#AskGaryVee Episode 177: How to Get More Snapchat Followers, Buying Email Lists & the Twitter Exodus

– Hey Gary, it’s midnight
here in Israel so I figured I’d use this filter. My question is, how do
you grow an audience on Snapchat? Do you have to go Facebook
and Twitter to tell followers? – That was basically the
question, “how do you grow “an audience on Snapchat?” So Snapchat has no natural
in Snapchat app discovery, which is f-ing with a
lot of people’s heads, because they’re like “what the
hell, where’s the suggested “user list, where can I
search, how do I run ads? “I can’t grow,” of course you
can, you grow the old way. Pre-internet apps infrastructure,
you use other things to grow your business. I built this business using
a newspaper and a radio and other things of that
nature, so the answer is absolutely, I think he was going there. I mean, watch my behavior,
it’s not super complicated. I’m using my Twitter,
my email, my Facebook, my Instagram, to drive
awareness towards my channel. I’m hitting up, I mean I don’t
think I remember throwing this many right hooks outside
of a book ask, which is weird because I’m doing
that right now as well. Dropping March eighth, go get it. I’ve asked plenty of people
and they’ve sent me emails, like “oh, you’ve really
helped my Snapchat.” These are historically emails
that I would reply to and say “thanks, have a great day.” Now I say, “hey in your
next story, shout out “my @garyvee handle.” I’m going in for the ask,
how about the bottom of your email signature? How about your user name on
Instagram, go look at mine. You hack to build awareness for it. You think about billboards
and print, where there’s no click or permalinks or
anything of that nature, no. It’s just awareness drives,
you didn’t have to move, it’s got a wide angle, dammit. I was trying to make you move. – [DRock] I know. – I was very impressed
with you there DRock. That was a standoff that you
won, which pisses me off. Where you drive awareness
to your handle, so yes, any means of awareness,
I mean soon I’m gonna put a sign in here that says
“follow Gary on Snapchat.” So yes, that’s the answer,
using other platforms to drive awareness to get
followers from that platform. But scalable ones, email
signatures, your Linkedin account, look at my Instagram
profile, things like that. – [Voiceover] Kyle asks,
“When you are hustling,

and valuable work you know call it a great question and
honestly that’s a work in progress always to me is really a real-life
lesson in retail get his hand so so I think the ship the brain for retail this is something I’ve dealt with my
whole life like you know i i don’t think I’ve mastered it I don’t think that I am
doing busy work even now at the level let them that I’m still doing busy work
that i think is in hindsight not as good I think experience helps you I think
over time I’ve learned through oh crap I remember when I did that back in the day
don’t do that again you start understanding but I think one of the
biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make especially as they grow their business
in the beginning with their crippled by the start of quality workforce is just
doing it you know like smart work versus just work he is when you start judging
it too much you start leaving yourself out of opportunity for serendipity and
upside the you can’t see there’s been a lot of things that on paper may look
like busy work going to get you know just kissing babies and shaking hands or
just replying to everybody on Twitter things that not everybody thinks is the
best skillful use of my time that has led to enormous upside because it wasn’t
obvious when you first it including a video shows including ten years ago in a
month sitting upstairs doing a video show
where everybody’s like we needed you that our to sell wine or to reorganize
our operations why are you putting a video on youtube twenties you to like
that it could end up being the biggest single biggest decision of my career up
to this point transitioning myself into a media
property in a brand from just being operated on this floor wasn’t obvious
that like it could have been busy work and there’s been other things that I’ve
done like that that have been busy work you know trying to think of a good
example but like a million things that we’ve stopped them started it didn’t
become real it happens with us every day in our team show so I think that I think
you don’t always know I think you find out after the fact that I think I have a
long forty to sixty year old old professional career that successful
as long as you’re learning in your 1379 12 patterns are becoming more self-aware
about yourself understanding your strengths and
weaknesses you start having less just busy work and more high-impact working
at the top of my career yes my question is if we wanted to start
a subscription box service should we buy

a subscription box service, should we buy an email list? Thanks Gary Vee. – It’s a great question, I
mean look, any time you start any business an email list,
email is one of the great ways to convert them. The answer is yes and no. Yes if it’s a quality
list that has open rates and click throughs, and
people that are interested in your cookies of the
month club because it was an email from cookie lovers. But if you buy a list that
has a million people on it, and it was part of a
photography list somewhat, or just random emails that
they found around the internet, and nobody opens it, and
they are into photography, and you’re trying to sell them
a cookie subscription thing, the answer is no, that’s a very easy play. If you wanna buy a list
from somebody, force them to do a test for interest around what you do. Force them, “I will not buy
your list unless you do this.” And it’s a presell to be on
the invite list for your up and coming business, and if
you see a bunch of people sign up for it, well now you buy. Now they may say, that’s
like selling the milk without the cow, that whole thing. You know, girl (mumbles). Like I get that, but just
say no, there’s a million lists out there, you got the leverage. They want your money, don’t forget that.

