Gary Vaynerchuk's Blog, page 52

Why Playing in the Dirt Matters in Building Your Business Empire

Most people suck at marketing. Why? Because they’re too focused on the big picture and their end game (what I call the “clouds”). And I get it—the dream is what drives you. It’s fun to be romantic about the clouds. The clouds are something I massively believe in. I love to think about the day I’ll own the New York Jets. But, the problem arises when marketers forget about the other half of the equation: the dirt—the skills, the talent, and the grind that gets you there.

You see this all the time with marketers who want to sell using the tactics that have traditionally worked for them. They get too lazy and complacent and don’t take the time to learn how a new app works or where the market is going. They think that just because they have honed their craft once, they’re entitled to their clouds.

What people don’t understand is that the dirt is important because, unless you actually have the skills, neither your reputation nor what you did the day before is going to keep a business successful. You’re only as good as your last at bat. Your success is going to be predicated on the dirt, which comes from two things: (1) the work ethic to get your hands dirty and (2) the experience you get from doing it.

Here’s the thing: if you’re not constantly working on your craft—if you get too romantic about doing things how they’ve “always been done”—you’re going to lose. You need to be a practitioner.

Your success is going to be predicated on the dirt.

Think about what happened when Snapchat came out in 2011. Most marketers and business professionals were either afraid of it or saw zero potential for it to be a marketing platform. Why? Because so many headlines read about how it was the “sexting app” and how “disappearing photos” couldn’t be used to market anything. How would a video that’s only visible once for 10 second compare to anything on television or an ad in a magazine? (If you’ve read my thoughts on Snapchat, you know the answer.)

It amazes me how television commercials act the same way (shows up and then disappears), yet marketers would rather pay millions in television ad spend over Snapchat videos. They were so digitally entrenched and hung up on “everything lasting forever” that they forgot how branding works. They took the time to read the headlines, but didn’t put in the time to use the app and understand the new platform themselves.

So if you want to learn how to use Snapchat, or any skill for that matter, it’s going to take anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 years to actually get it. Most marketers aren’t even applying one minute of dedicated practitionership.

It blows my mind how many of you think you can become successful without being a practitioner. I wouldn’t have the audacity to think I could walk into an unfamiliar industry and immediately be successful. Fashion, selling cars, whatever it may be, I’d probably suck at it at the start. But, over a five-year period, I know I could be successful because I put in the five years to really learn it by doing it. You can’t be successful by just saying it—you have to have the talent to learn and also be willing to put in the work.

Personally, I love working in the dirt. I believe I love dirt more than most people. (I was even in .) I love working on my craft because you can’t cheat the work ethic required and there’s no substitution for it.

Practitionership and taking the time to hone your craft is why I respect comedians who go to small venues even during their prime. Take Seinfeld or Chris Rock, for example. Even after all their success, they continue to test out material in small clubs in middle America. No glory, just craft. That’s real dirt—never getting too fancy to forget what got you there in the first place.

The dirt is never getting too fancy to forget what got you there in the first place.

The bottom line is that if you want to be a better marketer, you need to put in the work or you’re going to get left in the dust by those who do. It means putting in the effort to really learn and understand the up-and-coming “fads” and trends. It means downloading whatever new app is exploding the market and taking the time to really understand it. Sometimes, it even means dedicating a few years to learn a new skill. You become successful by being willing to put in the work and then actually executing on it. By living in the dirt, you can get to the clouds.

If you want to hear more about the dirt, check out Episode 033 of #DailyVee below.

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My Advice for First-Time Entrepreneurs

I’ve said it time and time again: Entrepreneurship is hard and it’s not for everyone. If, after taking a realistic personal inventory of who you are and what you want to be doing, it turns out that you are ready to take the next steps in starting a business, I want to discuss the advice I always give to first-time entrepreneurs.

1. Be Practical About Your Money

The first and most important thing that I tell new entrepreneurs is the importance of practicality when it comes to to money. I’m blown away by all the “entrepreneurs” who start businesses and at launch, don’t realize the importance of generating money and how to manage profits. Instead of focusing on the present financial needs and building an actual company, they are too busy thinking about how much money they’ll be making four years from now. It’s a complete lack of practicality.

Cash is oxygen. How much money do you have to stay afloat and for how long? Do you have one year’s worth of rent and overhead? First-time entrepreneurs always make this mistake and it’s my biggest concern for them. You have to make sure your actions can respond to the bleeding of cash that occurs before you even turn a profit.

