#AskGaryVee Episode 138: The Importance of Creativity with Chase Jarvis

– Hey, Gary, this is John McAlpine, reaching out to you from Toronto, Ontario. My question for you here
– T-Town – is in regard to my
father-in-law’s business. My father-in-law is from
Minsk, Belarus, originally, so his English is very poor and moved here about three years ago, but he’s an amazing, fantastic contractor, and he wants to grow his
business, and I wanna help him. So, given the scope of,
let’s say, about $1,000, because we’re really small, what are some baby steps you could suggest me, as a marketer of his business, to do so I can help him out and so we can start gaining some traction here. You keep answering our questions, Gary, and I promise we’ll keep asking. Thanks for everything you do. – John, great question. Obviously, you know how
to hit my emotional center by going back to the old country. And that’s a great, great question, and a real practical one. And $1,000, I think, is
really so much more realistic for a lot of people that listen. Way more the clients that
we have here on Vayner, spending hundreds of
thousands, millions of dollars each month in different
marketing activities. Couple different things. Number one, I noticed
you said a heavy accent, which made me believe that you were alluding to
don’t give me the advice to put him on camera or put him out there. Now, if his personality is like my mom’s, who never shows up, actually asked my mom for the first time at the Jets game yesterday, I said, mom, I think it might be time for you to be on the show and make your first ever appearance. She said no, she really,
it’s just not her thing. And so that crushed my heart, mom, and you crushed the entire
Vayner Nation’s heart, mom, they all want you to be on the show. So, now, if his accent is something you’re worried about but
he’s willing to do content and become Bob Vila, which,
I know you’re in Canada, but I think Vila might be an
international star, right, but if you don’t know
who it is, look it up, he became like the home, he became America’s
contractor in the 80s on PBS, when people weren’t
doing the kind of content we see on cable these days, when chefs and real estate
agents became famous, and so I would put, I
would make videos of him, if he’s that great of a
contactor, and I believe you, I think, you know, you
get different skills from different parts of the world, he’ll bring a little of
that Eastern European flair or soundness or whatever that angle is to the Canadian building market. I think you put him on and start
doing Bob Vila-like videos. Now, with $1,000, I would
spend that on the 10, 15, 20, 30 mile radius of your guys’ area to get those videos out
to people that are fans of things like Architectural Digest or things that are into
building and interior design, into the culture of home
building, contract work, renovations, things of that nature, so, now, if he’s not
willing to go on camera because he’s introverted,
shy, worried about his accent, I know a lot of those variables, you need to figure out how to make content that is compelling to people, maybe you translate his
advice into written form, and then you run ads on
Facebook in a 20 mile radius, ‘Did you know you could fix
cabinets by doing this?’ ‘Replacing new floors.’ And you gotta target
people based on interests that may find that interesting. Content is the gateway
drug for small businesses, that don’t have a lot of money, have to put out great
contents, spend little dollars, just like I did with Wine Library TV, but now there’s more things. Instagram accounts, those kinds of things, that’s what I would do.

“Gary, you talk about in your early years, “you didn’t say anything
and just built your brand. “How do you know when to
switch to the next level?” – You know, I think, you know, listen. There’s a lot of people who never switch. Who says you have to switch to
become an outward personality or you want to, I wanted
that, I love, you know, mom, you’ll like this,
because I know you’re watching now that I mentioned you and
you’re paying extra attention. You know, my mom loved me so much, to such a high level, I
feel that I’m a good guy because I want the love and
admiration from all of you because I still want that
feeling, I like that feeling, and it’s crazy, I’m starting
to really, really understand that that’s what, I’m like, why am I, why do I even care to be a good guy when it’s so easy not to? It’s because I really like
the feeling of being loved. I mean, just, it’s super,
and there’s only one way to do that, which is
to provide love first. And so, you know, I
think that making that, I needed that, I needed
to be out in the open, mass love or whatever I’m looking for, but not everybody needs that. Do you know how many people, for every Mark Cuban or
Richard Branson, right, for every one of those
kinds of entrepreneurs that are out there, you know, there’s so many that you’ve never heard of building hundred, do you know
how many people right now have a hundred million dollar business, a five hundred million dollar business, that you’ve literally never heard of? Countless. Go look at Forbes 400 richest people. You’d be flabbergasted how many of them you’ve never heard of. So, you don’t have to make the switch to become a personal
brand, or be out there, you know, do you know how many people push the other way, who never wanna be, use the money, actually, to not be known? They just wanna keep getting the money. It depends what drives you. Money is fine, but its a
byproduct of what drives me, which is building community,
creating a legacy, empowering people, it’s equally selfish as it is, you know, noble, and so I think, first, it starts
with knowing yourself and recognizing you don’t have to. One could argue that
if I didn’t need that, I’d have a 500 million dollar
wine business right now. So it’s not necessarily always
about making more money, it’s about checking the
boxes that make you happy. Like, going to a Jets game. That makes me very happy.

