Gary Vaynerchuk's Blog, page 37

Why I’m Going All-In On Twitch

Earlier this year, in mid-March, eSports and Twitch experienced a massive crossover where the macro gaming entertainment scene became widely accepted by the masses because Drake and Ninja got together on Discord and streamed Fortnite.

Now, If you’ve been pretty deep into my content over the past three years, you’ll know that this didn’t come at any surprise to me; I knew that a crossover moment where Twitch and eSports would become a part of pop culture was coming because of the exponential growth of both the Twitch platform and the eSports industry. However, for what is likely the vast majority of you that haven’t been following me closely over the past three years, I had my team put my process of documentation to good use by recalling a myriad of times where I gave my thoughts on Twitch and eSports as a whole and putting them into a short one-minute video.

A post shared by Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk (@garyvee) on Mar 15, 2018 at 4:13pm PDT

Regardless, following this cultural moment with one the biggest music stars in the world and one the biggest gamers in the world, I got drilled with questions across all of my social channels asking for my thoughts on what this meant. As I see it, it is a foregone conclusion that millions of people will watch other people play video games for hours-on-end as a form of entertainment, because that’s already happened. Being said, this means that there is an incredible influx of attention on the Twitch platform, as well as competitors to Twitch, like the Chinese competitor to Twitch, Huya.

In case you were unaware, I undoubtedly believe attention to be one of the most valuable assets in today’s world. Attention is the single prerequisite to accomplishing nearly anything involving another party’s participation. It’s this simple: you can’t sell someone your newest product without first having their attention, you can’t pitch someone your startup without first having their attention, you can’t fundraise for your nonprofit without first having their attention, and you can’t change someone’s perspective in an argument without first having their attention. You can’t execute on virtually any task that requires another group or individual’s participation without their attention.

With that in mind, seeing the ample amount of attention on Twitch, I’ve decided to create my own Twitch channel and in-office Twitch studio. I call it a “Twitch studio”, but to be fair, it’s more of a streaming studio than anything else. I’m going to be using this setup for some of my Facebook streams, Instagram streams, and Twitch Streams. Also, as many of you know, I will never get romantic over a single platform. So, if a competitor to Twitch comes up and starts dominating, I’m not going to stay on Twitch just because I’m starting there, I’ll go wherever that new-found attention is or I’ll start using both platforms. One of the biggest mistakes that I see people making is that people run away from platforms as soon as their on the decline as opposed to continuing to use the previous platform in addition to whatever new platform has become a part of culture. The answer to the question of which platform should I create for is always both.

Even though I announced that I would be joining the Twitch community back in February, as I write this in July, I haven’t attacked this with the execution that I expected, mainly because I’m never really standing still and am always traveling. Even when I am in my office, I’m busy running VaynerX. Nevertheless, I’m salivating to get my Twitch game up. I feel like I’ve been watching the Twitch and eSports landscape from a far for a while now, but I’m happy that I’m getting involved when it feels authentic. I think that when you enter a niche community of any sort, you have to have a value prop that makes your entrance into those communities interesting and widely accepted or authentic. The reason why this is tough for me with Twitch is that I don’t play video games for 18 hours a day like most streamers; thus, I need to provide a value prop. Regardless, I seriously want to dominate Twitch and any other platform where I can stream games.

Obviously, I have the immediate disadvantage of having to run a $150 million dollar company during these efforts, in other words, I won’t be going live every day, but I will be making a sincere effort to be streaming at least once a week on my channel (though I’m grossly underperforming so far). So, if you’re a fan of retro-video games and my overly competitive style, go check me out on Twitch

Blowing Up My Plans to Write a Blog Post on My Analysis of Instagram TV

You see, despite being a 5X New York Times Best Selling Author, Gary actually isn’t a very good writer. Frankly, Gary barely writes in general, with the exception of the captions that he writes for his Instagram posts, yet he can simultaneously speak enough content for a novel in a matter of minutes. For those of you that may not know, in order for Gary to write blog posts and put out content in the written word, we (Team GaryVee) ask him a handful of questions about whatever the topic of the given article is. By giving Gary the format of interview questions, he can still craft his own articles from his POV without actually having to type the words.

The article you’re about to read is similar to an article we made a couple years ago, Content on Content on Content, and serves as an ideal example of how Gary looks to scale his brand’s content production and create content from other pieces of content. To give you the literal breakdown of what this blog post is made up of, this is an article that was made from an article, which was made from a video, which was filmed during the creation and review of an article.