I often see first-time entrepreneurs making one of two mistakes at the start:

(1) They do not have a funded business and haven’t raised venture capital (or any other capital). They only have six months worth of money to make their business goal come true. While they dream up every perfect scenario that will allow them to achieve their dream, by the third day of being “entrepreneurs,” the realization hits that nothing goes perfectly and they run out of cash.

(2) They are so well funded that they don’t build up the necessary muscle to generate revenue. They are so used to the idea that losing $150,000 in burn rate is “fine” because they have a funded company. Most of their attention and behavior is focused on raising their next round instead of building an actual, profitable business.

No matter the situation, starting a new business, particularly one that requires an upfront financial investment and not just your time, drains money. You need to understand financially what it takes in order to pay for necessities like rent, supplies, and inventory (and that doesn’t even include your personal expenses). A high level of practicality is necessary for success.

2. Realize that building a business is a huge time commitment

The next thing I remind first-time entrepreneurs is that by starting a business, you have made a decision that does not allow you any time, in your first year, to do anything but build your business. No more binge watching Game of Thrones. You are not allowed to watch The #AskGaryVee Show going forward (maybe…). No more late night parties with your friends. You are in such a Code Red zone that every minute (let’s call it 18 hours a day if you want this to be successful), needs to be allocated for your business. This even includes time with your family. It’s a substantial sacrifice and you have to realize the level of commitment that is required.

Also, I was trying to be very kind in the first year because I know we live in a politically correct world where leisure, “me” time, and family time are so important to so many. However, if you have this ambition of building a business, you have to make this mental commitment. Then any time you have for family or leisure time is an added bonus. In fact, you have to ask yourself how big of a business you are actually trying to build. The bigger the business, the more years you’ll need to tack onto year one.

3. Hold yourself to your word

One of best pieces of business advice I’ve ever received (and one that I try to impart on anyone entering the business world) is that your word is bond. My dad told me this at an early age and it has shaped how I’ve conducted business ever since. He told me once that if I commit to buying 100 cases of wine for the store, and I change my mind the week before it arrives, that I would have to drink all of it because I made the commitment.

If you make a commitment, no matter what happens, you have to deliver. Not only is your business’s brand at stake, but your personal brand and reputation too. Poor business decisions could put your status as an entrepreneur at risk.

Your word is bond.

While the sources vary, it’s often stated that most businesses will fail within the first 18 months. The number one reason why I think so many businesses fail so quickly is because they don’t realize how hard it is, how “all in” you have to be, and how much talent it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. I’m not promising that following this advice will guarantee your business will survive the first year, but without these considerations, you are not setting yourself up for success.

PS: This may just be words for you on a screen right now, but I beg you to read this very carefully. Read it and make sure it sinks in. We are absolutely living through the greatest generation of fake entrepreneurship that we’ve seen in a long time. Unfortunately, many people will be hurt both financially and emotionally because of this era. I implore you to take these words seriously.

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Empathy: One of the Keys to My Business Success

Empathy. It’s one of the biggest things to which I attribute my success. It’s the reason I believe that I am one of the great salespeople out there. What a lot of people don’t understand about empathy is that it’s not just about being caring, but it’s also the ability to understand people on a higher level. It has allowed me to easily create mutually beneficial relationships in both business and my personal life.

Sometimes being empathetic can be confusing. You might ask yourself, “Am I being empathetic because I care or am I being empathetic because I know being understanding will give me leverage in the situation? The answer is both. Being good is always the best option. But I’m not gonna lie either: giving a shit is a real thing and gives you the chance to make your relationships mutually beneficial.

Being empathetic has led me to the two pillars that I believe have allowed me to build multi-million dollar businesses: (1) sales and (2) being a HR-driven CEO.

Using Empathy to Make the Sale

Whether you’re a salesperson, an operator, or a businessperson, if you can understand what the other person is thinking and what their goals are, you can reverse engineer those aims and map it back to your goals too. That knowledge sets you up to win. You’ll both win.

The best salespeople are the ones who realize the incredible power of empathy and can understand the other party without them explicitly stating it. For instance, the majority of my clients’ representatives (in corporate America) won’t say what they really want in a meeting. Empathy allows me to figure out what they are actually trying to accomplish. I know that when a client’s brand manager says they want “more likes on Facebook,” not only does that mean they want to blow their competition out of the water on a corporate level, but they are also looking to advance their own career via my successful strategies.

