#AskGaryVee

by Gary Vaynerchuk

  * * *

  How do you make your market embrace your product or ideas when it just doesn’t care about them yet?

  * * *

  I get asked a version of this pretty frequently, which boils down to: How do you take someone from “maybe” to “yes”? How do you make them buy in?

  You don’t.

  I don’t try to convert anyone. No one! None of the content, none of the things I do—books, keynotes, videos, T-shirts—are done in the hope they will convert a single person. I speak only to the already converted, and you should do the same.

  This question applies to much more than just social. It applies to whatever thing you are trying to sell. Period. If you sell fax machines, and your market doesn’t believe in fax machines, don’t try to convince them to buy fax machines! Go find the people who have bought into the fax machine idea and sell to them. Because if you’re too early in a business or a theory where there’s no buy-in, you’ve lost.

  People are always marveling at how I manage to get into markets just ahead of the mainstream, but as I always say, I’m not Nostradamus. What I am is practical. I spend zero time convincing people to believe what I believe in. Up-and-coming wines. The Internet and email marketing back in 1997. Google AdWords in 2000. Snapchat two years ago. There were even plenty of people who didn’t believe the market was ready in 2009 when I started VaynerMedia with AJ, but in fact there was just enough for us to build a business, and we grew into it. You need a few people waiting at the end if you’re going to survive, and they were there. That’s how we knew we’d be okay if we skated to where the puck was going to be, not where it already was.

  Apply your time and energy to where there is fertile ground. It might take a lot of work to find your customer base, but it sure beats wasting your breath on people who are never going to help you out.

  I promise you, the more you reach out, the more opportunities to make new connections will arise. Put in an extra one or two hours every day to go beyond the place you’ve already been looking. It’ll be worth it.

  CHEF LIZETTE

  @CHEFLIZETTE1

  cheflizette.com

  * * *

  When trying to create a new media property (say, something at the intersection of food and tech, with no real precedents), how do you find and forge the right partnerships, that is, people with resources and access?

  * * *

  Everybody always has something to offer. When I biz-dev from a zero-starting place, which seems to be where this question is coming from, and I’m looking to extend my reach and resources, I’m always trying to reverse-engineer the most valuable thing I can give to those people.

  I think the way to do it would be with something I call shock and awe. I would reach out to as many of these people as I could, as often as possible. But instead of asking them to do something for me, I’d ask what I could do for them. It would be about following them on social or in the media, not about reaching out and asking directly, because let’s face it, these kinds of people are usually busy. It would be about asking what value props you can bring to them.

  I’m an enormous believer in spec work. I know it has a bad name, but if you’re looking to get something from someone, there are other ways you can pay them besides money, and providing your service or your product for free is a great way to build up points you can cash in.

  For example, I’m always the cheapest, or the most vulnerable, when I’m promoting a book. So for anybody reading this who bought 25–2,000 books in exchange for my time, I think you got a good deal. I discounted my time and my impact in order to make this book a success. So when you assess the fifty people you want to reach, you need to look at them and understand their vulnerabilities to see where you might get them at a discount. Now, if they don’t have those vulnerabilities, figure out how to provide disproportionate value by listening and asking directly.

  * * *

  Who would you recommend pitching an app idea to? What steps would you recommend?

  * * *

  At first I was like, what kind of question is this? If you have an idea and you can’t code, you pitch a cofounder or a dev shop to build it. If you need money, you pitch it to money people. When you need to sell it you pitch to a strategic buyer. If you need press, you pitch it to the media and influencers. Who do you pitch it to? Whomever you need at that moment!

  Then Steve Unwin (an amazing cast member from the shooooooow) explained to me that anyone who knew I invested in apps might wonder who might have a shot if they came to me. For example, I invested in the wine app Delectable. How did that deal happen? Well, a VC for Delectable knew I had a wine background. He pitched Phil Toronto, who vets my deals, and sure enough when I learned about it I thought it was intriguing. It’s strategic to consider an investor’s history if you want to predict their interests in the future. But then, every single decision you make in your business life needs to be strategic.

  * * *

  How do I get the first ten customers for a creative service start-up?

  * * *

  I once made a video where I showed the visitors to garyvaynerchuk.com how to cold-call potential customers on the air and get people to consider doing business with me. I had no script, other than to articulate exactly what kind of value I thought my blog could bring to anyone who might advertise on my site. It was a short, pleasant conversation that ended with the potential customer agreeing to review some ideas if I ever put them to paper and sent them to him. I’d call that a productive phone call. If I had been a new entrepreneur trying to find those first customers, I would have immediately picked up the phone again and dialed a new potential customer. And then I’d have done it again, and again, and again, for as long as I could that day, and the next, and the next.

