When you’re hustling, hustle with all you’ve got. When you’re sick, stop. Let it happen. Your body is trying to tell you something. Listen to it. The work isn’t going anywhere, and you can make up for lost time. Get better so that when you can come back to work, you come back with fire.
* * *
What’s the biggest “but” you hear from others that holds them back? What is your “but” and how do you get off of it?
* * *
Oh my God, the excuses. When you start a sentence with “I want to . . .” then end up with “but” midway through, you’re making an excuse. You can probably guess a few of the most common. You may have even used one or two in your life: “I didn’t have any money,” “I didn’t have a chance,” “I grew up in a poor neighborhood,” “I didn’t have a mentor.” People are loaded with “buts”; that’s why the majority of people live pretty ordinary lives. But is not a word to use when you talk about your aspirations. If you are serious about reaching your dreams, nothing will get in the way.
I’m not saying that obstacles to success don’t exist. You could be born under a dictatorship or other repressive regime. A female entrepreneur in the Middle East objectively does not have as much of a chance of succeeding as a woman in New York City. And any white male born in a semi-affluent environment is bound to have a leg up on minorities in poor communities. Adversity, discrimination, sexism—it’s all real. And for many, certain prejudices, injustices, and strokes of plain bad luck are serious enough to deter them from pressing forward. But then there’s another group, a smaller group, who when faced with these challenges choose to reject them and forge ahead anyway. If anything, coming from less or from behind can be a huge advantage because you will never, ever assume anything will come to you easily. That breeds a lot of courage and perseverance. A lot of people born to privilege just don’t have the hustle because they never needed it.
Don’t ever let your circumstances determine your outcome. You are bigger and better than that. You can always control your own destiny. Use what you’ve got, find what you don’t, and make your dreams come true.
What’s my “but”? I want to buy the New York Jets, but I love the climb and think about my legacy so much I sometimes leave money on the table that I’ll probably need to accomplish that dream. You know one “but” you won’t hear from me, however? The one that shifts the blame for anything that goes wrong at VaynerMedia away from me. I’ll never make excuses. I love taking that blame, because once I do we can work toward coming up with solutions instead of talking endlessly about the problem. Stop saying “but” and you’ll be forced to move forward; there will be nothing standing in your way anymore.
* * *
Is it possible to hustle the way you do anywhere outside the United States?
* * *
I thought this question was ludicrous. Entrepreneurialism is glorified in this country and the environment supports it, but you’re out of your mind if you think the country where you’re born makes or breaks your ability to build a business and thrive. My parents were raised in the Soviet Union and steeped in communism from the day they were born, and it only increased their hustle and drive. Your success is not predicated on your zip code. You may have a harder road to travel than you would if you lived in the United States, but entrepreneurial success stories come out of every corner of the globe.
* * *
Isn’t working long hours an old-school mind-set? Why not focus on building wealth via passive income?
* * *
Why not do both? I do. I make a lot of money investing in early-stage start-ups that can sell for one hundred times their original valuation. I didn’t do anything, and yet some years I probably make more in passive income than hustle income. So, yes, you could focus on building wealth through passive income, but I assure you that it’s not nearly as easy as it seems. Of all the people who have tried to create systems and automate their cash, there has been a very, very small percentage who wound up taking early retirement and lounging on the beach while they collected money from the Internet. The few people who can actually live luxuriously off their passive income put in a boatload of hard work and time getting to the point where they could earn it.
I think there are almost zero people in the world who have earned substantial success without working hard at it. Of course, you might do just fine if your goal is to earn $60K. But those people lying on the beach smoking weed in Jamaica after earning millions of dollars in passive income by doing practically nothing? I don’t believe they exist. Show me one, and I’ll show you someone who’s making his or her money by selling you on the dream of that lifestyle.
* * *
What athlete, past or present, embodies hustle for you?
* * *
Wayne Chrebet, the absolute bottom-rung guy on the wide receiver depth chart when he joined the Jets as a walk-on during a practice in 1995. The only reason he got there is that his dad pulled together some VHS tapes and sent them to the head coach. The Jets sucked bad in those years so the coach was willing to take anyone. Not much was expected of Wayne—he’s a short white dude who until he joined the Jets had an unimpressive record—and yet his number was just retired last year. He showed huge tenacity, defying his critics and playing through massive concussions. I respect him enormously.
* * *
How do I get a job working for you?
* * *
I’m always flattered by this question, but the answer is kind of blunt.
Do something first.
Show me your value. DRock did it when he cold-called me three times and convinced me to let him create the video that became “Clouds and Dirt.” Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg, wanted to invest in Square, and CEO Jack Dorsey wouldn’t let him, so Kevin made a video explaining the product and offering his insights around Square. After it had received around a hundred thousand views, Jack noticed, and suddenly realized that, what do you know, he could make a little room for Kevin’s investment. Now Square is worth billions. Kevin got in on it because he showed Jack what he could do.
