- On this episode we talk about pets, cutting through
the noise and VaynerMedia's social accounts.
(hip hop)
♫ Gary Vee
♫ You ask questions
♫ And I answer them
♫ This is the #AskGaryVee Show ♫
- Hey everybody, this is Gary Vay-ner-chuk and
this is episode 171 of the #AskGaryVee Show.
Late in the year, India, the Jets have won
three straight games so I'm in a good mood today.
I apologize, big ups to the Vayner Nation thats been
following my new website, Staphon, get that.
Actually take over, can you move my face small
in the corner and have the whole website here
so more editing, but I'll take it.
Big ups to everyone who's checked out
the new website, I appreciate it and for
a lot of you calling me out because the new
calendar app, which I know we also have
to throw right hook for so let's get that up.
Calendar app, please download it, check that out.
Something really cool, if you don't want to miss
any more of my public streamings or my free public
events or my keynotes, we were looking at
a lot of the feedback that I've been getting the
last year and when we updated the site.
The biggest thing was people wanted to know when I
was in town and things were available so we created
this app, it's really cool, make sure you download it.
Syncs with your calendar but we put that there be a
#AskGaryVee yesterday, cause there was supposed to be.
What do you think?
There was only probably four or five times
in the entire year that we were planning on doing
this show and we had to cancel, because I just couldn't
get it in, right?
- [Staphon] They happened more recent,
so it felt like there was more.
- Because November and December?
- [Staphon] Yeah.
- Yeah, anyway, so interesting now of course
we have the app, we make a promise and
we didn't do the show yesterday so we're back
in the saddle.
For everybody whose been giving me huge love for
the DailyVees, thank you so much.
We've done two, DRock is MIA til the beginning of
the year so they'll be no more DailyVees until
January, but then we're gonna come hard
two to three a week we're looking to do.
I'm excited about that, huge feedback on that
Britt, I don't know if you noticed that.
- [Britt] I have noticed.
- And so I'm excited, Staphon, you should at least, yeah.
- Okay
- Got it, and so that's good and that's it.
I'm going to Dallas, I've now made the committment
to go to every Jets game this year so with that.
India, let's get into the
- [Both] Show.
- Not bad.
- I missed that, you know.
- Yeah, that was kind of nostalgic.
- [India] It was.
- I missed the show, I've been that little MIA.
So, busy, end of the year.
Hope you're hustling as well.
Let's do it.
- [India] First question from Matt.
- Matt.
- [Voiceover] "How would you market at pet toy wholesale
"brand now looking to build a direct to consumer presence?"
- Matt, first and foremost I'm saddend by your
concern because you are literally are playing in
one of the three or four best genres.
Like, you're selling to pet enthusiasts.
Have you looked at the psychology and
emotion of people that love their pets?
There are people that really really,
there are enormous amounts of human beings
in the world that love their pets more than their family.
I mean so your talking about a high emotion category.
Instagram is littered, literally littered, go to the,
let's go functionality here, it's not super complicated.
There's something that's called Instagram,
You open it up, you literally hit the search button.
You go to search, you literally put dogs, dogs.
Stick with me here, this is massively complicated.
Slow internet, dogs, tags, sticking with me here.
I don't know how you're zooming in, Staphon I'm sorry
for the slow internet I should be on the wifi.
Alright, dogs of Instagram, oh I don't know,
34 million hashtags, dogs 22 millions hashtags.
Dogstergram, 13 million, dog sitting, 2 million.
Are you nuts?
Start putting out content on Instagram,
start tagging your stuff with these tags
that everybody uses and use hashtag
riding to build awareness and it doesn't
cost you anything except for the production
of the content which on a scrappy business level
should be free because it's your time, time is
valuable but it should be free.
So, Instagram for sure because the attention
graph is there, you can buy Facebook ads
against dog lovers or fans of dogs all day long.
We had the benefit of working with a dog brand company,
our commercial rates and engagement were at
the highest of anything we played with.
Obviously you're watching the show and maybe you just
want to get your question on, but this is very basic.
