#AskGaryVee Episode 10: Ridiculously Hard and Obnoxiously Smart

– [Voiceover] Marin asks, do you ever complain and what’s your attitude
toward complaining in business and in life in general? – Marin, I appreciate this question and I’m curious how much you know me or if you’re asking that
because the truth is if you look at my historical tweets, hundred thousand plus, maybe there’s two complaints. You know, maybe you can get to three. One of the people I look
up to most in the world, maybe the person I look
up to most in the world tied with my dad, I know
dad, you might watch this, is my mother. And, hands down, and I mean, hands down, the thing that I find most
intriguing about my mom and probably one of the
things that I’m most happy that she’s passed on
to me is her inability, almost, to complain. I find it extremely attractive. I would tell you that I adore
my wife for that reason. As a matter fact, Xander
is whining too much and he’s only two and
I find it unattractive. I’m very against complaining. I’m very, put your head down. I’m very, don’t you
realize you’re healthy? Like, to me the only thing
you should complain about is the the unfortune, unluck of health. You know, somebody dying that
you love in a car accident or you becoming terminally ill. After that, it feels controllable. And so, I really dislike complaining. I try to, I talk a lot
about honey over vinegar. It’s an analogy I use a
lot here at VaynerMedia. I thrive on positivity and so the way I deal with complaining
is I try not to do it. I try to educate and empower people the lack of it’s value, I guess. I mean, I don’t have a gear. You know, when you go in my gear, like there is no, like, oh
let me go into complain zone. To me, it’s assess, figure it out, and go directly back on the offense. I’m a very offensive player. Complaining is the defense. – [Voiceover] Robert asks, I’ve
been doing a lot of jabbing,

but I don’t feel like I’m
hitting much of anything. Any advice? – I have advice. I don’t know if you heard,
I’ve gotta show, #AskGaryVee. Subscribe. So, here’s my advice. If you follow boxing or MMA, one would understand that some people are great technical boxers. They know how to jab and when they land the perfect right hook on somebody’s chin who
wasn’t even expecting it, they don’t have the power
to knock that person out. Robert, the truth is, my man, there might be just a situation where you’re just not good at closing. And that’s something I want, you know, not to pick on you, Robert. This is something I
want everybody to hear. You just might not be a
great saleswoman, salesman to actually make the close. In fact, you may need two people. This is something I
haven’t talked a lot about. This is why the #AskGaryVee
show is a good show. It’s forcing me to say new stuff. I haven’t talked about and
probably blew it in the book, the reason I pointed there,
you want show them DRock, they might be like why did he point there? There’s a huge, Jordan! I’m kidding, I’m kidding. (laughs) That was the best. You may need a partner, Robert. You might be the greatest
jabber in the world and you may need a partner
right hooker, right? And so, I just happen to be
both in one amazing body, but the fact of the matter
is you may need a partner where you do the jabbing and she or he does the right hooking. – [Voiceover] Chad asks:
“How do I get the cute old lady

who keeps accidentally
calling my house to stop?” – Chad, one thing I pride myself is in is actually really paying attention. I’m really good at paying
attention to mannerisms. I feel for the room, I
also listen to words. You said cute old lady, which means you actually like it. And so what I would tell you to do is flip the script. I would say go on the offense. So the next time she calls, why don’t you try to engage
in a 25 minute conversation with her and actually form a relationship? One that can go deep into your heart and maybe bring value
to your overall soul. – [Voiceover] Matthew asks, is it
better to update your social

networks once a week with great
content or daily with poor content? – Matthew, why does it have
to be one or the other? Why not both? I am so tired that people think that this is kind of like the thing
that pisses me off the most. “Oh Gary, I see you hustle so much, but I don’t work hard, I work smart.” Well hey, dickface, I work both. I work ridiculously hard and
I work obnoxiously smart. And that is my answer to this question. Why not just put out
a lot of content often that is quality? Why does one have to suffer or the other? That is a mistake mentality. That is a middle mindset. Go all in, you can do both. I do. – [Voiceover] Simon asks:
“How much of success

is confidence, skill, and luck?” – Simon, the truth is, you know, and some people don’t like to hear this. Sometimes they say I’m lucky and people get really pissed. A bunch of you will put
in the comments right now. But the truth is, I am a lucky guy. Like, I was born in the Soviet Union. I could’ve been my dad who
was born 20 years earlier in the Soviet Union and
wouldn’t have come to America until my 23rd, 24th, 25th birthday which would’ve put me
far behind the eight ball for what I’m accomplishing. So the fact that I was
born in the Soviet Union during the Cold War
and happened to be born during a time where Israel and America teamed up to make a trade with Russia for wheat. I was traded for wheat
that allowed me to get out through political asylum in the late 70’s and come to America and
live the American dream has a level of luck, right? And so, luck is part of the equation. Now, do I think I’m lucky? I do not think I’m lucky because the confidence
which is great parenting, by the way, maybe a little
luck in that, one could debate, and definitely just kind
of the overall skills and the hustle which is DNA. I don’t know if you can be
taught to work your face off. So, I think it’s just a mixture. I always talk about a great wine. Show Steve, he loves wine. – I love wine. – I always think a great
wine is never 100% Cabernet, never 100% Merlot. A nice little Meritage, a blend. And I think to answer your question, I think it’s a blend of all of the above. Some people, look, I think I make my luck. People are like, oh you’re so lucky that you got into Twitter and Facebook. I don’t feel super, trying to figure out
how I’m getting healthy? That dude. I love his raw, like, he just… – He doesn’t care. – He really’s like the only
person that doesn’t care, that’s what I told him to do. I think it’s a blend of all of the above and I think that that is
something that people need to recognize, feel comfortable with, bet on your strengths, and execute. – [Voiceover] Nick asks, “Do you
think that Facebook is still effective even though it’s pay
to play model and throttling?”

effective even though it’s pay
to play model and throttling?” – Nick, I don’t know if
you’ve been paying attention to what I’ve been screaming about for the last hundred days, but it’s called Facebook dark posts. Google it, watch it on YouTube. Bunch of people show you how to use it. Not only do I think it’s effective, I actually think right this second, as I tape this show, Facebook is the best direct selling
marketing platform in the world. Think about what I just said. Google AdWords, phenomenal. Buying retargeted banner exchange on the, ads on the exchange, incredible. Facebook dark posts, where did the organic reach come from in other places? You didn’t build a website and like were mad at Google if you
weren’t the first result for a term. You recognized that it treated you the way it treated you
based on the quality of what you were executing. Really no different than Facebook. Plenty of people getting tons of organic. Sure there’s some twinkering of the tools but that’s their algorithm. No different than Google. You don’t get organic free reach from an email marketing campaign that you spend money on
buying the email list or on banner ads or in anything else you do in marketing and so because it started
as an organic only platform and people treated it like email and you thought everybody
who was following you would see it, doesn’t mean that the emotion that that went away, doesn’t mean that it isn’t great. As a matter fact, Facebook has
never been a better product. I just believe it. I mean, I don’t know
what else to really say. Thanks for watching episode 10 of the #AskGaryVee show.