Learn from Shi Yongxin about Web3 marketing: Don't sell projects, focus on building faith first.

In 1981, 16-year-old Shi Yongxin entered the almost forgotten Shaolin Temple. At that time, there were only 9 monks in the temple, struggling to make a living through farming and incense offerings. The turning point came a year later: the film "Shaolin Temple" starring Jet Li exploded nationwide, and the ancient temple suddenly became the focus of public attention.

Shi Yongxin precisely captured this "mental dividend". He did not invent kung fu, nor is he the most skilled martial artist, yet he accomplished a groundbreaking brand positioning: he ingrained the mental imprint of "Shaolin Temple = Chinese Kung Fu" deeply into the minds of global audiences.

In the following decades, he systematically organized martial arts classics, promoted performances overseas, conducted cultural dissemination, and developed commercial licensing. Starting from a religious site, he transformed Shaolin into a global entry point for "Kung Fu awareness." More importantly, this awareness goes beyond "cultural influence" and ultimately converts into real monetary gains: tickets, IP, real estate, intangible asset management... awareness has become the entry point for business.

This is the power of "collective mindset": when you leave a clear and unique label in the minds of users, you are qualified to tell stories, set prices, and exist in the long term.

How significant is the relationship between collective mindset and Web3 projects?

You may ask: What is worth learning from a monk who has built a brand at Shaolin Temple for forty years for Web3 projects?

I showed you Shi Yongxin not because he understands live streaming or cultural IP, but because he accomplished something that almost all Web3 projects are striving for yet rarely achieve: binding the definition of a keyword in the minds of global users.

Web2 focuses on business, of course looking at market share, that is, the user share in your vertical track. Because traditional business, whether in valuation or the business itself, cannot be separated from the direct competitiveness of the product after it is implemented in the market. As for Web3 projects, I personally believe that the project's "collective mental ownership" greatly surpasses "practical market share."

But "focusing on the mindset of the target group" is not just an empty phrase; it runs through every stage of the project from 0 to 1, especially at the key node of TGE. After TGE, with liquidity, the operational logic of the project will change completely. You are no longer just telling stories and attracting followers; you start to face the real market's pricing, arbitrage, and gamesmanship. This transformation is very drastic, and if you are unprepared, all the initial hype and expectations can quickly collapse within a few days.

So the project team must think ahead: what kind of user mindset should you seize before the TGE? What kind of narrative should you tell? What position should you place yourself in the minds of the users?

Next, let's discuss in detail.

Before the TGE, how should the project party build a "collective mindset"?

For most Web3 projects, the TGE is the first time to step onto the public market stage. But what truly determines success or failure actually happens before the TGE. This stage is your golden window to seize users' minds. It not only concerns whether the token can go live smoothly but also whether you can use this "collective attention moment" to plant a long-term recognizable cognitive label in users' minds.

How you clarify the positioning of the project, establish trust firmly, and stabilize expectations during this period determines whether you can attract truly valuable early participants. Otherwise, what you may end up with is not a launch, but an end.

I usually recommend projects that haven't had their TGE yet to do a "mental three questions" self-check first:

1. Which Tier do you belong to in the users' minds?

Are you a top player in this track? Or a marginal project? Behind this is actually a very realistic formula:

User's recognition of your project's Tier = expected value of your TGE = how much time they are willing to invest to follow you = your actual data performance, etc.

Your actual data performance and user engagement are often the external results of users' subjective perception of whether you are "worth betting on." These do not solely come from what you have done, but more from how you "appear to be in which tier."

2. What exactly does the user remember about you?

This may be the point that Web3 entrepreneurs most often overestimate about themselves. Many teams present their projects with tight logic and clear structure, but after listening for twenty minutes, I still find myself asking, "So what is your breakthrough point?"

The reality is harsh. In this incredibly fragmented market, countless projects promote themselves every day, and you shouldn't expect users to truly understand you. They will only remember a few keywords that can evoke associations and generate emotions. Therefore, you must simplify and distill all content into three key takeaways that users can "take away": easy to remember, capable of sparking imagination about making money, and related to future explosive potential.

Speaking human language is the most lacking ability in most projects.

3. Is collective trust stable?

How to create a project that is trusted by users? This is the most easily overlooked point and also the layer that is most easily breached.

Even if your skills are strong and your storytelling is great, once users begin to doubt your persona, team, and behavior patterns, trust will collapse, and their mindset will automatically unmoor.

The collapse of trust is often not due to major issues, but rather the accumulation of seemingly trivial matters. For example, when a user asks a question and no one responds, even after asking several times, it feels like a stone sinking in the ocean; rewards that were promised are delayed again and again, with no explanation given; when someone in the community starts to question, the team collectively plays dead or coldly replies, "We will discuss this internally"; and sometimes, while the project seems to be speaking eloquently on the outside, there are whispers behind the scenes that "this is just a round of arbitrage."

Each of these matters may seem insignificant, but it is this feeling of "saying one thing and doing another" that can gradually undermine the initial trust of users, especially those early supporters. They were originally your most valuable asset, genuinely believing in your story, but once a crack in trust appears, they are the quickest to leave and the least likely to return.

Just as when people around the world mention Chinese Kung Fu, most people's first reaction is not Wing Chun, Baji, or Tai Chi, but rather: Shaolin. Wing Chun is not bad, but it has not welcomed its Shi Yongxin. You need to be the one who establishes a collective mindset for the project.

After the ### TGE, the project officially enters the "financial target" status.

After the TGE, the project is no longer just a product, vision, or story, but has become a financial asset with price, liquidity, and secondary trading. Whether you are valuable, worth buying, and whether it can rise, begins to be verified in the most public and cold way.

The first change is in the user structure. The early users who once shared ideals with you, ran test networks, and were active in the community have also undergone a transformation. They are now both users and traders. Meanwhile, a larger wave of traders has just entered the scene. They are not here to "listen to your stories," but to ask a more direct question: "Is there a profit opportunity with this coin?"

There are very few "irreplaceable products" in Web3. Even if you perform 20% or 30% better than your competitors, if the coin price remains stagnant and the market lacks volatility, you will still be quickly abandoned. Users will not give you time and patience to grow; they will immediately chase after the project that "seems more likely to rise."

Therefore, the project team must answer a straightforward question: why should others buy your coin?

Behind this, there are actually three typical user mental models: