askgaryvee

#QOTD: Are you going to subscribe to my podcast? YES or NO?

#QOTD2: What can I do to make my podcast a TREMENDOUS experience for you?

An interesting question was raised here about taking a course/class in order to become a social media marketer. The truth is, I'm self-taught. I didn't take any courses in social media, but in general I was never a real good student and never took any substantial classes in business or marketing -- But, that's seemed to work out for me just fine :)

I think all this really just boils down to being self-aware and knowing yourself.  I honestly think that 99% are you are clowns, and are just reading headlines, rather than being actual practitioners and going deep within each platform. I'm even scared of you taking a course because most of the courses I've been exposed to during speaking engagements were jokes -- either the course itself or the teachers involved came off as clowns. 

My honest opinion is that Social Media right now is in a very awkward and early stage. If you look back at the early internet marketers of 1995, they were spewing out a ton of garbage as well. So the timing is difficult now, but I can say confidently that I would feel a lot better about you taking a "course" 5 years from now rather than today. 

So, in this whole circus type of environment, it all scares me. The most important thing you can do is be surgical, knowledgeable, and become an actual practitioner. However, for this particular instance, there's too many variables to consider. Are the courses good? Can you actually learn in those environments? Because I can't - hence why my advice is to become a practitioner as best you can, because that's what I've done, and that's certainly worked for me :)


#AskGaryVee Episode 31: Is it Better to be Self-Taught?

#LINKS

iTunes! - https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id928159684?mt=2

I am one of those people who used to think that tons of companies were overvalued. However, I was eventually proven EXTREMELY wrong. As I learned throughout the early Internet days, inflation happens, the world changes, adapts, and now I'm starting to wrap my head around the notion that things aren't actually as over-valued as they may seem at first sight. 

But, this notion of over-under-valuation is definitely a doubled-edged sword. There will be plenty of businesses overvalued due to early-stage hype, but if something has proven to have won and you think is the future of infrastructure, such as an Uber, then we need to start paying close attention.  

And of course, there's plenty of people that have lost money buying into "over-valued" companies, but then again, many have won. When we need to start looking close is when things hit scale. In the early Internet days, many people thought Amazon and EBay were over-valued, until of course, the world began to catch up with them. They were just a step ahead of everybody. When the world begins to catch up, and normal people start to interact and utilize these platforms, that's when you're going to see a shift in scale. 

The underlying difference in all of this is whether these shifts in value are temporary or long-term. If the signs point to a long-term, strong valuation, then it's likely that they're just working in the future, ahead of the game, while others are caught trailing from behind. 


#AskGaryVee Episode 32: Is Twitter Really Overvalued?

#QOTD: What is your favorite candy?

First of all, if you want to increase engagement with your content, you need to make sure you're putting out quality product. Once you know that you're hitting the right notes with the material you'e putting out, you need to put your efforts into business development. 

When an opportunity presents itself, pounce on it. Hustle. Be mindful of the environments and conversations you want to get involved in and be sure that you're offering them value in exchange for what you want from them -- exposure. 

When I didn't have the base that I have now, I was out on the streets hustling for Wine Library, formerly named Shopper's Discount Liquors. I was walking into any business that might be relevant to my community and passing out flyers and coupons one-by-one to gain more exposure. Nobody gave a crap or knew who we were but I knocked on doors and made sure we got the exposure we needed. 

So, can you biz dev? Are you willing to hustle to make it happen? Are you willing to work 15+ hours a day to make it happen? In today's world, there's so much room and opportunity to bring value to somebody, but it's never going to happen if all you care about is yourself . 


#AskGaryVee Episode 33: Increasing Exposure Through Business Development

#QOTD: Are you a Vayniac or part of the VaynerNation? What's the difference?

#LINKS
Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-askgaryvee-show/id928159684?mt=2

Rafeal's Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6J6qYtlLQBCT6GOgv7fFAg 

If I were to go back in time and start all over again, I would change NOTHING. From 22 to 32, for the first ten years of my hustle, I remained quiet and I put in the work. I did the work that allowed me to have the audacity to go out and build the Gary Vaynerchuk brand. 

