Well, I did it. I added another podcast to my growing list of podcasts I listen to each week. If you want a podcast that will give you the raw truth about what it takes to be successful, you simply must subscribe to the GaryVee Audio Experience. I am OBSESSED.
I recently listened to a keynote speech he gave at a financial convention in Las Vegas (listen here). This podcast was a great introduction to who Gary Vaynerchuk is and how his mind works.
He is brilliant when it comes to anticipating future trends and has made a fortune in doing so. He was one of the early investors in Facebook, Twitter, and Tumbler. He also was an early adopter of email campaigns and Google ads.
But his financial success began much earlier in his life. He started a lemonade franchise as a young boy and talks about how he would ride his big wheel to collect money at the end of the day like a mafia boss. He then moved on to the amazing world of trading baseball cards. How many 12-year-olds do you know who have $47k (yes, $47,000!) in cash under their bed?
When GaryVee shares his wisdom about where the world is moving, perhaps we should listen, as he appears to have a unique ability to tap in to the next big thing.
This episode interested me because he was speaking to the change in how we reach our customers and what he called “the tollbooth of commerce.” Traditional marketing (such as banner ads, print, and especially billboards) have fallen away. He believes Alexa and Google Home are avenues we need to focus our marketing efforts.
So many nuggets of wisdom in this podcast regarding attracting and keeping your consumer…
- “If you think about what is in it for you versus the user of you, you are already vulnerable.”
- “I am blindly consumer-centric.”
- “I day-trade attention.”
Every bit of wisdom he gives us is about making the customer our main focus. He believes in doing what you are passionate about, but when you do, shift your focus to how this passion can assist others. For me, my passion is helping others find their best selves. It manifests through my career leading a sales team and providing insight to other leaders on hiring right the first time and building better teams. I always lead with value and eventually the sale will follow.
I believe I practice GaryVee’s philosophy of being blindly consumer-centric and day-trading attention. I told this story on a podcast I co-host recently regarding my philosophy on recruiting. I never make a phone call with the intent to make a sale. I make the phone call with the intent to generate a relationship. Sometimes this generates sales quickly; other times I “touch” the prospect for years before I monetize that first phone call. When the day comes the prospect decides to engage my services, the payoff is usually quite a bit higher than if had gone straight for the sales jugular in the first call and I establish a repeat customer.
One of the last little nuggets he shares is what he believes are the two marketing tools critical to your future in business: branding and podcasting. Hmmmmmm, sounds like I may be onto something. Thanks GaryVee!
What are you doing to move your brand forward?
Happy Podcasting!