My understanding of this allows me to not only help their brand reach their KPIs and helps VaynerMedia maintain a happy client, but also sets the brand manager I worked with for a promotion. If you can understand the client or consumer, you can use that knowledge to provide the most value possible to both sides.

Be Empathetic To Your Consumers

B2C companies can utilize empathy just as successfully as a B2B company. In order to sell a product, don’t you also have to be understanding of your consumers’ needs? For example, when designing a digital product, user experience (UX) designers should be empathetic to their end user in creating responsive and mobile friendly designs. Whether that means allowing users to customize their experiences within an app or moving a button to an easier to reach location, the best products take the consumers’ needs into account.

Not only is empathy important during the business’ inception and product creation process, but it continues to be essential throughout the lifecycle of the business. If you’re empathetic to why somebody doesn’t want to buy your product, and there are enough people expressing the same issue, you will understand how you need to adjust to boost sales. Customer service is also completely based on empathizing with the customer. There’s nothing that turns a consumer off more than a poor customer service experience and nothing that keeps customers coming back like excellent customer service. Businesses love to say that the customer is always right, but their actions need to reciprocate that statement.

Businesses love to say that the customer is always right, but their actions need to reciprocate that statement.

Include Empathy In Your HR Strategy

Empathy is also the key to leading VaynerMedia’s successful growth, while also maintaining a corporate culture that people want to be a part of. When you go from 40 to 600+ employees in the past few years like VaynerMedia has, it’s the EQ that helps that culture survive. It’s not a “2-week vacation policy” or office perks. It’s the human part of it. It’s the reason I consider myself a HR-driven CEO.

To be a great leader, you have to be a great listener. If there’s an issue, you need to be able to figure out what the problem actually is in order to solve it, even if an employee doesn’t communicate it directly. You have to be able to empathize with them. Not only have I relied on this trait for the success and retention in both of my businesses, but I also hire for it because I know empathy is what makes a great manager.

Empathy is also what allows me to motivate each of my employees. I don’t manage any single one of them the same way. You need to be able to figure out what actually drives them. Are they here for the money? Is work-life balance more important? Do they care about job titles? Are they happy in their vertical?

To be a great leader, you have to be a great listener.

Empathy has allowed me to turn potential clients into actual clients and almost anyone into a friend. But, I’ll be honest, the tactics behind being more empathic is something I can’t really teach step by step. It’s just part of my DNA and something that has always come naturally to me. But, I like to think that everyone has it at some level. I can tell you tactically how to buy Snapchat filters for brand equity or who to target with Facebook ads, but it’s harder to describe how to become self-aware or more empathetic. (Well, at least I haven’t figured it out yet.)

The best advice I have for you is this: LISTEN. Pay attention to everyone you interact with and be an active consumer of humans. Try to surround yourself with people who are massively empathetic and put it into practical use. Don’t talk, just listen.

I’ll wrap up this article by deploying some more empathy. I’m very aware that 99% of you reading this think that I’m a “mouth,” but I promise you, that I’m an ear disguised as a mouth.

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How to Choose Wine When You Know Nothing About Wine

A very common question I get is how to choose a wine when there are so many options. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the seemingly unending varietals, vintages, and difficult to pronounce names. Over the years, I’ve attempted to demystify wine culture with Wine Library TV (I think I did a pretty good job) and I will now offer some tips on how to make the process a little easier for you.

But first, let me state that there are two wine purchasing behaviors that crush my soul. The first is buying wine based on how pretty the label is. The second behavior that crushes my soul is buying wine just because the shelf talker (the little sign on the shelf that describes the wine) says “90 points” on it and then some wine expert’s name after it. I’ll admit, if you ever visit Wine Library, we put up these shelf talkers all the time. Why? Because it sells wine. But I’d be lying if I thought that was the best and only way to choose wine.

1. Create a relationship with your local wine expert

The best way to become an informed wine consumer is to start forming a relationship with your local wine shop or wine person. Speaking to them about your tastes will help both of you understand what you’re looking for and which wines will best fit your palate. You’ll learn a lot about your personal tastes and preferences over time. This tactic is a no-brainer when it comes to shopping at your local wine shop because you’ll have someone you can rely on to help you find what suits your needs.