With all being said, a little over a month ago, our team saw news from various online articles that Instagram would be launching a new app called IGTV, which would allow users to post vertical videos up to an hour long in duration. As a result of the news, Gary wanted us to prepare an article on the launch of IGTV and what his take on the platform is so that we could crush it with the SEO for Gary’s blog and be a first mover in the space.

After we spent some time getting the article together, we didn’t actually get the opportunity to sit down with Gary to review the article until two weeks later because he was in Cannes, France for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, plus a lot of what we had anticipated on mattering for IGTV didn’t exactly meet our expectations. However, when we did finally sit down with Gary, he came to the conclusion that the original IGTV article wasn’t one that he actually wanted to write because he would be making a ton of assumptions in order to actually publish anything meaningful. During our meeting time for the article, we came to the conclusion that we were going to scratch our original plan for this article and write an all encompassing take on how we got to this point in the first place and Gary’s $0.02 on his content strategy and Instagram TV. That article is here:

Why I Haven’t Come Out with My Thoughts on IGTV

I love getting meta with my content. For those of you that understand my content distribution model well, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that this article was made from a video, which was recorded during the creation of an article with my team.

To give you some context, Instagram recently launched a mobile-centric long-form video platform called “IGTV” (Instagram Television). IGTV is a standalone app that has a discovery feed integrated into Instagram. This basically means that when you’re on Instagram, you’ll be able to go to an explore section and find long-form content curated for you by the IGTV algorithm based off of your interests and people you follow, which will then take you to the IGTV app.

Simply put, a few weeks ago, when IGTV was announced, I had my team put together an article covering the app so that we could take advantage of the initial buzz and crush it on the SEO aspect for my blog. What ended up happening is that shortly into the process of reviewing the article, I realized that in order to execute on my initial plan, I was going to have to make some pretty big assumptions if I really wanted to give my $0.02 on the new platform. The issue is that I don’t have an opinion on IGTV yet, and I’m not in the prediction businesses.

Look, yes IGTV is here, but the platform hasn’t been out long enough and there hasn’t been enough going on with it for me to give anyone an opinion on it. I know that I have a reputation for frequently being right with my “predictions”, but all of the “predictions” that I’ve made in the past were given after I was thoughtful about whatever I was talking about and things were already obvious. Frankly, there’s just nothing obvious about IGTV yet. Sure, I could have continued with the article that my team prepared and just guessed on what could happen with IGTV, but I’m not a pundit and that would put me in a vulnerable position that I don’t want to be in. On the flip side, I can wait until I have a better understanding of IGTV and then give everyone my informed opinion down the line, which increases the likelihood of me being correct.

Again, I really don’t have a materialized opinion on the IGTV platform, but I can give you my surfacelevel thoughts. For starters, I think that Instagram really overestimated how much TV teenagers actually watch when they said in their IGTV announcement that teenagers are watching 40% less TV now than they did five years ago; I honestly don’t think teenagers are watching TV, period. Aside from that, I’m a little surprised that Instagram decided to launch a completely separate app as opposed to just including long-form video in Instagram itself; long-form video in Instagram would have crushed, and I still believe that to be the case. Instead of implementing long-form video into Instagram itself, they decided to directly attack YouTube, which makes sense given that they’re coming out of a very successful attack on Snapchat. Also, let’s bare in mind that YouTube is not very mobile-friendly. Take it from someone who hasn’t owned a computer in three years, YouTube is not optimized for mobile. Instagram is obviously trying to go the extra mile in becoming mobile by making IGTV a vertical video app, but aside from that, they really just have to win on having a mobile-friendly UI.

To put things into perspective, this is the same reason why Twitter was able to grow so much in the shadow of Facebook; Twitter was mobile-friendly while Facebook was for desktop. To say the least, Facebook was pretty slow to adapt to the change to mobile devices. In the same sort of light, I actually think that Tumblr could have been what Instagram is now had Tumblr been more mobile-centric. Tumblr was really slow in their transition to mobile, which is what gave Instagram so much room to grow into what it is today. With this in mind, it seems pretty smart for IGTV to go after YouTube since the YouTube app really isn’t all that great.