The notion that there's people out there that are growth hacking, and getting exposure through other people's podcasts, and leveraging the brands of others to build themselves as "experts," is LUDICROUS. What are these people actually experts in? What have they accomplished to be deemed an expert?

Here's what I did and why I think you should listen to me when it comes to business. I am in the midst of building my second $50M plus business in a 5 year window. Is it $50 Billion? No - but it's a very substantial business. I was ahead of the market and I executed. I put in the work, I built up the business at a speed many can't comprehend, and I did the things that allowed me to be worthy enough to have a shot at putting out a $15-20 book and amass the following that I have.

So my question is, what did these self-proclaimed experts do to claim that title? If you want to be an "expert" in your craft you need to be in the trenches, day in and day out. You can't just rely on modern day technology to build up your brand. The notion that people are leveraging these technologies and the brand equity of others to build their name is LAUGHABLE. You need to actually execute. You need to earn the opportunity to be a personal brand. You need to show them the proof. If you're an actual expert the proof should be in your forethought, your wins, and your execution. 



#AskGaryVee Episode 34: How to Build a Personal Brand from Nothing

#QOTD: What do you think of GaryVaynerchuk.com? Questions, comments, concerns? What’s your $.02?

#TIMESTAMPS
01:02 - As an email marketer, I say email is not dead. Do you think email will be more or less relevant in 3-5 years? 
03:07 - I work in two different spaces. How do I use social media platforms so I am not confusing my audiences? 
04:58 - How do you define hustle? 
06:51- What do you really get from having 10,000 followers? 
11:57 - A professor once said to me, It’s better to be a big fish in a small pond?  Do you agree? 

#LINKS
https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/working-for-free-780903706.html
https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/stop-worrying-about-the-name-o-778848227.html
https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/being-lucky-775354293.html
https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/repeating-mistakes-773378031.html
https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/what-youre-not-getting-about-c-762813781.html
https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/top-line-revenue-758397294.html


Email is definitely not dead. As most you may know by now, I’m a big fan of marketing in the year that we live in. And so, email remains to be a very killer opportunity. 

Email is a channel that you can control without being at the mercy of all these other platforms that are out there. But, we also can’t be naive to the changes have been made, such as the promotions tabs that GMail implemented recently. Sure, email is falling off and these changes have caused us to lose touch with some email lists that we may have been paying attention to prior, but it’s still very much in play so long as we leverage it wisely.

Are open rates at 90% like I had in 1997? Absolutely not. But, I still believe email is very much something to be considered. There’s no question that email will certainly be less valuable in 3-5 years. Heard me say marketers ruin everything? That’s where this fits in perfectly. That’s what this is all about. Platforms come along. They present value. And marketings pounce on the opportunity to arbitrage against their audiences. 

But, while us marketers are working to exploit and potentially ruin email marketing, we’re still in a time where it should most definitely be considered as part of any business’s strategy. 


#AskGaryVee Episode 35: Email Marketing in Today's World

#QOTD - Are you a chugger, or did you have a turning-point moment, and if so, what was it?

If I were a realtor, the thing I would do more than anything else would be to review the establishments in my area. If I'm selling homes in Millburn, NJ, I'm putting out a daily piece of content featuring the the school, then I'm interviewing the individual teachers. I'm reviewing every single local shop: The wine store, the sandwich shop. I'm interviewing people who have lived in the neighborhood for 50 years. I'm putting out content to make you romantic about the area. 

People pick where they want to buy a home for a lot of reasons. Some of them are practical: Public transportation, distance to schools. But how about making it a little warmer and interviewing Mrs. Robinson the 3rd grade teacher? I remember a realtor telling me that someone moved to Short Hills because of Wine Library (That was such a cool feeling, by the way).

So I'm doing daily content about the 20-mile radius around the area where you're selling homes. I'm finding the stories tucked away around the neighborhood, and all the iconic things that make your area what it is. Those stories are what will create the emotion that could be the tipping point in selling someone their next home.


