The #GaryVeePrequel | 15 Takeaways from 2008 Gary Vaynerchuk That Still Matter In 2018
In 2018, you likely know Gary Vaynerchuk‘s name. In fact, you very well may have just finished an episode of #DailyVee or left Gary’s Twitter or Instagram pages while exchanging a few minutes of your valuable time for these 15 incredible takeaways. (Thank YOU for that, by the way)
If you have NOT heard of the man, Google him. Follow him. Everywhere. Immediately.
Gary talks about how he’d love to have had DailyVee running a decade ago, with “DRock”, Tyler “Bobby Babin”, Iris, or any one of the talented individuals that make up Team GaryVee, following him with a 🎥 documenting EVERYTHING during the “early years”. Back when he was engaging in ways that weren’t for most people — what he calls “scaling the unscalable”. We’re talking pre-VaynerX/VaynerMedia, pre-KSwiss collab, working out of a cramped BuddyMedia space and certainly NOT fancy, but steady building an empire — a tortoise in a hare’s costume.
I agree. Wholeheartedly. And then I thought, “we kind of do…in written form… on Twitter”. It’d just take a bit of time to research. So I went digging, using a tactic that Gary can appreciate: Advanced Twitter Search.
It’s still such an under-utilized treasure trove of valuable insights.
My goal was three-fold:
To understand a little more about #GaryVeePrequel — that is, the story before what many of us know today. I wanted to go back to when he had a couple thousand followers / connections to understand the person, mindset, strategy and tactics he used before he became a global personality and built the amazing company that is VaynerX .
I also wanted him to be able to take a stroll down memory lane when he realizes people are liking / commenting on decade-old tweets that will resurface in his notifications.
And third, I wanted to write something fun, give myself permission to make mistakes, but just write to get better. To build “action equity” & #WalkTheWant.
(Incidentally, I settled on ‘15’ as a number for takeaways because of “VaynerX”. I added the Roman Numerals V + X — the start and the end, as it is today.)
Without further ado, and in no particular order of importance, here you go:
Takeaway #1: Put in work!
No surprise, Gary’s first tweet is about him working. His work ethic shines through from the jump.
Below⬇️⬇️is his first tweet on May 4th — is it a surprise to anyone that his first tweet started in month✋of the year? #AllFiveEverything.
Question is: did he get through these 2,321 emails?
Takeaway #2: Understand & Execute on the concept of “Daytrading Attention”
Gary has been talking about daytrading attention for the last couple years as a culminating concept, but he spent a decade+ executing to get good at it. And early it may take you a while to gain traction. Just don’t give up. (btw, huge props to the first person that likes this tweet)
And if you’re curious as to how many followers he had, during these “zero replies” times, here’s a GaryVee Twitter snapshot from the March 11, 2008 Internet Archive — some gems in here:
Takeaway #3: Self-Awareness is Everything!
Today, Gary says, “If I could wish one skill on people it would be Self Awareness!” A decade ago, Gary was talking about understanding who you are, at your core, in your DNA, what you’re good at, and executing or going all in on that. He did. He’s Crushing It. 10+ years later it still rings true. What do you excel at? What do you love? Find a way to do that. Everyday. Win at life!
Takeaway #4: Appreciate and Take Advantage of the Internet
“We’re living through a great revolution, it’s called the Internet” — Gary Vaynerchuk, during a recent fireside chat with the amazing Chase Jarvis. If you have a moment, this was a great conversation about how the Internet has changed everything. During this interview, Gary makes a quip about giving away all his best advice for FREE, via the Internet, but adds that 99% of people don’t do anything about the free information. Where would you be had you taken full advantage of the information and power of the Internet in 2008? From where Gary was 10 years ago, to where Gary is now, gives you some insight into what’s possible for you and me, 10 years from now.
Takeaway #5: Make More Content, Let the Market Decide
Gary regularly talks about Document vs. Creating. And I LOVE this:
“So, when I say to put out those 6–7 meaningful pieces of content a day, just pick up your smartphone, open Facebook Live, and just start talking about the things most important to you. Because in the end, the creative (or how “beautiful” someone thinks your content is) is going to be subjective. What’s not subjective is the fact that you need to start putting yourself out there and keep swinging.”
When you’re busy DOing, you’re not worried about what others are doing. Often times when you look over at others, certain aspects of the mind, like ego, and doubt, and uncertainty creep in. 2018 is no different than 2008. As my friend Roberto Blake says, “Just Create Awesome.” I’m not even sure how well this article will do. It doesn’t matter. I want to get it out there.
Takeaway #6: Embrace the Power of “Thank You”
Gary literally wrote the book on the power of “Thank You” as a strategy. It’s called T.Y.E. or Thank You Economy. (It’s probably my favorite book of his, you should check it if you haven’t. So many valuable lessons that can be applied today.)
But you can see, he was living “Thank You” more than a decade ago. Even though no one was responding. It laid the groundwork for what he is today. It’s one thing to say you’re a grateful person, it’s another to showcase that gratitude for others as often as you can.
Takeaway #7: Patience
So many people want to “pop” after a few videos or even a few dozen videos. For some, you can go viral overnight. That’s the exception, not the norm. Understand that “embracing the grind” isn’t about adding glamorous buzzwords to your Instagram post, it’s what real life is like when you’re trying to break through. The post below has zero hearts or replies (as of the writing of this article), AND the tinyURL leads to episode 459 of Wine Library TV. Think about that in today’s terms. Gary Vaynerchuk did 459 episodes of a show and was getting ZERO visual appreciation. None. Goose egg. Robert Parrish — some of you recognize that ;)
Even when you give it away for free, people may not come running.
