You Can't "Crush It" to a Degree

Many of you that follow me know that I am a fan of what Gary Vaynerchuk has done. I'll admit, I don't religiously watch Wine Library TV, and at first I honestly thought the guy was obnoxious. I didn't really appreciate what he was doing until I decided to watch this keynote speech he gave.

Since then, Gary has shared a number of other keynotes, thoughts, best practices, and released his book Crush It! It's been interesting to follow him and share what he has done with others. It seems like no one, and I mean NO ONE, knows (for the most part) who this guy is outside of the online nerd world. I'll talk to wine stewards at restaurants and local liquor store wine experts that have no idea who he is. Even with that, he is wildly successful and his book was on the NY Times bestseller list for quite awhile.

Gary blogs on a regular basis and chooses a video format to share his thoughts. While his messages are similar, they are most always relevant and touch on the concept to "Crush It". They may have a different angle or tidbit beyond what he wrote for the book, but that's why the Internet is so awesome. We don't have to wait for him to write another book. Very much so why I enjoy Seth Godin as well.

So with this success and transparency comes criticism. In a recent post Gary suggests to "just grab it". He shares a good point and as usual most everyone that comments is in agreement with him. However, further down in the comments you can read thoughts from "Rick". Rick seems to be a bit stuck in his quest to "Crush It" and is reaching out/challenging Gary to bring more to the table. Here's what Rick had to say:

Hey Gary,

I don't know if and when you'll read this but I hope it gets to you someway and somehow. I've read your book and I believe that I understand it what you say it takes to "Crush It". I've looked at every single video on this blog. I watched many of your video wine shows. I've seen you on at least a dozen shows being interviewed by the media. I've been following you for about 3.5 years and I've seen your growth. I get it or at least I think I do after hearing you say many of the same things a half dozen different ways.

However, and I think I speak for the masses here why don't you put your money where your mouth is. I don't mean this in a derogatory way and I will explain exactly what I mean. I'm looking for your response here and not your followers even though many will come to your aid as they will deem my post inflammatory. I want you to know up front that I am not trying to garner any name for myself so I'm going to purposely leave off my website and I will only use my first name.

If nothing else I hope you respond for the general masses. I know your book is doing well and so it should be. I know you give away tons of free content and I thank you for that. I realize that we live in a "thank you" economy and for no other reason that may be why so many people bought the book. I bought it in pre-release because I knew if you had your hands in it that it would be content filled. After reading I'm still 100% certain that I know how to Crush It. I'm being totally honest and transparent because I know that is what you would want.

But I think it's time to take this game to another level. Are you up for the challenge? Are you ready to Crush It? Are you ready to help your community Crush It and Grab It? If so, here's what I'm proposing. This list is by no means exhaustive.

I have to admit what I'm about to share with you is not my idea. I heard about it and I feel that since I've been around the Internet it is one of the most brilliant ideas that I've seen suggested. So here goes.

People remember
10% of what they hear about
30% of what they see in action
50% of what they hear, see and are able to explain to others
70% of what they hear, see and do
90% of what they analyze, do and are able to explain to others

You could argue the above numbers but there is no denying that the percentages increase significantly from the first scenario to the last. Have you actually taught people how to Crush It when they haven't learned? I know how much you care about people so please be honest with yourself as you answer this question. Unfortunately, when those that follow you fail in a sense you've failed. When those that hang on your every word fail to Crush It, you've actually have failed to Crush It regardless of how many books you sell.

The new models says: (you may already do some of this but how much more could you do?)

Rather than Preach ----Prove in the now..this year...2010
Rather than Lecture ---Listen
Rather than Coach--Communicate
Rather than Direct-- Demonstrate
Rather than Persuade -- Participate with your community
Rather than Explain -- Experience with your community
Rather than Sell -- Serve (you do this to a very high degree now)

The benefits to your community and you....
Your training is fresh and in the now not something back in 2005. The Internet is changing fast as we both know.
You create great case studies in the now
Market saturation is non existent because there are an infinite number of ideas
True credibility based on current knowledge
Many new income streams created
Frees you up to build on many more ideas and requires much less of your time

You mentioned in your book some business ideas that you think are going to be big in 2010 but you will not have time to get to. Why don't you take some people who are willing to learn through the process of what you say it takes to Crush It.

Show don't tell. I haven't worked out all of the bugs or the methodology in what I'm proposing but I have a sneaking suspicion that if the business model doesn't change on how you impart information you will be saying much of what you said in 2009 in 2010.

Why does the preacher keep preaching the same sermon every Sunday? Because the people haven't started implementing none of what he said from the last sermon. I have a strange feeling that the preacher might not be doing much of what he's preaching about in the pulpits. If he is he's doing a very poor job of imparting that information to his congregation.

Frankly I'm tired of the "gurus" talking about this is what I did and if you follow exactly what I did you can achieve the results you desire. How many times does the guru have to say those words before the realize they are quite ineffective? I don't think the masses of people are lazy or soft. I think that many of them just don't know what to do and how to do it.

Gary put your money where you mouth is and help more people Crush It by showing them rather than talking about it. Not just showing them what you do but showing them how to do it for themselves. Teach them how to fish....please. If not you then who?

I love you Gary.

After reading this I not only felt compelled to respond, but also wanted to share this with those of you that follow this blog. I know I don't write too much here and mostly focus on my apartment marketing, but I found this to be an interesting story to tell. Here's my comment to Rick:

Rick, I'm not sure how much more Gary can show you "How to Crush It"? It sounds to me you are suggesting he help people start their businesses. I don't believe Gary has suggested that if one follows exactly what he does they will get the results desired. What he suggests is that you (or anyone) has an opportunity to build something. All the tools are at our finger tips, but we have to go out and apply them the best way that fits us individually and/or our businesses.

