How Yang Tianlong sells corn with internet thinking

Yang Tianlong, a post-80s entrepreneur who once put down roots in western China, registered and established Gansu Sino-American Yuyu Fruit Corn Technology Development Co., Ltd. in October 2009. Through the "company + cooperative + base + farmer" production and sales model, he led the farmers of his hometown onto the road to prosperity.

During the Spring Festival holiday that had just passed, entrepreneur Yang Tianlong did not rest, even though he had already achieved considerable success in the field of "fruit corn." Being busy was the keyword of his 2014 -- 94 flights, 222 hours and 15 minutes of flight time, and 126,710 kilometers of flight mileage recorded his entrepreneurial journey.

In 2014, Yang Tianlong, who works in agriculture, rode the surging wave of internet e-commerce and found a vast blue ocean of market -- his Sino-American Yuyu Fruit Corn Technology Development Co., Ltd. successively cooperated with food-focused specialty sales websites such as Benlai Life, Womai, Yiguo, Meiwei 77, and Fresh Fruit Diary, launching the specialty fresh brand of fruit corn called "Baliang Sunshine." Before long, "Baliang Sunshine" became popular in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

Yang Tianlong, this post-80s entrepreneur who once put down roots in western China, felt for the first time the impact of the internet on the traditional agricultural sales model. How to sell corn online became something he had to ponder every day after getting a taste of the sweetness of e-commerce.

E-commerce helps the fruit corn brand break into the mid-to-high-end market

In October 2009, Yang Tianlong registered and established Gansu Sino-American Yuyu Fruit Corn Technology Development Co., Ltd. At the start of his business, through the "company + cooperative + base + farmer" production and sales model, he quickly led the farmers of his hometown onto the road to prosperity. This newspaper reported on his entrepreneurial path on May 23, 2013, under the title "Yang Tianlong: Being a Seed Rooted in the West."

However, like all agricultural entrepreneurs, Yang Tianlong encountered the problem that it is difficult to build a brand for agricultural products. How could he get the fruit corn brand into the mid-to-high-end market? He tried methods such as direct delivery to hotels and supermarkets, but could never break through. It was not until June 2014, when he shifted the breakthrough point of development to online platforms, that there was a turnaround.

"The cost of online promotion is low, consumers are not limited by region, and more importantly, the brand can reach end consumers directly," Yang Tianlong said.

As early as 2013, Yang Tianlong began "testing the waters" in the C-end (retail-end) market. Due to a lack of corresponding computer technology and marketing methods, the Sino-American Yuyu Taobao store received only a few dozen orders in half a year, causing the company considerable losses.

In the e-commerce era, what kind of agricultural products can become popular online? Yang Tianlong thought of "Chu Orange": "A competitive product is the skeleton, but the brand is its soul. What agricultural products really sell is their potential added value, such as a spirit or a concept of healthy living."

With this idea in mind, he took the initiative to contact Yu Huafeng, founder of Benlai Life, who is skilled in "story marketing." After a round of investigation and understanding, Benlai Life "took a fancy to" this specialty agricultural product.