Moving past my immediate thoughts on IGTV and Instagram’s execution of the platform, there’s the obvious follow up question of “should you distribute your content on IGTV?”. The simple answer is of course you should, it’s more attention and exposure. What’s the downside? Look, Instagram really wants IGTV to work so that they can potentially take a piece of the market for long-form video on mobile from YouTube. So, I think that if you start uploading your content in a way that’s native to IGTV, or if you start creating content specifically for IGTV, that you’ll probably do pretty well.

To quickly recap, just because I know that I’ll get a few more clicks or reads for having an article out on IGTV when it launches (or any new app/technology for that matter) doesn’t mean that I’m going to do it. I would much rather take the time to develop an understanding for the platform before I give anyone my thoughts on it. It’s the same reason why I have a reputation for being historically correct; I wait until I feel it in the culture of our society or until I have a really good sense of where things are going.

A Facebook Live Event: Apparel & Footwear Marketing in 2018

VaynerNation, as most of you might know, in the last 8 months I’ve released three different sneakers with K-Swiss and I’ve announced that my fourth signature shoe with them, appropriately titled ‘Clouds and Dirt’, is releasing July 16th.

All of this involvement with K-Swiss has got me thinking, and from engaging with all of you over the years, I know my community has a lot of heart and interest in understanding how to grow an apparel brand, be it sneakers, hoodies, t-shirts, etc.

So .. with that .. I wanted to do something special for you all which I’m dubbing ‘Apparel and Footwear Marketing in 2018.’ It’ll be a three hour livestream held on June 12th from 2:30 – 5:30 PM EST consisting of an open conversation about my take on what we’re doing with K-Swiss and how I’ve been able to scale that relationship, but more importantly, what anyone living in 2018 with the ambition of growing an apparel brand should be focusing on in order to get their business to where they want it to be.

And as you saw in 2016 with my #AskGaryVee Book Super-8 livestream, this one might just get a little crazy too. I’ll be going live on all major livestreaming platforms so expect to have some fun with me

Cheering for Optimism and The Internet

Listen, If there is anything I could wish on you, more than my work ethic, or my energy, or my charisma, it would be the mindset and perspective of how good life really is. I for one, was born in the former Soviet Union, with no internet and no capitalism to save me. Due to my circumstances and the reality that I immigrated to the US in 1978 and was somehow perfectly parented without the aircover to dwell or complain, I became rooted in a foundation of gratitude and a level of perspective and practicality that changed my life and behavior permanently.

Many of us are complaining and we don’t realize that this is the single greatest era to be alive in human history. It’s almost a non-debate.

You Literally Have More Opportunity Than Ever

Everything points to the fact that the world is getting better. There’s more opportunity than ever because the internet changed everything. At the most macro, I point to things like the internet adding 1.7 billion users since January 2012! That’s 88% growth in terms of total internet accessibility. Additionally, in that time, 864 million people have joined a social network, gaining access to more information, entertainment, and community online. Since 1900, the global life expectancy has more than doubled. People are living longer and global health is improving. Global conflict has also dramatically declined. These facts, and many more clearly articulate the positivity and optimism I see that the world truly better than it was before.

Not only has life expectancy, poverty, illness and conflict dramatically improved from generations past, we now have a truly limitless playground called “the internet” to connect, create, learn, and work from at every second of every day. Just 30 years ago, if you hated your job, your life, your friends, or your town, you had nowhere to go. Now, with the internet, and especially the advent of the smartphone, you can use the device in your pocket to find new friends, colleagues, communities, job opportunities, entertainment or even the tools you need to build your own business while laying naked in bed. The internet and the opportunities it’s granted us are ludicrous and I hope this article can get at least one person to take a step back and recalibrate their perspective.

And obviously with an article title like “The Greatest Year To Be Alive” I understand that there are subtleties and nuances up for debate. But on a macro scale, things are just better than they’ve ever been. Trust me, I am enormously empathetic to the strifes and struggles that are happening all over. I’m not blind to the reality that horrendous things still happen but I challenge you to understand the fact that because of the enormous amplification and distribution of this information through the internet does it appear that we are being bombarded with bad news everyday … It used to be that you only heard about the news in your town and maybe the town over. Even with newspapers, we were operating on information at a state or national scale and we had to actively subscribe or purchase a physical copy to stay in the loop. Today, the world has gone global and there’s more info than ever being presented to us at all times. But, there’s also a flipside to this proliferation of information and access too. We now have more opportunity than ever and for once, we actually have an alternative.