What can you do?
* * *
How do you balance speed/hustle with patience?
* * *
I bridge the two. Look, I know that I often say things that contradict each other, but that’s usually because both statements are true. Like these two: Speed and hustle are massively important. So is patience.
A lot of people pride themselves on being fast and impatient; I see them as the bad version of me. They do everything for their own gain. They’re takers. But I think impatient and fast leads to mistakes, causing people to rush outcomes and leave money on the table.
You can be both fast and patient and win. I’m massively patient for the long game, but I’m fast in the real-time world of execution. The two traits can produce some friction for sure, but that’s how pearls are formed.
* * *
How can you claim “family first” but work nineteen hours a day? How can you be a good dad/hubby and rarely be home?
* * *
I get asked versions of this question a lot, and it stems from the way I choose to storytell my life. I play to the extremes. I’m 1,000 percent in while I’m at work, and I’m 1,000 percent in while I’m at home. I go to the kindergarten plays and the other school events that mean something to my children. I take seven weeks of vacation, which is probably five more weeks than most people. I don’t play golf or really have any hobbies that take me away from home on the weekends. Plenty of my friends bust my chops and say they spend more time with their family than I do, but when I’ve audited a few for sport I’ve been interested to find out how much of that time is spent playing video games, on the phone, or just doing their own thing. Just because you are physically at home doesn’t mean you are “home.”
In other words, just as I make sure that every minute counts at work, I make sure that every minute counts at home. And as the kids grow older and they need me more, my schedule might change. I may som
eday have to commit to being home every night by 5:30. I’ll admit it might be hard for me, but I’ll get over it. There are plenty of other hours in the day when my children don’t need me when I can get shit done.
Some people make their kids a part of their ventures, blogging about their lives together or using their pictures and time together as fodder for content. That’s fine for them. I would never presume to tell someone else how to raise his or her family. My wife and I have decided that our kids are not part of my business life, which means I can’t talk much about my life at home. But I feel great about the time we spend together, and they seem pretty happy, too. The bottom line? Effort!
CHAPTER 7
CONTENT AND CONTEXT
* * *
IN THIS CHAPTER I TALK ABOUT THINKING LIKE A SUPERMARKET, THE TRUTH ABOUT AUTOMATING, BUILDING TRUST ON TWITTER, AND BARTERING YOUR WAY TO THE NEXT BIG LEVEL.
* * *
People buy with their hearts, not their heads, and the way to every consumer’s heart is through a good story.
The Greeks recited their stories, the medieval bards sang theirs, and then the printing press dominated for more than five hundred years. Less than a century ago we started putting a lot of stories on radio and television. Today we tweet and blog and Vine. But even as the platforms and distribution channels change, the rules of good storytelling have remained the same for businesses since the beginning of commerce: The quality of a brand’s storytelling is directly proportional to the quality of its content. If it’s not good, no one will pay attention.
What defines quality content nowadays?
It appeals to the heart.
It’s shareable.
It’s native to the platform on which it appears.
It breaks through the noise.
I find that last one ironic. Not very long ago it was only big brands that had the muscle to blast their story all over the radio, newspapers, magazines, and TV. Today’s marketer, however, doesn’t have to invest in a printing press, or a satellite, or buy expensive advertising. You don’t even necessarily need a sales team in order to distribute your story anymore. You’re so lucky to have access to the Internet and be able to use its tools to put out your content. Unfortunately, everyone else has them, too. That low bar to entry means that the field is ridiculously crowded, and it’s getting harder and harder to get noticed.
Which is why it’s so vitally important that everyone from big organizations to solopreneurs to small companies start thinking and acting like media companies. Sure, you’re selling liquor, or tech, or original art, but the very survival of your company will depend on distributing your story through your content as often as possible to as many people as possible. And not just any content, but content that brings value to your current customers while attracting new customers as well. Netflix gets it. That’s why they started making their own TV series. So does Starbucks, which is developing original documentaries that tie into themes relevant to the socially conscious brand. Red Bull, too, is producing original videos, articles, and news covering sports, lifestyle, and culture. If you’re not putting out good content on a regular basis, you will be drowned out by all the companies who are. You will be Blockbuster video. You will be Borders. You will be the carriage driver who bought a lot of horses just as the first Model T drove off the lot.
This advice goes for individuals, too. Like it or not, unless you’re living completely off the grid you’ve got an online identity, and everyone, from dates to schools to employers, will rely on the Internet to see what they can learn about you before ever meeting you. It’s in your best interest to shape what they see. If you’re not producing content, you don’t exist.