#AskGaryVee Episode 36: How To Create Real Estate Content

#QOTD: No question for this one! I need more banter!! I'm looking at you, VaynerNation ;)

I absolutely hate when people send auto-messages after they've gained a new follower. I have actively un-followed most of you when you do this because it speaks to your intent on the platform. You're looking to scale social media on a platform like Twitter that's simply not scalable. 

Twitter is the only true social network because it functions like a town square. A place where you can jump into conversations without sounding/looking creepy. The other networks are pushing content where Twitter is still the place for actual conversation. 

When you go and auto-reply in a "town square," you're the same as the guy walking around just dishing out their business card at a conference or networking event. YOU'RE THE GUY THAT PEOPLE HATE. It's the wrong move. You're not putting any effort into engaging with people. You're auto-replying in the town square and providing no depth, no value.

What do you honestly think is going to happen when I receive that message? I'll tell you what's going to happen. I may sign up for your newsletter and you're going to email me and it's going to go to spam and I'm not going to engage. Why? Because there's no context established. That first taste, that first impression, all of a sudden is sh*t, and you've lost. 



#AskGaryVee Episode 37: Twitter Auto-Replies, Marketing Gurus, and Happiness

#QOTD: Let me know what the next 3-5 years look like for your business. What do you have planned? What are you looking to accomplish?

Micro-Content is the idea of making content specific to the context of a platform. It's the idea of utilizing videos and pictures, quotes, and written words that work specifically for the multitude of platforms that exist (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Vine, Pinterest, Snapchat, etc) -- which if I might add, was the context behind my latest book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook ;)

So, how do you make good micro-content? First of all, content is subjective. It depends on the viewer and why they're in particular place at a particular point in time. I understand that a 40 year old woman will have a different mindset when she's on Pinterest vs. Facebook. Does she have intent to shop (Pinterest) or is she just catching up with her world (Facebook)? That's how you need to focus on your story-telling strategy. You need to be mindful of the psychology behind the user's intent and the nuances of the platform. 

When creating micro-content, or content in general, you also need to respect the user and their tendencies. Of course you want to sell your products, but you need to portray them in way that's more compelling to the viewer. You need to shape it their interests and lifestyle. There are plenty of targeting strategies out there, and there's no one way to execute. The only things you can hone in on while forming your strategy are: 

1. Respecting the audience  
2. Respecting the platform  
3. Making your agenda fall third to #1 & #2

#AskGaryVee Episode 38: Virtual Reality, Content Creation, and No Excuses

#QOTD: How bad you want to work at VaynerMedia?


The transition from being a "doer" to becoming a leader can be very difficult. Quite frankly, it scares the crap out of me. It's hard to go from "execution-mode" to then becoming a manager of a team. These are two very different things that can cause some issues if not handled properly. 

When you're a leader, you have to be the bigger man/woman in any given situation. You can't simply impose your will because you're now the "boss." A leader listens. They swallow their pride and work to make sure the team is executing as needed. A leader needs to empower those around them to do their jobs but they also need to be able to take the hit, and eat crap, because things won't always be easy, and at the end of the day, they're the ones leading the charge.

I firmly believe that the transition from doer to leader is the same as the transition from leveraging your EQ rather than your IQ. Leaders need to listen and empower their team to become leaders themselves and take ownership of the work they're given. Leaders need to understand who they are as a person and relay that emotional understanding to those around them. As I've said many times before, it all boils down to self-esteem and self-awareness. If you can understand who you truly are as a person, and as a leader, then you'll be able to instill the same understanding in the team around you. 


#AskGaryVee Episode 39: Facebook Organic Reach, Dating in NYC, and Being a Leader

#QOTD: Want to win a dinner with me? I need you to predict how many episodes of the #AGV show we'll wind up producing once this is all said and done. Those that guess right will be selected to have dinner with me. Deal?

They way I prioritize my time is by making the best judgment call possible in that particular moment in time. I frame my process by selecting two sides of the spectrum: What's the most on fire and needs to be tended to immediately, and what are the more high-level ideas that I can work on and flesh out?