You Have Limitless Alternatives – Don’t Complain

30 years ago, your grandparents couldn’t build a business from the comfort of their own home, or on the way to work riding on the bus or train. Your grandparents couldn’t consume content and learn about entrepreneurship from a hundred different sources while grabbing groceries and listening to a podcast on their wireless earphones. Most of your grandparents would probably struggle to have 500 people listen to their opinion in their lifetime, and now we complain about having “only 10,000 views or only 10,000 followers online.” The distribution and disruption that the internet has enabled for us all is insane.  

Now anyone with the access to the internet has a legitimate alternative. An alternative to what content they consume and when they consume it. An alternative to which friends they associate with or want to communicate with all across the world. An alternative to where you work, how you work, and with whom you work at any given moment. With social media and the smartphone we have a choice. We have infinite alternatives.

. My parents never supported me. – My teachers sucked. – My neighborhood was a mess. – I grew up too rich and was handed everything and am now soft. – All the attention went to my older sister. – We had no money. – My boss sucks. – My job doesn’t value me. – I’m in huge college debt. – My wife doesn’t support me. – My boyfriend doesn’t think I can do it. – Everyone will laugh. – The love I have for this instagram community is immense, I wish I have the chance to meet, hug, show love to all of you, but if I don’t get the chance please my friends understand one thing, #accountability and a lack of #dwelling is the quickest path to #success and #happiness Xoxox – Signed – #garyvee

A post shared by Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk (@garyvee) on Apr 22, 2018 at 7:48am PDT

The cost of starting a business or producing content in today’s digital age is dramatically lower than it’s ever been. The processor in the iPhone is millions of times of times more powerful than the computer that first took the US to the moon. Yes, the moon, my friends… If I wanted to produce a long form video show to mirror my vlog, and a radio show to mimic my podcast, and billboards to mimic my images on Instagram, I would have to spend millions of dollars just 20 years ago. Today, the barrier to entry is practically zero. If you have a smartphone and access to the internet, you are in the game. You can document, create and distribute, at scale, through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitch, iTunes and many other platforms for pretty much free.

If you don’t have capital, you can literally go to the Craigslist free section and start picking up and selling items on other marketplaces, for close to free. If you don’t have the gratitude and perspective to appreciate that then you’re not in the right headspace to win. The reason I push so hard on developing this perspective and mindset is because it’s absolutely the foundation of a winning career.

How to ACTUALLY Make Money for Free | The Craigslist "Free" Section

This video will literally change your life.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHERE AND HOW TO GET THE GARYVEE 003 CLOUDS & DIRT SHOE

If by some means you haven’t already heard, my third sneaker collaboration with K-Swiss, the GaryVee 003 Clouds & Dirt, is officially available in stores and for international orders everywhere Now! 

GARYVEE 003 CLOUDS & DIRT SHOE ANNOUNCEMENT

Excited to be announcing my third sneaker collaboration with K-Swiss, the GaryVee 003 Clouds & Dirt available for pre-order right now, with shipping and international orders on July 16.

After two launches where we had incredibly high demand which led to the 001 and 002’s selling out and some issues with fulfillment & logistics, I wanted to get ahead of the market and do the release in a way where we would ensure everyone who wants a pair can get one with less friction. That’s why they are available for pre-order now through K-Swiss and their partners.

GARYVEE 003 CLOUDS & DIRT

Where You Can Pre-Order The Shoe Right Now

Pre-Order Now On KSwiss.Com

Pre-Order Now on Footaction.com

The GaryVee 003 is my latest collaboration between K-Swiss. Dubbed as ‘Sneakers for CEOs’ the collaboration is aimed at the next generation of hustlers and entrepreneurs.

It is based upon the legendary K-Swiss Classic 88, a timeless icon in the sneaker game. For the first time in its 50 year history, the K-Swiss Classic 88 is presented in a knitted upper for comfort and breathability, while retaining the heritage design DNA of the three-piece toe, D-rings and rubber outsole.

The shoe will be available for pre-sale, from now until June 16th

It’s Time You Stop Comparing Yourself To What You See On Instagram

Newsflash! Someone’s Instagram feed is not their reality. It’s the perfect, PR’d version of their “best self” and doesn’t map to the actual truth of what’s going on … It’s almost always not the full story and you have to stop comparing yourself to what you see on the gram. Too many of you have your self-esteem and self-worth tied up in your social media status. Blue check marks, followers, likes, comments and engagement mean nothing if you’re miserable. Having “CEO” in your bio doesn’t mean you’re an entrepreneur.