Facebook ads, Instagram creative with using the hashtags,
there ghost search, I would run ads, I made an investment
in a company called Bark Box, they have a content play.
Their ads on that site are converting for your advertising.
Not because it's an investment I made because I want
to be historically right, I own nothing of it.
It's just a place that a lot of dog people
are spending a lot of attention.
There's so many places, I mean, this kind
of pissed me off India.
This was not the right, I don't know if
you asked me this question on purpose
to get me going, you did?
- [India] Mmm hmm.
- Got it, okay well.
- Also he was really persistent.
- So you tried to raz him?
Were you razzing him a little bit for his persistence?
- [India] Maybe a little bit.
- What's his name? - Matt.
- Matt, first of all I love the persistence,
raz India, I like it.
Second, it's dogs and cats and parrots
and people love this crap.
I mean, are you nuts?
Easy, easy, I'm almost wondering if you're
just crippled by how much you can do vs
by being curious of what you should do.
- [India] Whoa, that's good.
- Yeah, I'm pumped.
We've got a new, we should make that a Medium article.
Or the new Gary, the Gary Vaynerchk stuff
on mobile is fire Zak.
Killed it, alright.
- [Voiceover] John asks "I know you're the brand but
"why are VaynerMedia's social accounts so whatever?
"Why are those outlets afterthoughts?"
- That's a really good point, we decided to take
on this question, it's not a fun question.
We are not doing a good enough
job on the VaynerMedia account.
It's 100% my fault, we've had people in the past
at a good rotation when we were two or three
hundred people, I think in 2016 it became a
secondary priority as some of those people
graduated to more senior jobs or more responsibilities
or something's lost in translation.
There's two very interesting answers.
So, first answer is, it wasn't a priority.
It stems from the top, it lost it's momentum
and I didn't create infustructure to fix it.
The second part's probably more interesting,
which is our funnel of applicants and high quality
employees and new business is so high that
we're taking, it's the same reason I don't think
think Apple is a good advertiser.
When you have the best product,
in the same way I always say the greatest
advertising in the world doesn't fix your
shit product, when you have the best product
the worst advertising doesn't hurt you as much either.
It can hurt you a little bit, I wouldn't be
naive to think that we maybe missed out
on some clients because well, they're not
doing their own social as well as they used to
or could be, cause we used to be best in class.
And two, you know some applicants were like
well they don't take that serious so, yes I think
we probably run on the fact that I'm so strong
and good at it, there is that proxy the way you asked
the question but it is, I probably was willing to answer
this question to shame myself into fixing that in 2016.
As a matter of fact India I'm putting you in charge of
shaming me, no not in charge of the Vayner accounts
but in charge of me putting together the team in
January that will start executing in February.
Or the system, because I do have this idea of since
we have so many employees creating a calendar
where one employee takes over the account every day
for the entire year, you like that?
- [Brittany] I do like that.
- That's a clever little idea.
It also , let them do whatever they do.
You know I love to run it capitaistic,
I'm not scared of anybody doing innappropriate things.
They'll just get fired and we'll own up to it.
It's not super complicated.
I hate when companies, this is a good way
to answer something else.
What are we gonna like check the content
and give them a bunch of handbooks and rules?
No, if Marv sucks at it and like puts up innappropriate
pictures of himself, he'll get fired.
- I like when we were doing the Snapchats
where different departments took over.
- Yeah. We're gonna go hard on that.
Cool.
- [India] Next one. - Next one.
- [India] Its from Josiah.
- Josiah
- [Voiceover] Josiah asks, "Would you recommend a
"white label video player or Youtube for media
"companies looking to monetize video content?"
- Both, if you have an advertising department that
can get your own sales team to sell pre-roll or
integration within your own video player that
gives you more flexibility than what Youtube could
based on what your advertisers or partners would
want from the player and that you can justify building
a player for a couple hundred thousand dollars
because you have a million dollar sponsorship
but this sponsorship wanted these unique things
that Youtube didn't have, you do that.
If you're like 99% of the rest of the world use Youtube.
- [India] For sure.
- That was tight.
- Pat Flynn, geez.
