I find it fascinating that a lot of business books that do well are from people who've never made any money in business. Gary Vaynerchuk More Quotes by Gary Vaynerchuk More Quotes From Gary Vaynerchuk We love displays and symbols and stuff that quickly and silently tells the world who we are. Better yet, we love visual reminders of who we want to be. Gary Vaynerchuk who-we-are want world The reason I was able to grow my business was that every day, after producing 30 minutes of wine television, I spent 15 hours a day replying to every single person's e-mail and every single person's Twitter @ reply. Gary Vaynerchuk mail wine television I think being born in Belarus, coming here with nothing, my parents working every minute - that instilled a huge competitive advantage, a chip on my shoulder, a work ethic. Immigrants win a lot and they win a lot because of a couple core things. Gary Vaynerchuk couple winning thinking First of all, when building a brand you have to know who you are, what you are, and what you stand for. That's clichéd marketing-bullshit jargon, but it does matter. It helps. You have to know who you're targeting. I think too many people fight the market. There are certain people who are never going to want your stuff no matter what you do. There are certain people are never going to love me because I curse and I have bravado and I'm a Jersey boy and I'm brash and they won't take the time to see the humility and the patience and the truth. They shouldn't. Gary Vaynerchuk fighting humility boys I always say that the real success of Wine Library wasn't due to the videos I posted, but to the hours I spent talking to people online afterward, making connections and building relationships. Gary Vaynerchuk wine real talking I pride myself in listening. When you have people paying attention to you, your biggest job is to listen what they want. Deliver what your community wants. Gary Vaynerchuk pride jobs people Today, getting people to hear your story on social media, and then act on it, requires using a platform’s native language, paying attention to context, understanding the nuances and subtle differences that make each platform unique, and adapting your content to match. Gary Vaynerchuk native-language media unique Micro-Content + Community Management = Effective Social Media Marketing Gary Vaynerchuk marketing media community When the tech geeks talk, I pay close attention. Gary Vaynerchuk geek pay attention You didn't grow up driving...you figured it out. Gary Vaynerchuk driving growing-up inspirational I think the opposite version of me is the one we don't see, which is there are tens of thousands of outrageously successful businesses of very quiet, very calculated, calm executors who are confident. You can't be successful without being confident. They believe in themselves. They have their own version of assertiveness ... I think confidence matters and I think other things matter, like I would tell you empathy is probably why I'm more successful than confidence. I'm empathic to the customer, to my business partners, to my employees. Gary Vaynerchuk successful believe thinking It's a very painful, eye-opening experience to realize, "Wait a minute, my dad actually doesn't want me to be successful because he's not happy." Whether you call it misery loves company, it's not like parents are bad people. It's a human trait. It's just a thing. Gary Vaynerchuk dad successful people Use every customer point of contact to weave stories about who you are and what your brand stands for. Gary Vaynerchuk contact use stories No matter who you are or what kind of company or organization you work for, your number-one job is to tell your story to the consumer wherever they are, and preferably at the moment they are deciding to make a purchase. Gary Vaynerchuk organization numbers jobs Good salespeople sell value and social media is the best place to find this value because of its transparency. Gary Vaynerchuk best-place media social I influence anybody who is able to get through the chaos of my first impression. Gary Vaynerchuk first-impression able firsts It scares the living crap out of me how good wine is at ten dollars. Gary Vaynerchuk dollars scare wine My dad is like a cactus - introverted and tough. I'm a people person, like my mom, but I got my competitiveness from my dad. He came to this country from Belarus with nothing and built a real business. He's my hero for giving me that need to run a business and for having enormous confidence in me. Gary Vaynerchuk mom running country An amazing piece of advice for a lot of kids, 50-year-olds, whoever is listening right now: Saving money is a good strategy. I didn't have stuff, but it was because my parents were saving. They were saving. We didn't get toys. They told us to go outside and paint a rock. It was very, very smart because after seven or eight years, he was able to buy a liquor store of his own in Springfield, New Jersey - Shoppers Discount Liquors. He built up a great business. Gary Vaynerchuk smart parent kids Okay, let's talk about cartoon labels for half a second - some people think anything with a dog or a car or a colorful alien is garbage, which is not true. Look at Big Moose Red. It's, like, a $6 wine with a cheesy label, and it's actually a solid wine. Gary Vaynerchuk wine dog thinking