I'll take care of things like employee issues or client concerns (the biggest and most time-sensitive problems) and balance it by going on the offense on the things with the biggest upside, like company culture, visions for the future, buying the Jets ;), etc. 

I never focus on anything in the middle. VaynerNation, I warn you, the MIDDLE is DANGEROUS. Stay away. 


#AskGaryeVee Episode 40: Prioritizing Your Time & Hooking Up

#QOTD: How long have you been following my work?

Wanting to be an entrepreneur and being an entrepreneur are two very different things. If I were a young and aspiring entrepreneur I would go out an hustle my face off in any which way possible. The best way to become something is to first act like something. Sell, sell, sell. Understand what it takes to provide value to somebody. Learn how to communicate your value proposition enough so that it registers with your 'customer' allowing for you to accomplish what you've set out to do. 

Go out and find mentors. Go work for free and under people that can show you the ropes and serve as that point of contact when you need it. Learn the hustle and taste the game. Put yourself in the position to win. You can read as many books as you'd like, but they're not going to make you an entrepreneur. The only way to become something is through doing. 

And so, start hustling. Start doing whatever it takes. Even if that means selling the very shirt off your back.

#AskGaryVee Episode 41: Pet Peeves, Young Entrepreneurs, and Overcoming Fear

As a teacher and any professional looking to expand their personal brand, my advice remains the same -- Cut out the crap, stop wasting time on non-important things, and hustle to build your brand. 

If you want to build a more scalable brand you need to put out content. Utilize the technology around you like SlideShare, Spreecast, and Google Hangouts which allow you to further establish your credibility, and where you can also charge people for participating if they're willing to do so. 

Use your content as a gateway to drug to allow you to further establish yourself and your brand. What I really see here is that people are just loaded with excuses. Do you really want to build your brand or do you want to watch 'Homeland?' Do you really need to take that hour long lunch? LUNCH? C'mon!! There's better ways to use our time. I'm not saying you shouldn't eat, but do you really need that much time for lunch?!?

As with anything in life, you just need to figure out your cadence. What do you really want? Are you wasting your time by doing things that aren't allowing you to achieve the levels you want? If you really want to expand your brand, start putting out content, engage with people that may be interested in what you have to offer, cold call, and do whatever else it takes, even if that means having two hours less of sleep. 

#AskGaryVee Episode 42: Mistakes, Interviews, and Keynotes

#QOTD: Just show me some love!!

Everything trickles from the top. For a long time I used to talk about the "rich-kid syndrome" and how they didn't have it in them to hustle their way to building a sustainable business. What I've learned, however, is that this doesn't apply to everybody. 

When it comes to business, like anything else in life, it all stems from the top. Just like a business' culture stems from its leaders, the way a child sees the world and their approach to life all comes from how they were brought up. When I meet with these "rich kids" I spend almost all my time trying to figure out what their past was like. How did their parents raise them? Did they spoil them or did they make them work for what they wanted? And so, this really has nothing to do with the kids themselves but more so about who their parents were and how they decided to pass on the family legacy. 

I know that my kids are going to be "rich kids" but that doesn't mean I'm going to spoil them. I'm not going to let them become soft and I will most certainly let them know what it means to work and sweat for something that they want, because I know that it's up to me to instill those qualities within them from the onset. 

#AskGaryVee Episode 43: Rich Kids, Birthdays, and Anniversaries

#QOTD: What's the last app you downloaded?

The humanization of business. Manners of Marketing. Thank You Economy. They're all same. Now that the Internet has allowed consumers to have more control, businesses are expected to behave differently and interact with their communities in a way that humanizes their messaging. Unfortunately however, brands haven't fully embraced the mindset that I thought would have been exhausted by now. 

My prediction with the Thank You Economy was that by 2015 everybody would be on board. Unfortunately, that is not the case. People just haven't adopted it at scale and therefore how can it really be over? Nobody's ruined it. This might actually take forever or never happen at all although I know that those practicing it are getting real results. I see those emails every day. 

