#AskGaryVee Episode 17: Dropping F-Bombs

– [Voiceover] Darren asks,
“If you could only market on one social platform,
which would it be and why?” – Darren, I picked this
question because I’m pissed off and I’m pissed off at
people asking this question over and over again. I’m pounding my fist on
the floor, or the table. Over and over, this is a non debate. It is Facebook, my friends, Facebook data. Data, data, data, data. Let me say it again, as
somebody who doesn’t love data. Who’s more EQ than IQ. The overwhelming accuracy
of who you are targeting and the products that they have created to target those people,
including in stream, not the right side of a website. So I’m over here, I
like how you’re staying- Go back there, DRock. Not the right side of a website, but right down the pipe. In the feed, targeted properly, and if you’re a good enough marketer, and you’re putting out
content people care about, not an ad, and we all see ads. No. A piece of content. And I know people are tired
of the word content, great. Call it stuff, I don’t give a crap. Just something people
care about in there when, you know Steve, show Steve. You know Steve likes Reddit. You know Steve likes- Back. You know Steve likes wine. You know, you know he likes these things. What else do you like, Steve? – Cheese, video games. – [Gary] Great, what else, Steve? – Beer. I love beer. – So, you know, give this
man things of those nuances. If you’re a toilet paper or
a toothbrush or a toy company or a, you know, what is this? This is a phone, you
know, technology company. Like give this man what
he wants around the genres he cares about. Facebook is, by far, dark posts. That’s a terminology. Unpublished posts, the best
platform to be selling things, doing business, getting
money for your charities, building awareness about your cause. Facebook, Facebook, Facebook, Facebook.

I love the new series. So, for the past 18 months,
I’ve been delivering daily emails to a community
of thousands of women. And this fall, my
startup was getting ready to launch its first product. It’s interactive workshop,
called Victory Rituals, where we flip the morning
routine on its head. As we go from concept to final product, what’s the best way to empower our readers to help us spread the word
about Victory Rituals? Look forward to your thoughts. – You got it, Nicole. I like how you positioned that, Nicole. How could we empower our readers to spread the word. What you mean is, how do we get our readers
that we’ve been able to amass, to spread the word so
we can get more people into our funnel and sell
this thing, which is great, because we are talking
about business here. Two ways, there’s only two ways. And everybody saw lovely
Nicole ask the question. And she was very politically
correct, in my opinion, and structuring it properly. But what you’re basically saying is, I’ve amassed an audience and
now I want to sell them stuff and not only do I want to sell them stuff, because I feel like I’m entitled
to because I’ve given them a bunch of free content on email over the course of these
last couple of months, or year, Nicole, how
you’ve been doing it, plus. But I also want them to not only buy, but then I also want
them to spread the word so other people buy. There’s only two ways to have
the audacity to make that ask. And that’s what that is, my friends. You can be doing a daily email and putting out great content. You could be putting out
a great show, every day. But then you come to that moment. A book, a something. And there’s only two ways to convert. Number one, write a good book. In your case, Nicole, your product needs to be good. Is it worth the $38? Is it worth the $83? Is it worth the $388? Is it worth the $883? There used three and eights in there if anybody was paying attention. So, first and foremost,
the best way to convert and empower them, aka have
them push it on to others, is by putting out something
great that they want to tell other people to use. They valued it more than they paid for it. Number two is good old fashioned honesty. You just need to be
really upfront with them of what you want from them. You want them to share your video. You want them to go to your website. You need to be upfront with the fact that here are the things that you want. And so, for me, it’s
putting out a great product that’s worth the money. And number two, not
hedging your right hook. Just asking for it, like a woman. – [Voiceover] Dan asks,
“What’s your process for vetting clients,
specifically at VaynerMedia?”