It takes far more time than money, so for a while you may have to allocate your time differently than you might have been taught back in b-school. Staffing, strategizing, and selling are all important, but if you must, take a few hours away from those operations every day and put that time toward creating content. That’s how you scale the unscalable.
You don’t have to have a billion dollars like Starbucks or Red Bull to become your own media company. All you have to do is put the time in and be aware of emerging social networks. That’s how I got my start. I didn’t have millions of dollars to get Wine Library’s story out there. I distributed my content on these weird new platforms called Twitter and Facebook and YouTube. They were free and easy to use, and no one else there was doing what I was doing, which meant my content got noticed. Now you’ve got Instagram and Snapchat, Medium and Meerkat, and many, many more. Mold your content so it feels native to these platforms and creates context, scratching the emotional itch that drew your consumer to the platform in the first place. Meanwhile, keep your eyes open to the new up-and-comers. Take advantage of the platforms no one is using yet. Make them work for you. People and brands are using content and context to become stars on them every day.
* * *
Can anyone create good micro-content? How can you make sure your team consistently creates good content?
* * *
Of course anyone can create good content. It’s all about having respect.
First, respect the platforms. A forty-year-old woman is looking for something different on Facebook than on Pinterest. On the former she’s keeping up with her friends and family, and on the latter she’s probably shopping, doing research, collecting ideas, and searching for inspiration. So you have to strategize around that and adapt your storytelling accordingly. On Pinterest, you’d create gorgeous photographs or supercool infographics she might want to add to her board, but on Facebook, you’d write a zingy, funny status update or a short article about something in the cultural zeitgeist that she might be compelled to like or even share. Medium and LinkedIn have a similar intellectual vibe and sometimes share their audience, but even then if you have the time it’s great if you can add something unique to each piece you post. Feel free to repurpose material across platforms, including what you post on your blog—just don’t make it look or feel like recycled material. Content is never one-size-fits-all.
Second, respect your audience. That means putting out content the forty-year-old woman would like, not the content you would like. In other words, not the right hooks you’re itching to throw to get this forty-year-old woman to buy your product or service. At least, not at first. And not often. If I want to sell wine, I can get much closer to my consumer with content that intrigues and amuses like “Five Bottles Under $10 That Help You Get Through the Day When You Have 8-Year-Old Kids,” than with “Five Reasons My Wine Is the Best!” By putting out content my audience wants to read or see or watch, I’m drawing her in, gaining her trust, and making my brand a destination. That’s going to be a lot more valuable in the long run than a forgettable one-off sales pitch.
Good content should rarely be about what you want. Instead think about what your audience wants, and give them lots and lots of it.
Now, the second part of this question is interesting. What if you’re no longer directly responsible for making your company’s content? What if you’ve grown enough where you have to trust your team to do it for you?
That’s a tough one. You’ve brought your brand or business to success by infusing it with your essence and your spirit, and now somehow you have to teach others to basically be you. I think it’s done through osmosis. Start at the very beginning, when you hire your first employee. Hire people who want to learn, and stick close to them. Talk to them, allow them to be a part of your thinking, involve them in the process. You basically want to pour your point of view, ideas, and values into the water of your organization, and give your team lots of chances to drink. If they’ve properly absorbed the essence of your brand, and they know how to respect platforms and consumers, they should start creating exactly the kind of content you would on your own.
* * *
If you owned a hockey team, what would you do with Snapchat?
* * *
I’d recognize that Snapchat skews young and puts out con
tent that kids ages 13–35 care about. I’d draw on the pictures, run contests, and come up with ideas that really engage that demographic and make them believe that I hear them and am grateful for their attention. I wouldn’t even bother to try to reach my 40–60-year-old season ticket holders, because they’re not there yet, though by 2018 my feeling is they will be. Snapchat is a gold mine of opportunity for any team that wants to create real relationships and build loyalty with its young fans.
DR. THIAGO MORAES
FOUNDER OF GALLOPER AND VACOVET
tmequine.com
* * *
What are your thoughts about the new TLD extensions market? We’ve seen some new extensions sold for good money, like dui.attorney. Is this going to take off as people expect? Is this something that VaynerMedia would bet on?
* * *
The new TLD (top-level domains) extension game is really intriguing to me. I think it will basically play out along the lines of supply and demand. The fact is that .com addresses have enormous value because back in the early days of the Internet, .com was really the only market (along with .net and .org). So if you wanted to own the word car, or wine, or tennis, .com became the one place where you could really do that for real. There was only one cars.com, and thousands of people competed for it. As the new TLDs become more accepted by the market, the value of .com domains will crash. I think they’re opening Pandora’s box, which will make this interesting to watch. On the other hand, I’ve also got a hunch that people are lazy. It’s tough to teach people new behaviors, so it’s safe to assume that .com domains will retain most of their value for quite some time.
#AskGaryVee Page 10