- Pat Flynn, big time guy, a lot of people watching
this show listen to his podcast.
First of all Pat, you took forever
to fucking send this to me.
- Hey Gary, what's up.
Pat from Smart Passive Income, quick question,
when you get a new idea, when a new idea
pops into your head, how do you, do you have a
validation process before actually taking action
on that idea to make sure it's worth it or not?
Do you have a vetting process, does your team help you?
I'm curious because a lot of us entrepreneurs,
we have a ton of ideas, how do you know
which ones are going to work or not.
And to follow it up, do you have an example?
- That's a great, great, great, great,
great, great, great question.
I've two processes.
One is completely emotional, the
other one is completely rational.
There have been ideas, a la, the #AskGaryVee Show
where literally in one shot, though it's
perculated a little bit, in one moment
I go, I execute against the idea and I let the
results speak for themselves and I can stop it.
For everytime I look like a hero, where I make the
first episode of Wine Library TV or #AskGaryVee and I say
we're gonna look back at this and this was right.
There's seven other things that I have done like
that which are floating in the internets, and I'm
gonna be, we're gonna look back at this and be like merr.
My first picture from Flickr, my first picture for Flickr.
- [India] I have it somewhere.
- Do you have it somewhere?
My first picture from Flickr I
drew out gourmetlibrary.com.
Drew it and I said one day this will be one of the
most iconic pictures in my life or something like that.
And it was because at that time I thought I was
gonna launch gourmetlibrary.com and I knew that I was
gonna build $100 million gourmet business.
What happened was I started Wine Library TV
two months later as well and that became the thing
and I never got around to really doing gourmet library.
So, I think I got that intuitive part.
The other part is like Wine Library TV,
since February, since really like March or April
of 2005 I knew that I wanted to do a Youtube show.
That it was gonna be big, but it took me until
February '06 to start Wine Library TV.
I knew that I wanted to do an ecommerce site
in '94 but I really didn't launch it until
'96 but really run it until '98.
I know that I'm going to buy a brand one day.
Puma, Snickers, you know Pabst Blue Ribbon but I'm
perculating and learning for 10 years before that moment.
So, I've both, but Pat really the answer is it's
very internal, I don't go to my dad or to Brittany
and be like hey Britt what do you think.
Like, I don't give a shit what Brittany thinks.
Now that is either a strength or a weakness, sorry Brit.
That's either a strength or a weakness but I want to
give you the truth which is I go very internal,
I feel it with myself, I care, you know what's funny?
I don't care what Brittany says as my consultant
or teammate, I care what Brittany does as a consumer.
I respect the market over my friends, my family,
the people I respect and even myself.
And so I think the way to find out what
the market's gonna feel and do is by
giving them a chance to react to it.
So, I let the things that I feel the most bubble up
and then I execute against those things
and then I let the chips fall where they may.
- [India] I found it. - You found the picture?
- The caption is so funny, one day everyone
will know why this pic is so amazing.
- Oh my God, see this is so cool because look,
I mean obviously you're gonna put the subs on,
the so is very similar to show.
- Yeah.
- That's unbelievable, one day, December 30, 2005,
oh my God, this is literally, what's today?
- [India and man] The 16th.
- This is literally, literally a decade ago.
Like, two weeks short of a decade ago.
There's a picture of the pasta I ate while I drew
out gourmetlibrary.com and one day everyone
will know why this pic is so amazing.
And I'm gonna tell you why this pic is so amazing,
though I didn't execute on gourmet library ten years ago,
and big shout out to Eric Caster and John Kay
who were there with me that day.
Even though I didn't, this date was the two week period,
this was the height of the holidays, this date represents
the day that I knew that I wasn't gonna be in the
wine business the rest of my life.
This picture really represents the transformation
into what all of you have known me to
become over the last ten years.
- The dirty bowl is so significant though.
- I told you that one day everyone would
understand why this pic is so.
- I even bookmarked it cause we were eating.
- Cause it's so amazing, that's cool.
- [India] That is cool.
- I'm a little bit emotional about that.
- [India] Last question.
- Yes.
