– [Voiceover] John asked,
“What are your thoughts “on creating a successful, long term “social media strategy for
yourself or your clients? “How long in advance do you create “the content you roll out?” – John, that’s a good question. I mean, I think this all comes down to something that I call reverse engineering. The truth is everybody’s different. You know, my vision is very long-term. I don’t know how you define
long-term in your question, but some people think long-term
is three to five years. I think long-term is until the day I die. And so, my clients may not be as patient when your Fortune 500 company that needs to hit numbers each quarter, your patience to build a three to five
year plan is nonexistent. When you’re a Series C Startup company that just raised 200 million dollars, and you’re only burning
four million dollars, you’ve got a lot of patience, and the idea of building brand and
having a patience game to your execution becomes more attractive, then we reverse engineer that. Then it’s more about branding, Instagram, doing high-end video, long-form content with no right hook, lot of jabbing. If you’re a startup that’s
gonna go out of business in 24 weeks if you don’t sell some stuff, we’re in full right hook,
ya know, Facebook dark post, SEO, SEM, influencer marketing with calls to action to sell. Ya know, all that stuff
completely is determined based on the client’s current
short-term and long-term needs, but the truth is short-term
and long-term needs really balance based on a moment in time, and so, ya know, the reason I think I’m
good at business is, for all of my talking, I am 10X at my listening skills, and it all just comes down to listening, and so the way we strategize
is predicated on listening, and I think the biggest
challenge for so many of the VaynerNation
that’s watching right now is I don’t think a lot
of you, and this is, with all due respect,
this is for everybody, I’m just picking on you
’cause I love you, tough love. I think a lot of people aren’t really sure what they want to accomplish
in a one-year window versus a five-year window
versus a ten-year window, and their behavior doesn’t map to it. Ya know, to me I got lucky. I just decided it’s everybody
shows up to my funeral, hedge forever, build up equity,
cash it in as I need it, if I ever need it, which has
allowed me to be very patient and really has allowed
me to dictate my behavior being probably a better human being. And in a weird way, and
again, I think a lot of people would find this funny. In a lot of ways, I’ve been a pushover as a entrepreneur because if you would look
at it in the short-term, I’m leaving money on the table. I’m not fighting for every cent. I’m not trying to drill it
down to the biggest advantage. I’m not even getting mine everytime because I’m just hedging along the way, and so just comes down to what
you’re trying to accomplish. I think the better question
to this question is how can you help someone
or are you capable of really understanding what
you’re trying to accomplish?

become too expensive for a new start-up to compete with larger
companies for ad spots?” – Marc, the answer’s absolutely. I mean, that’s the whole point. That’s the whole point of
everything I talk about which is jump into new places when the grass is greener, ahead of the market to create the arbitrage
when it’s under priced compared to the market, a la, email marketing for
Wine Library in 96 and 97, nobody else was doing it. I was asking for it. My conversions were better. More people came. The conversion rates went down, it became more expensive, and harder to get people
into the email funnel, that became the expense. Google Adwords, on the word
wine for five, ten cents. A hell of a lot better than
owning it for two bucks, right? Of course it will get more expensive. We’re seeing it on Facebook now. Facebook ads to get into the feed are more expensive than they were 12, 18, 24 months ago. Even when I started this show and told you to do dark posts, it’s
gotten more expensive since then. So the answer and the
question and the debate and the opportunity all
lie in the same place which is what are you
doing about Instagram and Snapchat and Meerkat and Periscope and all these new things. Are you moving there when
the audience is not as big, the returns are not as
big in the short term? My overall plan is to go to those places hold my breath for three
or four or five or six or seven months, when
it’s not as valuable, but be there when it does become more valuable, and then ride that wave for 12 to 24 months before those platforms become an add their ad product. Instagram’s ad product
is still not mature yet, so the organic reach for the people that jumped on three,
four, five years ago. Is it five years already for Instagram? Feels like it is. 2009 for Instagram feels right, right? Or 2010, trying to remember. Anyway, if you’ve been, you know, fuck charity right, and like
other people of that nature, they won, they moved quickly. They’ve got the biggest audience. They can command enormous dollars. So, I think the answer is yes depending on your budgets. It becomes more price prohibitive. What a small start-up or small business has is time versus a big brand’s money. Right, so are you willing
to work seven pm to three in the morning to
get the disproportion arbitrage of new platforms to over index before money becomes the variable. I hate when small businesses are like, oh, that’s it, we don’t
have enough money to compete with the big guys. What you have is speed and time. What I mean by that is they have time too, but people that work in corporate America don’t want to stay up til
four o’clock in the morning that often. And even if they do, they want to move within the system of corporate America, and they cannot do the
same things you can do. It’s not that same
entrepreneurial nimble system. By the time they even understand what Snapchat, Instagram,
Periscope, Meerkat are, it takes two years for it to get approved. In that time, you’re executing, and so, the answer’s yes, but that’s not a bad thing. It only speaks more to
my overall philosophy of jumping into these new platforms, extracting the value before the ad product becomes mature, and then using the ad
product, Facebook dark posts while everybody else is waiting. Now, in 2016, 17, 18, when Facebook darkposts unpublished
posts, the ad product become the mainstream, that’s when it becomes prohibitive for you, but you’re on to the next one.