Too many of you are ”faking the funk” and it’s going to end badly. You’re caught up in a narrative that doesn’t map to your reality and you are going to lose. As my own audience shifts younger, I feel a real responsibility to change the conversation. Too many of you are afraid of posting your real, raw, authentic truths and I promise you it’s a mistake. Instead of crafting your narrative around some delusional fantasy, try documenting what’s actually on your mind. Show people the struggle, the work ethic, the long hours, the time off, your thoughts, your victories and your mistakes as you go through the process of “getting yours.” In short, show the world what’s real. It’s okay to have ambition and want to be great but fronting to appease your girlfriend, boyfriend, boss or best friend is only holding you back. 

. Stop overthinking what you put out on social media, no one wants your PR story or your over produced life, just spit your truths! – Try something right now, post on Instagram either a picture of what you’re looking at and where your mindset is right now, or make a 1 Min video camera to face and tell your community your feelings! – #garyvee #action #gotForIt

A post shared by Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk (@garyvee) on Feb 17, 2018 at 10:53am PST

I promise you, if there’s one thing I know for sure it’s that speaking your truth is the only way to win, let alone feel comfortable with yourself and what you put online. If I could just get one person to understand that, this rant will be worth it. The reason I’ve built an audience, and the reason I’ve stayed relevant through my content and brand is because people can see through the bullshit. After 10 years of consistent output, I’ve built a level of trust with my community around my pillars of gratitude, kindness, hustle, and results.  Whether you think I’m a snake oil salesman or one of the better entrepreneurs of this generation, you can’t deny the fact that I’ve put in the reps. I’ve documented the journey and shown you my reality. It’s why I do what I do.

The reason I push so hard on this is because I think it’s an enormous unlock for every 15-45 year old struggling with the anxieties and stress of social media. So many of you are playing to a fake narrative instead of putting in the actual work that’s needed to pull it off. You’re wishing instead of executing. Then what happens is you begin lying to yourself, and you know it, which then changes your behavior in the way you interact with others.

 

. Before you can be “real” and “authentic “ with your audience and your content and your posts, you’ve got to figure out how to be real with yourself. – Remember, we all suck at stuff – Remember, everyone else is dealing with issues and problems too – Remember, faking it, till you make it, is harder in a Transparent world and was always taken out of context. – Remember if you don’t like yourself, you have no shot being liked. – Remember, not everyone needs to be a entrepreneur. – #selfawareness is the fucking game

A post shared by Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk (@garyvee) on Mar 24, 2018 at 4:48am PDT

And listen, cars and watches and clothing, are fine if you truly value that, but what’s even better is the feeling of happiness and security and self-awareness of knowing you’re speaking your truth.

When you compare yourself to others, you forget your own POV. When thinking about what to put on social, don’t beat yourself up and don’t hold yourself accountable to bullshit fantasies.

You’re not Kylie Jenner, or Jake Paul, or Ninja on Twitch… You’re YOU. You might admire them and think to emulate them, and one day build the following to be like them, but right now you’re not there, and the only way you’re ever gonna “get there” is by speaking your truth. 

When you’re you’re just starting out, the only thing you can do is put in work and enjoy that. Enjoy eating shit, and dirt, and bleeding, and the grind, and don’t give a fuck about what anybody else thinks, why you haven’t done it, and why you are doing what you do. Post, learn, work and don’t think you’re a life coach just because you’re 22 and you have an Instagram account.

The reason I’m trippling down is because  95% of you reading this are playing the same game. I promise you, slow and steady wins the race. You’re only competing with yourself.

Stop trying to play by others opinions … it's killing you … how can I help you besides motivating the debate through my words and videos? Please understand how important this photo is … pass it on!

A post shared by Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk (@garyvee) on Mar 5, 2017 at 6:34am PST

Nobody else defines you but you. Not me, not everybody watching, not your mom, not the Kardashians.

Let go of the insecurity, stop judging yourself for what you create, and find the aircover to do you.

Thanks for reading 

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Gary Vaynerchuk on ABC Nightline | 2018

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How VaynerMedia’s 4Ds Helped a Mission Driven Company Achieve More Impact

Eric Spofford and Granite Recovery Centers have a real story. They are one of the largest, high quality, affordable, addiction treatment organizations in the northeast operating numerous locations in New Hampshire, comprised of over 200 employees. Eric himself, the founder of GRC and alumnus of our 4Ds program, is a recovering addict, on a life mission to help those struggling with addiction. We were very fortunate to have him attend our one-day workshop and wow am I blown away by how quickly he’s implemented the tactics he was taught and what it has done to for his company’s general marketing presence in such a short period of time.

