EZCNN 易英网

Zune: Player Forum Makes Teen a Fortune 少年因网络论坛致富

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

Young entrepreneur Hansup Yoon, 15, recently sold his creation ZuneBoards, an Internet forum devoted to Microsoft’s Zune media player, for $62,000. The teenager, who lives in California, created the site months before Microsoft introduced its answer to Apple’s iPod in 2006.

15岁的少年企业家尹函索（音译）最近卖出他一手创造的心血结晶ZuneBoards，这个专门讨论「微软」Zune媒体播放器的论坛，为他赚进了六万两千美元。这位居住在加州的少年早在「微软」于二００六年正式推出Zune以与「苹果电脑」iPod较劲之前的数月，就先行推出了这个论坛。

In less than two years, it grew to 60,000 members with more than 270,000posts, all about Zune. It has been making about $1,000 a month from Google Adsense and TribalFusion, both with tools that place ads that are relevant to a website’s visitors.

不到两年的时间，这个专门只讨论Zune的论坛会员就暴增为六万名，贴文超过廿七万条。该论坛藉由Google AdSense和TribalFusion 等置入吸引网站访客点击广告的软件，每月约赚进一千美元。

When he decided to sell, he posted it on Sitepoint.com and other sales websites for a minimum of $30,000 or “Buy It Now” for $60,000. Two bidders chose the latter option, and CrowdGather, a California company that has bought more than 70 message boards and forums as a foundation for Internet advertising, upped its bid to $62,000.

尹函索决定出售论坛时，在SitePoint.com和其他拍卖网站上张贴三万美元的起标价门坎，而「立即买」为六万美元。两家竞标者选择后者，而加州公司 CrowdGather 后来提高出价至六万两千元。该公司共买下超过七十个网络留言板和论坛，以作为网络广告的基础平台。

CorwdGather founder Sanjay Sabnani wasn’t surprised to learn that his acquisition was created and owned by a teenager. “I’m getting more and more used to that,” he said. “My first acquisition was a graphic site from someone in Italy. I was blown away when I found out he was 16.”

当CrowdGather创办人桑杰．萨纳尼发现他收购的论坛是由一名少年所创造、拥有时，并未感到讶异。「我愈来愈习惯此事了，」他说道，「我头一个收购的目标是一名意大利人拥有的图像网站，当时发现他居然只有十六岁时，感到惊讶无比。」

Because Yoon is a minor, CrowdGather negotiated with his parents, and the deal closed in a day. They used escrow.com, a site that acts as a shield against fraud between buyers and sellers of businesses, websites and other ventures.

由于尹函索还只是未成年人，因此CrowdGather透过他的父母进行磋商，并在一天内完成交易。他们选用了能防止企业、网站和其他事业的买家和卖家诈骗的网站escrow.com来进行交易。

How Yoon learned  学习之路

“I was mostly self-taught from other web development communities like Forums.DigitalPoint.com, SitePoint.com and NamePros.com,” Yoon said. “The Internet is an amazing place. You can practically learn anything you want if you’re willing to make a time commitment.”

「我大部份是从Forums.DigitalPoint.com、SitePoint.com和NamePros.com等其他网络研发社群来自修相关技巧，」尹函索说，「因特网真是很棒的地方，你如果愿意投注时间的话，几乎可以学到任何想学习的事物。」

“It is so easy to make money on the Internet: web development, made-for-AdSense sites, affiliate marketing, paid to post, and the list goes on,” Yoon said.

尹函索继续说，「在网络赚钱实在很容易：无论是网络研发、为赚取Google AdSense广告点击费而制作网页的网站、联盟营销、或是访客贴文可以获得酬劳等都不例外，而管道还不只于此呢。」

单词发音

More Information

acquisition [͵ækwəˋzɪʃən] n. 购得物; 收购 something that has been obtained

blow away [for something shocking or exciting] 震惊, 惊愕 to overwhelm a person; to excite a person very much

minor [ˋmaɪnɚ] n. 未成年人 one who has not reached full legal age; a person under the age at which he or she legally becomes an adult

escrow [ˋɛskro] n. 暂由第三方保管 an agreement between two people in which property is kept by a third person until a specified condition is met

shield [ˋʃild] n. 屏障; 保护物; 保护人

fraud [frɔd] n. 欺骗（行为）；诡计；骗局

venture [ˋvɛntʃɚ] n. 冒险；冒险事业

commitment [kəˋmɪtmənt] n.（对工作或某活动）奉献，投入

made-for-AdSense 为赚取 Google AdSense 广告点击费而制作的网页 websites that are used primarily to get visitors to the site for the sole purpose of clicking on advertisements

affiliate marketing 联盟营销 a system of advertising in which websites run someone else’s ads for free, but get paid a percentage for each visit or sale that resukts from visitors clicking on the ad

affiliate [əˋfɪlɪ͵et] n. 成员组织；附属机构；分会, v. 接纳……为成员（或分支机构）

the list goes on 这样的例子不胜枚举 so many examples or items more than you list

课文朗读

课文讲解

After Yoon designed ZuneBoards, he marketed it by exchanging posts with other small forums. In a few months, he had several volunteer administrators and moderators who made sure the forums were organized and all posts obeyed the site’s rules. ZuneBoards now has more than 70 people working on it.

