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15 Things I’ve learned from Gary Vaynerchuk

I am big on reading this year as I get back to my roots. One of the best books I have read lately is from Gary Vaynerchuk. If you don’t follow him on FB or his Youtube channel I suggest that you do. I more than suggest you do….I guarantee you will learn a few things about how to hustle and apply any of his words to your everyday life. I just finished reading his book #AskGaryVee I finished it in two days because I could not put it down. He gives it to you real……like really real. It’s almost so real that it scares you into doing shat! I highlighted a few points from his book that resonated with me that I want to share……15 Things I’ve learned from Gary Vaynerchuk

15 Things I’ve learned from Gary Vaynerchuk

Ideas are worthless without the execution; execution is pointless without the ideas – They both work hand in hand. You have an idea…but you don’t execute it because you are scared. Scared of what people will say, scared of losing money, scared of putting yourself out there. I was scared for a long time that no one needed what I had to offer. My thing is this…if I offer photography so does everyone else because everyone else has a camera…how do I stand out. I am so worried about other businesses that I don’t focus on putting that effort into mine!

Cash is Oxygen – I don’t know about you but when people tell me that money doesn’t rule their life I look at them with a side eye…..so you mean to tell me if money doesn’t mean anything you can get fired tomorrow and make 0 moolah and you would be good. You will be good living in your car or having your house taken away or not being able to eat….You need cash like you need oxygen you can’t survive in this world without money. Cash allows you to live…..

You want to know how to stand out and disrupt the category? It has nothing to do with your name. Just stand out and disrupt the category – People remember the ones who stand out the most…if you don’t stand out you blend in. A company can have the simplest of names and stand out just like that. Stop putting so much into a name and put something into the business you are trying to provide. The name doesn’t matter…the business does

If you have a full time job you’re not an entrepreneur – I was taken aback by this comment but I get it.  I can’t breathe at a full time clock in job……I just can’t. I quit every job I had because I couldn’t do the clocking in and building someone else empire. I didn’t care if I was homeless……I just needed to do my own thing. What’s funny is when I was younger I was always asked what I wanted to be or do when I grow up…my answer was always to run shat. Not work for others but run my own thing….Some people aren’t cut out for entrepreneurship and that’s okay…..don’t force it if it’s not meant for you

What really scares people is not fear of failure, but fear of failing in front of someone who matters – I am scared to fail to all those that said I couldn’t do it. See I wasn’t born with wealth or status so I work for what I have so I have something to prove to those that think oh she lost her mom she can’t possibly be any good to herself. Oh..she lost her husband tragically surely that will put her down how is she coping……I have something to prove to the professor at my college who told me I would never be anything because I am not smart enough to go out there and get it…..I have something to prove

Great products or services don’t need that much marketing – There are some companies who don’t have to do a bit of selling…why? Because they know their products or services speaks for itself. Do you know that I have never ever advertised my brand photography business to anyone. No ads (yet), no paying anyone anything…all of my business comes from word of mouth. That goes for my social media marketing company too….I do both without any ads  because I offer great service for a great price and I believe in my ability to sell on what I am providing.

If you want to move mountains, you’ve got to come with thunder – Stand your ground and tell people what you will or will not do. Don’t sit by and be taken advantage of because if you don’t open your mouth you will get rolled over. Have a side of you that doesn’t take shat….if someone comes to me and says hey Kita I want a logo done and I want this this this and these colors…if I don’t agree with it I will simply tell them I think your color scheme is ugly and you are copying someone else. I only create logos that speak to who you are I am not into copying what someone else has. Have some gusto to you…don’t be a pushover….

It’s not about how much you sleep. It’s what you do while you are awake – So I get on average about 5 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. 3 at night and about two in the mornings. What am I doing while awake…for one I am a mother so half of my day is tending to kids the other half of my day is dedicated to perfecting my skills. I am either working for a client, learning something new, reading something that will help me, giving advice about something (for free), etc. Remember I run three different businesses….photography, social media marketing, and a blog. I dedicate my entire day to all three of my ventures…at some point in the day even when I am carting kids from one place to the next…I’m still working. People know me as the hardest working person out there…I work hard to provide for my kids because I know what it’s like to be hungry…I can’t go back

I’ll show you someone who’s making his or her money by selling you on the dream of that lifestyle – What comes to mind in the blog world…you know the self help gurus you pay for that will sell you on the model that works for them. You have a blogger that makes six figures and you want to be just like them so you pay two mortgages to them to teach you how to make six figures like them. What they don’t tell you is that they have friends in the PR world who gets them gigs, They don’t tell you of the contacts they have that help them, they don’t tell that they have a few assistants….they sell you on the dream of having that lifestyle and that’s how they make the core of their money. It works!

Use twitter search to act like your ear – So I don’t know about you but I still love twitter. It’s a great way to jump into a conversation and getting people to be aware of who you are without selling yourself. Perfect example I searched in twitter #atlantaphotographer a while back…..and there was a lady looking for a person to do some style shots who was reasonable with pricing. I messaged her and said….I love your outfit on your last post….I didn’t sell myself nor did I tell her what I was selling but I went in with the idea of at least speaking with her. When you speak to people 9 times out of 10 they will go to your profile and see who you are..which then leads to them asking if you do photography…why yes..yes I do. That opens the door to business without being pushy….y’all should try it sometime. BTW she is now my highest paying client and has referred numerous people to me.