For starters, three months before Eric arrived, they weren’t even thinking about producing content for social media! Four weeks after attending our program they have hundreds of thousands of combined video views and thousands of followers on their Facebook page. 1 day after attending VaynerMedia’s 4Ds, Granite Recovery Centers posted a video on their Facebook page that received 18,000 views. Obviously, as a physical facility, you can only reach so many people, but what Eric has now realized is that through a smart digital strategy, his potential impact and reach has grown dramatically.

Knowing what has happened since Eric attended our 4Ds workshop, I had a member of my team follow up with Eric to get his full POV on the experience and the impact of attending the 4Ds. Here is what he had to say:

How did you first learn about the 4Ds?

By the time I actually attended the 4Ds, I had only known who Gary Vaynerchuk was for 3 months. I found his content on YouTube and immediately resonated with what he had to say. I’m also a serial entrepreneur, so listening to Gary immediately validated that we were speaking the same language. You don’t find a lot of us. So when I found his content, I felt the connection. I dove right in and eventually learned about the Deep Dive that VaynerMedia offers.

What Has Impacted You The Most About the 4Ds?

The biggest takeaway was the way to think about and approach content. At Granite Recovery Centers, we are all about providing the best product, service, and treatment to help people get better and everything else is secondary.

But when you are in this line of work, you realize that every individual who comes in has an unbelievable personal story that can potentially be shared and have profound impact on the lives of others going through similar struggles. Because of the power of social media, we’re actually able to produce these videos that can then impact thousands of people who are struggling with the same thing. Not only will it help create opportunities for our business but it will amplify our mission to impact more lives and that’s something that can’t be ignored.

What Was The Most Meaningful Session at the 4Ds?

The aspect I’m most excited about is how language and purpose can help catalyze our mission. Our session with Claude the Chief Heart Officer really put words to what we do. Leading with love, kindness, gratitude and care for every individual we serve and every individual we employee. A powerful mission, spoken correctly, can empower everyone from our facilities staff to our senior management to understand that what we do, changes lives. It literally could be the difference between life or death, broken families, and broken dreams. We take this very seriously and some of the information and language in that session inspired me to communicate in a new way. It’s paramount to our legacy. New Hampshire and the north east is ground zero for the heroin epidemic. In New Hampshire, you’re more likely to die of a heroin overdose than a car accident. It’s the number one leading cause of accidental death. We want to help change that.

What Surprised You About the 4Ds?

I came for the social media strategy and to get a better understanding of marketing, but I really wasn’t prepared for how impactful it was going to be. I don’t know why I just haven’t really thought about producing this content and how it could impact our brand and business in such a significant way. We’ve doubled down with a full-time videographer and editor and it has really worked. We’re now sharing short clips of people telling their story as well as videos from our staff sharing lessons on how to get better. I have seen the comments on Facebook. People are being impacted by what we create and we’ve only just begun.

Would You Recommend the 4Ds?

YES. I remember having a conversation with my national head of marketing who is also my best friend and we talked about how $10,000 was a lot for a day. But I really feel the whole 4Ds experience was like pouring a 5 gallon bucket of gas on a flame. I remember thinking, it’s a lot of dough but if I come back inspired with something new it’ll be worth 100.

I’m telling you right now it’s worth 250.

Ultimately, I want my tombstone to say that “this man fought courageously for a lifetime to help save lives of people that struggled with addiction.” The 4Ds directly ties into that and now I know I have a better blueprint to get there which is practically priceless.

You can check out Eric’s personal page here as he continue to position himself as a voice in the industry and follow along with Granite Recovery Center’s content on Facebook.

The post How VaynerMedia’s 4Ds Helped a Mission Driven Company Achieve More Impact appeared first on GaryVaynerchuk.com.

10 of My Top Instagram Quotes That Have Over-Indexed On The Platform

Listen, I don’t love giving general advice without knowing the exact context of the situation. I try to search for general themes that articulate a macro truth. These are 10 quotes that have helped solidify my own thinking about work and life and have, for all intensive purposes, worked for me as a guiding blueprint to navigate my own personal journey. These quotes have also resonated with my incredible community on Instagram who, without which, I would not have the same presence online.