  To get those first ten customers, you have to grind. You can’t be shy, my friends. Just roll up to every single person in the world who might possibly buy your stuff (meaning who already buys into at least the concept of your idea or product; see two questions up) and ask them to buy your stuff.

  WARREN WEEKS

  FOUNDER, THE ART OF THE GREAT MEDIA INTERVIEW

  @ElevenPR

  * * *

  PR firms offer media training for executives but the quality varies a lot. A lot of companies have grown complacent and just hire the same firms over and over. How do I get on the radar of decision makers (who aren’t actively looking, either because of complacency or because they think all media trainers are essentially the same)?

  * * *

  First and foremost, this is an excuse as much as it is a question. When I started VaynerMedia, plenty of our prospective clients were in the habit of hiring other, more established agencies. Every industry has its market leaders—companies who have done good work in the past and have become the default solution for their client base. Your goal is to become one of those leaders who are automatic go-tos. So first you have to get over your resentment of the competition and realize that you haven’t done crap to establish your brand. The way you can overcome that, in my opinion, is to deliver great work and start creating word of mouth. It’s just grinding and going through the process.

  Now, if you’re asking me how to get your first client, you might just have to come in cheaper than you want to. You’ve got to do a lot more business development, networking, advertising, and putting out content. These are the classic, tried-and-true ways for a B2B company like yours to get business. Put out content on LinkedIn and SlideShare. Go to YPO meetings and industry events for the organizations you’re targeting. Or just cold-call and offer your services at prices low enough to bring on clients who can then start recommending you based on the quality of your work.

  This is really, really, black-and-white stuff. It comes down to pure execution. If your work is great, that becomes your reputation, and that becomes the gateway drug to bring in business to your sales funnel. You may call the incumbents lazy, but I call it an earned reputation.

  * * *

  Why do you f
ocus on top-line revenue?

  * * *

  A lot of first-time entrepreneurs try driving margins and profit very early on. I do not. At both my dad’s wine shop and VaynerMedia, I focused on top-line revenue. Why? Because you can always drive your profits, but there’s a very small window in which to focus on the top line.

  When I run a business, I tend to innovate and be ahead of the market, and so I want to run fast and grab as many customers as I can while I’m still slightly ahead. It also gives me the ability to bring in the people who will keep things running in the background, freeing me up to play offense and concentrate on building my brand and gaining leverage as fast as possible. Because eventually, the market will catch up with me, and that’s when things get interesting and exciting. That’s when people start believing in what I’m doing, be it wines, e-commerce, video blogging, or social media. Three, four, five years down the line, after I’ve already established my brand and gained customer loyalty, then I can start to drive profit. You can always start cutting costs or raising prices at any time, but land-grabbing more customers gives you the leverage and the scale you need to ultimately convert once the time is right. Of course it takes a certain skill to balance your expenses and sales so you don’t go out of business, but I’ve made a good career of pushing those limits. I think my stomach for top-line revenue is why I now have a second business under my belt that grew from $3 million to $50 million within five years.

  I understand the desire to play things safe and guarantee you make payroll, but remember, if you take too long to grow someone else is going to come along and eat you up.

  * * *

  I have an app idea, with my target market willing to test it, but I need to create the app and I’m not a programmer. Any advice?

  * * *

  It’s the simplest thing to do in the world. MeetUp.com, for instance, has eight hundred different developer meetups. Find the closest one, even if it’s far away, and go find your developer.

  I get so many questions like this every day: “Hey, Gary, how do I hire a business partner/developer/assistant?” If you aren’t capable of figuring out something so basic all by yourself, how the hell are you going to make it in that business? Ideas are shit. Execution is the name of the game. Just. Make. It. Happen.

  You know, seriously, if you have to ask this question, you’re probably out of business before you even start. Think about that before you invest a single minute more into your endeavor. For real.

  * * *

  I’m building an app that is probably six months away from a working prototype. What would you suggest I start doing now to build it up so that when it is time for release we’ll have plenty of users?

  * * *

  That’s a tricky one that lots of developers have to figure out every day: How can you promote a product months ahead of the launch date when you’re not even sure what the product itself is going to look like?

  The answer is a terrific tactic that works on everything: content, content, content, content, content, content.

  Let’s say you’re putting out a productivity app. Go reserve something like dailytimemanagement.com, and then use that domain throughout the months leading up to the launch. Start putting out content for Medium or your blog or RebelMouse that will draw like-minded people interested in that topic and lifestyle, people who are most likely to use the app. Do everything you can to create a hub and community around the very thing your product was built to address.