How many would have given up long before 459 episodes or quit because no one showed up to a free speech?
Patience. Iif you’re good enough, eventually, you’ll pop. If you’re not good enough now, practice, then have patience :)
Takeaway #8: Find Ways to Highlight YOU — the REAL YOU
I know. I know. You’re saying, “Be Yourself is so cliché.” But it needs to be said because so many people are using social media as a highlight reel and often a façade. The problem with that is that everyone begins to look and sound the same. Your uniqueness, your talents, your perspectives, your personality, ALL OF THAT, are what people will gravitate toward. Though, he doesn’t likely consume much sugar anymore, Gary seems like the type of guy you’d want to have a frothy beverage with, right?
And I LOVE how Gary paints a picture in the above post because I’m not picturing some boring email reply session, I’m actually picturing JYD now and I’m smiling. And Gary did that. And now Gary is relate-able and human and I want to know his thoughts on other things and so I follow, and now I’m now in his ecosystem. I only wish I’d have seen this in 2008 because I like to think he and I would have been instant friends haha.
Takeaway #9: Passion IS the Secret
Passion is like an unmatched fuel.
It is also, as Gary notes in his new book, Crushing It, “your backup generator when all your other energy sources start to sputter.” When you feel overwhelmed, and you will at times in your life, you need something to fall back on. You think back to why you started your “thing” — your business, your fitness journey, your relationship, your job, etc…
It’s especially relevant in 2018 because there’s never been a more realistic time to find a way to make a living off of a passion. If you can be compensated for building or supporting something you truly believe in, are passionate about, and / or that makes you happy? That’s a formula for GOOD health and a GREAT life!
Takeaway #10: Take Every Chance To Build Other People Up
Living your life while enhancing someone else’s is truly exhilarating. Try it. I honestly can’t recommend it enough. Gary gets so much attention in 2018 for being such a kind human himself, but he was doing it in 2008 when no one was looking.
Gary could have said, “C.P. Lin and I sit down on today’s #WineLibraryTV” and I may have clicked the link to watch it. But he opts for highlighting an “amazing HUMAN.” I’m all in on seeing that.
You see, a funny thing happens when you take the spotlight off of yourself, even when you’re a part of the story. In 2018, where so many are in a “look at me” shouting match, trying to be the loudest, it’s those who fall back, and highlight others that you gravitate toward because they have the humility to do so. And that’s such an endearing human quality.
Takeaway #11: It’s OKAY To Be Tired! Refuel.
Even the great Gary Vaynerchuk, who is known for his unparalleled “HUSTLE”, gets tired.
There’s this misconception that you have to hustle 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so you can post it on Instagram or Twitter. You physically can’t. Your body and mind will fail you. Have you heard the saying, “you can’t pour from an empty cup”? That’s because you need to fill yourself first. Only then can you begin to help those around you. And the more you fill yourself, the more you can do and the more people you can help. Get the rest you need and remember, “It’s not about how much sleep you get, it’s about what you do when you’re awake.” — Gary V.
Takeaway #12: Not Everything Pans Out, Adapt & Keep It Moving
Gary gets a lot of well-deserved praise for his investments in Twitter, Facebook, Venmo, etc… but he also has examples where he clearly invested time and energy into things that no longer exist. We need to find out what he and Erik F. Kastner were doing with “VeryGreenTeam” because they built a following of 2300 people and it’s abandoned.
I’m curious about what vaynerlinks.com was to be. Another plan that Gary was excited about but is nowhere to be found today.
Gary also made a jump from YouTube to Viddler to build a Wine Library community on Viddler, which now does employee training videos, while YouTube is the second largest search engine online:
So many of us get hung up on perception of what others think about our “failures” or frustration that we never seem to get traction. Would you say Gary has rebounded nicely from these endeavors that clearly did not pan out? Adapt & keep it moving.
Takeaway #13: Reflect & Celebrate
When you put out content: good, bad and everything in-between, you have something to look back on. It’s feels good to celebrate accomplishments and milestones, and reflect on what you were thinking or how something you did previously impacts what you do today. You learn a lot about yourself and might even have some fun. Remember, life is supposed to be fun — or rather, “RADOOL” :)
Takeaway #14: Community, Community, Community
No matter what you call your community, invest time & resources into it. These are your people. They are everything. It’s one thing to say you’re community-focused then do the bare minimum to keep them active, it’s another to continue to find ways to surprise and delight, driving that affiliation even deeper and making that bond stronger.
Takeaway #15: Executing On Ideas > Thinking About Ideas
I’ve been working on this article for the last few weeks in bits of spare time I had, and thinking about how I could potentially present it to Gary and team, as a valuable piece of content and way to say Thank You for everything Gary has done for me, but I didn’t get it out quick enough because just today, Gary’s inspired people to go through his old tweets:
So some of the novelty of the idea to go through decade-old tweets may have worn off, but I’m publishing this anyway, to highlight Takeaway #5 —let the market decide — and as a final nod to the man himself, Gary Vaynerchuk. #AllFiveEverything #ThankYouGary
Again, I thank YOU for your time and attention! I’d love to keep this conversation going on Twitter so if you find some of your favorite old GaryVee tweets, please hashtag them with #GaryVeePrequel so we can keep track of all the best ones as chosen by the Vayniacs and Vaynernation. Love you guys and have the best freakin day!
-Sipp
