Gary Vaynerchuk is a legend in the making.
Gary is best known for his wonderfully passionate video reviews on his self-styled Wine Library TV. But he’s much deeper than that. Gary is an incredibly shrewd businessman with and innovative and intuitive business mind. Gary understand the next generation of promotion as well as anyone I’ve ever seen.
He’s a master of the things that really matter now.
1. A master of the product he sells. He understands everything there is to understand about his product. He knows the business, the process, the flavors, the appeal inside and out. He’s immune to dogma — he has his own opinions about his product and his industry.
2. A master of PR. Without a PR firm he’s been on Conan, Ellen, and Nightline. His video reviews are watched by over 60,000 people a day. A good portion of those people don’t give a damn about wine either. They’re there to see Gary go. He’s talked about at wine conferences, tech conferences, print media, new media, everywhere. This is not an accident.
3. He’s a master of community. His wine reviews routinely get well over 100 comments. Some topping 300. His obsessed fans, affectionately branded the Vayniacs, are as passionate as he is. Through link ups, Facebook friending, and relentless Twittering, he gives them the fuel, attention, and love they need to keep the fire burning. And he reminds them that he appreciates every moment of it.
4. He’s a master of his own brand. He endlessly promotes Wine Library, his family’s wine shop, and his own brand on camera, off camera, and through merchandising. He genuinely believes you can help people by being true to yourself. When you think of Gary you think of authentic passion. Is there a better quality for any brand? Here’s some more great advice from Gary at Strategic Profits Live.
5. He’s a sharer. Gary shares all day long. He understand that when you share you get back more in return. But fundamentally he’s not really sharing to get back, he’s sharing because he loves to give. He loves giving his opinion on wine, business, life, etc. He wants other people to be successful.
On top of all this, Gary is just one hell of a nice guy. I’ve recently gotten to know him and the one thing that really stands out — besides his ridiculous energy — is his generosity and overall desire to see others do well. Tara Hunt’s interview is a great example of this. I look forward to learning a lot from Gary. I hope you do too.
some guy
on 09 Apr 08“A master of the product he sells. He understands everything there is to understand about his product. He knows the business, the process, the flavors, the appeal inside and out. He’s immune to dogma — he has his own opinions about his product and his industry.”
You understated this probably because 37s favors brevity (that’s good) but I wanted to add that Gary Vee wasn’t always a happy dude – he put in his time as a young guy which you can hear about in his interview with Tara Hunt.
To make a long story short, he spent years stocking shelves and reading wine reviews obsessively. Just like how a lot of great web designers did their time drawing Helvetica by hand and pushing old-fashioned metal type around to master the fundamentals of typography, he did his time to learn about wine.
He has the knowledge to back up the attitude and the recommendations, in other words.
JF
on 09 Apr 08To make a long story short, he spent years stocking shelves and reading wine reviews obsessively. Just like how a lot of great web designers did their time drawing Helvetica by hand and pushing old-fashioned metal type around to master the fundamentals of typography, he did his time to learn about wine.
Absolutely. Strong fundamentals give you the skills you need to do bigger and better things. Anyone who achieves greatness on their own was at one time certainly not great. They built it by practicing and putting in their time. There are no overnight successes.
Charlie Park
on 09 Apr 08Vee’s incredible. Thanks for doing this writeup on him.
Chris Kelley
on 09 Apr 08I saw Gary speak at FOWA Miami this year, and he is truly inspiring. He spoke on personal branding and all of his thoughts were very sincere and spot-on – VAY – NER – CHUCK definitely knows how to capture an audience as well. Great write-up, thanks.
leslie
on 09 Apr 08GaryVee is an inspiration on social marketing
Dhrumil
on 09 Apr 08I asked Gary for a few recommended organic wines for my raw food community and he got back to me that same day. I love this guy. Just for the fact that he took time to reply!
Scott
on 09 Apr 08I wish we could dispense with the idea that you have to ape Jim Cramer’s frenetic, migraine-inducing style. Volume isn’t the same as passion. Bob Brown had passion for painting, and his style was the polar opposite of this guy.
JF
on 09 Apr 08Scott, who said anything about his style being the defining factor of his passion? He has energy, that’s clear. He has volume, that’s clear. And that works great for him. It’s not artificial or contrived. Who suggested that someone can’t be passionate and quiet and reserved?
There are many ways to show your passion. The point Gary makes is a point I agree with—be true to yourself. If you’re energetic and excited, be energetic and excited. If you’re reserved, be reserved. Authenticity is what’s important here. Be yourself.
some guy
on 09 Apr 08I think part of the reason Gary emphasizes the energetic side of himself is to break up the idea that wine is inaccessible and elite. A lot of wine library TV involves helping ordinary people (with ordinary incomes) enjoy wine.
He has to avoid coming across as just another wine snob.
Benjy
on 09 Apr 08Lots of these lessons are very similar to the ones I just heard Seth Godin talk about on a conference call this afternoon and that are in his “Meatball Sundae” book
BTW, he mentioned his love of 37Signals toward the end of the call…
CommerceStyle.com
on 09 Apr 08Just watched come of the videos and they are pretty nice!
