As we waited in the middle of a 100-person line in order to get our Crush It! books signed by author, wine and social media guru, Gary Vaynerchuk, Joe (@suburbanwino) and I shared with each other how we’re both not normally people who are “star struck.” We don’t collect autographs, we don’t go running up to celebrities screaming and crying. Though I did once stare quite a bit at a slightly inebriated Tara Reid sitting next to me in a bar in the Atlanta airport once, but that’s another story. Yet here we were standing in line to get a book signed and catch a glimpse of a true American success story. Yeah, it was cool.
So, it is at this time of inner reflection that I am now drawn to much of what Gary says, though, I could’ve probably gotten the same message from several other “gurus” out there on the market. But, I think the wine and social media angles connected us and both topics have rekindled my creativity and business-minded energies I once flaunted. Here are a few other things we learned from Gary last night:
1. Have a Goal/Objective - A twist on the “if you don’t know where your going, how will you get there?” concept – Gary wants to buy the Jets
2. Take a look inside – Don’t try to be what you are not. Pick what you are good at and if you need something for your business that you are not good at, team up with someone else who is
3. Be Practical – Unless you are that daring entrepreneurial true spirit, don’t just drop what you’re doing cold turkey to start your new venture. Make it work within practical means. Instead of resigning, maybe you downgrade to a lower-paying salary and/or move in with your parents that affords you the time to focus on your business.
A few tweets during the event:
Gary’s full of advice and opinions and it was enjoyable to hear him speak and respond to the crowd. Feel free to reach out to him and hope you get a response as it may be the last time he may actually be able to reply… he is just getting too big to keep up the amount of emails he receives, so I think he’ll be dropping it soon or handing it off to his staff.
Go big or go home. Cheers! More video to come, but here’s a snippet…
Very cool! Thanks for sharing. I enjoy your site. Very insightful posts.
Josh @nectarwine
It was awesome meeting Gary and having my book signed for a second time. I loved his passion and the genuine regard he has for all his fans. I also thought it was awesome that he mentioned sparkling wine from Brazil as something to watch out for, especially since that one we had at the charity event a few weeks ago was really tasty.
Thanks, Nectar! I see you are in the NW… I’ll be up in Walla Walla next summer… gotta learn more about that Washington St. juice
Kevin, that WAS pretty cool about the Brazilian sparklers comment… I did dig that Miolo as well
I can relate to your thoughts. I was the same way meeting the guy in Sonoma last month. He comes across as very unassuming and quite patient with all the attention he is receiving. Listening to him speak is like a modern dayZig Ziglar or Tony Robbins. He get you excited. Definitely excited enough to post things on your own blog about him.
Glad you got see and hear him. Look forward to seeing you the next time you’re in town or WBC10.
Thanks, Eric… I agree completely and thanks for your comments. I’ll be back in Napa/Sonoma in March and May before WBC10, so we’ll be sure to get together soon
’twas a good time. I actually sent him an email that night, and he got back to me today (I beat the backlog, I guess). Remembered me as the “crazy Falcons fan”.
Gary is amazing. I had a chance to spend an evening with him at Taste of Washington two years ago and have followed his rise to… Well where he is today. I have a couple of interviews with him and an hour Social Media presentation he did at Seattle Wine Outlet on DecanterBanter.com http://tinyurl.com/yhylppg – look about half way down the page.
Lawrence Cramer
Thanks, Lawrence for the comment and the link to your site… great stuff! My wife and I will be in Washington next summer to visit some wineries and the Wine Bloggers Conference.