2. Be a practitioner: Taste and try everything

Even if you don’t have a wine expert you can jam with, the next best move is to really learn your palate on your own by trying a different varietal each time you want to pick up a bottle. Trying new varietals, vintages, and styles is always a great way to go and will allow to you to build context around what may or may not work for you. Have you tried a Gerwurtztraminer, or a Marsanne, or a Roussanne, or a Gruner Veltliner, or a Lagrein, or Cornas yet? There is no substitute for actually experiencing the various options out there other than just pouring a glass and tasting it. Don’t rely on what a wine magazine or catalogue has to say, go out and develop your own palate.

Tasting wine doesn’t have to be an expensive endeavor. Here’s the thing, a higher price does not always equal a higher quality wine. Depending on where you live, there are often local wine tastings and events (Check out localwinevents.com). If you’re budget conscious, I can easily recommend great bottles of wine at $12-15 for every day of the year. Need some help? Tweet me.

I need a wine for ______.

If you’re worried you’re going to try something you don’t like, remember that this is really no different than the advice I give about social media platforms. Just like you have to be a practitioner to understand if a platform works for your brand, you have to try new wines to understand what works for your palate. Don’t be a headline or shelf-talker reader. There is massive value in trying something and creating context for yourself. So, build a relationship with your closest wine expert and try everything you can!

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Three Pieces of Advice to Build Confidence for Public Speaking

I do a lot of public speaking and there’s no arguing that I’m pretty good at it. I hit the stage as a 30-something somewhere in 2006 and it was instantaneous: I loved the stage and the stage loved me back. It came naturally to me, so I play to that strength. It’s why I come off as someone who is very comfortable on stage or in front of the camera. I just love it.

I know a lot of you out there aren’t always the biggest fans of public speaking. In fact, it’s probably the number one fear for many people. Whether it’s a keynote or a short presentation, it takes a lot of nerve to get up in front of an audience. I think the problem is that a lot of you are overthinking it. So, here are a few tips to help build some confidence and make public speaking feel natural to you.

1. Stick to what you know

There’s a really good reason why some of my keynotes are so good and it’s because I stick to what I know. The reason why I don’t need slides and why I’m so comfortable being in front of the camera on The #AskGaryVee Show is because I stay in my lane.

The problem arises when people try to fake the funk: they try to talk about topics or claim they’re experts before ever doing anything. So what happens is that when they get up on stage and try to talk about their execution, they get stuck. It’s why I don’t feel comfortable answering questions about topics like foreign-policy or Bitcoin. Whether on stage or in front of the camera, I’m very transparent about not talking about something I don’t know.

As long as you stick to your personal experience and expertise, you can have the confidence to go up and talk about your insights. So long as you’re a practitioner of what you preach, you’ll be able to voice your opinion eloquently because it’s backed up by your executions.

2. Walk into the room with humility

If you’ve been to or have listened to any of my keynotes, you probably know that I always try to get a read of the room to see how many people already know who I am. I usually ask them to “raise you hand if you don’t know who I am.” I assume that 90% of the room doesn’t (and I am always humbled by the 10% that do). Why do I do this? Because I want to take that few seconds to take the temperature of the room. I want to get a feel for the audience’s grasp on what I’m about to talk about. I want to see what their experience is and what context that have about me or the topic I’m about to talk about.

Here’s the thing: the world is big. There’s a lot of stuff out there and you can’t assume what the audience knows or doesn’t know. Whether you walk in and you feel like you’re in over your head or you feel you’re overqualified on the topic, stick to what you know and be humble about it.

3. Communicate the way you’re most comfortable with communicating

Another good reason why I don’t like using cue cards of slides is because I’m just not a good reader. It never comes naturally to me and I’m not going to start trying now. Even reading my kids a bedtime story feels intimidating. One look at a copy of Good Night Moon and I’m a mess.

I would be crippled if I had to read cue cards. But, if you like the idea of cue cards or if having slides to lean against is natural to you, then do that. You have to know how you best communicate and use that to your advantage. Make sure that you’re giving the presentation in the most organic way possible. If that means clicking through slides, or standing with notes at a podium, or just winging it onstage, then who am I to say not to do it? Make it feel natural because it is natural.

P.S. The single biggest reason people are concerned about public speaking is because they worry what other people think of them. The quicker you start learning how to fix that issue and be comfortable with yourself, you become a much better public speaker. Heck, you’ll become a much better and happier human being.

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Clarity On My Bucket List

One thing I should doing a better job of is clarifying when I’m talking in the context of business and when I’m talking in the context of my personal life. As many of you know, I’m quite private. Not a lot of pictures, if any, of my children or my family exist on social media. Despite how disproportionately important they are to me, I’ve kept them pretty under-wraps from #DailyVee and Snapchat. Considering how public my professional life is, this is how my family and I have decided to live our private lives.

Something I want to make clear is that I have two bucket lists. When I talk about my “bucket list” (i.e., buying the New York Jets), I am always talking about it in a professional setting. But, I also have a personal bucket list.

My “real life” personal bucket list is all about family. I think about how I want to be at every one of my kids’ birthdays, all the vacations I want to take with my future grandchildren, and how I want to spend the next 10-15 years with my parents. I have all of these soft, warm, and fuzzy bucket list items that are really only predicated on the time spent with the 12 people who are in my inner family circle. If we’re looking at my real bucket list, I just want to love my family, cherish them, and make them proud.

But, I do want to clarify one thing, once and for all, about my professional bucket list–my selfish endeavors. For a lot of people, a bucket list means traveling and and seeing the world. It’s well documented that I don’t care about sightseeing. I couldn’t care less about pyramids, rivers, or paintings. For a lot of you, it’s a retirement plan. For me, it’s the complete opposite.

I only have one bucket list item and it’s something that I think a lot of you know, but it would be fun to clarify it once and for all (even though I’ve clarified “it once and for all” a couple of times already). I’m even going to continue to put out content about this every 4-6 months so you guys get it. My one bucket list item is not to buy the NY Jets, it’s the pursuit of buying the NY Jets.

People seem to confuse the difference between wanting to own the NY Jets and the pursuit of doing it.

As you can see from the Instagram comment here, people continue to confuse the two: buying vs. pursuing. I’ll be honest, I don’t do a very good job of differentiating it (hence this article). But it’s massively important that you understand this about me. For me, it’s not about reaching the peak of the mountain, it’s the climb. It’s the process. And when I finally do buy the NY Jets? Will it be the best day of my life? Or, will it be one of the worst days of my life knowing that the decades-long pursuit is over? (It stuns me how funny it is that I don’t know what that day will be like.)

Loving the climb is just how I’m wired. For example, on a very high level, I look forward to vacations with my family. But, I’m almost never as excited as you think I would be once I’m actually on vacation. My family and I joke about it because the second we land on a tropical island or the moment when we pull up to a vacation house, I actually start getting depressed. As a matter of fact, at the time of writing this article, I cannot wait for Thursday night at AJ’s house. It’s when the next life event I am looking forward to will happen– watching the NFL Draft. But the second I walk into AJ’s house on Thursday night, I will stop enjoying it as much as I anticipated. I will start becoming slightly depressed knowing that in 3 hours, it will be over and I will have to wait an entire year to watch the draft with my buddies again. I love the chase. I love the climb. I love the process.

This is just how I’m wired. I love the chase. I love the climb. I love the process.

The reason I’m so happy, so comfortable, and so at peace all the time is because, as of this second, I’ve achieved my bucket list item. I am in pursuit of buying the NY Jets (not owning them). It’s like I’ve won before I even started.

I implore so many of you to really give some thought on how you can create a game in your life that you’ve actually won before you’ve started it. It’ll help give you the perspective you need to stay motivated (even though it may seem the opposite to many of you).

At Wine Library, I used to talk to Brandon (the VP of Operations at Wine Library) and my dad about winning before starting. It’s also how I thought about VaynerMedia. VaynerMedia is a huge success because I focused on dominating the game before I even got my first client. I audited the landscape, I knew that I was the leader in social media thinking, and I knew that I knew how to operate a business.

Even though a lot of things that I achieve seem “big” or complicated, I’m actually quite realistic how I set goals. I put myself in a position to succeed before it even happens. That’s why there will be no devastation at my last breath if I don’t own the Jets. There would only be devastation if I didn’t go through the process of trying to get them. Effort. I’m addicted to it.

Effort. I’m addicted to it.

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Reframing the Narrative on Entrepreneurship

Being an entrepreneur is hard. Period.

Just because Zucks put on a hoodie and became a billionaire doesn’t mean everyone else can. Sure, if you’ve got the chops, there’s no question that this day and age has provided us the tools to build something both quickly and cost-effectively. But, that doesn’t mean everybody should do it. It’s funny to me how quickly people can realize that they’re not a Kobe or Beyonce, but for some reason, they’re able to convince themselves they’re an entrepreneur and can build a million-dollar business.

