#AskGaryVee Episode 129: The Share Monster

“When you’re business
is successfully growing, “when do you start another? “And how much time do you devote to it?” – I think it comes down to who you want to be as an operator. Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber, really taught me a lesson
a couple years ago. When Uber was starting to
take off, he became the CEO. We did angel deals together, and i was pinging him
about this hot angel deal. And he said, “No, I don’t
do angel deals anymore.” And then I pinged him about a talk. And he says, “No, no I’m not gonna talk.” And it was just very focused. And then he’s basically in that Bezos, Steve Jobs, Zucks mold, which is, this is it. This is it. This is the job I’m gonna
do for the rest of my life, and this is my career. I already, clearly, am on my second oofy business. I think I’ve got two
more, three more in me. And so, I’m gonna be an
entrepreneur that has, you know, four or five businesses, is my intuition, India. Clintus. And so, I think it comes
down to who you are, right? And what you want. Like, what’s the size level of a business that gets you to go
into a different place? I mean, VaynerMedia
next year, revenue wise, is going to substantially, probably pass Wine Library’s
biggest year of revenue. So I’ll be going into new territory. Am I an entrepreneur that likes that 50-100 million dollar revenue place, then I go away? Or am gonna see? It really just comes down to a lot of different circumstances. I do think that you need
to question, the question. Which means, if you’re already
asking me this question and thinking about going
on to the next thing, you need to figure out how much you love the
current thing at all. Are you just trying to pass it away? I think there’s a more
interesting insight to that. I think everybody who’s watching the show, needs to think about, are they happy with their business? There’s businesses that you could be making $200,000 a year in, that could be holding you back. ‘Cause it’s a ton of money,
you might just not like it. And so, I think there’s the like factor. For me, I will run this
business, VaynerMedia, as CEO, as long as I love it. That’s really the answer. I mean, I’m glad I got to stick here, because I kind of used a financial proxy as the justification. But to me, as long as I
love it, I mean it could be. But my intuition tells me
I’ve got a couple more. So, I think it comes down to you. And I think it also comes
down to infrastructure. If Brandon Warnke and Justin
Novello and Bobby Shifrin and John Kassimatis and Bryan
Delatorre and Geoff Thurose, if they weren’t in place at Wine Library, along with my dad, I would still be there. VaynerMedia, I mean, some of
you have been here for awhile. VaynerMedia is a helluva
lot better shape today for me not be around, than it was a year ago. I mean, a helluva lot. We’ve gotten dramatically more senior. People have grown. But, I think it’s still
maybe a couple of years away before I feel like it can
sustain and grow without me. And so, the practicality of
this decision matters as well. India, wait a minute, how
did we not talk about this?

“How do I succinctly explain
who you are and what you do “to people who don’t know
and aren’t new media savvy?” – How do I do that? – [India] How would you
explain it to someone? – Me? Oh man, I wish this was
the ask Lizzy Vee Show. My life, my wife, she is my life. My wife thinks this is the… it is literally her favorite thing. ‘Cause we know, we go
to a lot of functions and meet a new couple. And they’re like, so what do you do? And she just gets a kick out of it, because I think your dad,
who’s got some context of me at this point, recognizes it’s not that easy. It’s a long-winded answer. At this point I do say
that I’m an entrepreneur. I think it just saves time. But then there’s a part
of me that feels like that’s a fluffy kind of answer. And so, I also lately,
that’s actually not true. I was going entrepreneur for awhile. But right now, lately, I’m very hard core, I’m a CEO of a large
social digital agency. And I’m the lead partner in a $25 million venture fund. And I’m also the host of
the #AskGaryVee Show. I don’t say that yet, but I stuck it in the other day. I love talking about myself,
so I always love that question and I drag it out for as long
as they’ll keep listening. But that’s what I’ve
been doing at this point.