And so, my prediction was incredibly off. It just may never happen at scale because companies can be heartless. Heck, even I'm heartless when it comes to money. I know that business is all about the wallet and I get that, but there's a real financial benefit with TYE mentality. I see the dividends with it each and every day. People are STILL flabbergasted when a company reaches out to them with a half-assed approach, and so I know that the potential is still there, but I'm utterly confused as to how it hasn't been fully adopted yet. It's 2015, people!


#AskGaryVee Episode 44: The Thank You Economy & Snapchat Payments

#QOTD: Watch this on video and guess how many almonds are in the jar next to me. Whoever guesses it right will be flown out to NYC to join me on a taping of the #AskGaryVee show!!

It's funny to hear that people are referring to cellphones and other mobile devices as the "second screen." As far as I'm concerned, in this DVR'd world we live in,  most of us are on our phones, scrolling through our feeds as commercials, and sometimes the actual TV shows, are being ignored. I'm pretty certain we're at a moment in time where our mobile devices are indeed our 'first' screen of choice. 

When it comes to retail though, it makes sense that we refer to our phones as the "second screen" because it certainly holds true that our eyeballs serve as the 'first screen' when we're walking around. What's really resonated with me recently with retail  is how people are behaving when they're out and about and shopping around. People are literally IGNORING the promotional end-caps that brands spend tons of money on, simply because they're too distracted by their phones. Although this may sound like a wasted opportunity, I see it as the future of in-store marketing. 

This has been a hot topic of discussion over the last few years -- how phones and other devices will play a role in our shopping experiences -- and is something I'm very interested in. Brands need to start being more conscious of how we're using our devices in our everyday interactions. With the advent of ApplePay and the beginning phases of beacon sensors, there's no question that our in-store purchasing behaviors will be highly influenced by those shiny little devices we seem to never be at an arms-length distance from. 


#AskGaryVee Episode 45: Retail, Super Bowl Ads, & Telemarketing

#QOTD: What wine are you pairing with your Thanksgiving dinner?

The biggest decision of my life? Deciding to finally focus on what felt right to me. 

At an early age I received an "F" on one of my Science tests. From that moment in time I understood that no matter how many people tried to tell me the importance of school, I knew deep down inside that it wasn't for me. And although I knew it would bring me nights upon nights of punishment, I decided that school couldn't be the one thing I focused all of my energy on. 

From my "flower business," to the lemonade stands, to the baseball card collection, I knew early on that I was a businessman. Although I had felt it inside, it wasn't until I made the conscious decision to focus on these skills that things began to change for me and my outlook on the rest of my life would be forever different.

The moment I made the decision I knew that I would be looked at by society as different, and I understood that, but I made the mental decision to accept that and focus on what felt right for me. I made a deal with myself that I was ready and willing to eat the pain in order to capitalize on my early self-awareness. I decided to focus on my skills and learn as much as possible about whatever venture I was focused on at the time. So rather than succumbing to society's pre-determined life plan for me, I fought it, and delivered on what I felt and knew I was -- a businessman. 

I suggest you do the same.


#AskGaryVee Episode 46: Life Decisions & Getting Punched In The Face

#QOTD: What weaknesses of yours are you giving thanks for? And be honest. This will help you. 

Someone by the name of Tommy Mottola (look him up) once told me that he wouldn't try and sell anything until the artist he was working with and the product they were creating (in this case music) were ready. And I agree with that to some extent because if you're going to sell something you need to make sure that those ready to buy it can actually do so, but it also needs to make sense for the context involved. So let me explain. 

If you're able to achieve and execute on business objectives by building out content and pushing your product or business without the need of a fully built website, then by all means, go for it. By creating content you're beginning the journey of how your story will unfold. The reception of this content will also allow you to test and learn and understand the best approach to creating future content once your business and website are ready for the masses. That process you simply don't want to miss out on. 

And so, a big issue I've been seeing is that people are too reluctant to sell against the communities and the impressions they've established on social. Too many people are caught up on only leveraging their website for banner ads but selling against social audiences is essentially the same thing. If you're creating valuable content that's living on social then you might as well take advantage of that opportunity. Don't get caught up in only monetizing on the platform that you fully own when there's a world of opportunity that exists through the channels you're deciding to put your content on. 

