Book Review: Garry Vaynerchuk Crushing It - 2018

Yo Steemians and bookworms

I recently went out and got a copy fo Gary Vees new book called Crushing It. Partly because let's face it not every day is a rosy one and sometimes you just need someone to tell you to keep going, something Gary does very well. Secondly, there is ABSOLUTELY no good shows or movies out lately, so fuck it, let's get our reading on!

Who is Gary Vaynerchuck

If you're a social media outcast or someone who isn't vested in the business side of social media then you probably need an introduction to the polarising vocal Belarusian American entrepreneur. So I'll give you a quick overview. Gary Vaynerchuk is the founder / CEO of Vaynermedia, a digital media agency which crossed $100mn in revenue in 2016. Gary, if you follow his Youtube channel is quite an inspiring guy with lots of actionable advice to entrepreneurs (especially the youth).

His made some smart business decisions over the years and his personal wealth has been estimated at $160 million – he has been an investor in Facebook, Tumblr, Buddy Media and runs a fund as well. The dude is also one of the tech entreprenuers who inspire me which I covered in this post. So when I saw his book in store I had to pick it up.

Now back to the book

Gary Vaynerchuk’s latest book, Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build their Business and Influence and How You Can, Too was released this year. It is a follow up to his 2009 book Crush it and in it, he offers a lot of tips on how to improve/build on one’s personal brand, become an influencer and leverage social media to improve your customer reach and achieve those business goals.

Quick observations about the book

• It's short, knocked it out in about 3 days and only reading about 2 hours a night.
• Its better if you've watched some of his material online. I was reading the book and hearing and mentally picturing Vaynerchuk delivering the material live, lol his got a unique style about him.
• If you're looking for a silver bullet to success this may not be THAT book.

The message he drives home

Gary Vaynerchuk is one transparent guy, he tells it like it is, he doesn't mince his words and his unapologetically himself. The self-promotion throughout the book is apparent and that is Gary Vee if you don't like it, don't engage in his content.

It is rare that you'll ever find an author say outright in his book that he doesn't care if you buy the book as long as you read it. Borrow from a friend, go to your local library or rent the book instead of buying it, he just wants to share his thoughts with you.

Whether it’s Gary’s videos, podcast, social media accounts, or books, he gives away all of his business secrets and then some, to his audience. This book is no different, it won't be different since its basically just a summary of what his been saying over the past few years and he says so in the book.

Crushing It! is Gary’s updated view on social media. He discusses the platforms currently in the running, their future potential, and he also discusses upcoming platforms we as business owners and marketers should be paying attention too.

If you had no idea how to use social media to market your business and this book is all experience you have it should be enough to get you over the line. Gary’s doesn't give you any strategy you don't already know, he just lays it out for you logically and it's up to you to put in the work each and every day to make that strategy work for you!

The book does a few things:

• Gets you motivated
• Explains the value of each social media platform
• Gives you practical and theoretical examples of how to use each platform
• Shares a real-life story of how another entrepreneur made a success of their business via a specific social media channel.

Part 1 — Motivations

In part 1 of the book, Gary discusses how anyone can achieve success on social media. But it all comes down to the one constant — mindset.

Everyone has something they’re passionate about. Whether that is knitting, graphic design, golf, sneakers, and so on. In part 1 of the book, Gary discusses how you can turn your passion into money with the use of social media. He really gets you motivated about the idea of marketing yourself and your offerings via social media and how to break through the clutter of the newsfeed.

He then shares with you with direct extracts from emails there numerous who read his previous book and put it into practice. These individuals included in part 1 of this book that did exactly what I just said — they turned their passion into an income through social media. There are some really heart-warming stories that will give you no excuse to sit around and not get what you want.

Part 2 — Choose a platform

Part 2 as I mentioned before, is about the platforms.

The platforms that are covered are: Musical.ly, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Podcasts, Voice-first. Sadly no Steemit, clearly decentralised social media sites have a long way to go before they can be seen as a viable medium in the social space.

For each social media tool, Gary gives his thoughts about the platform and also gives examples of what kind of content he would post for each individual platform. He then speaks about how this platform can apply to your business and how to evaluate if this platform is a viable tool for your offerings.

He then proceeds to includes stories from others who have used that specific platform and how they used it to grow their brand and increase their income.

These individuals give you the strategies that they have used for their success, so you can use them for your success. If you are eager to get an up-to-date look at the social media platforms, look no further than part 2 of this book.

Conclusion

If you’re looking to up your game in social media as a business owner or an influencer then I highly recommend this book. For many this may be the only book that you need to break through on social media with all the information right in front of you, it’s just a matter of you executing. How you apply the lessons to your situation and your offerings is up to you.

I have to mention as a digital marketer he focuses solely on the organic side of social media and how to grind out a following. If you're looking for more information on how to correctly use the advertising aspects within social media then this isn't the book for you.

Have your say

Have you read Crushing it or his previous book Crush it? What do you think of Garry Vaynerchuk? Which personalities do you look towards for motivation? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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