![[Cool Character] Cai Yifang, a product manager, writes wonderful life with pen](https://og.vista.tw/cool-character-cai-yifang-a-product.png)
[Cool Character] Cai Yifang, a product manager, writes wonderful life with pen
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](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRuTjFnBcO8y_GRvo7kEKhhJN5e8GtdPdI6gqCuD8k01UgfPjnV r2Rheaa5ed2JQxSD8ui6EcU-PqJTCr0oF-E3Qu9FvKNEgbdz4_EJ0dEuUmi8Oeo1zIu2xHjvHQry_Qajho_AfimNA4d/s1600/evonne+tsai.jpg)
[Cool People] is a newly launched column on the “Writing Cool” website. Vista interviews friends who have performed wonderfully in different fields such as life, work and study. As the saying goes, “stones from other mountains can be used to attack jade.” I hope that by observing the diverse lives of these cool people, we can be inspired and improve ourselves.
The opportunity and beginning of writing
Q1. When did you start blogging? Was it on the Medium platform from the beginning? What motivated you to start writing on the Medium platform? How to take the first step?
I have been writing on the Medium platform since the beginning, and I still remember that the first article on Medium was published on August 29, 2017. But in fact, it was just a repost of an article I posted on “Betweengos Career Talents”. That article was published on October 20, 2016.
The opportunity to start writing was very interesting. Betweengos was a platform founded by several of my friends. Because I needed content when I first started my business, I was invited to share an article introducing what PM (Product Manager) is doing, and I offered my friendly support.
As a result, my that article had a very good reading rate and was even reposted on the “Manager” monthly website. Now the cumulative number of reads on “Manager” has exceeded 80,000 times. I was very happy at that time and felt that it was helpful, and it turned out that I could write! But I didn’t want to do anything further.
Until August 2017, I remember it was like I was on a business trip again, and the plane encountered terrible turbulence before landing… I started thinking, Oh my God! If I die, will there be any regrets?
This regret is that I don’t seem to have done anything that really contributed to the world? This may seem naive or stereotyped, but when I was in college, I was passionate about changing the world. I joined social movement clubs and social service clubs at the same time. I wanted to know which method is more effective!
At that time, I suddenly remembered this wish, which had been forgotten by me after working for a long time. In addition, it seemed to be the Universiade at that time. Seeing the athletes working hard, my blood was ignited. So, I also started to think about what I can do? Coupled with the experience that my previous articles were well received, I thought maybe I could start by writing articles and at the same time hone myself, so that’s how I started!
Q2. What are the usual ways to get inspiration? Or how to collect information?
Maybe if you have a mallet in your heart, your eyes will find the nails easily! I usually feel curious when I read the news. I want to know the thinking logic behind it and find out its profit model, so I gradually accumulated a lot of material.
Q3. Apart from publishing books and teaching courses, is there anything else that impressed you during the writing process?
The happiest thing is getting to know many strong people who actively communicate and connect with each other, which is an unexpected gain. I also learned a lot from various exchanges and gained a lot of enthusiasm.
I realized that writing articles to share, the more I give, the more I get, which is a super cost-effective thing!
But another thing that impresses me is that when more and more people follow me, and my articles are not good enough, or my opinions are different and I am criticized, I will feel frustrated and even angry… I feel like you didn’t see what I wrote later? It’s not like writing a paper, and I don’t get paid. Why do I have to cover all aspects? Sometimes, a glass heart and idol baggage will inevitably become heavier and heavier.
Sometimes, I kind of want to go back to the days when I was happy to write articles and practice writing without having to worry about my opinions being magnified and scrutinized.
The secret to accumulating 15,000 tracks
Q4. You have more than 15,000 followers on the Medium platform. How did you do this? Do you have any tips you can share with everyone?
In fact, few people read my initial articles. I fully realized that the so-called success of the first article was a complete illusion, and even though the same content was viewed by more than 80,000 people on “Manager”, it was only viewed by a dozen or so on my own Medium… Well, this made me understand the power of channels.
Therefore, I tried to submit an article to “Digital Age”, but the editor of the article I wrote at the beginning was not interested. After that, the first time my manuscript was accepted, I downloaded the e-book app for blogging. I was really annoyed at how difficult it was to use… so I wrote an article to complain.
Unexpectedly, the editor quickly accepted and published the article, and then it became famous! However, looking back now, I really feel that that article took the least effort to write among all my articles, and there was no in-depth analysis. I am really embarrassed.
However, generally speaking from my experience, if an article is reprinted by online media, even if the traffic is high, it is unlikely to be redirected back to my Medium. Therefore, unless you want to fight, you would want to see who the author is? Therefore, media reprinting may not be so effective.
In addition, the second peak of many people adding me on Medium was when I first wanted to know what readers thought of my article? But it’s really inconvenient to leave comments on Medium, so I thought of an experiment at the end of the article: If you like the article and want to see more similar topics, please give it more than ten claps.
Maybe not many people knew how many times you could take a photo at the beginning, right? This guideline triggered many, many claps, and many claps attracted other people to come in and see what kind of article it was… Maybe Medium would also strengthen publicity for such articles, so the number of followers is growing very fast!
The next opportunity to add a lot of followers probably comes in waves. Once the article becomes popular, it will attract a lot of people to add it. But what’s interesting is that I have been very busy with the birth of my second child in the past few months and have almost no time to update articles. However, people continue to read the previous articles, then clap and follow. I guess there are enough articles accumulated, and most of the articles are still considered long tail.
From the Google search rankings, it is at the top, so it can continue to attract people to read. When these people see that there are many Medium articles, they will add them to read.
In addition, of course it is also a head effect! Since we have already accumulated a lot of readers before, those who are new to Medium and are still looking for content may want to follow the authors that everyone is reading first, so just add them and take a look.
Q5. In addition to sharing your articles on Facebook graffiti wall, what other promotions will you do?
No, I mainly post them on Medium Writing Club. I’m too embarrassed to even post them on my own graffiti wall, because it’s mainly about personal friends, and I’ve become more open-minded recently.
The impact of writing on personal branding
Q6. For running personal brand, do you think writing blog posts is of any specific assistance?
Of course there is. Writing articles not only brings me traffic and brand fame, but also helps me think about things more deeply. It also allows me to meet more people with ideas to communicate with, which is helpful for accumulating strength, new ideas, interpersonal connections, and brand building. I highly recommend everyone to write.
However, if you want to achieve such results, you must continue to achieve results. It is really hard work, but remember to continue!
Q7. Can you provide some suggestions to everyone?
What I am practicing myself is “not to be happy with things, not to be sad with myself”. I hope not to be kidnapped by the traffic and other people’s comments, but also to be able to demand myself and maintain the standard of my articles. At the same time, I also suggest that you can continue writing, especially when no one is reading it at the beginning, you can still enjoy the fun of writing!
Q8. Can you share a few blogs and websites you like? How many other books are worth reading?
I like “Technology Island Reading” very much. Zhou Qinhua can provide very unique opinions on real-time issues and can continue to produce. Only after I have experienced everything can I know how powerful he is. I recommend everyone to subscribe!
As for books, I recommend Business Thinking by You Shufan(Gipi) 10939?utm_source=vista&utm_medium=ap-books&utm_content=recommend&utm_campaign=ap-201911)”, I think this book is very helpful in establishing a basic overview of business thinking, and you will see things differently. Recently, I am also working with Gipi and several partners, hoping to establish the “Business Thinking Academy” from the perspective of business thinking, and then further explore various aspects of business thinking and applicable cases. Please look forward to it!
Q9. Can you recommend some useful tools, software or online services that you like or worth recommending?
The most commonly used tool for my own writing is Evernote, which can record sporadic ideas and then synchronize them across platforms. The collected information can also be synchronized into a note, which is very convenient for organizing my thoughts.
Q10. Finally, please share your books and courses with everyone!
Friends who are interested are welcome to refer to my book “[Building 360-degree marketing product power: Product managers take you to the core of business competition]” (https://www.books.com.tw/exep/assp.php/vista/products/00108 19300?utm_source=vista&utm_medium=ap-books&utm_content=recommend&utm_campaign=ap-201911)》and online class “Product Manager Workplace Learning: PM A must-have career guide! ”.
postscript: I have known [Cai Yifang] (https://www.facebook.com/evonne.yifangtsai) (Evonne) for a while. I still remember having lunch with her when the online course was launched a while ago, and we also communicated with her on various topics such as product management and online courses.
I am very happy to invite Evonne to share with you on [Cool People]. I got a lot of inspiration from hearing her share the process of creating on Medium Platform. She is both a mother and a product manager, but she still insists on writing. This is really not easy.
I am very grateful for this opportunity to explore treasures with her, and I hope that through Evonne’s personal experience, I can encourage more friends to join the ranks of writing! Dear friends, let’s write together!
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★ To improve your content power, please don’t miss the online course “[Content Power: The Super Power of Building Brands] (https://hahow.in/cr/content-power)”
★ Photo Credit: Cai Yifang
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