If you follow Gary Vaynerchuk you know he’s the real deal. If you don’t…then you should. No excuses.
In a recent article on Forbes he talked about his revised social strategy. It’s basically an amplification of his previous strategy and if you’re reading this then you have to admit that it works.
Some thought that it was a bit over the top, and it may indeed be, but producing great content is a learned skill and you have to enhance your ability to create and produce content that your audience finds value in. Content is the barrier of entry.
The strategy of the massive creation and publication of content isn’t easy. Nor should it be. I agree with some of the commenters. We don’t need clutter and noise permeating the social networks. But I surely agree with what Vaynerchuk says, there is both room for quality and quantity.
But instead of talking about Gary’s strategy or taking a side as to what is or isn’t a viable volume of content, I want to focus on some seriously applicable bullet points that Vaynerchuk made in his article.
He had so many golden nuggets in that Forbes article that I thought I would pull some of them out and feature them separately. So settle in and soak these in:
“The more content I can put out, the more luck I have”
Luck he says…it’s not luck it’s about being able to be found everywhere. Being ubiquitous is a goal.
“I’ve built the infrastructure around me to become a greater content provider,”
How many business owners, agencies and brands fail daily by not having the right infrastructure in place to create and publish great content.
“Content is the cost of entry to relevance in today’s society”
No one can disagree with that. So you have to ask yourself as you toil daily, yet still expect to get ahead, in any capacity, whether entrepreneur or billion dollar brand, are you relevant?
“You have to get into the content game”
What’s sad here is how many are completely oblivious to the fact that there even is a content game.
“You have to force yourself to make more videos, write more posts.”
You’ve heard the excuses. You’ve probably made some yourself. Everyday that you’re not producing puts your further behind those that are. That makes it even harder for you to catch up, build an audience and to be seen as relevant.
“Social media networks are like today’s version of radio, TV, print, and outdoor advertising,” “If you can afford to, like I now can, you produce content for Vine, Medium, SoundCloud, Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest. If you can’t, you pick the things that make the most sense. In the old world, that was predicated on money, but now it’s predicated on time…You have to create a strategy based on your audience and what you’re trying to achieve.”
Friggin do something! That’s what he’s saying. I recently met with a bunch of interns and asked them some questions about social media. They were asked what social media networks they like, what they don’t like, what they’re doing..etc… Many of them completely missed the point. That at this point in their careers, it’s time to stop looking at social media as a toy or some kind of novelty, and start looking at it as a tool. I’m not sure they realize how lucky they are to be living in this age where it is so easy to become relevant.
“People should audit the old-world stuff they do, like the meetings they take”
I think some people take and schedule meetings because it makes them feel needed. Seriously, I now avoid meetings like the plague. Unless it’s a creation based meeting, leave me alone. And even then you have 2 minutes to tell me what you’re doing or I’m out. My time is much to valuable.
I’m in a constant state of creation. I look at everything I do as an opportunity. That’s why I don’t fit in some boxes. I’m not interested in the watercooler. At the end of each day (and I mean about 1AM) I ask myself what did I accomplish today. Maybe more people should do that…and then act upon their results…or lack thereof.
***Intern and entry level advice…you’re never going to get the time back that you have available now to actually make a difference. Use the time now to get ahead. You’ll regret it if you don’t.***
“There’s often not as much upside as you talking directly to the end consumer in a place that doesn’t charge you to have a relationship with the end consumer! It’s a capitalism of talent.”
I know this one gets lost on most. The true value of social being the ability to directly speak to people about things that matter most to them.
“When entrepreneurs and small business people tell me about their day and they’re home by 7, I laugh.”
Anyone who ends their day when the office hours are over, will always be searching for ways to make more money. Great content isn’t published on a 9-5 schedule. Great moves are practiced for many hours before they are ever used in a game.
“A lot of it is predicated on time and effort. I spent the last week of my life staying up till 3 or 4 in the morning learning about Vine, because it’ll matter – it’s going to grow.”
I friggin hate Vine. I loathe everything about it. But you can bet your ass that like Gary V, I am spending countless hours learning about it, finding the best applications and doing my best to determine how it’s going to help me and my clients. It’s just what content publishers do. They learn and apply.
“it’s not good enough to just produce long-form content; you have to put out micro-content to drive awareness to it.”
Yup…something has to fuel the content. Something has to get people to look and click. Hmmm…Vine?
“The idea that you have to be a great writer to succeed on social media is just another excuse to be demolished.”
I can’t do videos. Pictures are so much easier. Videos take to long. I don’t look good on video. All are nothing but excuses being made by the lame.
The old adage of doing what others won’t so that you can achieve what others can’t, seems to have been forgotten by many…or sadly never learned. Stop making excuses. You’re the only person stopping you from producing content and honing your skills to make that content great.
Excuses impede.
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