Gary Vaynerchuk continues to storm stages around the world not just building his personal brand but to impact people’s lives by helping them understand the incredible time they live in right now.
Change Creator has said it before and I’m going to say it again now, there has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur…if you’re willing to go all-in.
In this one hour video, Vaynerchuk passionately shares his insights around two key components for success:
- Mindset
- Facebook & Instagram
The Essential Foundation
While he hates to talk about the nontangible mindset factor he makes it clear that it is the essential foundation for long-term success.
“Too many of you are about to take fucking notes right now and think it’s about a Facebook ad, but if your foundation isn’t right you have no shot at long-term success.” ~Gary Vaynerchuk
He explains that so many people are in the “excuse business.” I could not agree more and it’s a huge challenge for people.
It reminds me of an interview I did with the founder of Addicted 2 Success, Joel Brown, I brought this very topic up to hear his perspective.
At the time I had many conversations with people who told me they wanted to start a business of their dreams or make a change they desire in their life but said the didn’t have time because they are busy with family, kids, whatever it was.
I asked Joel if those life situations were reasonable or excuses.
His answer was:
‘Unfortunately, those people are making excuses and the sad truth is not that they don’t have time, it’s that they aren’t willing to make the time.” ~Joel Brown
The hard truth Vaynerchuk shares is bold, honest and unfortunately, spot on – a lot of things can happen in life but the world just doesn’t give a shit.
So what has worked for Gary?
Well, simply put he states what worked for him is – optimism, gratitude and overall, a positive mindset.
Black and White
From Vaynerchuck’s perspective, life is black or white – you can be on the offense or the defense.
It’s a really simple way of putting it but sometimes keeping things simple is the best way to put it. You can walk through life creating reasons “why not” or you can walk through life creating reason “why yes.”
Sounds simple, right?
These perspectives are easy to understand but most will not consciously put in the effort to shift their thinking.
The problem is that you are deeply conditioned through all the years of your life. They way you think now is not something you just flip the switch on and change. You have to work hard at it.
The optimistic outlook he talks about is important and fundamental to long-term success because it will shape how you make decisions and the results you get.
We talk about this in a recent article we shared, “4 Tips to Get Out of Your Own Way And Create Next Level Success.”
Most of what Vaynerchuk has shared in 2017 was based on a USA perspective but during this talk, he shares fresh insights. While everyone tends to lean their marketing towards the USA as the biggest market he has found that Australia and New Zealand have a market with a 20%-40% higher consumption rate.
Don’t Judge
Nobody wants the new technology to come along and change everything we know. A lot of people hate change. I’m sure you have heard a member of an older generation say things about how it used to be or that kids today have lost the ability to connect in person.
Vaynerchuk makes the point that you can sit around and judge kids for being on the phone and not connecting the way people used to but at the end of the day, nobody cares. If you don’t adjust you will be totally left behind.
New Reality
The world is being lived through the smartphone today and that is the reality.
Years ago it was newspapers, Tv, and radio. Today its blogs, video, and podcasts. It’s the same idea but people are putting their attention in a different place.
Anything you want to do in life today as an entrepreneur requires a person’s attention – written word, audio, video. You must figure out where the people you want to share it with are and then you have to share the content.
We have all heard the hype of video. So does that mean you should become a video master? Not necessarily.
Vaynerchuk stresses that you have to be self-aware, who are you and what are you good at? Do what you’re good at!
Facebook & Instagram
Facebook and Instagram have massive audiences and the ad product is deeply underpriced right now. But it won’t be forever.
Vaynerchuk states that if you do not spend 2018 obsessing over how to succeed on Facebook and Instagram you will lose.
When Vaynerchuk was building his father’s liquor store google AdWords came out he has one big regret that offers a powerful inight. He bought every wine term for five cents a click and was getting customers for 40 to 80 cents which was worth $10-$15 to him. A huge win! But his regret was that he built his father’s company to a $60 million company but feels if he was smart he would be built it to a $250 million company. Why? He goes on to explain, at that time if he was smart he should have taken all his energy and money out of print, radio, and direct marketing and gone all in with AdWords.
From 2002-2008 guess who did go all in on that platform? Amazon!
Another great example he explains is the company called, Wish. A few years ago a few former Google engineers started the company and all they did was run Facebook ads. They were the biggest Facebook advertisers for the last five years and have exploded!
shopping app called wish – biggest facebook advertising in last five years
Nothing Lasts Forever
It’s important to understand that this opportunity could turn into a regret if you don’t take action because it will not last forever.
He estimates that you have about another 12-18 months before change happens. The biggest companies in the world are not spending enough money on these platforms. However, Vaynerchuk explains, once big brands like Mercedez Benz, Budweiser, and Coca-Cola get their act together moves their budget from old traditional marketing over to Facebook, you will no longer be able to spend $4 on a CPM (cost per thousand). It will become $86 for a CPM.
Facebook and Instagram are marketplaces. If you want to promote in their feeds you have to pay to play.
At the same time, as years go by people will get so tired of seeing ad that it will be hard and harder to get them to click and that will jack the price too.
This is a micro-moment – it will pass – you can act on it or look back later with regret.
While Vaynerchuk believes if you’re not spending 65% of your cash on Facebook and Instagram you’re leaving money on the table but he makes a few key points as to back that up with three key points before people go ham on these platforms:
- The creative and copy matter – if they suck you will lose
- Start with small budgets, test the creative and copy and then invest more on the winners.
- You have to be the practitioner to be successful – learn it yourself, don’t pass the work off to someone esle.
- Context is key – make your ad relevant such as localization – speak to specific people
It’s a science my friends, and you have to run tests.
Final Thoughts
Vaynerchuk shares a lot in this video and we tackle some of the key points here.
Being a successful entrepreneur is a skill set. You need to get yourself in the right place mentally and it takes a lot of work. Not just work, but smart work.
As we always say, the number of hours you work doesn’t matter as much as the quality of those hours.
Knowing what to do is far different than taking action and executing.
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