Why You Need to Listen to the Legendary Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk embodies authenticity, transparency, passion, and hustle. His dedication to his community has made him a juggernaut in the social media space, so if you don’t know him already, you need to.

Garyvee, as he’s called, can teach you a lot about following your passion.

Gary’s a wine guy. He’s the 33-year-old director of Wine Library in Springfield, New Jersey, where he has successfully built up a following of over 80,000 viewers a day through blogging, Twitter, and Facebook. Wine Library TV, the company’s video blog, now has over 750 video podcasts. To quote his bio:

With a wealth of knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit, Gary spent every weekend of his college years at his parents’ store, rebranding the family business as Wine Library and establishing himself as a respected expert. As the store’s only wine buyer, he sampled every wine that entered the store. Customers depended on Gary for his advice and within a five year time period, Wine Library grew from a $4 million dollar business to a $45 million business.

But Gary’s career took a new turn with the advent of Wine Library TV. Gary’s key goals are twofold: “First, I want people to try different wines. How can you have a favorite if you only know a few? Second, I tell people to trust their palates. If a wine appeals to your palate, then it’s a good choice. Don’t feel pressured to like popular brands or what experts recommend. Buy what ‘brings the thunder’ for you.”

Even if you’re no wine connoisseur, Gary’s experience in social media and business has far-reaching implications in this new economy.

In internet currency, Gary Vaynerchuk has more reach than Tim Ferriss, who you should be familiar with if you’re a reader of this blog. Gary has spoken around the world and been called the “Social Media Sommelier,” and he’s successfully leveraged all this exposure into a 10-book deal with HarperCollins, national TV appearances, and much more.

At the Web 2.0 Expo, Gary put out a call to action: he says it’s time to stop doing shit you hate and embrace what you love. The web makes it possible to go out on your own and make a living doing what you care about. In his new book out this week, Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In On Your Passion, he’ll share his path to success and teach you how to do just that.

He was kind enough to take a few minutes to record answers for two of MY biggest questions for our growing community here:

  • How can Gen-Y start applying your advice to “stop doing shit you hate” and the lessons in Crush It! to gear their career around their passion?
  • How can the non-profit & social entrepreneurship world leverage social media & transparency to be successful?

Gary still runs this huge multimillion-dollar business like a mom-and-pop store. He makes time to answer virtually everyone, to interact and respond with the little guys like myself, and I’ve watched him take full ownership of his mistakes. He’s someone who knows how to provide superior customer service, and how to go above and beyond. He treats everyone like a rockstar.

He’s incredibly enthusiastic and engaging in his videos. He’ll be uniquely honest and transparent about his feelings. He’s authentic and entertaining, and all of these things have made him a success. He’s REAL and Raw. He gives a shit. He’s himself.

He’s not afraid to call people out on their B.S., he advocates radical transparency, and Doing The WORK to make a living doing what you’re passionate about.

If you want to make a living with your passion, pick up your copy of Gary’s new book Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In On Your Passion today.

 

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How to Build an Internet Business that Supports Your Purpose & Freedom with Clay Collins

This discussion has been months in the making. Clay Collins caught my attention long ago with his writing, and his vision for a world where every person can be their own boss and secure a healthy income while offering their greatest gift to the world. Today he’s dedicating his attention to teaching people how to build purpose-driven freedom businesses.

Clay is an expert marketer, with solid knowledge of market research, testing, keyword research and SEO. But he’s also someone who uses this stuff for good. Clay Collins is someone who has built his life and his business around helping others find their purpose.

His writing has always been really compelling, but I feel like I’ve watched him find his true passion over the last year or so and the quality of his message has become truly captivating. Finance Your Freedom evolved into Project Mojave, where Clay and a faculty of awesome folks like Jonathan Mead, Laura Roeder, Johnny Truant, Michael Martine, and Dave Navarro have helped tons of people turn their passion into profitable businesses that can take them out of the 9-to-5.

Update: You can now find Clay providing his incredible marketing strategies at LeadPages and with The Marketing Show podcast.

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My Secret Recipe for 100% Guaranteed Happiness

My friend Dwight is slowly convincing me that I’m a philanthropist.

I’ve talked before about the impact Dwight Turner is making in Bangkok—making it easy for people to volunteer and contribute to charitable causes in Thailand. We have gone to hand out food to the homeless near Democracy Monument here in Bangkok, we’ve taken the great kids at Chonburi Children’s Center to the beach, we’ve volunteered with the infants and toddlers at Friends For All Children (F.F.A.C.) nursery, we’ve held events to raise money for an urban garden installation project here in Bangkok and for medical aide for refugees. Dwight’s hard work has even earned him the attention of CNN’s new local Asia site.

I’ve met incredible people with touching stories. I’ve made incredible friends with some of the other volunteers.

To commemorate September 11th this year, In Search of Sanuk hosted Bangkok’s Twestival celebration. Twestival is a Twitter-inspired social event where attendees can meet other Twitter users (much like our monthly Bangkok Tweetup), but also be a part of a global awareness and fundraising campaign for charitable causes around the world. We raised money for two orphanages near the Burmese border—Baan Unrak and Baan Dada.

The event was spectacular. Over 350 people came out to party on the Fraser Suites’ poolside rooftop bar and support our cause. People recorded and shared our social media-powered event live. We raised over $2400 US, which can go a long way in Southeast Asia. The founders of Digital Democracy even showed up to interview volunteers Jen, Danielle, and myself about emerging technologies in Thailand and about how the global Twitter event was helping make a social change:

So here’s the secret: Some of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had have been volunteering with children throughout Thailand.

A few days after the event successfully wrapped, Dwight and I took a 7-hour van ride to hand-deliver donations and visit the two children’s homes with our travel buddies Mark, Joel and Agnes.

Baan Unrak and Baan Dada educate and empower orphaned or otherwise impoverished kids—not only Thais but also Karen and Mon refugees who’ve been driven from their homes and persecuted by the Burmese military dictatorship. The children are instructed in playing musical instruments, sewing, fixing motorbikes, art, languages and technical skills. They’re taught to respect all people, creatures, religion and to practice vegetarianism. The homes also provide jobs for refugees and local families who help care for the children, assist with farming, construction and weaving projects.

Wandering through Sangklaburi farmland with the Baan Dada children

Hanging out with kids like these is a transformative experience. They are some of the poorest people in the world, often living in crummy conditions, many have lost their families, yet they are the most cheerful and gracious little people you’ll ever meet.

Words cannot describe, so I’ll let this video do the job for me. This is a montage of many of the great kids I’ve had the opportunity to share time with while helping out at Baan Dada, Baan Unrak, F.F.A.C., Chonburi Center, and more.

Whatever you do, watch this video.

Spending time with children in need will change your life. Once you begin to understand the loss some of them have experienced, the disadvantage they are at—and yet they still exude love—it should cause you to reevaluate how you look at your own life. You can’t help but smile around some of these kids.

The only activity I’ve found yet that is guaranteed to keep a smile on my face.

Find children in need (they are everywhere, unfortunately). Go and give generously with your time and any other resources you can share.

Some of the awesome kids at Baan Unrak

Some of the awesome kids at Baan Unrak

This message is dedicated to a gracious, playful little tyke who lost his life way before his time. Ali Baba lost a battle with disease on Thursday, September 17th, just two days after we said goodbye to him and the other children at Baan Dada. The loss was unbearable and affected a lot of us. Rest in peace, friend.

Cody with Ali Baba

If you’d like to make a donation on his behalf, the home is building a new medical clinic and needs your help. You can sponsor a child’s food and healthcare needs for three months for only $187. Donate to Baan Dada.

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