So in short - If the opportunity to create content presents itself and makes sense for the objectives of the business you're trying to build, then my suggestion is to go ALL IN and get moving. NOW.


#AskGaryVee Episode 47: How I Screwed Up My Uber Investment

#QOTD: How was your Thanksgiving? AND, what's your Jets vs. Dolphins prediction for tonight's game?

I literally spend ZERO time focusing on my competition. I don't look to the right of me or the left of me -- It's all forward moving for this guy. I focus ALL of my time on people, the teams around me, and our focus for the future.

Do I know what the competition is doing? Sure, to some level - but I never go deep as my understanding typically goes as far as reading headlines and hearing some of the buzz of the industry. The biggest mistake I see entrepreneurs making is paying too much attention to those around them. Sure, take a look back once and while to see who's on your tail, but at the end of the day your focus needs to be on your own domain. If you can focus all of your attention to accomplishing what you set out to do, full-steam ahead, you'll win. 

Not only will you win but you'll be able to razz the competition a bit while you ignore them :) I find that not paying attention to your competitors is actually a tactic to be used and a competitive advantage which allows you to focus your energy on the work you've set out to do in the ways in which you've set out to do it.

#AskGaryVee Episode 48: Ignoring the Competition, Niche Marketing, & Swagger

#QOTD: Do you think that your culture (wherever you're located) has gotten soft? Do you think we should we have 7th place trophies?

High-end wine is as much of a hoax as the art world is and as much of a hoax as a high-end restaurant charging $10K for a a once in a lifetime meal. It's as simple as supply and demand. Is a stock price a hoax? My answer? Yes and No. 

I used to think that the amount I was being paid for my speaking engagements was a hoax, but then I realized that I was getting compensated for what I was doing for that event. Is an actor quietly getting $8 Million for a movie a hoax, as opposed to an athlete who constantly gets ridiculed for being over-paid? It's all an arbitrage. That same actor is putting people in the seats and ad budgets are being leveraged against the appeal of that actor/actress.

So, can I taste the difference between a $10 wine and a $100 wine? ABSOLUTELY. I live it. It's what I do. The beauty of wine is that everyone has their own palette -- similar to how people have different taste perceptions of art and music. It's simple branding. It's supply and demand. My advice? DON'T. DRINK.GOOD.WINE. It's all supply and demand. If you start to taste the good things (first class plane tickets, front row seats, etc.), you'll put yourself in the position to realize it's not a hoax. It's all perspective. It's context baby! Don't complain about it unless you're prepared to never taste it.


#AskGaryVee Episode 49: High-End Wine, Bucket Lists, & Self-Confidence

#QOTD: Are you coming this Saturday? Yes or No? Also, I need your recap of the first 50 episodes of the #AGV show. What's the best thing that it's done for you?

When people bring up my competitors I tend to respond in a condescending way. Quite honestly, I dislike my competitors (in the context of the game/business). When people bring them up I try and tear them down as quickly as possible. My competitors? Oh, you mean those people who are trying to win awards while I'm over here trying to actually sell sh*t? 

Deep down, I'm just not a fan of my competition. Anything I think that'll make somebody realize the value in working with us is something that I will push and fight for throughout the discussion, no matter what. Look, I'm a salesman, a talker, with great tact and enormous empathy. Hence why I win as often as I do. I can read a room and I know in real-time how to navigate the conversation and find my way to the top and win that discussion. Others? They just can't. They may just not be good enough to communicate their value without sounding awkward or inappropriate. Some just don't have it. 

Look, I can play the game and I know when to turn it on and off, but others just don't have what it takes to communicate their worth and their value. I care SO MUCH about my clients that I'll do whatever it takes to make them realize how worthwhile it is to work with me (VaynerMedia) as opposed to anybody else. It just is what it is. Other people just need to apply different routes and tactics. But quite honestly, any other route besides the one that I roll with, is sh*t. Period. End of story.


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