Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

This is the first in a series (of how many parts I have not yet decided) that will together compose my first book review.

Now you may ask, “Why are you doing a book review, aren’t there a million of these out there already?”  Good question!  Well, yes, there are a great many book reviews out there.  But, that doesn’t mean that we all read the same book. Now that you’re confused, let me explain.

My Reading Philosophy

I subscribe to the idea that we see the world as we are.  What I mean by that is that we see what we want to see, not what actually is. Humans have a great proclivity to filter information for what they want to find.  Let me explain.

A Quick Example

My lucky number is 19 (I will explain how that happened in another post in the misty-eyed future, for now, just follow along).  When I told my family that my lucky number is 19, we started to see it everywhere!  It became a kind of family inside joke.   We’d see it and say, “19…see!” (Today’s post for example…posted on the 19th..see! Hehe.)

But, this is an example of how humans filter information for the result they want. Instead of really looking at all the numbers that are seen in daily life, my family and I chose to look for a specific number.  And we found it everywhere after that!  If we had not chosen to look for it, we would not have noticed anything special about the number of occurrences of the number 19.

Got It?

So, now that you understand what I mean about finding what you’re looking for (I hope), let’s get back to the subject of today’s post, namely, the book review.  Ok, what I would like you to do now is pretend that I’m right.  I know, that’s a stretch for some of you who think you’re right.  Well, you’re not.  At least not right now.  Anyway, suppose that you do indeed see the world as you are, not as it is.  That means that if you are open-minded you see the world openly, and if you are close-minded, you see the world that way.

Now, to the task at hand.  This book review will seek to give a factual representation of the book.  Along with this, you will get my thoughts on it.  This is how I see the book at this time.  I may think differently about it tomorrow.  Or the next day, or next month, or next year.  I won’t know, and neither will you know how you’ll feel about it at any time in the future.

So, now that you understand the context, my present opinion, and the viewpoint that I’m bringing to the table, you can see that even though there are millions of people reviewing a book, we’ll all come to slightly (or dramatically, depending on the person!) different views of the book.

Absorb, Then Filter

I say all of this to get you in the mindset to absorb, then filter.  Here’s what I mean.  Absorb the material first, then filter for what is useful to you, not the other way around.  The reason for this is that you may miss out on valuable information, knowledge, or wisdom if you skip along without understanding what you’re reading.

Ok, let’s dig into the book a bit now.  Remember, I’ll be posting the other parts of this series later, for now, we’re going to absorb only an introductory overview and a few key highlights.

Book Review – Part One

Book Review of Crush It!  Why NOW Is the Time to Cash in On Your Passion © 2009 by Gary Vaynerchuk.  Published by HarperStudio, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers.

The first thing you need to do when reading a book, any book, is look at the Table of Contents.  You do this to preview the material.  This gives you a strategic or bird’s-eye view of it.  Then you can dive into the subject matter, or if pressed for time, you can skim the Table of Contents (or TOC for those of you abbreviation freaks).  You can also sometimes get a feel for what the material will cover.  But, remember, we’re just absorbing now.  Filtering comes later.

Outline

Chapter One:  Passion Is Everything

1. Three Rules
   • Love Your Family
   • Work Superhard
   • Live Your Passion
2. What You Need to Know
3. The Game Has Changed
4. No Excuses
5. This Means You
6. It’s Up to You
7. Turn Water Into Wine

Chapter Two:  Success Is in Your DNA

1. You Gotta Be You
2. Coming to America
3. Rise of the Entrepreneur
   • My Real Business
   • By the Time
4. Learning the Trade
5. Changing the Wine World

Chapter Three:  Build Your Personal Brand

1. Building My Brand
2. Opportunity Lies In Transparency
3. Trust Your Own Palate
4. Word of Mouth On Steroids
5. Everybody’s Doing It

Chapter Four:  A Whole New World

1. Plan Your Future Now
   • If You’re Not

Chapter Five:  Create Great Content

1. Know Your Stuff
2. Tell A Story
3. Don’t Lie To Yourself
4. Choose Your Medium Carefully
5. The Lure and the Lasso

Chapter Six:  Choose Your Platform

1. The Must-Haves
2. WordPress and Tumblr
   • Call-To-Action Buttons
   • Share Functions
3. Facebook
4. Twitter
5. Flickr
6. YouTube and/or Viddler
7. UStream.TV
8. Word-Of-Mouth Power Moves
9. Differentiate Yourself