- [Voiceover] Tellas asks, "How do I cut through the shit and
"engage to become the number one knowledge leader?"
- Ah, T this is such a good question.
India you're getting very strategic about your book ending
of questions, I'm very proud of you actually today.
You've really grown in your DJing of question skills.
- [India] Thank you. - Great year for you.
- [India] It was a good year.
- The reason I said that is India knows
that I'm gonna go off on this one mainly
because it's such a simple answer T.
Yes there's so much noise and there's
so much bad crap and the way to break through,
this is crazy now, stick with me, is to actually
be the best and actually have the skills
that allow you to break through.
Being a thought leader is no different than
being the best football player in America.
How does one become, with all the people
that want to be a professional football player,
you know, 80% of dudes that are 15,
60, whatever I don't know.
Of all those people how do you become Aaron Rogers?
Crazy thing, you have to have the natural ability and
then you have to put so much work into that
ability that you rise above all the other people
that equally had around the same level of that ability.
How do you become the thought leader
or the one in your space?
You need to be the best.
The reason I was the one in the wine space
is for 15 years, since I was 15, before I started
Wine Library TV, I had learned an insane
amount about wine, I had executed for eight years
running the fastest growing and then ultimately
one of the biggest wine businesses in America.
I amassed my knowledge, I went all in, I worked
15 hours a day and then I started content on
what would then become one of the most important
communication tools of our time called Youtube
on top of the internet and then after I showed everybody
the way, every other wine personality decided to
get a camera like this and do it too.
That was 2006, 7, 8, and 9 was in wine world.
They're like wait, if that idiot can do it, I can do it.
And then I had to be the best and that's what this
business show's about, there's a lot of other
business shows, either I'm gonna be the most
valuable for you or the second most valuable
or the third most valuable or you're not going to watch me.
It's the quality.
You break through, not by your tactics.
You break through by your ability and your skills.
It's the truth, that's whats so great about a market.
The customer gets to decide, not you, not me, not you.
And so, you go out there and you execute
and then you let the chips fall.
Do you know how many people are running
around on Youtube and Instagram and Twitter
right now trying to do my tactics?
A lot. See it everyday.
Do they have the same business acume?
Do they have the same business skills?
Do they have the same 20 years of
experience of running businesses?
Do they have the same history of being right
where the consumer behavior is going in the country?
Not as much and there are others that are.
And there's plenty of you watching right now,
there's a 16 year old watching this right now
whose got more chops than me whose gonna
put in just as much work as me
and he's gonna go out and win.
There's a girl right now in Alabama
who has more natual DNA to understand
what the consumers are gonna do in 2020
and 2030 and if she puts in the work,
cause she's gonna, she's gonna go and she's
gonna be bigger and more successful
and more dominant than me.
That's what's awesome about the game.
That's how you break through the clutter.
You break through all that crap that you
decided is crap by being better than that crap.
Now let's just see if you're not that crap too.
Question of the day, how many more of these
do we have before I go away, two?
We're gonna do one tomorrow and Friday,
no tomorrow I'm in Chattanooga and Charlotte.
One more, Friday?
- [Staphon] Friday. - And that's it.
- [Staphon] Yeah.
- So second to last episode of the
year cause I'm on family time.
Unless I might ask you to meet me at the Jets
game cause I'm flying back for Jets Patriots.
But, let's assume this is, we got two more.
So what do I want to know?
I guess I'll go New Year's resolution.
Okay, so I'm gonna go with question of the day
cause I'm glad it's back, I missed it.
Question of the day, what are you doing for the holidays?
I'm in a surprise and delight kind of mood so let's
see how detailed people get on the Instagram,
on the Facebook, on the Twitters.
I love when people say the, on the Twitter.
Let me know on Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram and Youtube.
And that's it.
- [India] We're doing
- Oh yes we are doing an exclusive podcast
question but for everybody whose watching
on those channels, you're out.
I feel like I'm on these radios, when you've got a
local and a national broadcast.
For everybody whose listening on the podcast,
I'll be with you in a second, for the rest of you,
you keep asking questions, I'll keep answering them.
(hip hop)