1. Winning Is Not Defined By Me … It’s Defined By YOU!

Stop trying to play by others opinions … it's killing you … how can I help you besides motivating the debate through my words and videos? Please understand how important this photo is … pass it on!

A post shared by Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk (@garyvee) on Mar 5, 2017 at 6:34am PST

The second you let someone else dictate or define your hopes and dreams is the second you lose. You need to define yourself, for yourself, by yourself, as yourself. If I can get one person to understand that “happiness is the metric” then you will win.

2. Focus on Your Own Sh*T!

Enough with the envy .. stunned reading emails tonight about people worrying about what others have … come on … WHO GIVES A FUCK … focus on your own game..

A post shared by Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk (@garyvee) on Mar 24, 2017 at 6:55pm PDT

This is the blueprint. Along with not giving a fuck about anyone else’s opinion, you can’t caught up in what your friends have, parents have, boyfriend, boss or brother does with his or her “wins.” Envy is the fucking enemy and once you let go of everything outside of your control, you can finally focus on your own game and “get yours.”

3. Nothing Beats DOING!

Lets fucking move – nothing beats DOING – perfection, procrastination, pondering all enemies – STOP LOOKING FOR PERMISSION AND WORRYING ABOUT OTHERS. – #MoreMoreMore ..

A post shared by Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk (@garyvee) on Feb 21, 2017 at 1:22pm PST

You have one life. What are you gonna do about it? The reason I preach patience is because we all need more at-bats. Everyone fails, everyone loses, everyone sucks at something. The problem is, you can either ponder and look for permission, or you can execute and do your thing. Nothing beats DOING .. ever.

4. It’s About What You Do When You’re Awake

Don't get it twisted … sleep is super important .. you can be up 22 hrs a day but if you waste it … nothing good is gonna happen! #entrepreneur #hustlehard #execute #selfawareness #sleep

A post shared by Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk (@garyvee) on Jan 19, 2017 at 2:57pm PST

This one is super important and tied to the self-awareness of what makes you tick. Maybe you need to sleep for 10 hours a day .. and that’s fine by me! But if you complain, and you’re awake, and you’re wasting every second playing Fortnite and watching Netflix, you will lose. The best advice I can give is to really audit yourself and how you spend your day. Do your actions map your ambitions? Are you happy with your 4 or 14 hours of sleep or work? If not, take this statement and re-adjust!

5. Eat Shit For 24 Months & Eat Caviar For The Rest of Your Life

You need to be willing to eat shit, bleed, get laughed at, judged, snickered at, whispered behind,bet against, misunderstood … If you believe in yourself and what you are doing and are acting like life is long and if you do the right things it's plays out then DO YOU … I wish you heard and saw what people said about me from 1988-2003 … I knew who I was and I was willing to be patient and work my face off to say "Now what assholes" .. stick it to the world if the world sleeps on you…BUT DO IT THE RIGHT WAY AND KNOW .. it's gonna be painful before it's amazing

A post shared by Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk (@garyvee) on Apr 1, 2017 at 7:30am PDT

I’ve seen this first hand, from producing a 1000 episodes of WineLibrary TV to posting 40x a day on Twitter for years before anyone cared.

The fact of the matter is you need to be willing to eat shit, bleed, get laughed at, judged, snickered at, whispered behind, bet against, misunderstood and put down … If you believe in yourself and what you are doing and are acting like life is long and if you do the right things it plays out so DO YOU … I wish you heard and saw what people said about me from 1988–2003 … I knew who I was and I was willing to be patient and work my face off to say “Now what assholes” .. stick it to the world if the world sleeps on you…BUT DO IT THE RIGHT WAY AND KNOW .. it’s gonna be painful before it’s amazing.

6. Go Take That “Chance”

. #ActionPledge – let’s make a promise right now that after you comment on this post, you will go out and “do” call/ Text/ go/ and do something you’ve been wanting to do. – In this post I talk about relationships but maybe you go now and quit your awful job, start your business, post a Instagram post and speak your truth finally not your PR’d version of your life. – Who’s into doing ? – Who’s into tagging someone who needs this? – Who’s into living Fucking life!

A post shared by Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk (@garyvee) on Mar 20, 2018 at 2:05pm PDT

I need you to take that “chance” .. That girl, that guy, that job, that company, that idea, that friend, that meeting, that moment. I want to be your shield, so you can go out and actually try. If you want to get to the places you’ve never been .. you gotta do the things you’ve never done ..