For over the last half-decade, we’ve been living through a narrative that has glorified entrepreneurship. The story that’s been depicted in movies like The Social Network has convinced people that they could (and should) go and start a business. But, by doing this, I’m afraid that a lot of you aren’t putting yourselves in the best positions to succeed. Not only might you be wasting time, but you’re also hurting your reputation and brand equity while losing people’s money along the way. Instead of progressing yourselves professionally, what you’re actually doing is stunting your growth in a time where you could have been an incredible number two, three, or four in a great organization and setting yourself up for more long-term upside.

Look at the facts. LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr — Recognize those names? That’s 7 (7!!!) notable companies built in a 12-year window that everyone’s convinced they can mimic. In the time that it takes you to read this article, 27 more companies were started and almost all will fail. That’s a problem. Why does everyone think they can start the next big thing when it’s statistically improbable they’ll create the next unicorn? Look at the math. It’s against you.

And, to even be “successful” you don’t need the “millions.” Because when you really look at the numbers, on average, an income of $155,000 a year puts you in the top 10% of all income earners in the U.S. That’s likely lower than what you would have thought, right? Well, that’s the data. That’s the truth. So this notion of “I need to make a ‘billi’ or bust,” is just impractical.

And so, for those of you looking to start your own venture, you need to start by asking yourself, “Why am I even going down this route in the first place?” The answer is happiness, because that’s the truth. Would you rather make $70K running your own thing, dictating your own income, happy as hell, or make $100K at a job you hate?

And so, all I’m asking here is that we reframe the conversation. Because, the only way for any of this to work is for you to start with your north star and reverse engineer from there given the context of who you are and what you want out of this one shot we’ve all got.

In entrepreneurship, there’s no magic formulas. No 9-week process to make you a millionaire. No secret-holding $3,000 ebook that was written by someone who’s never built a business besides the one that “teaches” you how to build one. That shit’s not real. It takes work. Hard work. And those “millions” we see see in the headlines? They’re not realistic either. They’re just not. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be happy while doing it. We just need to understand why we’re doing the things we’re doing, because:

How you make your money is way more important than how much you make.

We live in a day and time where anyone with passion and love for something can build a business around it. And, although that might sound cliché because the thought has been bastardized, it’s just true. The internet has opened us all to a world of opportunity but we need to be honest with ourselves in understanding what we’re seeking. You just need to be practical and self-aware. Because 30, 40, 60 years from now, you’re not going to regret the few extra bucks you could have made. You’re going to regret not focusing your time and energy around the things that could have made you happy.

Calling In On The Show | #AskGaryVee Episode 200

On this episode, we do a call-in show! It’s a very special episode and a full house. We have my team in the Fishbowl helping me out because not only is this episode on YouTube, but it was filmed on Facebook Live and Google 360 video live.

Questions Answered on This Episode

04:21 – What can I do to help prepare myself to become a business owner?
08:42 – Amongst all the social noise, what do you look for when people are trying to connect with you?
12:00 – What’s the best way to get over the fear of failing when starting a business?
16:07 – How do I get past the gate keepers in my industry?
20:03 – What’s the best product to use for a white label CRM?
25:19 – When is the right time to throw in the towel on one business to focus on another?

Question of the Day

What direction would you like to see the show go in for episode 200-300?

Giving Without Expectation

By now, most of you know both my business and content strategy from Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. I like to give as much as I can up front before I muster up the audacity to go in for the “ask.” But, although this is my go-to philosophy, it doesn’t always work, and that’s perfectly okay. It’s just the way of life, and I think we can all agree that being a good person on the upfront is always the best option regardless of what the potential “payout” might be.

One of my favorite stories from the Wine Library days is when I went out of my way in the middle of a snowstorm to deliver a case of low-end wine during the holidays. Now, did I have to do it? Did I really need that one-bottle sale? From a profit standpoint, no. But I valued my customer, wanted to show my appreciation, and also wanted to show my employees how we should be approaching our customer relations. And so, that’s what I decided to do.

Turns out a few weeks later that same customer’s seemingly wealthy son gave me a call and placed a MASSIVE order with us. Did I know that was going to happen? Of course not. And would it have happened regardless? Maybe. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I went out of my way to put my customer first and, in the end, it ended up working out in my favor too. Regardless of what she did after or who she told, I felt good about myself. Sometimes there’s a dividend and many times there’s not, but that should never stop you from doing the right thing first.