  Then when the app comes out, you pound that community with it. Shout at them. Ask them to test it out. Give them free trials or limited access so they can experiment with it. If they love it, they’ll start marketing it for you with word of mouth. You’ll know very quickly what works, what doesn’t, and what you need to focus on next.

  You know what we call this? That’s right. This is a classic example of using jabs and right hooks to build a brand. Flooding your community with quality content and earning their trust until the day you’re ready to make the ask is a tactic that works for everything. Give consumers a place where they can go to learn, discuss, meet other people, and be a part of something. Then hit them really, really hard.

  * * *

  What is the biggest obstacle to success: lack of time or lack of capital?

  * * *

  The obstacle would be assuming that lack of time or capital is an obstacle. What you’re talking about is excuses.

  There are a million things that can stop your success. Your family’s health and welfare. The country where you live or where you’re trying to set up a business. A competitor with a billion dollars and mega skills who punches you out and drops you in the first round. Bad media coverage. A random moment in time. If I were to look down at my phone while driving and kill somebody it would ruin me. There are a million reasons you can find to stop building a business, but almost every time, the real reason why you will stop is not that you don’t have time or money, but that it’s hard.

  To be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be an optimist. A lack of time is just incentive to be more efficient with the time you do have. Insufficient capital is a game to see who can find the most creative way to get more. You don’t see obstacles—you see opportunities. Optimists accept that obstacles will be in their path, and assume they’ll figure out a way around them. Which is not to say the grind isn’t hard for optimists, too. It is. They just like it.

  If you don’t, maybe you’re not cut out for entrepreneurship. Or at least you don’t have the stomach to do what it takes to be No. 1. And you know what? That’s okay. Thriving at No. 7 instead of stressing at No. 1 would be something to be proud of, and a great way to live.

  * * *

  What should I look for in a cofounder?

  * * *

  First look at yourself. You have to be self-aware and honest about your weaknesses, and find someone who can make up for them. When you’re considering a candidate, ask yourself if she provides the black-and-white to your gray. Does she love HR when you don’t care? You want to cover the core things that drive a business—a team, a product that works, a revenue model, sales, retention, vision, and execution.

  When people go wrong, it’s because they weren’t willing to be honest enough with themselves. They think, Oh, I can get by with my accounting skills. Oh, I’ll figure the legal stuff out as I go along. Um, no. There is something to be said for being intrepid and willing to problem-solve and learn, but you want a rock-solid foundation for your business. Ideally, together you and your cofounder will be a million times stronger than when you are apart.

  * * *

  What came first at VaynerMedia: clients or employees? And did you ever do the work by yourself?

  * * *

  About two or three months before AJ graduated from college I brought in our first client. We made that customer pay for the whole project up front, which we then used to pay our first five or six employees, all of whom still work here. AJ and I did actually do a lot of the early work on that first project by ourselves. We’re good in the trenches.

  I hope you’ll remember that anecdote. One of the reasons so many people go out of business is that they don’t know how to manage their cash flow. You think you’re going to make $80K so it’s okay to have $70K in expenses. But shit happens, and if there’s any kind of a hiccup and the money doesn’t come in when you think it will, you’ve got no buffer and you’re suddenly in trouble. Tech people often assume they’re going to keep raising incredible amounts of money, not realizing that once you’re a real company people start making decisions based on what you’re doing, not what you promised you’d do. So anytime you can sell ahead of your expenses, do it.

  * * *

  What are your tips for teenage bloggers to show brands they mean business?

  * * *

  Do you have traffic? Followers? Content? Engagement? Brands don’t care if you’re 14, 41, or 4,000 years old so long as you show results. They may underestimate you at first, but numbers don’t lie.
>
  * * *

  How can I filter years of exciting adventures and experiences into value that someone would actually be interested in?

  * * *

  I don’t know. Are your seventy-one years of experience interesting? Will anyone care about what you’ve done?

  I’m a person who will automatically value the life advice from someone who has lived seventy-one years, but the rest of the world isn’t like me. So to reach those people, the first thing you need to figure out is the best method to communicate. How are you going to storytell? Do you want to put out a show? Write articles? Blog? Tweet? Podcast? And then once you’ve perfected your medium, how will you monetize it? You could sell advertising, subscriptions, coaching, content. You could organize a community and put on a conference. Tell your story, establish your cred, make your story relevant, build your brand, and the monetization opportunities will come. Humans of New York was simply a Facebook page before it became a cultural phenomenon and landed Brandon Stanton a book deal.