domain extensions emojis
and URLs, and if you could have an emoji, what would it be? – The new domain extensions,
what do you think– – And emojis in URLs, is that possible? Can you put emojis in URLs? – We were Googling it right before. – No, not yet right? I think it’s brilliant, I’d
be so into it, so into it. My emoji would be the cash with wings, because you know, I’m
always growing moneys. – How to get your emoji URL. – Is that real? (mumbling) So one, this is always fun for
me when I don’t fully know, is it available, like put that in. – The product registered the first corporate emoji domain back
in 2011, when it bought– – Poop.la, right? – Yeah, and it didn’t do anything with it. Simple, they can’t. All the big top domains
only allow normal characters in their domain name. – Got it, so look, let’s
just assume that it’s allowed slash it’s gonna be allowed,
I think it’s gonna be huge. Emoji is a language now,
period, end of story. If you don’t understand
that, you don’t understand the world. Like we used to draw,
just because letters were introduced doesn’t mean
we can’t use things now, it’s just communication,
don’t get romantic about how you communicate, worry
about actually communicating in the year you live in. There’s not a single 50
year old in America now who hasn’t sent an emoji. There are 62 year old
dudes that are bald as shit and don’t know anything
about technology and can’t even open an attachment,
that have sent a poop emoji to their grandchild, right? Like, let’s talk about
your dad for a minute, not technically unbelievable. Has sent emojis?
– Yes – Correct, because
that’s what’s happening. It’s crossed over, it’s
mainstream, it’s accepted, it’s understood, it’s pictures,
it’s (censored) basic baby. And so I think it’s huge,
mine would be the dollars with wings. I’m not very hot on domain
names, I think domain names are what you make them. I have friends that are
obsessed with names, I’ve talked about this. Like what is does Google or
Facebook or Snapchat mean? It means what you made it. Like Vaynerchuk, people
are like, “you’re so lucky” I’m like, “let’s relax.” Like I made that name mean
something, Vaynerchuk, like it’s about what you do
with it, and so I haven’t really paid a lot of
attention to what’s going on in that world, which is
why I didn’t even know if you could own an emoji
dot com, or what have you, it doesn’t look like dot coms work yet. But I’m super into it,
I’m all about emojis, I even dropped the “e” there, to like, you know like, me emoji. – [Voiceover] Rochelle asks,
“What are your thoughts “on today’s Tiwtter
executive ‘exodus’ news?”

“on today’s Tiwtter
executive ‘exodus’ news?” – Rochell, I think
there’s, I think that… So I asked for this
question to be on the show because I wanna teach
everything about optics. Meaning, when a new CEO
comes in and then there’s this “huge exodus,” a lot of
times it means the new CEO has brought in the people that they want. And they’re respecting
people and letting them leave on their terms. I don’t see, or these
people actually don’t believe in Jack’s vision. My intutition is, based
on Twitter’s track record over the last three to four
years, and I love Dick Cusam, one of my best buds in business
and I saw him recently, but results are results,
meaning it didn’t go good enough for him not to be excited
about the guy who invented it to be back in place,
though you might not like his personality, things of
that nature, but I hate when the media’s like,
everything is so negative. Like when I buy a company,
and become a CEO of it, because that will happen
in my career, and there’s an exodus, becaue big shot Gary is coming, let me promise you, anybody
that I wanted to keep would have stayed, because
I would convince them that I’m coming to do nothing but good. And maybe three or four
just wouldn’t see it, or they were best buds
with the former CEO, or they’re just tired. But please don’t get
caught up in the hyperbole of there’s a new CEO, we’re
still witihin the year of that new CEO, this is
common business stuff, period. Like, this is what always
happens, so you don’t know if they were forced out or
they were left on their own, I don’t know, even though
I’m close to a lot of the people involved. Because when I read those
headlines, I poo poo them because I am an actual operator. I’m not confused by them, I
know what real business is. Jack’s come in, he’s got a
different plan, some pieces fit for that, some don’t,
some people he might have wanted to fit for that, decided
they don’t fit for that, it’s just real life, it’s
not some huge conspiracy. I think that’s what I think. Like that’s what it is, I
just wanted to answer this question because I’m
stunned by how many people just accept very basic
narratives, when if you live it you know the real details
underneath, just like you know anything that’s in your world. My world is business, you know the real, I read headlines, I’m
like “oh,” you’re like “no, that’s what really happened.” Just like we’ve gotten
cynical to “leave of absence.” Did you see “Spotlight?”
– No. – Okay, it was about the priest
that did sexual harassment. – Oh yeah, I heard about it. – Their official, when
they were doing bad things was they got relocated on
assignment, or “sick leave.” “Sick leave.” So this “exodus” may
be on strategy, get it? Question of the day, actually educate me.