Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion (Hardcover)
Review
“Gary Vaynerchuk is one of those entrepreneurs who has discovered the secret to combining passion with business. He is always an inspiration and always entertaining. You owe it to yourself to read this book!” (Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com )”Gary Vaynerchuk has become a walking, talking (and oh, such talking!), webbing and Tweeting example of how believing in what you do and keeping it fun can step up your life in all ways. There is nobody I would rather talk sports with-or wine or life.” (Scott Simon, host of Weekend Edition Saturday on NPR )”Gary is a force of nature. His authentic, raw passion and caring touches everyone. His insights into social media & his message of opportunity could not be more timely.” (Tony Robbins )”Gary was the first person to push me on the importance of personalbrand and transparency – this was months before anyone was talkingabout it, he’s always two steps ahead of anyone else.” (Kevin Rose, Founder of Digg.com )”Anyone looking to s … >>> Save Money at Amazon.com
Are you living, or just earning a living? So asks wine critic, social media star and business consultant Gary Vaynerchuk in his new book, Crush It!
The premise of Crush It! is that technology has disrupted the historical boundaries of business, making it possible for anyone with knowledge and passion to build a business that capitalizes on that expertise.
Generally, he’s right. I’ve built a community and a business at [...] by adhering to many of the principles in this book. However, I’ve started five companies previously, and prefer working for myself. Your results may vary.
Certainly, like Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, Crush It! is targeted at entrepreneurs and would-be solo acts that are itching to strike out on their own, and need the nudge to do so. This is not a book for corporate marketers.
The success path painted by Vaynerchuk is paved with content. Audio, video, written. It doesn’t matter, so long as you make a lot of it. And that really strikes at the core of the Gary Vee vision, which is that the future of business is in hyper-targeting. Finding the cracks and crevices and building content-driven enterprises that can fill the needs of those small but passionate audiences. In many ways, this notion dovetails with Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail.
To some degree, however, this advice is self-limiting. Most often, hyper-targeted niches can be capitalized upon, but by definition the size of that opportunity is narrow. That doesn’t mean it isn’t viable, and to his credit Gary frequently balances millionaire dreams with “make a living” reality in the book.
Expertise combined with differentiation. Although he doesn’t describe it that way, that’s the Vaynerchuk content success equation.
I certainly agree with the differentiation component. It’s one of the things I struggle with personally. How do I stand apart from the other social media consultants? It’s important, and the book provides a few interesting examples.
The expertise side, however, is trickier. The book presumes that anyone can Crush It! Of course, anyone can start a blog, and market it well. But, do they have the expertise to transform a category? To me, it seems like you need to have a very solid knowledge base before heading down this road. Perfect for prosumers. For others without existing expertise, it will be tough to break through.
There are many parallels between Crush It! and Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Workweek book. Similar size, approach, and subject matter, especially the concept of monetizing your passion. Ferriss even blurbs the cover of Crush It!.
I find it extremely interesting that Vaynerchuk unabashedly describes the extremely long hours required to successfully implement his methods, at one point encouraging parents to work from 9pm to 3am daily. Alternatively, Ferriss’ premise is to work less, not more, using automated business and shortcuts to save time and enjoy life.
(I would love to see a Vaynerchuk vs. Ferriss debate on this issue, as they propose contradictory ways to achieve the same outcome)
Although a bit repetitive at times, and not particularly detailed, Crush It! is a motivating, entertaining book that I believe you’ll find yourself returning to over and over for a shot in the arm.
Everyone self-employed, or desiring to be self-employed, should pick up a copy of the book.
It reads like a 90-minute conversation with Gary, and that’s time well-spent.
Gary Vaynerhuk is one of the most inspiring people anyone will ever cross. Definitely attend a signing if you can, and make sure you read this entire book. This book helps anyone who might find themselves even 1% unhappy with their work life. They are sure to be inspired to jump into, and be a part of the Web 2.0 movement. Learn how to harness the power of the internet with this book, and realize how to work based off of your passion from Gary Vaynerchuk, one of the most successful entrepreneurs ever.
If you’ve ever watched Gary speak, then you are aware of the intensity, energy, and passion that this man has. Gary is a machine, and as evidenced by his rise to the top of our blogging world and soon the mainstream media world, it is obvious that he has what it takes to not only create a successful business, but to inspire others to do the same.
Crush It is no different than hearing Gary speak, as the energy moves straight from the voice recorder to the page. Although the book is shorter than most, I appreciate that there isn’t any fluff and that there is something worth reading in every single chapter. Although I’m familiar with most of the topics in the book, I couldn’t help but to stop reading and take notes every 5-10 minutes…there’s that much to take in.
Crush It will inspire you to do amazing things in your own life as long as you are strong enough to take the steps necessary to pull them off. There is also loads of step by step and “how-to” info in this book, which is something that many in the category lack. If there’s one shortfall of this book, it’s that Gary’s energy can be difficult to keep up with, and you might feel like you can’t follow in his steps without having the same inner fireball. Although I believe anyone can follow the steps in this book, only you can make it happen.
I finished the book at 10pm on a Tuesday, and I was up until 4AM writing down ideas. You can’t go wrong with Crush It.