#AskGaryVee Episode 58: Working with Clients, Avoiding the Middle, & Scooter Braun Asks a Question

– [Voiceover] Akos asks, “When
you’re working on a project, “with clients, how much
is done online like Skype “versus in-person meetings?” – Akos, I can’t speak for
the whole VaynerMedia team, and I think they’re all individual, but at my level, or what I do, not even probably, probably
not predicated in my level, just the way I roll when I think about the client stuff that I do, ya know, I would say 10% on text, 40, actually I’m not gonna try to make this round out to 100. Let’s see, it probably
is predominantly e-mail, solid amount face-to-face, I’m
a big face-to-face kinda fan, almost non-existent phone, and growing, ’cause I’m pushing them, into more text, so face-to-face is probably 25%, the rest is digital. No Skype or Google Plus,
any of that kind of stuff. I’m just, I’m predominantly face-to-face, e-mail is number one,
face-to-face, texting, and that’s that. No GoToMeeting, none of that stuff. – [Voiceover] Erik asks, “Do
you watch your own videos?”

– [Voiceover] Erik asks, “Do
you watch your own videos?” – Erik, the answer to this question is no. It was funny, Steve was just
going through the questions. DRock was like, “No, ’cause he…” I’ve never watched a full
episode of The #AskGaryVee Show or any of the 1089 wine videos. I made 1000 Wine Library
TV, 89 Daily Grape. Oh by the way, this is
gonna pass Daily Grape at some point pretty soon. That is the fun fact, that
I have actually had three, I would say I have two shows, it’s actually three. Anyway, sorry. Me and Steve nerding a
little bit about wine. The answer is I don’t. I’ve watched some of my video stuff because I’m showing somebody some stuff. As a matter of fact, now that DRock, Staphon are in my life, they
make me watch edited things. We have a big new edited video up today. Sorry, DRock, I guess we
decided we’re launching it today. Ah ha! So now I have actually seen
some of my longer form stuff ’cause I have to like look
at it ’cause it’s edited, but I know what I do on the show. I’m living it. So no, I don’t watch the show.

– [Voiceover] Glenn
asks, “Can you elaborate “on what the middle is and why it sucks?” – Glenn, this is a great question. You know, to me the middle
is the commodity work and thinking that everybody else does. Meaning, it’s what the
market’s doing right now. Like, it’s when start-ups pitch me, “We’re gonna do something
in the photo app space.” You mean like everybody’s been doing for the last five years? It’s commodity work, ya know? I think if you’re not
trying to break things, you’re not doing a good job, or back to clouds and dirt, non-middle, if you’re not doing like,
you know what’s so funny? I’ve sat through four pitches today, and I’ve liked two, and one is because the two guys are just doing the work. They’re like in the weeds. They’re not doing the big
holistic branding thinking game-changing stuff. They’re just executing,
but at a raw level. I just find that there’s not that many hardcore practitioners,
and there’s even less big where’s the world going, ya know, one of those trends at the highest level where am I doing the kind of
things at the highest level, and so I don’t really know
how to explain the work but you’re surrounded, I’m sorry, I don’t really know how
to explain the middle, but you’re surrounded by
it 99.9% of your life. – Hey Gary, I have a question
for you for #AskGaryVee.

– Who cares about that question, Gary. This is a more important question. How are you, if you were the
owner of the New York Jets, gonna turn around this team and make us a Super Bowl contender? Because we both know
that’s all that matters, and he’s a Giants fan. Who gives a shit what he has to say? – Go Giants. – Thanks Brad and
Scooter for the question. Ya know, I mean the true
answer to the question, ’cause I love, you know,
we’ve decided to go straight on this show. The true answer is, I’d go in and audit. That’s what I’d do. So, as close as I am working
with the Jets as a client, watching every play, staying on top of it, there’s still nuances that
are just not, you know, known to me. You know, I think one thing
I would do, for example, if I bought the Jets today,
I would mandate from the top, and this would probably make
it a little harder to get a GM, and so that’s something
I’d have to quantify, but I would mandate that
we draft a quarterback every two years in the first
two rounds of the NFL draft until we had our guy, right? So like I think it’s a quarterback league. The rules go in that way, and you have to reverse
engineer to the league, and so, for example, right now
I would draft a quarterback in round one or two this year because, though I’ve given Gino
the benefit of the doubt, he’s clearly not the overwhelming this is Andrew Luck sitting in our pocket. So, we have to draft another quarterback, and if it’s not politically
correct to Gino and his agents or to the New York media or the fan base, I wouldn’t care because I
would dictate to victory and I think that’s the right
strategy right now in the NFL. If you do not have a
quarterback first two rounds, you draft one. You bring ’em in, if you
don’t feel good about, I’d give it 24 months,
but after full 24 months, after a second season of that player, by the way, whether he
played a snap or not, I would draft another one and
another one and another one until I had one because
that is the lynchpin. I’d also work on the PR team. I would do a weekly show, livestream show with the fan base so they could pound me with all their angers,
and I’d pound them back ’cause that’s the kind of owner I’d be. I would do a bunch of marketing things, you’ve heard me in the past. I’d send a jersey of a Jets
jersey to every six-year-old in the tri-state area
on their sixth birthday. I would probably do a ton
of inappropriate things at this point there’s, ya know, like get into it with the
media because they think they’re out of their mind with the way they’re handling the
Jets in this Giants city. I would like watch the
game from the stands which I think would be
an interesting new thing, but that would be tough
because I’d curse at opponents, and the NFL would try to reel me in. So those are some of
the things I’d be doing. – [Voiceover] Evan asks, “If
you could clone yourself,

– [Voiceover] Evan asks, “If
you could clone yourself, “would you?” – Evan, this is a tremendous question, and a great one to end the year. Especially ’cause I
announced that I’m going away with my family for two weeks. This is as easy a
question as they’ve come. I would 100%, I mean this is the best, I really wish this technology existed because I would take
that person, Gary Two. Who is actually Gary Two? The clone version, or? Anyway, I would take the clone version and I would make that person spend every waking moment with my family. They’d sit at home, you guys, what’s that? (laughs) Why is that funny? – [Steve] I thought it was a nice answer. – [DRock] I would send
the first one first. – What’s that? – [DRock] I would send yourself. – Oh, I don’t care. Keep this rolling by
the way, first of all. No editing here. No, no, I don’t think you understand. The fact of the matter is
is they’re the same person. Are you saying that, no but listen, maybe that was
an insight that we didn’t, maybe I love my business
more than my family. Sorry, this is a tough way
to end the show and the year. The bottom line is, sorry
that DRock has become the cynical one, but, Steve, the torch has been passed, I would take the equal version of it and have that person
sit at home every minute and be with my family because then I would be able to accomplish the
two things that I want at one time, and so that
would be the answer. (laughs)