Let’s start with the summary of Crush It written by Gary Vaynerchuck.
1 Sentence Summary: Crush It summary will teach you how to build your personal brand using social media. You don’t need a huge capital or door to door selling. You can use the existing social media to find your market, launch your product and establish your brand.
Lesson 1: No Excuse
All you need is time and effort. It doesn’t matter what your interest is. You will have followers if you create awesome content.
If you think you cannot start a business because you have bills to pay and mouth to feed then you are wrong. A few hours of every day is enough to start, it doesn’t matter whether you have entrepreneurial skills or you are business kind of a person. You can have a partner who can handle the marketing side while you focus on the creative side.
Your passion will show in the content, and people would love it. With the help of a team you can expand your reach. You and your partner can develop a website, an online class, or an audio podcast. You can hire people to manage your content on the best social media platforms. Get better at what you do and opportunities for success would follow.
Lesson 2: Build Your Personal Brand
The key to make money online is your own personal brand. This is what differentiates you from entrepreneurs who have the same niche. You need to have a clear, authentic personal brand that shows on all your social media platforms.
The author of this book Gary Vaynerchuck started with his YouTube channel WineLibraryTV. He became passionate about wine because it’s his father’s business. He grew up helping in the store and because of that, he learned a lot about wines.
In WineLibrary, Gary set up a cheap camera, sat on the couch, and talk endlessly about wine. Sometimes, he would have guests to do wine tasting with him. He is honest, funny and full of energy.
Lesson 3: Be Yourself
Be yourself. Let your personality shine through your content. You have no other choices. The internet makes it hard for anyone to be fake. Be honest and voice out your opinion.
Lesson 4: A Whole New World
In today’s modern world, it has become easier for everyone to bring out their products to the market. It is true for musicians, journalists, actors, chef or any occupation you can think of. You can launch your personal brand out there on social media today. You don’t need an agent, or a manager or any middleman.
The author says you should launch your personal brand out there on social media as soon as you can because you’re missing out. There is no need to do some extraordinary things just be yourself and Do what you love. Work at your own place, at your own time, and reach as many people as you can with your content. Your audience is the whole world. If you don’t go online, you will be among extinct companies and brands which did not adapt to the digital world.
Ask some Questions from yourself
- Are you happy with your current job?
- Do you wake up in the morning excited to go to work?
- Can you honestly say that you look forward to Monday Mornings?
If you are not happy at work and your company doesn’t allow you to maximize your skills, then maybe it’s time for a change.
Lesson 5: Create Great Content
Below are some tips to create great content
- Keep learning
- Tell stories
- Choose the right medium
You should continue to educate yourself. You should keep learning more about the topics. Read books, magazines, newsletters, or anything you can find. Attend seminars and workshops.
Find ways that can make your videos, blogs, and posts more interesting and valuable. People love good stories. Your connection with the audience is very important. Share a part of yourself with them. Let them know you. If you tell good stories and give great value, you will have avid fans and repeat customers who will refer you to people they know.
Some people belong in front of the camera. Others are good at writing, and some are good at speaking. Choosing the right medium means to choose where you are most comfortable sharing your content.
Lesson 6: Hustle
You have your favorite thing and the perfect platform for you to share it with. Whether you choose videos, blogs, podcasts or photos, it is part of your identity and your personal brand. Now, it’s time for you to hustle.
There is no instant success, even in on social media. You have to build relationship with the customers.
Don’t think you will earn big by just creating a blog and publishing little content, you have to work hard to earn big. You need to keep creating, keep finding where your target clients are and gives more value to you.
Building a business is like running a marathon, not a sprint. You need persistence, endurance and discipline. If this is really your passion, you should be willing to work harder than ever before. You should be willing to hustle, invest time and effort because you are still laying the foundations of the business.
Lesson 7: Create Community
Creating content is just one part of the job. You have to build your online community. First, create your blog. Second, look for other blogs in the same niche as you. Comment on each post. Your comment should be informative, helpful, and interesting. It gives people a glimpse of what they can do. Include the link to your own blog, be friendly and you will see happy, satisfied customers will soon become your marketers.
Lesson 8: Make the World Listen
- visit godaddy.com buy your domain name.
- create a WordPress account using the domain name you just bought. and build an interesting website.
- Make a facebook page
- Make a twitter account using your domain name
- Produce your content
- Search google for blogs like yours. Check out each of them and leave a nice comment. Don’t forget the link to your blog.
- Search for fan pages too. Join a many as possible.
Your goal is to have loyal customers who trust you, who repeat doing business with you and refer you to people they know. Happy, satisfied customers would talk about you and your product. Good things come to those who hustle.
Conclusion of Crush It Summary
In this summary you learned that internet has created incredible opportunities for everyone. No matter what your occupation or hobby is, you can make a business out of it online. The right time is now. Throw your excuses out of the window. You learned about personal brand. Just be yourself. Find the medium you are comfortable with. It can be videos, blogs, animation, photos, podcasts or whatever.
You learned that you need to hustle and build a community. Figure out who your target clients are. Look for the groups, pages or forums they go to and leave a comment. It takes a while to gain a following but you have to continue. This is the ultimate secret to success.
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