Appeal to your consumers emotions – Heart, Brain, Wallet….every time < This is so so true. If you can touch them in the heart with a good story…you will have them buying anything…anything at all. People are drawn to your story….not what you provide. I always use this example there are 3 people who sell cupcakes…one of them sell it because it was passed down from generation to generation, another sells them to make money for her kids so that she can pay for them to go to activities…she is also a single mom. The other one sells it because she was a veteran who needed to bake in order to keep her home because she didn’t make enough money. Each story is different and each person will resonate with you differently for me I would go with the single mom…because I was raised by a single mom and I know how tough that can be. For someone else maybe you were in the Army….you resonate with the veterans story more…..all three cupcakes can be good…it’s the story that will make you buy from them.

Think completely left field – Everyone and their mama selling tshirts how can you be different? Maybe you can sell sweats, maybe you can make custom shirts for people to wear, maybe you can sell shirts for just kids. Do something different

Complaining fixes nothing. Only taking action does – I use to complain and worry a lot. At some point in my life I thought ….why am I complaining about not having food on my table…when I am not getting up to put the food on my table. I can complain all day and think that the money or food will fall from the sky…it wasn’t til I got up and put the work in that I was able to put food on my table.

How you react to me tells me a whole lot about you – I had a blogger that emailed me and said that I shouldn’t be blogging because I cuss to much and people don’t want to hear that….did I ask you? How you reacted to me tells me who you are. She then came to me later to ask me to work on some designs I said nope remember….I cuss to much. I don’t work with anyone that has something to say about who I am. I judge people by their attitude and how they react to things…..

Once people love you, it’s easy to sell them your stuff – I can sell anything to my core group of people because they love me. If I sell a mug….people will buy because of me. If I open a catering company people will buy because of me….if I decide to sell stuffed animals…..people will buy because of me. Get people to love you and then you can sell anything. If they don’t love you….they won’t buy. The people who always buy from you actually like you especially if you get repeat customers. That’s a great way to know if people like you…if they come back.

19 Comments

  • Nellie
    February 23, 2017 at 12:16 pm

    Yesssssssss I love me some Gary Vee!! I’m pretty sure he is the reason I quit my job lol I listened to him for months and everything he said clicked inside of me. These are fantastic tips and you are right the hardest working person in the room is the one who is working for them self!

    Reply
  • Stacie @ Divine Lifestyle
    February 24, 2017 at 2:57 am

    I’ve actually never heard of him before, but this was an amazing read. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts.

    Reply
  • Janell Poulette
    February 24, 2017 at 4:19 am

    I loved reading this, this goes really deep. I really need to get to reading some things form Gary Vaynerchuk!

    Reply
  • Tracy @ Ascending Butterfly
    February 24, 2017 at 5:10 pm

    If cussing made people ‘run’ I’d be totally effing screwed! LOL

    I have been a Digital Entrepreneur since College, I have just always been a hustler, I ran a translation and transcription service as one of three jobs to put myself through College without one bit of assistance or a loan.

    I feel ya, hustle for YOURSELF!

    Reply
  • Pam Wattenbarger
    February 24, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    These are all really true. There are so many great products that don’t get as many commercials as the bad products because they just don’t need the marketing.

    Reply
  • Theresa
    February 25, 2017 at 12:29 am

    Thank you for introducing me to Gary Vaynerchuk! It seems like he’s got a lot of great advice to offer!

    Reply
  • Marcie W.
    February 25, 2017 at 12:38 am

    This is the first I am hearing of Gary, but some of his points you mention here really hit home. I look forward to checking out his videos soon.

    Reply
  • Liz Mays
    February 25, 2017 at 1:42 am

    Wow, you’ve been able to pick up a lot of great information from him. It sounds like he has a lot of helpful advice.

    Reply
  • Shannon Graham
    February 25, 2017 at 1:44 am

    Oh my goodness, the money one is so true. As much as we would all like to think that money doesn’t rule our life, it totally does. It HAS to.

    Reply
  • Annemarie LeBlanc
    February 25, 2017 at 12:13 pm

    I want to have that book too. I would love to read it in its entirety. Thanks for sharing these valuable thoughts from Gary Vaynerchuk. He is an inspiration to many.

    Reply
  • Toni | Boulder Locavore
    February 25, 2017 at 2:28 pm

    These are great lessons! Saving this! Such a great read!

    Reply
  • Our Family World
    February 25, 2017 at 2:29 pm

    never heard about Gary before, your post sounds that he is an amazing man!

    Reply
  • Jeanine
    February 25, 2017 at 6:15 pm

    I have never heard of Gary before but am about to go check him out. Sounds like its worth checking into him and what he has to offer!

    Reply
  • Amy Desrosiers
    February 26, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    I love how honest he is with the Pr world. Connections and relationships are everything. I see even amazing quality blogs not thriving because they have not established the right connections.

    Reply
  • Veronica
    February 26, 2017 at 11:44 pm

    I love listening to Gary Vee. He will light some fire under your butt! Lol. I must get his book

    Reply
  • Crystal
    February 27, 2017 at 2:44 am

    I need a little push, so that sounds like a great author to pick up. I need to focus, rather than dividing my time between so many projects.

    Reply
  • brianne
    February 27, 2017 at 11:32 am

    Oh my gosh I love everything about this post! Especially the cash is oxygen phrase! It’s so true!

    Reply
  • KiSheyna
    February 27, 2017 at 5:37 pm

    Never heard of Gary Vaynerchuk but now I feel like I want to subscribe. So many good tips for us self-made people I took some mental notes like how to sell to people you love and standing out and distrupting a category. Im silently doing the last part but distrupting a category in a certain topic (will announce soon) because lets be honest – the marketing world will make BLOGGERS be a certain type of blogger and people will mold themselves into that blogger for money.

    Making your own lane will also make your own money so you wont have to feel like you NEED to be a hair blogger, mommy blogger, or makeup blogger to fit in.

    Reply
  • […] I normally give some reviews on books I’ve read so make sure you check 15 things I’ve learned from Gary Vaynerchuk […]

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