尹函索设计出 ZuneBoards 之后，就藉由和其他小型网络论坛交换贴文来营销宣传。不出几个月，他就吸引了好几位志愿管理员和审核员，他们负责确保论坛能管理得井然有序，而所有贴文也都能符合网站的规范。ZuneBoards 如今拥有超过七十名工作人员。

Yoon decided to sell ZuneBoards to spend more time on his studies. He is sophomore in high school and plans to try out for the football team. Also, he wanted to give some financial support to his family.

尹函索决定出售ZuneBoards，以便能有更多时间专注于学业。他是高二学生，打算参加美式足球队的选拔。此外，他也希望能帮忙养家。

“Thirdly,” he added, “I felt a new ownership would really bring in fresh leaders that were really motivated and focused on the growth of ZuneBoards.”

「第三，」他补充说，「我觉得论坛换个新东家将能引进一群积极、关注ZuneBoards成长的新领袖人才。」

Sabnani said young entrepreneurs who are going to school or working full time and running forums on the side have a tough time.

萨纳尼表示，在学、或是拥有全职工作同时兼差经营网络论坛的年轻企业家，其实会相当辛苦。

“They don’t get the respect of advertisers. The bigger you are, the higher the advertisers will pay for the same advertising inventory,” he said.

他说，「他们难以获得广告商的尊重。就相同的广告量来说，论坛规模愈大，广告商愿意付出的相对广告费用才会水涨船高。」

Normal American teenager  平凡的美国少年

Yoon, who was born in Seoul, South Korea, describes himself as a normal American teenager.

诞生于南韩首尔的尹函索形容自己是很普通的美国青少年。

“I love sports. I love to hang out. I love to game. This will be my fourth year playing football as a running back,” he said. “To be honest, only a few of my close friends even know I do this.”

「我热爱运动，也喜欢闲荡打发时间，还喜欢打电玩。我现在会是第四年在美式足球担任跑锋。」他说，「说实话，只有很少数亲近的好友知道我在干这档事。」

He has not yet planned out a future of entrepreneurial ventures.

他还没有计划好未来是否打算经营企业。

“It’s kind of hard to see into my future right now, but I can definitely imagine myself working for my church, starting a nonprofit organization or even being a youth pastor,” he said. “I can’t imagine myself grown up sitting behind a computer all day making money while there are hundreds of millions of people who are starving and never felt God’s love.”

「目前还很难看出我未来想做些什么，不过，我倒是可以想见自己为教会工作，开设非营利组织，或甚至当个青年牧师，」他说，「我无法想象自己长大成人的过程中，只会成天坐在电脑前面来赚钱，而在此同时，却还有数亿人口在灵性上十分饥渴，从未感受过上帝的爱。」

−by Jan Norman

单词发音

More Information

moderator [ˋmɑdə͵retɚ] n.  版主

sophomore [ˋsɑfmor] n.（大学，高中的）二年级学生

motivated [ˋmotɪvetɪd] adj. 有积极性的

inventory [ˋɪnvən͵torɪ] n. 详细目录, 存货清单,（商店的）存货，库存

game [gem] v. 打电玩 to play video or computer games

running back 跑锋

see into 弄清 to discover the true nature of

youth pastor 青年牧师 a Christian minister who is trained specifically to work with young people

pastor [ˋpæstɚ] n.（基督教的）本堂牧师

单词发音

Vocabulary Focus

forum [ˋforəm] n. (尤指讨论重大公共问题的) 论坛 a place on the Internet where many people can leave messages or discuss particular subjects with other people, all the same time

post [post] v. 贴出（布告等）；把（布告等）贴在……上 to place a message on an Internet website

up (one’s) bid 提高出价 to increase the amount of one’s offer

close [klos] v. 完成; 结束，终止(谈话、事件等) to complete a business arrangement

try out 参加选拔 to compete for a position on the team

on the side 作为兼差或副业 in addition to your usual job

hang out 消磨时间 to spend a lot of time in a place or with someone

What is Google Adsense, and How Do You Use Adsense To Make Money Online?