Volunteers of Barefoot, a volunteer group founded by Ronald Cheng Pang-cheung when he was a university student, teach and play with children at Zhangshu Elementary School in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, in August 2019. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Cheng, now chief executive of Shenzhen-based Hugo Media Technology, says all one needs to do to lift off in business is to seize every opportunity that comes along and go for it. A successful project speaks for itself and clients will bring in other clients, allowing the business to grow naturally.

Sitting on one's laurels won't work, he believes. Cheng and his team always maintain a sense of crisis in such a competitive industry, where 3 to 5 percent of the top media companies can make the grade and survive.

Players in the field have to keep an eye out for hourly trends on different social media platforms and decide which ones are worth making a story about. Most of the topics don't last more than five hours, says Cheng.

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