I just wanted to know two things. First of all, what are you
going to do with yourself now that I’m taking over this show. You see that, DRock,
I think I made him cry. But, also, what are some
of the biggest changes that have happened since
I came out with my book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook? – Great question, great work. Steve, why don’t you
tell the story real quick on how this amazing
cartoon came to fruition. – I tweeted something
about an obscure video game from the 90s. – [Gary] Which one? – A game called the Neverhood,
there’s a Kickstarter coming out called Armor
Crog, and this random guy, this, like, random guy was just like, oh, yeah, I’m really excited
for that to come out, too. We started going back and forth, and I followed him, and all of a sudden, he made one of these, like, random, custom things
and made a video saying ‘thanks for following me.’ And I was like, this is ridiculous, I dare you to make you Gary. And he did, and we ended
up going back and forth, and he ended up asking a question. – That’s amazing. I mean, he jabbed you. – [Steve] He jabbed me. – I love it, I love it. Do you know what chrono trigger is? – [Steve] Of course. – Just wanted to show you I do, too. (laughter) A lot of things have changed since Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. As a matter of fact, as I was writing it, the paid volume of importance on paid in Facebook, was happening as Jab, Jab, Jab, Right
Hook was being written, and organic reach was
dropping, I was like, oof, and Instagram was becoming more obvious to me as a mainplay, which is why I brought it
to the front of the book. You know, obviously, Instagram
now has paid right now, Pinterest, I think I
understand better than I did when I wrote Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, I would’ve done more search engine process and understanding for Pinterest. Snapchat would’ve become
enormously important part of Jab, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook Two, Snapchat would be at the
forefront, I would do more B to B stuff, I think I
understand that better, and would do more LinkedIn content. YouTube wasn’t even a part of it. I probably would acknowledge
it more, jam with it, so Facebook has become even more important and more powerful, I
would argue that Twitter’s become less powerful, so, yeah, I mean, that’s the point, right. I try to write, you know, it’s funny, the new book that’s coming out March, #AskGaryVee, the book,
is probably gonna be the most ever green book. No, Thank You Economy is an
outrageously evergreen book, but Jab, Jab, Jab,
Right Hook and Crush It!, to a degree, thank you econ, I mean, all the books I write tend to have that 24 to 48 month lifecycle, and then I feel like they need updating, and so I put out a lot of free content like I do here to make
sure I’m providing value. I take an enormous responsibility for somebody who spent $15 to buy my book, to bring them value. I do that by subsidizing
a product like this for free, forever.

