Crush It – Gary Vaynerchuk – Cliff Notes

Gary Vaynerchuk is about to get HUGE. Right now he is just big but he is about to go through the iSphere. But first the Cliffnotes on Crush It.

Gary migrated to the US with his parents in 1978 and showed early promise as an entrepreneur with franchised lemonade stands and then a thriving baseball trading enterprise. He entered his father’s business first part time while at college and then full-time on completion.

He was introduced to the internet in 1995 and could see the potential, but as he states so well in the interview with Scobelizer below, it wasn’t until video started to become popular that he finally found a medium which he could use to communicate his message.

Vaynerchuk is a visionary with his finger on the pulse of trends, all sorts of them from teenage tattoos to the lack of understanding of wines. On the basis of practice what you know, he spruked about wines, but it wasn’t in the normal high brow offensive manner that had been done before. He spoke to everyone as if they were a customer in his shop,

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but he did so through video whcih spread across the web.

He has only a few rules, the first three are Love your Family, Work superhard, Live your passion. And the best marketing strategy ever – care. Sounds simple? Gary demonstrates it by telling a story of a delivery through the snow to an unhappy customer. It is not easy to care and be passionate every day unless you really really love something. Gary says if you can find what that is you are most of the way there. Passion will leak through all that you do and guarantee your success if you use the tools available to you.

Legacy is greater than currency. To explain this, if you’re happy for your grandchildren to find out how you made your living and all the details that went into every transaction and you can sleep at night, then you are doing the right thing. If not, then you need to re-examine your motives and reunite with your passion.

Vaynerchuk argues that any business that ignores the social networking phenomenon of the internet will be left behind – period. Twitter and Facebook are his favourite modes but by no means the only platforms you should use to get your message across to your customers or potential customers. As he states these platforms are “word of mouth on steroids”. Your success will depend upon how you use these tools to get your results. Have a clearly defined plan before you begin. Remember everything is out there so be careful what you leave behind for others to find.

A note from me here, I’ve been on twitter since November of its first year, using another avatar than the one I have now because I decided to brand all of my social networking across the web. I’ve seen twitter particularly go through many metamorphises and will continue to do so. Adapt or perish is the catch cry to adhere to.

Vaynerchuk argues that branding is the number one thing that every single person should begin to visualise for themselves in the social networking sphere. You are the brand, even if you just play farmville and everything else on Facebook, that is a type of brand that you are presenting yourself as. Businesses need to formulate a plan to boost their brand online through all networks and interactions. Feedback is instant and potentially lethal to your business if not handled correctly. Gary foresees many businesses failing in this regard and gives a few case studies on how to and how not to handle certain situations in the social networking context.

Like many internet marketers, Gary recommends producing great content, staying true to yourself, and staying connected with your audience/customers. Know yourself and your limitations and don’t take yourself into a field for the money, you’ll get tired really quickly and you need stamina if you are to follow in Gary’s footsteps.

Is it for everyone? Yes and no. Is it possible to succeed on a perceived overcrowded internet? Yes and no. Will it happen overnight or in three weeks, a month? Uh No. Everyone has access to the same tools. How you use them to make yourself the cream that rises to the top is up to you and how much you are prepared to put in. But one thing Gary guarantees, if you put in the hours, you will get results – guaranteed.

Gary finishes the book with some great business ideas that he says he just hasn’t got time for. One of them was book reviews so I hope not too many people read that far :))

Gary is sincere and generous and if you’ve seen any of his videos, you’ll hear his voice loud and clear throughout the text.

This book is filled with precious tidbits of gold and I would recommend it to anyone who is thinking about using social media, already using social media but not getting the results they want, or using social media and think that they are getting results. You will be surprised on the leverage that is available to you.

A side note here, I was cheeky enough to ask Gary Vaynerchuk for a review copy for this site and he was gracious enough to supply it, solidfying his ethos that no customer is too small, no deed unworthy of him, and nothing too much trouble. There are no affiliate links associated with this article as I’ve already been given pure gold in my copy of the book. Thanks so much Gary.

Below is one of the best intereviews I’ve seen between Gary and Scobelizer. I’ve tried to transcribe it, but the audio is a bit difficult for that, but quite OK to view. It’s lengthy but worh every single second. Gary gives some invaluable advice and tips and it is a great introduction to Crush It.

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