I just finished reading “Crush It!” by Gary Vaynerchuk and might I add I was very impressed with this book.
I’ve known of Gary for a few months now as I had heard about him on his interview with Bradley Will over at UnStrapp’d.com.
If you are unfamiliar with Gary, he is the man responsible for revolutionizing the way that people look at Wine by creating WineLibraryTV and educating wine enthusiasts by taking advantage of Social Media and all the possibilities that these networks provide for anyone who is passionate about their business.
Gary talks a lot about finding your passion, defining your niche, and WORKING YOUR FACE OFF.
This last part is so important that I want to say it again and again. Without working your face off every single day and night you will not make it. It takes hard work, dedication and perseverance to be successful.
Some great quotes that I’ve highlighted in this book:
“Story telling is by far the most underrated skill in business.”
“Every episode gives me a chance to share my considerable exerptise with other people interested in the same thing I am, which is loads of fun. They also give me a chance to share myself. Watch me for two seconds and you know exactly who I am and what I stand for. Authenticity is key.”
“To everyone who is freaking out because they fear the noise and distraction of all the additional content on the Internet, you can relax. Quality is a tremendous filter. Cream always rises, my friends, no matter how many cups of coffee you pour.”
“You’ll crush it as long as you concentrate on being yourself.”
“Embrace your DNA, be yourself, put out awesome content, and people will be interested in what you have to say. Believe me, if you’re that good, people are going to find you, and they’re going to follow you, and they’re going to talk. And getting people to talk is the whole point.”
“Business in the future is going to be a field day for everyone with talent because they’ll no longer be forced to exist within the confines of old-guard institutions.”
The most important thing I learned…
I’ve been learning about business and marketing for over 2 and a half years now and have noticed similar trends among individuals who I have been reading about. They are authentic and true to themselves NO MATTER WHAT.
In Chapter 7, Gary starts to talk about authenticity and really explains the importance of it in this chapter. You can try to put on a front all you want with your online presence, but in the end people will know that you aren’t being you and this has a negative impact on you and your business. I’ve always tried to be as authentic as possible, sharing experiences of myself and even showing you a picture of me as a little kid in my About Me section. I’m someone who loves wearing Flip-Flops and wear them every day that I can, which is why I would like to move somewhere warm when I graduate from college. I also love working out and have used the P90X workout program and liked my results so I choose to promote it on my blog. Pictures on twitpic of my progress.
The fact that we are all online and that we most likely have a presence on Social Networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn makes our lives open to the public. Everything that we post online is now public and every decision that you make that you post online will last forever on the internet. You must be aware of this at all times and not post things that will jeopardize you or your brand. Think about what you are doing, are you putting up content that is valuable to your viewers or are you spamming people trying to get them to buy a product from you that isn’t of a good quality?
Brand Building is essential
You’ll notice that I have WhosChrisHughes as my profile page on all the Social Networks that I join as well as my blog’s address. I tried to get ChrisHughes, but my name is way too common and that domain name as well as that user name has already been taken. If you have a common name, try to find something that differentiates you from the others out there and roll with that!
This is a great book that teaches you about branding yourself and building a business based on your passions. It’s a very quick read, but it is packed full of information that is valuable to you. If you are curious as to how you can build up a business with something that you are passionate about, this book is for you. However, if you are someone who wants a “feel-good” book that will make you feel good without doing any work then this book is not for you. This is raw, uncut and really in your face. It’s a must read for all Entrepreneurs and I’m giving it a rating of 5 star.
[Rating:5]
You can pick up the book by clicking on the image below, it is an Amazon Affiliate link so that I make a small percentage of the sale if you buy from my link.