for vetting clients,
specifically at VaynerMedia?” – Dan, answer number one. Do you have enough money? Dan, answer number two. What I’m really looking
for, to not make a joke, and you know, this show’s putting
me in a better mood, guys. I gotta be honest with you. I forgot that that’s what
Wine Library TV did for me on these Mondays where I want
to annihilate people’s souls. Putting on a show with my
community does help my feelings. I need a lot of comments on
this episode, by the way. I need comments in there. I need, I need, comments. Anyway, you know, the things
we’re looking out for is, are they creative? The number one thing I’m scared of is we have a ton of creativity and we can do real work. But if people want to
follow a very strict process of how they’ve always done it versus how we’re supposed to do it. I’m petrified in that. So really there’s no way to do it, because everybody says
they want to be innovative and do the new thing and
invest in the future. And then you get into practicality and the first thing
that’s cut is the future, which is why so many people lose. So everybody’s into defense versus offense when times get tough. For me, when times get
tough, you go harder, not eh. Anyway, so I’m trying to sniff out if people have the
stomach to be innovative and do things differently. To take some risks, but be practical, but have a little more
patience for that practicality and that ROI to present itself. – Gary, I’ve got a very
serious question for you.

– Gary, I’ve got a very
serious question for you. – Hey, Brian. – How the (bleep) do you
get away with saying (bleep) so many times on stage
and not catch a bunch of (bleep) flak for it? – Brian, as the CEO of an
up and coming IPO company, I’m very impressed with your
audacity to ask that question, which leads to my very simple answer, which is two fold. I think the reason I get
away with dropping the F bomb is number one, I mean it when I say it. There’s no tactic. I’m just in the zone. I mean, I was inspired by
Richard Pryor and Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy and their
styles have translated to my keynote styles. I feel like I do a little bit
of a stand up timing process and I think that because
I’m not forcing it and because it’s my natural zone, a little Jersey boy action, people respect authenticity. The other reason I’m able
to get away with it is I don’t care if I receive flak. As a matter of fact, I use
the F bomb to vet people. You know, I’ve said it before,
I’m gonna say it again. We’re gonna do it again,
another question coming up. This is a platform for
me, for the hard core, last seven years fans of
mine, for me to go one layer deeper into things I’ve never said before. The truth is I actually use
my F bomb to vet other people. I actually react to the way
you’re reacting to my F bomb because if you are a person,
back to the last question, that is so thrown off by
using the F bomb in public, in a public setting, with a keynote, that you’re then not looking
at the big enough picture for me, just my personal. You’re judging me, I’m judging you. So if you are incapable
of getting over that and seeing the bigger
statement that I’m creating, well then you’re not gonna be somebody that I wanna do business with, invest in, or take on as a client to begin with, because you’re at this micro level. That’s right, you’re at this micro level. And that’s just not a
place where I wanna play. I don’t want to play in
the micro, so (bleep) you. – [Voiceover] Seth asked,
“What was the hardest thing

when starting up
VaynerMedia from scratch?” – Seth, you know this
is another place for me to give a little bit of insight. Believe it or not, yes, not
doing Wine Library day to day with my dad. Yes, the notion of
taking the risk of being in another family business and
not ruining the relationship with A.J. Confident on both fronts. The hardest thing was actually
being crippled by options. The notion that over
the first nine months, it was very difficult
for me not to think about the fact that me and
A.J had 800 other things we could have done and did
we pick the right thing. I think a lot of people
who are watching this are always crippled. I get this a ton, which is
why I picked this question. Well, I didn’t pick it, you
know, Steve picked or we picked, you know, how did we pick it? – [Steve] This one was collaborative. – This was a little more
collaborative, right? You tried to give me a different question and I said, “No.” No. I like this one, because it
allows me to give an answer to my audience that I see a
lot of you struggling with. It’s been asked of me a
ton on email, twitter, and other places, which is, at some point, you’ve gotta
put your big boy pants on and say, “I’ve made this decision.” And you move on. The buyer’s regret or remorse, or like, did I do the right thing? Or crippled by options is
something so many of you are struggling with. And I struggled with it as well, especially with all the
opportunities that I’ve been able to be given. I’m so fortunate that I’m
struggling with, like, should I do a national TV show? Should I extend the fund by 10 times and do a quarter billion dollar fund? Should I quadruple down on Vayner? You know, I’m crippled. I’m crippled by options, which
is a blessing and a half. And so the hardest thing
was, in 2009, was like, is this the right thing? Don’t forget, Vayner
started in 09, May of 09. Misha was born in May of
09 and Crush It! came out in October of 09. So there was all those
other things going on. The struggle, the hardest thing was not starting the business. It was second guessing, was it the right use of
my time and A.J.’s time and upside and talents at the time. And that’s it.