What do you think of the
new and improved YO app? Is it worth it for my small business, food drug and restaurant to get this deliciousness out into the world? Answer my question. Thank you, and keep hustlin’. – Greek Mike, great question. Shit answer, which is, I haven’t looked at the new and improved YO app, thus I can’t give you a real answer. I’m not even really sure
why I’ve even accepted the question knowing that
my answer was such crap. It was probably mainly
because I loved the video and wanted to give you the
exposure and the shout out that comes along with being on the show, but it also gives me an
opportunity to kind of answer the question as a whole, which is, look, communicating, I have a phone call, what time, right now? Yeah, all right, I need to
run, ’cause this is super important, let me just wrap this up. At the end of the day,
communicating with your audience is the number one thing
that you should be doing at all times, and if you feel
like the YO app brings you value and your audience
value, then you should do it. You should do that, you should do Meerkat, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter,
Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook. Whatever you think actually communicates and has an ROI that’s time
that you put against it to communicate about the exposure of eating a beautiful gyro, do that. Question of the day: How many siblings do you have,
and what are their names?

“When you have a new
idea for your business, how long does it take you to implement? Do you run with it? Strategize for a while? Consult with others?” – Laurie, this is really interesting
because I’ve actually lived this now in my 39 and a
half years of my life. I’m getting close to 40, boy
it’s starting to freak with me. Look, there’s been businesses
that I’ve sat on in my mind for such a long time
before they get executed. Years, sometimes, even, as
they marinate and get refined. Then there’s me and
Jerome Jarre have dinner, and literally the next
day there’s Grape Story and we have a talent agency
representing Vine celebrities. So to me they’ve run both of the gamuts. Me and AJ spent nine,
10, 11, 12 months trying to figure out what we were gonna do. Little known fact, before
starting VaynerMedia we were probably on third base on starting a fantasy sports site,
which would have probably been a good idea, or a
deal of the day site, which would have also been a good idea as that was the early days
of Groupon and Living Social. So we picked the wrong
one, but we marinated. Maybe it didn’t come out
as good as we wanted. But we’ll take Vayner
as a consolation prize. Really I think it comes down to the idea, it comes down to the timing. I’ve got ideas that are
running through my head now, bad timing, I’m running too much stuff, I’m doing too many things at once. This whole content team was probably, I don’t know, how long
was I talking to you before we even started? How long was it being flirted about, or was that just in my own mind? – [Steve] Six months, but it was just you and me for like a year. – No I know, but before
it was just me and you, how long was that, like hey Steve, I’m thinking about something? – [Steve] Six months.
– Yeah, it was six months before we literally,
and that probably means 12 months, and Steve started for a year, and then it started rolling
with all the other characters. So I just think it comes down to the idea, but more importantly for me, because I’m always rolling
with ideas, it’s the timing. Am I prepared? Don’t forget, I’ve often
answered that the biggest failures in my business career have been when I’ve bit off more than I can chew. I’m in the process of it right now. FaithBox, Resy, VaynerRSE,
Brave, VaynerMedia, my personal brand, there’s
a lot going on right now and I’m trying to hold up all these balls, and we’ll see what happens. – Hey Gary Vee, it’s your
old friend Nicole Lapin.