Chapter Seven:  Keep It Real … Very Real

1. Authenticity
2. Invest In the Important Stuff
3. Hustle
4. Patience

Chapter Eight:  Create Community:  Digging Your Internet Trench

1. Capture
2. The Power of One
3. Next Steps

Chapter Nine:  The Best Marketing Strategy Ever

Chapter Ten:  Make the World Listen

1. A Few Additional Steps

Chapter Eleven:  Start Monetizing

1. Advertising
2. Speaking Engagements
3. Affiliate Programs
4. Retail
5. Articles
6. Seminars
7. Books and TV
8. Consulting
9. Advertising Redux
10. Create Some Hoopla

Chapter Twelve:  Roll with It

1. Be Ready to Adapt
2. Put Out Fires
3. Shape Your Story
4. Trendspotting

Chapter Thirteen:  Legacy Is Greater Than Currency

Conclusion:  The Time Is Now, the Message Is Forever

Appendix A:  Did You Forget Anything?

1. Identify Your Passion
2. Create 50 Blog Topics
3. Ask Yourself:
   • Am I sure my passion is what I think it is?
   • Can I talk about it better than anyone else?
4. Name Your Personal Brand
5. Buy Your User Name
6. Choose Your Medium
7. Start a Blog
8. Hire a Designer
9. Include Connect, Call-to-Action, Share Functions, and Business Invites
10. Create a Facebook Fan Page
11. Sign-up For Content Distributors (Ping.fm, TubeMogul, Twitter, Facebook)
12. Post Your Content
13. Create Community by Commenting
14. Use Twitter Search to Find People Talking About Your Topic
15. Use Google Blog Search to Find More Blogs On Your Topic
16. Join Facebook Fan Pages and Groups Relating To Your Topic
17. Reach Out To Advertisers and Begin Monetizing

Appendix B:  Five Business Ideas I Won’t Get to – They’re Yours

1. The QVC of the Internet
2. A Tea Blog
3. The Sports Center of the Web
4. Online Book Reviews
5. PepsiLandHousPlace.com

Now Some Quotes

The next thing to do after previewing the TOC, is to read, and then look for quotes that stuck in your mind.  (I will only give a few in this installment, so as not to overload you.)  You can use what stuck in your mind as a springboard for what you want to get out of the book’s contents.  Think highlights reel (for you sports buffs).

Quote, The First

On technology as a tool:

“You can pimp your ride, but that doesn’t change…how you travel in your car” (page 12).

My thoughts:

This is an excellent metaphor for how technological tools can be viewed.  It helps us to visualize what to do with technology.  Technology is not the car, it is the rims, the tires, the spoiler, etc.  In other words, it is not the most important thing – the content (the engine!) is.

Quote, The Second

On monetizing your passion:

“Can you think of at least 50 blog topics that you’re amped to write about?  That’s about the minimum number of posts you’ll need to give yourself enough time to get a feel for the situation.

That said, I’m convinced that if something is your true passion you can find 500 things – 500 interesting things – to say about it” (page 50).

My thoughts:

Wow!  So, I’m just starting out with blogging and social media and this both excited me and scared me.  I was excited because I thought, ‘great, now I know a number to shoot for when I’m looking to become an expert in my niche.’  Then I thought, ‘yikes, I’ve got about a year or more of hardcore blogging to do to get to that point!’  And then the next thought was ‘can I pull it off?’  ‘Can I last that long?’  Only time will tell, but this is a great target to shoot for.

Quote, The Third

On analytics:

“It’s not about how many viewers you have, it’s about how passionate they are” (page 80).

My thoughts:

As a new blogger, I’m very happy to hear this, because, frankly, it’s depressing being a ‘new kid on the block’ and feeling like, ‘ok, when is my traffic supposed to pickup?’  In other words, Gary gives me permission to worry less about quantity, and encourages me to focus more on quality.

That’s all for part one.  Stay tuned for part two, coming soon!

Please leave me your thoughts in the comments.

Thanks.

Until next time.

Peace.

-Ryan.