Last week I met the very successful Entrepreneur/Author Gary Vaynerchuk. For those who don’t know who Garyvee is (I doubt that you don’t) but in any case, below is his bio – straight from his latest book “Jab, Jab, Jab RIGHT HOOK: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World “.
“Gary Vaynerchuk is first and foremost a storytelling entrepreneur. He is also a New York Times bestselling author, and his digital consulting agency, VaynerMedia, works with Fortune 500 Companies to develop digital and social media strategies and content. Businessweek selected him as one of the top twenty people every entrepreneur should follow, and CNN voted him on of the top twenty-five tech investors on Twitter. He lives in New York City, where he avidly roots for the New York Jets.”
Since you’re reading this, I think it’s perfectly safe to say that you’re familiar with social media marketing, startups and entrepreneurship. But no matter where you are in your career, we can all learn something from Gary’s success.
I had the opportunity to see him speak last week at Phat Startup, and below are my top three takeaways.
(1) – Tell your Story
One of the most important things you have to do well on social media is to know how to” Tell Your Story“. But In order to do that, you have to listen closely to what’s being said about you and your business. Monitoring conversations will make it easier for you to engage with potential customers, it will give you the advantage to engage with them without you sounding like you’re making a sales pitch. It will also give you more opportunities to bring more value (Jabs) back to your fans.
Take In – You have to build trust. You need to have an emotional connection with your fans/customers. The more they know about you and your business, the more they will trust you.
“There is no sale without the story; no knockout without the setup” – Gary Vaynerchuk [Tweet It]
(2) – Be Human
The chances are you’re already utilizing Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Google + to help grow your business. As a rule of thumb, your primary goal should be to provide value, engage and connect with people. But every now and then we get caught up in automation. We default to using tools like Hootsuite and Buffer to schedule Tweets and social updates. We all do it (me included) and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it – as long as you don’t get too carried away. If you do, then you’ll lose your human touch, and people can easily tell when they’re talking to a robot.
Take In – Be there, be a real person. Minimize automation. People want to feel like they’re being taken serioulsly, that their opinion matters. Don’t lose your voice through automation. Remember that you’re engaging with people – so be human and make it personal.
“Content is king, but context is God. You can put out good content, but if it ignores the context of the platform on which it appears, it can still fall flat.” – Gary Vaynerchuk [Tweet It]
(3) – Give, Give, and Give some more
“Jab, Jab, and Jab some more”. You give not because you’re expecting something in return, but because you genuinely want to help others, to help solve problems and to help make a difference. So keep on providing that valuable content that the fans love, it’s why they became fans in the first place.
Take In – The more you help, the more you’ll grow. Always provide value. Continue to help even if you see no rewards. People always will always remember when you made a difference in their lives.
In Conclusion
It really was an honor meeting @Garyvee, I’ve listened to a number of podcast interviews that he has done and I learned a lot from his story.
At the end of the day, it really is all about learning – you can never stop learning. Just when you thought you knew something, you find someone who knows it better than you.
Listen to @Garyvee in these 5 podcast interviews:
- Monetizing on your Digital Hustle with Gary Vaynerchuk – Host James Lopez
- Starve the doubts – Host Jared Easley
- Story as Strategy: How Social Storytelling Leads to Business – Host Michael Stelzner
- Michael Hyatt – Helping leaders leverage influence
- Nuclear Chowder Marketing – Host Mike Brooks
BIG SHOUT to some of the awesome people that I connected with:
- James Lopez | Cofounder | Phat Startup
- Anthony Frasier | Cofounder | Phat Startup
- Michael Kawula | Founder | Self Employed King
- Mike Ambassador Bruny | Founder | Ambassador Bruny
- Owen Soba | Founder | Parent Startups
#GreenTieConnect