digitaljeff asks, “How important
is it to love the product “that your company sells? “Would you hire someone that
had never used your product? “And can being too much in
love with your own product “work against you? – Yes. I would tell you that it’s the
single most important thing. I think the reason that
I’m a great salesman is that I really, fundamentally
believe in everything that I’m selling. The advice here, my books,
wine that I recommend. I’m about to an Instagram
wine offer for the first time in a coupon. Right after we tape this. I really believe in this Rosé. I know, it’s a little side thing. Sorry, Steve. Steve’s my wine boss. And so, hash tag wine boss. Show him and show hashtag wine boss. Love it. So, we cookey here on Friday. Really your fault DRock
for the battery thing. And so, I can’t wait for the edit of this. Share. (monster voice) Remember the oak monster? DRock, the Share Monster. (monster voice) When the share monster comes out, you have to stop what you’re doing and hit the share button on Facebook. All of you online, you
have to do that right now. Sid the intern, have them
say, yes they just did it, and see how many yes’s you got. And if you don’t count
1,900 to match the thing, start yelling and getting crazy in there. You have to sell what you believe in. The reason salesmanship has a bad name is because 98% of
salespeople don’t believe in what they’re actually selling. They’re just going for the commission. The money is what drives them, not the pride and the lifetime value of selling something good. When you sell something you believe in, you get so much more money out of it, because people come back. Guys, it’s all about the
second and third and fourth and fifth and sixth and
seventh and eighth and ninth and tenth and eleventh
and twelfth and thirteenth and fourteenth and fifteenth and sixteenth and seventeenth and
eighteenth and nineteenth and twentieth sale. Not the first one. And what happens is, if you actually really believe
in what you’re selling, it gives you more conviction and belief that you’re gonna get that sale. And I believe in that tremendously. I think that’s why I
think a great salesperson is somebody that truly
believes and are passionate about what she or he sells, is the number one kind
of person in the world. And that’s what I focus on. And so, I think it is the
prerequisite to being successful. The way you think your
children are the most beautiful and the smartest, that’s the blind faith
you have to be having in what you sell.

It’s Kelsey Humphreys, we are taking a quick break
from shooting The Pursuit, and I thought I would send you a question. But I have to say, you are killing me. Because I keep recording questions for you and then I go to post it and you already posted
like, three new episodes and four long Facebook posts, and you answered my question. So I hope that this question
makes it into the Golden Era. – [Gary] Oh, that’s a real fan. – My question is about having
two different audiences, and how you juggle them. For example, the audience for #AskGaryVee is very different from your ideal client from VaynerMedia.
– [Gary] Good observation. And for me, I get a lot
of opt-ins and traction and comments from my audience when I talk about how I’m still a rookie, and my show’s only six months old, and I’m still figuring out what I’m doing. They love that. But, I’m worried about potential guests and potential sponsors not
wanting to work with someone, whose content is about
how they’re a rookie. And I think a lot of people deal with this when they’re trying to
take their client base to the next level, but the content that
they’ve been putting out is on the previous level. So, tell us what to do about that, Gary. Thanks. – You got it, Kels. This is a very easy
question to answer for me. The answer is, the part
where I sell for clients, I’m selling them the
services of VaynerMedia. In the beginning my ability,
now our agency’s ability, to help use social media
to drive business results. And that’s just a separate
entire conversation from the content of the show that is helping a lot of entrepreneurs. And this is not made for
branch managers and CMOs of Fortune 500s, other than the ones that
are passionately pursuing other interests maybe financially, or thinking about outside
the corporate environment. And so, this skews more
entrepreneurial things in that nature. I think that you can’t
be crippled by that. it sounds like to me, in
that way you asked it, it was a great question. My curiosity is, are you using the show as a gateway drug to clients? That’s where your rub is. For me, I’m not using this show as that. And so, I’m not concerned about having- they’re very church and state. If you view that what
you’re doing on this show, or how you’re going about it, is the same service that you’re
then selling to a client, well then you’ve got a problem. Because you’re admitting to them that you’re only so far along the way. And so, me being a personality
around business questions is very different than
me being an operating CEO of a large scale social and digital shop that helps clients execute
creative and strategy in those channels. It ties in a little bit, because I use my tactics like the– Share Monster (monster voice) is there like fire coming out?- to learn what that means and then maybe, a Dove Soap or a Toyota
can then use those tactics to make those things happen. But, I think that’s the disconnect. – [India] Only one you need.

“Instead of doing a forum, have you considered doing
a private Facebook group for the Ask Gary Vee Show? – Oh, that’s a great idea. It’s something that I haven’t done. I noticed one of the fans
jumped in and created one. It’s something that’s run through my mind. And actually, i think this question is gonna spur me to do it. So, at the end of the
Golden Era, in episode 131, we will announce a private Facebook group just so I can test it. That’s some work for you guys.