to give to clouds versus dirt? Is it based off your
personality and strengths? Example, if you’re gifted
to lead and set the vision, should you spend less time doing the work even though you also like it just as much?” – The clouds and dirt
debate is a super tough one. Obviously for people that follow me, DRock, that was really
just you, take the credit. DRock made an incredible film,
let’s actually link that up right here, or take over, I don’t know what you do these days. It’s just really my thesis
of how I build businesses, how I live life, right? Focus on the big big big
things, but don’t get scared to get your hands dirty,
’cause execution matters. Ideas are shit without the
execution, and vice versa. Don’t play in the middle,
that’s the real concern. And so I think you need a healthy balance. To me, I can give you a good answer here. This is one man’s humble opinion, I’m uncomfortable if you
go 70-30 in any direction. If you’re over-indexing
70 or 30 in any direction, that’s a problem to me. So stick to minimum 70-30 clouds and dirt. Yes, I do think you can map your DNA if you’re a big thinker, big time thinker, finding where I place 70 there, still have the humility
and the practicioner skills to bang out a 30% here. If you don’t think
you’re as big of an idea, you think you’re grinding and
your hustle is a big factor, or there’s an ebb and flow, like sometimes I’m in 70-30 mode, and then I’m in 30-70 mode because the 70 was right and now I have to execute. As a matter of fact, right
now, I feel with VaynerMedia, the last nine months I was 70 execution, but I’m feeling myself moving up to like 90 thinking, 10 execution,
because I need to re-chart the course of the company
because I’m seeing not vulnerabilities,
I’m seeing opportunity, and that puts me on the offense. So I don’t think there’s a
perfect breakdown of clouds and dirt, they just
always need to be in play, and really I don’t think of
them as a day to day basis, I think of them more
holistically as a true commitment both to strategy and
the dirt that you need under your fingernails in execution. Way too many primadonnas right now, I’m the thinker. Think this. – Hey Gary Vee.

“on your goals, and separate yourself from “the demands of the external world?” – Andrzej, I’ll take this one first. You know, I don’t know what to tell you other than it’s unbelievable for me how much the external
world has not factored into my decision making,
I’ve talked about, if you’ve been watching
this show long enough that first F on a test in fourth grade and literally making that transition to I’m gonna fight the market, and I’ve been fighting
the market my whole life. I think for me, it was
the level of self esteem that my mom instilled
in me, plus some level of my own DNA, I think
that’s the friction at hand. Heck, a lot of the themes of
our last question were on this, right, like what does the
market want you to do, whether that’s your parents or society, versus what you want to do. For me, it has a lot to do
with intestinal fortitude. A Gorilla Monsoon WWF reference. You know, I think it’s
surrounding yourself with people that give you permission
to take that risk. That to me is the most practical version of what I’m giving you, other than you’ve got to be born with it. It’s finding those like minded people who are taking those similar risks, and give you, through their own actions, a little more umph, or
if you’re amazingly lucky to have that parental, or
mentor infrastructure above you that created that context. Case. – I think focus is everything. I think that you can do 10 things poorly, or one thing well, and saying, “No,” is something that I only
learned late in my career. – I still suck at it. I still suck at it right now. – Saying, “No,” is so
hard, but the truth is like we’re surrounded by leeches, blood suckers, and vampires,
and those are people that want to take, take, take,
and they don’t give back, and learning to say,
“No,” to those people, learning to say, “No,”
to all those distractions is the only way to get anywhere. Cause time is finite, life is short. Quickly you find things in life
that are really incredible, like family, things that you love, things that you’re passionate about that might distract you in a positive way from your career focus. So, you have to learn
to shed everything else. – I’m gonna throw a little
bit of a curve ball. I get so much happiness out
of doing things for people who would be, you know, categorized as the way you just broke it down because I have a weird gear inside of me that has zero expectation for the return on someone’s selfishness. I know that’s a little bit of a mouthful, but it’s just, it’s probably why I’m so ridiculously happy. I have such little
expectation for the return, it makes me happy to do the give, I sit in front of you
knowing I will accomplish less in my career, and amass less wealth, and a lot of other things,
less time with my family, which is my number one because
I get so much happiness out of some of those actions. So, I would tell you if you’re
in a rare group like myself, make sure you recognize,
in a world where people will tell you that you’re
a sucker for doing it, or things of that nature, you still got to make yourself happy,
but I will tell you, I’m way happier than I was five years ago because I have grown in
my no meter moving a ton. It hasn’t gone to zero,
and I think a lot of people close themselves out of serendipity by saying no too much, right,
and I think we’ve probably both benefited through
our years of the yes when it didn’t make sense on paper. But I’m with you man,
I mean I made a video a long time ago that, The Yes Virus. It’s like the sickness of just
saying, “Yes,” all the time, and it’s a tough one. – Yeah, I mean, I’ve made movies, I made a movie that’s Just Say Yes, like I believe in saying, “Yes,” I believe in embracing
risk, and embracing chance, and all the things that… – Do you think you need to say, “No,” more as you get older? – I just think it’s a learning curve, a very steep learning curve to understand when no is appropriate and
when yes is appropriate, and until you learn
that, you default to yes. – It’s a really, really, or no, my dad defaults to no. I think you and I, like
we have some similarities that makes, like I think
there’s a lot of people there that default to no, I think there’s a lot of people that default. My dad’s opening words are, “Hey dad.” “No.” Like I can’t, “I was gonna
say how was your day?” You know, like no is not a proper. Like, I know a lot of
people that default into no. I think we happen to be surrounded by a lot of people that default into yes. – Yeah, lucky us. – But I think, you know
it’ll be interesting, you know what actually, quick little side question of the day, give me are you a
default yes or no person? I’m just curious for my
own kind of like polling. India, move it along. – [Voiceover] CJ asks,
“How has having a family

“I am starting a wedding
invitation and stationary boutique called Spokenforco. I publish a post on the
company blog every Tuesday. I spend 10 to 15 hours on each post. I create visuals to promote
these posts on social media. However, I realize that I
am getting way more likes on my hand drawn lettering
posts compared to these non hand drawn ones. What should I do?” – Vivian, you’re spending
way too much time on it in my opinion. 10 to 15 hours feels
completely disproportional to the value exchange that
you’re getting in return. You need to figure out
how to do it faster. You also need to become
a little less romantic, and you need to figure out what your micro-version of that is, because content is a gateway drug to opportunity, and I think your supply
and demand or your value and return for the time is off kilter. You’re also in a space and
you’re a part of this world, because you love the
design and the creation and you’re an artist at heart, and so I don’t wanna tell you what to do, but from a business context, and that’s why you asked it on this show I think there’s an inefficiency there, and you need to figure out how to make that 10 to 15 hours
closer to one to two max, 45 minutes preferably, so you
can do a hell of a lot more. Every Tuesday is not enough. I need more often. The only way I can get
it more often from you is if you allow yourself to go faster. This goes back to an earlier
question in this marathon of Ts and Is. I think you’re going way too
down the perfection variable. To prove out my point,
I would ask you to try to do what you can do. Do me a favor. Next Tuesday, spend two hours on it. See what it does, and
see what the results are. You may learn from that, and if you hate what happens, and there’s not a lot of engagement do it one more time, and
if you can get me to three strikes where it doesn’t work
in three straight Tuesdays then you can go back to doing your thing, but my gut tells me
that won’t be the case. – [Voiceover] Lisa asked,
“What’s your spirit animal?”

– Charles, stop focusing on dumb shit and just keep moving and
don’t be scared of breaking anything, and don’t
think about perfection, and there is no perfect way to cross your Ts and dot your Is, and don’t be crippled,
and don’t be romantic, and just move, and have
no seconds to breathe, and just schedule on schedule on schedule. Five minute meetings, 10 minute meetings, three minute meetings,
eight minute meetings, and just move. – [Voiceover] Rui asks, “Last
year you nailed it when you

– [Voiceover] Jonathan asks, “I import wines from Italy and sell via e-comm and through distributors. I’m currently focusing on
obtaining new distribution and have fallen behind on the e-comm side. Question: What percentage of my time should be split between
each side of the business, and what’s a good way to balance the two?” You know, Jonathan, it’s interesting. I’m trying to give a general answer to the whole market, but I
know your business so well. When you’re importing, I don’t
know what state you’re in, but when you’re doing e-commerce, are you selling to the end consumer? Because you can’t do that
in New Jersey or New York. Are you in a state- He’s in California, and Kermit Lynch, I think, does do that, so I think he can. I think in California,
I was about to say that, thanks, India. In California, ’cause
Kermit Lynch does that, you’re able to actually
sell to the consumer and also sell to distributors. You know, to me, if you
can sell e-commerce 100%, you’re no dope. You know that you’re making 50 cents more on every dollar by selling that way than selling to distributors, but what you know is you’re not that big, and you’re not necessarily
a retailer by trade, and it takes a lot of money and skill to be able to be a good
retailer to sell enough, where the distributors are
giving you the buying power. So my strategy for you is- Now, I’m giving you as
black and white a strategy as I’ve given on this show’s history. 80% to the distributors, 20% of your time, energy, and money to the consumers. Once you get that established, you spend every minute
to turn that into 70/30, 60/40, 50/50, 60/40, 70/30, 80/20, 90/10, maybe 80/20, right? Because you wanna get some restaurants and key retailers to bring
some awareness to it. And for everybody who’s watching, the reason I’m giving him that advice is he just makes more money
if he sells it direct. He’s also far more in control, where you sell to distributors, they’re maybe giving a deal to a retailer, that retail sells it cheap,
and that all of a sudden screws up the pricing in the market. So, that’s the answer. By the way, before you’re
done editing here, DRock,

“Gary, how long do you spend
creating a single piece of content? Do you focus on video because
it’s more natural for you?” – Lean, this is a great question,
and really ironic timing. So, obviously you know,
from 2006 to deep into 2014, every piece of content that
came out came out from me. Then, we started building
this amazing team, and so, I assume you’re
asking about my content. I don’t think about it at all, meaning I have religion
of Thank You Economy, Crush It and Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, and I execute off of that,
clearly comes from me. Weirdly, insanely that we’re
doing this question today, because last night, I started
using Twitter’s new video product, where I can reply within app, and so I’m replying a lot more with video and so, when I was putting
out content to put out, it was video first in mind, because I thought that was the best way that I could communicate. The reason you’re seeing so much more Medium and GaryVaynerchuk.com
written articles is Steve and India helping
me transcribe these things into written form. So, I think that for me, I did think video first, but it was hard to execute video first. For a while, back in 07, 8, 9, I’d had a flip-cam with
me and I would tape stuff, kind of that whole process, now I can do it right
from the Twitter app. They made it available for verified users, so if any of you are verified,
you can go check it out. And I assume they’ll roll
it out for everybody soon. So, I don’t overthink it. I think way too many people overthink it. We’re living in a culture
where kids are growing up overthinking it. Every 14-year-old girl on the planet is taking an Instagram photo
that’s taking her 47 minutes because she needs the lighting just right, and then if it doesn’t get enough likes within the first four
minutes, she’s taking it down. I have the reverse of that rigor. Mike and I were working out last night, talking about how much I’ve leaned down and all these things, and then we were talking
about people commenting, and I was like, yeah, of course, because I would take literally take the most unflattering
pictures of all time, I could care less about lighting. I don’t even understand how– I think only this year, I realized, oh, the lighting’s got to come this way versus me being in the light, right? I really, really don’t
care about the angles and things of that nature. I care about the substance. I know I’m pretty. (people laughing off-screen)