“if Lizzie had a successful business, “what would you do to
support and encourage her?” – So, self-awareness is important, I will say this, this is
gonna be really interesting to see how everybody handles this answer. As long as Lizzie’s business
was smaller than mine, I would, don’t forget, I say the following and
I say it all the time. I wanna build the
biggest building in town. I’m obsessed with it. I wanna do that by building
the biggest building in town. And I’ve no interest in tearing down anybody else’s business. I would 100% struggle if
Lizzie ran a business, and it was financially
more successful than mine. It would absolutely cripple me. Just, the truth. And so the question becomes, I would help it with
all my heart and soul, but God forbid I even feel any indication that it was about to pass
whatever I was up to, I would pull out of there, and then start undermining
it in weird ways to make sure that wouldn’t happen. This is tough, right, I
mean, it’s just the truth. I mean, and listen, I married Lizzie because I knew what I was looking for in a partner, in a spouse, like, but people change, I don’t think Lizzie, maybe I didn’t even realize
how insanely workaholic it would become. I mean, I thought I was
working a lot before, so things change. It’s interesting, though, I will say this, and this really is an interesting
part of the whole thing, even I’m fascinated by it. There’s a part of me that’s sad
about what I’m about to say. I would be way better about it today than I would’ve been five years ago. I can feel it. And it scares me to think would I be willing to do maybe
even 10 or 15 years from now. I feel like it, I feel like
it’s like a competitive softening, and I think it’s
true, at least with Lizzie. Not for any of these guys, like, I’d kill Staphon, like, physically, dead. Like, you know, so, that’s the truth, I would do, as long as I felt that it was not gonna be as big as my businesses, I would give her anything
in the world, period. But there’s a very dark,
competitive side to me when it comes to business. And I have friends who
have much more successful businesses, and it’s stunning to me how happy I am for them. Like, I wouldn’t have
thought that 20 years ago, but it doesn’t mean
that I don’t think about every day beating them,
and I want it badly. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle that with a spouse, though. Yeah, I just, that’s not what I was
looking for in a partner. Really, I was looking
for somebody who really was the CEO of our family, somebody that I didn’t feel like I had, I compete with everybody in the world. You know what kind of,
what kind of comfort zone my wife is for me? Like, I compete with
everybody in the world. She’s my teammate, I don’t wanna be forced by my own craziness to compete with her. So, that’s what would happen. Yeah, yeah, real talk.

I’ve got a question for you, my man, but give me one second first. So, I’m a photographer and a director, and I’m also the CEO of Creative Live, which is the world’s largest live streaming education company. My question is about creativity and what role does creativity play in business in the future
of business leadership and strategy. Please tell me, man, I’m dying to know. – Well, Chase, let’s talk about strategy. When you are a Seattle Seahawks fan in the last 36 months, and you decide to finally send the video that we’ve been waiting
for for a year now, on maybe the only Sunday
in the last 36 months, on the Monday after a Sunday where the Jets won and the Seahawks lost, I would argue, if
somebody’s nerdy about this, please tell me the other weekends, and there’s probably, I
mean, the Seahawks lost like, two, three games
a year for the last two, so maybe serendipitously, but there is probably the
likelihood of, 16, 48, you know, a 48 Monday shows after Sundays, there was probably three, maybe two, that have the situation
that we had yesterday, where you put on a Seahawks jersey and dissed the Jets, right, like, that makes me so happy that your timing is so off strategy that
you so poorly planned the strategy of this video, it makes me happy with that
move that you just pulled. Creative strategy, I forgot the question. I blacked out with the
Jets thing, gotta get done. What role does, give me the punchline? And replay it, Staphon. – My question is about
creativity and what role does creativity play in business, in the future of business
leadership and strategy. Please tell me, man, I’m dying to know. – I mean, Chase, first
of all, an amazing guy, every photographer watching should watch, every entrepreneur should
catch up with Chase, he’s an amazing guy. Creativity is the variable of success. All the strategies you
create come to the punchline. This is a creative process, this show. This content, content
is a creative output, and everything you planned to that moment, you could have the greatest strategy ever to ask that girl out, right, ever. Like, planned out everything, but that moment where
you go in for the ask, that content is the variable possibly of a yes or no, right,
there’s other variables, but, you know, creativity
is the absolute variable. Like, you might’ve understood
who you’re going after, what to do, when to
release that video game, let’s make it Steve-esque,
but if the graphics suck, or the gameplay suck, or if it sucked, like, creativity is
the variable of success in our society. Including things that we
don’t have control of. Like, if you were just born gorgeous, if you’re just a massively
good looking dude, right, your strategy might’ve
sucked on that ask out, but your creativity, the creative, maybe the words sucked, but what you said might’ve just been enough, like, you’re just a pretty
boy, you’re just pretty. I mean, you know how that is, Staphon. I mean, guy’s got no game, but he wins, he’s just pretty. (laughter) I mean, look, that’s real, and you know what’s funny, actually, using looks and the way
you spit game to girls is actually a tremendous concept of strategy and creativity. Like, the way ugly dudes
get chicks is strategy and the creativity of
their words and charisma. Just the way it is, I know.