FredS
on 09 Apr 08Kind of a spazz.
Agent Red
on 09 Apr 08As a Gary Vaynerchuk “competitor”, I could be expected to trash Gary and his way-over-the-top style. I would never do that, though, because Gary is part of the rising tide that makes all the boats (wine retailers and wineries) in the harbor float a little higher.
Besides, Gary calls us cooler than he is. While this may not be true, we appreciate the compliment – and everything he is doing for the industry as a whole.
Count me among the Vanynernation faithful.
BlahGeeTsa
on 09 Apr 08Check him out @ the Tech Cocktail conference on May 29th as well. It’s going to be a great event. In Chicago
Tyson Caly
on 09 Apr 08Gary has become a force in the industry that so many people are really into, and you just can’t argue with his success. Wine is such a complex thing for so many people, and he’s doing a truly great service for the industry by making it more approachable. He’s fresh, he doesn’t hold back, and he’s got things to say that traditional wine media won’t touch. The amazing community and following he’s created is incredible, and I’m convinced he’ll continue his success far into the future. I expect to see more of this approach spread across the wine scape. It’s an exciting time.
Eoghan McCabe
on 09 Apr 08I love the guy to bits but know only 2 weeks worth of WLTV videos of him. I really enjoy wine, but I watch because I want more of his passion virus. It’s positively infectious.
Chris Carter
on 10 Apr 08Gary’s great, not just because he is doing an incredible service to the wine industry by presenting energy and a desire for accessibility, but also because he’s bringing a knowledge of the web to a demographic that traditionally doesn’t approach the web as more than a mail-order catalog.
When he featured a great wine from Washington last year, we saw our sales jump 400% because people were encouraged to look for it, and happened to find one place that actually had it in stock. On top of that, he’s truly progressive about the types of wine he pushes, and in his entire approach.
It’s a breath of fresh air in an industry that while growing a newer demographic, is still steeped in “snobbery” and antiquity.
Motown
on 10 Apr 08Jason, you are an inspiration of a similar sort! We are taking these same principles to heart in launching a new product.
KAHUNA
on 10 Apr 08I always was curious if Gary was taller would he have more room to drink wine rather than spit it all the time.
Pete Moring
on 10 Apr 08Only found out about Gary a few weeks ago on Twitter. Have watched his videos and read so much about him since.
Don’t we all want to just CLONE him??
What a great World it would be. Having said that, he’s spreading like wildfire, so who knows?
Pete.
Kathleen Lisson
on 10 Apr 08I appreciate the confidence Gary gives to his viewers, confidence to drink and enjoy the wines that THEY like and not just follow reviews. Kathleen Lisson
Mike Gowen
on 10 Apr 08I’ve met Gary a few times and the most single more important aspect of him is that he makes an honest effort to connect with each and every person he meets. Given his popularity, that is no simple feat. He makes every fan feel like they have a direct and personal relationship with him.
His brand is not wine, its him. If he starting evangelizing shoe horns, I don’t think he’d lose a single fan.
Reminds me of what Ze Frank has done.
Patrick Algrim
on 10 Apr 08Yeah I remember hearing him talk about his endeavors on the Web 2.0 show… He sounds like he is very in tune with his marketing and idea’s. I realized he isn’t a developer or a designer, but he does know technology. So his main image is a great public speaker. He has a great people sense, and thus has become a part of the development world. Google guys love Gary V, usually they don’t love anyone who doesn’t know XML or XSL, haha.
NewWorldOrder
on 10 Apr 08Jason: Thank you for introducing me to this dude with this post. I’m loving his videos…
Jay
on 11 Apr 08Great knowledge, but substitutes loud and annoying for any type of proper communication skills in his clips. I’m sure he’s smart and a nice person, but his videos are unwatchable.
Mark
on 11 Apr 08Thanks for turning me on to Gary. I now feel like I’ve found someone I can relate to in the wine industry.
Andrew Cornett
on 11 Apr 08I met Gary when we decided to roll out to his crazy Santa Rosa wine party at De Loach. Me and a few friends were nervous because honestly it seemed a little odd. We’re going to a party hosted by big people like Gary V and they just posted it on Twitter. So when we got there, we must have been the first people from Twitter to show up… We were the youngest people to walk through the door. There were a few sour looks, but Gary gave us the biggest welcome and the most attention out of anyone. And that really meant a lot. He was a very genuine guy, and wanted everyone to have a good time no matter what. Even the Twitter kids.
Bret
on 12 Apr 08Just out of curiosity, I went back and looked at some of his earlier shows.
It’s interesting to see how he’s become more extroverted. I would guess that over time, he’s allowed his true personality to come out more and more. I think that’s another valuable lesson—you won’t make a difference if you don’t buck the status quo.
Bret
on 13 Apr 08P.S. I also meant to mention that I think that the democratization of such a highfalutin culture has a lot to do with his success. And that’s not a criticism.
Dale Cruse
on 14 Apr 08The podcast is fun, wine is great, but the best part is that Gary’s actually my friend. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
This discussion is closed.