Crush It is a book written by Gary Vaynerchcuk about finding your passion and turning that hobby of yours into a business that uses social media and the internet to grow. The title comes from after you find your passion then you just constantly create killer content and you get so good that everyone follows your or goes to your website for your opinions. This could also be thought of as “killing it” but Gary uses “crush it” instead.
Gary Vaynerchuck was one of the first to see how big the internet was going to be for running a business and he has certainly benefited from it. He started a show on Youtube about wine which helped him get on the Conan show. He also started up an online store so he could sell wine from his father’s liquor store which helped grow their business’s revenue in increments of millions. He was an early investor in Twitter and now he runs his business called Vaynermedia which helps businesses market using social media.
In his book, Crush It, he gives the reader a very broad blueprint on how to get started in the online business world. It starts with finding one’s passion because if you start up a business but you don’t have a passion for what you’re doing, than you are going to get tired of running the business because there will be some adversity eventually. If you don’t have passion then once the adversity comes you will easily give up. Another reason to have passion is because running a business takes a lot of time and if you don’t have passion then you won’t be committed.
He also talks about the importance of understanding your DNA in his book.
“Your DNA dictates your passion — whatever it is you were born to do; being authentic, and being perceived as such by your audience, relies on your ability to ensure that every decision you make when it comes to your business is rooted in being true to yourself.”
“I firmly believe that the path to your successful business literally lies in the twists and turns of your own double helix.”
This means knowing who you are. If you aren’t a high energy, loud person then don’t try to be that person in your online marketing. Here is an example from Gary Vaynerchuck himself:
“[My introduction to my wine show] is not exactly what some wine lovers are looking for in a wine expert, and I lose about 12% of my viewers right off the bat because I yell and scream like a maniac. For a businessman like me, that number is intolerable, I desperately want to change the opening of my show to something a little calmer, more refined, something that won’t scare people away. But I can’t, because that yelling, screaming, super excited guy is who I am.”
He also talks about building a brand and finding the best platform for you to relay your thoughts on whatever hobby you are turning into a business. If you love sports than start up a sports blog and market it to the world but think about yourself and your website as a brand.
A brand is the image or the thoughts that immediately come to your audience’s mind once they see your logo or hear your name or hear the name of your business. Brands have a very powerful effect on people and a major influence on how people view a product so I certainly see the importance of building yourself as a brand.
“Everyone — EVERYONE — needs to start thinking of themselves as a brand. It’s no longer an option; it’s a necessity.”
The platform to relay your thoughts that Gary is talking about is how you are going to get your content out there to your audience. If you are interested in fashion then the best platform for you is probably Instagram, if you are a writer then the best platform is probably Wordpress or medium.com, if you are a stock picker then the best platform is probably Seeking Alpha, and if you are a singer or an actor/actress then the best platform is probably Youtube or Facebook. It’s important to find the platform that suits your personality, DNA, and hobby the best. Otherwise your content won’t help you get an audience or it could lead to the wrong audience.
I found his book insightful in regard to getting started and turning what you love to do into a way to make money online. It is also a quick and easy guide for beginners on how to get started. Unfortunately it is very broad and it doesn’t go into too much detail but the book was written in 2009 and Gary has provided a lot more great insights on the web since then that go further into detail. He has also written more books.
I posted some other ideas below that I highlighted from Gary’s book Crush It and in addition I added some of the other content that Gary shares on the web about “crushing it”.
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Highlights from Gary’s book:
“It’s never a bad time to start a business unless you’re starting a mediocre business.”
“When viewers posted comments on a recent episode of Diggnation saying that I was obnoxious in the forums of the show, I stayed up until 4 AM apologizing to everyone one of them.”
“A lot of people decide that professional success has to look a certain way. That’s how someone born to design bikes winds up becoming a lawyer, or someone who loves experimenting with makeup works every day pitching someone else’s overpriced brand to malls around the country, or someone who cannot go a day without jotting down some ideas for their next poem spends most of their time at the helm of an emergency IT department. To me that’s insane.”
“I’m of the opinion that hardship shapes us”
“Consumers want you to tell them the truth. Sure, they want quality and service and value and entertainment, but above all they want to know that the person they’re all dealing with is honest.”
“Every decision I make is weighed in terms of currency and legacy. Will this business deal make me money? Yes? Good. Will I be proud of how I made that money? Yes Okay, then let’s do this. If the answer is no, I don’t go there ever. Legacy always wins.”
Other Content From Gary (one of my favorites is his interview with Larry King):
Larry King Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTy8g93Trsk
Gary Vaynerchcuk’s website: https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/
Gary Vaynerchcuk’s medium blog: https://medium.com/@garyvee
Interviews with James Altucher: