PDF Summary:Crush It!, by Gary Vaynerchuk

As social media becomes increasingly central to how we share information, socialize, and do business, a personal brand—your digital presence and reputation—is now an essential career tool. In Crush It!, Gary Vaynerchuk explains how to develop and leverage your personal brand to get a better job or—better yet— to quit your job altogether and earn a living monetizing that brand.

Vaynerchuk became one of the earliest social media influencers during the late 2000s with a daily video series in which he tasted and talked about wine in a casual, accessible way. Fifteen years after launching his vlog, he remains a top influencer in business.

In this guide, we’ll discuss Vaynerchuk’s step-by-step instructions for building and monetizing a personal brand. We’ll also amend his advice with updated information and practical tips.

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Flynn launched his personal brand with a blog in 2008. Then, he added a YouTube channel in 2009 and created a podcast in 2010. Each new branch was a natural extension of the previous—and everything pointed back to his blog. As a result, his following ballooned.

Despite urging people to “be everywhere,” Flynn actually discourages being on every platform, because not all of them will substantially grow your following. Instead, aim to expand to every platform that (most of) your target audience uses. (The Pew Research Center has social media usage data for a range of demographics.)

Step 4: Choose the Right Platform

Vaynerchuk recommends having multiple platforms. He advises using each one strategically to maximize its strengths, and having them all direct fans back to your blog. (Shortform note: Although he doesn’t clarify, “blog” here seems to refer to either a written blog, vlog, or podcast; Vaynerchuk often refers to written and video “blogs.”) He breaks down the pros and cons of the top platforms of the day, but because much has changed since the book’s publication, we will instead highlight the key features to look for when choosing a platform.

Video

• Livestream with a live chat function enables you to interact with people in real time, which reinforces a powerful sense of connection between you and your viewers. (Shortform note: That may be why research finds that live video holds viewers’ attention eight times longer than pre-recorded video.)

Blogging

• An easy-to-use design enables you to spend more time creating content than figuring out how to post it. (Shortform note: Blogging platforms like Web.com and Wix are user-friendly for content creators who don’t know coding, and some—like WordPress—make it easy to add extra features as your blog grows.)
• A repost feature allows fans to share your content, and their endorsement builds your credibility. (Shortform note: Shares are a highly valued metric in personal branding and social media, but not all shares are created equal—while some shares generate interest in your brand and lead to new followers, others simply create buzz without delivering any returns.)

Social

• Many platforms offer the option to create a business page, which typically has capabilities that are not accessible on your personal profile. (Shortform note: Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram provide analytics for business pages, but not for personal profiles. Although Vaynerchuk prefers to trust his gut over analytics, others argue that data can help marketers get efficient, effective results.)
• Keyword search helps you tap into your niche community and expand your audience. (Shortform note: Although Vaynerchuk uses the term “keywords,” his advice suggests he may be referring to hashtags, which were introduced on Twitter in 2007, just two years before this book was published. While similar, hashtags and keywords serve different purposes: Hashtags are meant to create buzz and engagement, and keywords—sprinkled strategically throughout your website and blog—drive SEO traffic.)

How to Choose Which Platforms to Use

In addition to Pat Flynn’s advice to post on the platforms that your audience uses most, there are several other factors you may also consider. Ask yourself these questions:

• What are your top one or two goals on social media? For instance, are you trying to educate people, build an audience for your business, or establish your credibility in your niche?

• What are each platform’s strengths and weaknesses? For example, Twitter is great for reaching an international audience, and LinkedIn is ideal for promoting B2B services.

• What’s working for your competitors? Look at which platforms your competitors use, what and how often they post, how big their following is, and how engaged their audience is.

Step 5: Create Engaging Content

Now that you have the building blocks, it's time to start creating blogs, Tweets, posts, videos, or podcasts about your topic. Vaynerchuk emphasizes that everything you post is a tool for attracting people to your personal brand and enticing them to become part of your growing audience. (Shortform note: Taking this a step further, when people share and view your content, it boosts your search engine optimization (SEO) score, which makes it easier for people to find you online. This creates a virtuous cycle.)

To make compelling content, Vaynerchuk says you must:

• Be yourself. You won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but your personality will resonate with some people, and they’ll recognize your authenticity and trust you more for it. Incorporate some personal details and anecdotes to help people get to know you, thereby making them more connected to your brand. (Shortform note: While showing your personality is key to building your personal brand, how much of your personal life you should reveal depends on your topic, your platform, and your comfort level.)
• Keep learning. Continually learn about the topic and stay on top of developments and trends. Read articles, newsletters, trade journals, books, and websites, and attend classes, lectures, and conferences. You can even make content about your learning journey by sharing your discoveries, missteps, and new skills. (Shortform note: Influencers’ popularity is often wrongly equated with expertise. For this reason, it’s important to be transparent about your actual level of expertise to avoid misleading followers.)
• Have plenty to say. Before you start creating content, you should brainstorm at least 50 topics that you’d be excited to blog, vlog, or podcast about. (Shortform note: While Vaynerchuk says you should follow your gut and your passion in choosing your topics—and doing everything else—you can still be strategic in how you select and frame your topics. Think of your ideal audience and present your topics in ways that best help and appeal to them.)
• Tell a good story. Good stories draw people in, keep them coming back for more, and make them want to loop in their friends—and their friends’ friends. Good storytelling can help you grow an audience that attracts sponsors and advertisers.

The StoryBrand Formula for Creating Your Marketing Story

Storytelling is a central strategy in marketing. In Building a StoryBrand, Donald Miller argues that storytelling is the most effective way to market a brand because it makes information engaging and easily digestible.

Miller developed a seven-part formula for crafting a story that connects with customers and makes them believe that your product will improve their lives.

• Your customer wants something, and encounters a...

• Problem that stops them from getting it. They need...

• Your brand, which has a...

• Plan to help them solve the problem. Your brand must give a...

• Call to action that clearly states...

• What’s at stake if the customer doesn’t act, and...

• What they could gain if they do act.

Step 6: Build Your Community

With good content, you can build the audience you need to be able to monetize your brand. Vaynerchuk notes that, when it comes to creating community, quality beats quantity: A few loyal, engaged fans are likely to draw more followers than a large crowd of passive subscribers. (Shortform note: When it comes time to monetize your brand, many advertisers also recognize the value of quality over quantity. A 2017 report on influencer marketing revealed that “micro-influencers'' with narrow niches and devoted audiences of 10,000 to 1 million followers often drive more traction than celebrity endorsements.)

After you’ve created and posted some content, Vaynerchuk provides step-by-step instructions for building your community. Repeat these steps continually to consistently grow your audience.

1. Search the keywords for your niche on each social media platform and join active groups and forums related to your topic. (Shortform note: When using keywords, be specific with niche keywords, which are strings of three or more words specific to your niche—for example, instead of searching “fitness,” try “high-intensity cardio workout.” Although this will narrow your search results, it will connect you with a highly targeted audience. For the same reason, be sure to use these niche keywords in your content.)
2. Read what people are saying about your topic, what they’re interested in, and what they like and don’t like. This is invaluable data for your own content creation and outreach efforts. (Shortform note: Beyond skimming groups and forums on the social media platforms where you plan to post, you can also search Reddit, set up Google Alerts for your keywords, check Google Trends, use Social Mention, and browse your competitors’ content.)
3. Engage in the conversation. Make insightful, knowledgeable comments on content and other comments. Be sure to include your name and a link to your blog, vlog, or podcast. (Shortform note: You can gain even more visibility—and credibility—by writing a guest blog for another brand’s website.)
4. Turn your audience into followers with entertaining, insightful content and attention-grabbing call-to-action buttons, like “Subscribe” and “Follow me.” (Shortform note: In Vaynerchuk’s 2013 book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, he argues that your content should include a mix of “jabs,” posts that solely entertain and strengthen your connection with your audience, and “right hooks,” which include a call-to-action.)
5. Engage with your audience. Show that you recognize and appreciate them by addressing them in your content. You can even include subtle messages and inside jokes that only your loyal fans will pick up on. (Shortform note: Additionally, engaging with your Instagram followers will trigger the algorithm to show them your posts more often.)

Step 7: Keep It Going

You’re well on your way to having a thriving, profitable personal brand—now you just have to keep it up. Vaynerchuk suggests tempering your expectations on several fronts.

• This requires a lot of work. Besides work (if you currently have a job) and quality time with family, Vaynerchuk contends that all of your time should be devoted to creating content, building your community, and maintaining your brand. He says that you should be working late every night, and that your passion for your topic will keep you energized. (Shortform note: A 2017 report revealed that 52 percent of influencers spend 30 minutes to three hours conceiving and creating posts. Additionally, they say they’re constantly monitoring their social media channels and engaging with followers.)
• You probably won’t be an overnight success. Don’t get discouraged and lose steam if your audience hasn’t grown much after a few weeks or months. To be successful, you must be consistent. (Shortform note: If you tap out too soon, you’ll miss key moments for growth. For instance, once you’ve posted a few dozen blogs, Google raises your position in search results, which brings more traffic. The exact number of posts is unclear—one source says 20 blogs, another source says 55 to 70.)
• You may not make millions, as some social media stars do. But if you can monetize your brand (using the steps we’ll discuss next) to earn at least as much as your current job pays—while doing something you love and avoiding commutes and office politics—then social media is still a better option. (Shortform note: Exactly how much do social media influencers make? Depending upon several factors—including the number of followers, the platform, the niche, and the type of content—influencers can make anywhere from $2 to more than $25,000 per post.)

How to Get Your First 1,000 Followers

While quality trumps quantity when it comes to your audience, your follower count is nonetheless a critical metric for your personal brand. Whether you’re on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or another social network, there are a few key steps that can help you reach the 1,000-follower milestone.

• Thoroughly fill out your profile—including your website, location, profile photo, and an engaging bio sprinkled with keywords and hashtags.

• Cross-pollinate: Post a link to your account on your other platforms (for instance, tweet a link to your Instagram page), and include links to your social pages in your email signature.

• Add “follow” buttons for your social media accounts to your blog or website.

Step 8: Monetize

Once you’ve established your credibility and gained an engaged community of followers, you have leverage to start monetizing your passion. These are some ways to earn income through your personal brand.

1) Advertising—Vaynerchuk recommends cold-calling companies that are relevant to your niche and asking them to advertise with you directly. (Shortform note: Some brands will have ready-made content for you to post, while others will want you to create the content. If you have to create the sponsored content, be sure to charge more. )

Be Transparent About Your Endorsements

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Guidelines require social media influencers to disclose whenever they have a personal affiliation or paid partnership with a brand they’re endorsing. In an effort to combat deceptive ads online, the policy is fairly thorough:

• Influencers must disclose if they receive free products, discounts, or perks for mentioning a brand’s products.

• Likes, tags, pins, and other forms of mentioning a brand can all be considered endorsements.

• Disclosures must be easy to spot—superimposed on pictures and stated in videos in simple, clear terms.

• Even with the disclosure, influencers’ endorsements must be honest; they can’t talk about a product they haven’t tried or praise a product they hate.

2) Affiliate programs—Connect with businesses that sell products you believe in, promote their products, and get a commission when people use your link or code to buy the product. (Shortform note: Since you will be representing the brand, expect the company to thoroughly vet you before partnering for an affiliate program. Brands typically want to see that you have a positive reputation and that you have a large following (at least 5,000 on Instagram).)

3) Merchandise—Create your own products with your logo. They can relate to your niche (like resistance bands, if you have a fitness brand) or be promotional (like T-shirts). (Shortform note: Since authenticity is key to online success, selling your own merchandise is better for your brand than selling someone else’s. Alternatively, you could get the best of both worlds by partnering with an existing brand to design a new product or product line.)

4) Speaking engagements—Find a conference on your niche, think of an original theme, and call the organizers to offer a free presentation. Vaynerchuk says you can start charging after you have five or six under your belt, and, in the meantime, you’ll build credibility and gain exposure to an interested audience. (Shortform note: Building on Vaynerchuk’s advice, look locally for your first few speaking gigs—you’re likely to have more contacts in your area, and if it’s unpaid, you’ll minimize your travel expenses. When you land your first gig, leverage it to get more: Ask the organizers to record your presentation so that you can use it to promote yourself as a speaker, and ask them to provide a testimonial.)

5) Seminars—Host events that give you a chance to share your expertise. Be creative and look for opportunities to partner with other entrepreneurs or local businesses—for example, if you have a fitness brand, put on an informational and training session at a local gym. (Shortform note: Seminars have an earnings ceiling—you can only put on so many seminars each month and year. For a more flexible and profitable approach, many influencers are now developing online courses that bottle their personality and knowledge for mass consumption.)

6) Consulting—As you gain followers and credibility, others will start asking you for advice about your niche or on building a following. Charge them for your time and expertise. (Shortform note: Even when consulting, continue to focus on your niche; while you may be an expert at social media branding as a fitness influencer, your skills and tactics may not work for a travel influencer.)

7) Articles—Write articles for blogs, newsletters, and magazines related to your niche. (Shortform note: First, use Buzzsumo to find publications in your niche. Second, gather three to five samples of your writing to show your chops; you can use past blog posts or write new pieces. Then, send samples to the publication’s editors along with a short, straightforward message with your name, niche, and a snapshot of your online presence and credibility.)

8) TV and book deals—When your credibility and notoriety have grown enough, you’ll get opportunities to broadcast your ideas on bigger platforms, as Perez Hilton and Amanda Congdon have. (Shortform note: When it comes to getting a book deal, publishers are concerned more with the quality of your content than the engagement it generates.)

The Growth of Influencer Marketing

As social media influencers have gained more, well, influence, there’s been an explosion of influencer marketing, where companies pay influencers to promote their products through endorsements and affiliate programs. The market grew steadily in the late 2010s, then spiked to $9.7 billion in 2020, as the pandemic caused people to spend more time online. In 2021, influencer marketing is projected to reach $13.8 billion.

Millions of influencers worldwide are already trying to get a piece of the multibillion-dollar pie, and more are constantly joining their ranks. While that has led many people to speculate that the influencer market is becoming saturated, others argue that—though it may be more competitive than in years past—there will always be room for new people with engaging content and interesting perspectives. In fact, hundreds of “influencer marketing solution” businesses have cropped up to help brands find the right influencers to promote their products, based on factors such as:

• Whether the influencer’s niche and audience match the brand

• How often and how consistently they post—An active social media presence should include a daily average of one or two posts each on Facebook and Instagram and about 15 tweets.

• How engaged their followers are—Companies want to ensure that an influencer’s follower count isn’t padded with bots, and that followers like, comment, and tag friends in the influencer’s posts.

• How engaged the influencer is—Influencers should respond to followers’ comments and actively engage their audience in their posts.