When personal WeChat accounts go public, make money

"It's much more painful than my former job. It's not fun. It's an annoying business," she said.

It's a common refrain among owners of WeChat public accounts.

To be sure, there are people such as Luo Zhenyu, formerly with the China Central Television, who make big money. Luo started his Luogic Show at the end of 2013. It is a paid subscription-driven online community where youngsters share ideas through talk shows and forums. Membership fee ranges from 200 yuan to 1,200 yuan per year.

On Oct 20, he announced a second round of financing for his venture. As a brand, Luogic Show was worth 1.32 billion yuan. Its revenue would hit 150 million yuan this year, he said.

Information, products (including books, videos and paintings) and cash flow easily among Luogic Show's 66,000 members. Luo leverages his fame and reputation to raise money from individual and institutional investors.

He is planning to list the venture on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations in China, also known as the New Third Board.

To some extent, Luogic Show is not an individual account; it's a company with Luo as its brand ambassador as well as leader.

Both Lady Pomegranate's Report and Luogic Show prove that business is serious business. You can have fun making money from it, but you can't make money just by depending on your passions and interests.

There was a time when I entertained thoughts of opening my own public account on WeChat. Now, I choose to lie back to read others'.