Relationships are everything to me. Whether it’s with the friends and family that you grew up with or the unsuspecting connections that wind up changing the course of your life, fostering relationships is paramount to guiding the ways our lives unfold. And just like in business, in order to build and maintain those relationships, there needs to be a value exchange. For me, I prefer to give 51% of the relationship. I like that leverage. It might sound dark, but that’s just the way I roll and I think there’s tremendous value in having that outlook.

In order to build any type of relationship that gives you the air cover to be able to ask for something down the line, you should always be the one providing the value upfront. You might not always get what you ask for, but at the end of the day, the absolute worse case scenario is that you had a positive impact on somebody through your actions, and as a human, that should just make you feel good.

Take my content for example. I’m blessed to be living in a time where I can communicate my story to so many of you and I am incredibly humbled that you take the time out of your day to consume my content. But the truth is that I don’t need to do it. I know that I probably won’t make a sale every time I put out an article like this. I don’t expect to. But as long as I have even one listener, reader, or follower, I’m going to continue to give because my intentions are pure and I know the effect it has on so many of you. (And quite frankly, I just like the way it makes me feel.)

That’s the key when trying to foster any relationship. Because as much as you might give and although you might feel as if you’re owed something, you’re not. Giving means to give without expectation–to give based on someone else’s needs without assuming something will come back to you in return. So in order for this jab-right hook scenario to play itself out, you need to understand that nobody owes you anything. This understanding and lack of expectation allows me to be comfortable providing 51% of the relationship, because in having zero expectations and not assuming someone will reciprocate on the other end, I’ve got everything to gain.

When you put others in front of yourself, whether intended or unintended, things just happen. It’s magical. Be it in life or business, I implore you to always seek to be the giver first. If you can give without expectation, you’ve got everything to gain. It’s not an easy trait to acquire but it’s certainly something I advise everyone to work towards. Not only will it make you feel good, but it’ll provide you the leverage that you can utilize if the opportunity comes knocking.

Tips on How to Get More Snapchat Followers

A lot of my community that has tried to get big on Snapchat has found it difficult to grow their audience. Unless you’re a celebrity or somebody already well established, it’s hard to get noticed, and the fact that Snapchat has no in-app discovery is messing with a lot of people (not to be confused with Snapchat Discover, their brand marketing service).

Snapchat doesn’t have a suggested user list (like Instagram does) or a method to easily search for people, although some websites and apps are trying to make the process easier. There also aren’t any hashtags or retweets that you can piggyback off of like we see on other platforms. With all of this in mind, I understand how you can be frustrated when trying to grow your account.

So, how do you grow? The old fashioned way–without any sort of app-to-internet infrastructure. You have to use other methods to grow your account. For example, when I was growing Wine Library, I didn’t expect to grow fast on sheer discovery in the hopes that someone would stumble into the store. I used print advertising, radio, direct email, email marketing, and Google AdWords, to let people know where my business was. The best way is to use other platforms to help create awareness and direct people to your Snapchat.

Here are some tips that you can use to grow your Snapchat account:

Put your Snapchat handle on your profile page or “about” section of other social accounts (i.e., Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.); *

Side note: Instagram does not allow you to link out using your Snapchat url, but you can still put your username in the info section


Download your Snapcode and make it your profile pictures
Sign off blog posts with your Snapchat handle
Collaborate with other relevant Snapchat accounts to shout-out your Snapchat username
Use Facebook ads to drive traffic to your Snapchat profile url (https://www.snapchat.com/add/youruser...)
Advertise and offer exclusive content or deals on Snapchat
Do a Story takeover to help siphon other communities
Use a custom geofilter in high-traffic areas where people will be snapchatting
Join relevant communities on Facebook groups or Reddit threads (and remember jab jab jab before you right hook to follow on Snapchat)
Print out your snapcode on your business cards (if you’re old school)
Put your username at the bottom of your email signature

These are just a few tactical examples. Some are a bit more involved and some may be more of a right hook, but they all have potential to grow your audience. The reason so many people are asking this question is because it is not easy to do. What you have to do is hack to build awareness, especially on Snapchat where it’s not going to happen organically. You have to go old-school. Think billboards and print where there’s no click or permalinks. Use other platforms to drive awareness and get followers.

But remember, while I have provided some tactics here, there is no replacement for actual brand building. If you are going to drive people to your Snapchat, you better provide valuable content and understand what it is you’re trying to achieve.