There is no cookie cutter approach to being successful or to social media. Gary has shared and continues to share best practices or ideas to point people in the right direction, but it's going to take someone's unique passion and vision for what they want to do to make them successful. I think asking Gary for vision for each and every person he touches is an unfair request.

While I understand you are not attacking him here, I believe what you are asking of him is unrealistic. My point is that Gary himself could not take any and every product or business or industry and recreate what he has done with Wine Library by doing all the exact same things. The reason is not because selling wine is unique, it's just not his passion to schlep comic books, batteries, office supplies, insurance, or real estate. Could he do a fairly good job at it? I'm sure he could, but people would recognize he's missing the same passion he puts into wine or the Jets.

It's one's individual passion and vision that will create success. What many may gloss over and misunderstand is that this passion and vision are what's most important, it’s not the tools. It's the passion and vision that drive the content you create online. That's not something he can provide to each and every person. And even if he tried to help everyone with the vision, it’s still going to take the passion to “Crush It!”.

Now, I’m not trying to attack you or what you’ve done. I think it’s admirable for you to post this as many are probably feeling the same way. My question would be for you and others that are maybe struggling with the concept of crushing it, “Do you love what you do?” Take a step back and really think about it. Most people will say yes, and they are probably right to a degree. It’s the degree that matters. To what degree do you love what you do. Gary is boiling over, where are you on the thermometer? Better yet, where do your customers perceive you to be on the thermometer?

I apologize for the length of the post. I'd love to hear thoughts from others on this. Do you love what you do? Where do you perceive yourself to be on the thermometer? Where do your customers perceive you to be?

Thanks for reading and enjoy your New Years!

The Irony of Revenge in Social Media

I really disagree with a recent blog post by a good friend, and the idea to unfriend someone on facebook because of a comment determined to be "negative for negativity's sake." I appreciate the candid feedback given and for sharing the story, but from my perspective the blog post basically tells peers, clients, competitors, and readers it's OK to just delete their critics if they want to. I know there is more of a story behind this post, but I still feel the approach is wrong whether it's a customer, peer, or competitor. There is a time and place to "fire" a customer or friend, but I don't believe it is on facebook. My friend didn't even take their own advice and privately call or message the person they fired. Instead, decided to not "give it a second thought", unfriended the person, and then ironically blogged about it.

I'll admit, I'm no saint when it comes to online criticism. I do have a tendency to dish it out, and it could be interpreted as good or bad. A few months ago I chose to call out someone on Twitter for being too critical. I was blocked from their account and accused of "attacking" them. Was it right for me to say what I did? Did I deserve to be blocked? I was being critical of that person being critical. Criticism happens frequently in social media, and even by many of the top bloggers and experts in the space. Maybe I took it too far, and maybe I should have called them or emailed them privately. We did exchange a few messages after my comment, but then the Twitter relationship ended. My bad I guess, but I felt at the time something needed to be said and I chose to do it publicly, right or wrong. We all make mistakes, and, yes, sometimes it's not cool. However, haven't many of us agreed that criticism is an opportunity? Shouldn't we be accepting the good with the bad? I suppose many times it is hard to swallow, but maybe we're often too quick to judge as well.

How often, as voices in our space or online in general, do we have a tendency to be overly critical or critical too often? In reflecting on some of my own comments and looking at what a number of others I have friended or follow say, I can definitely tell you that many are more critical (including myself) than we may view ourselves. Some may be considered hyper-critical, but it's all open to interpretation by others. We all look at brands or people differently, and we all have differing levels of acceptance or tolerance for criticism. This is something I think we should all keep in mind when interpreting a customer's viewpoint or comments, and possibly judging too quickly.

Wouldn't we all love if our customers would pick up the phone and voice their concerns vs. turning to social media commenting or rating sites like Yelp! ? Of course, but the reality is that people can somewhat hide behind the internet and reduce the amount of confrontation they take on. They feel good about voicing their concern, and they get it off their chest whether or not it's in the most appropriate form. So, yes, ideally make a phone call please or send a private email/message if you have criticism to share, but let's not stomp on the people that don't.

These critics (regardless of where they come from or how they communicate) are customers. Someone that has made a statement maybe we don't like. Does that mean the person is wrong? Do we sometimes get too defensive and not put ourselves in our customer's shoes? We talk about responding to negative reviews on ratings sites, so how is facebook any different? It's only different in that we have more control I suppose. What would happen if that person created a Yelp! review page for you as an individual (your personal brand) and decided to post a negative review? What would you do then?

So put yourself in my friend's shoes. You essentially just had a negative review, but instead of responding in an apologetic way or a way seeking to improve the relationship you've decided to fire the person. Then your friend blogs about how he doesn't like your approach, thinks it's ironic that you chose to blog about the experience, and essentially criticizes you for not eating your own dog food. What do you do now?

Comments

So I haven't written my own post in awhile, but I've been commenting on Mike's blog more regularly. While I tend to play the devil's advocate in a number of my comments and posts I hope those comments don't get interpreted the wrong way. I think in the world of blogging, email, and writing in general many things can be misinterpreted and appear negative. For me, taking the other side of a conversation can help spur conversations or drill down into the heart of the issues being discussed. Unfortunately for some, I plan to continue challenging ideas. This may be annoying, but I hope together we can discover something new and innovative to help our businesses or lives. Don't take me too seriously and feel free to challenge me back.