate, the number of fans exceeds 5.75 million, and the number of fans on Douyin has exceeded 9.51 million.

Compared with Uncle Damo, Lao Chen's character is dry and the content is thin. Even the short dramas he put a lot of effort into shooting were complained about for being boring and his acting was awkward. Every time he was on the hot search and every time he was exposed in large quantities, it seemed to always revolve around some controversial events. The commercialization brought to him by these events was also relatively limited. If you extend the timeline, the change chart of Lao Chen's fans is almost a straight line. After the news of bringing goods became a hot search, the number of fans of his main account even showed a downward trend.

(Comparison of data from Lao Chen’s live broadcast)

The data of his daily live broadcasts is also extremely unstable. In March, the average number of viewers per show was still maintained at around 3 million to 4 million. In April, 3 out of 5 live broadcasts had less than 1 million viewers.

"I want to be reborn!" In the live broadcast, he imitated the entertainment anchors and shouted out shocking slogans, sweating profusely while dancing "Subject Three". Someone in the comment area replied: Lao Chen must be crazy. In an interview with Elephant News, he made it clear that the purpose of doing this was to gain traffic. He was constantly questioned by netizens, but he insisted on appearing on the Internet platform. Many netizens lamented Lao Chen's strong psychological quality. "The traffic that is hacked is still traffic. As long as there is traffic, there is no problem of not being able to monetize it," one netizen commented.

But whether he can keep the traffic is another matter. In October last year, Yu Wenliang, an ordinary person, became popular, gaining 2.38 million followers in a week. When he first became popular, he said that his parents couldn't stand it anymore, so he considered taking advertisements to make money. In less than a month, he was exposed for making money crazily in the live broadcast room, and his image collapsed.

Although he has always said that he has no team, some traces of operation have been seen in Lao Chen's live broadcast room. For example, when he changes jobs, there are people following him, and when he sells goods, there are people following him. The first broadcast can be regarded as getting a good data result. Lao Chen said that there are many merchants looking for him at present, but he dare not try it easily.

Whether to use live streaming as a long-term business model is still an unknown for Lao Chen and his team. To avoid a high start and a low end, he needs to come up with more competitive products and more professional live streaming skills.

Author: Liu Yiqi; Editor: Si Wen

Source: E-commerce Online (ID: 1089127)