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Public speaker Gary Vaynerchuk talks about failure and social media
We sat down with public speaker Gary Vaynerchuk to talk about social media, failure and how to start your personal branding.
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Public speaker Gary Vaynerchuk smiles during an interview with 'The Jakarta Post' during the Forward event on March 9 at Kota Kasablanka in Tebet, South Jakarta. (JP/Ni Nyoman Wira)
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a href="https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/" target="_blank">Gary Vaynerchuk is a prominent speaker on the topics of entrepreneurship, digital marketing and social media from the United States, known for being forthright and sharp when delivering his messages.
The chairman of the VaynerX communications company shared his thoughts on entrepreneurship and personal branding at Forward, an event held by the independent Jouska Indonesia financial advice company on March 9 at Kota Kasablanka in South Jakarta.
“The number one thing I fear […] is that people live their lives based on other people’s opinions,” said Vaynerchuk during his session. “Most people here today do many things based on the fine people’s opinions on their lives – whether it's from [their] parents, spouse, older siblings, [or] neighbor. Living your life under the judgment of somebody else is the great weakness of human beings.”
Born in the Soviet Union in 1975 and having moved to the United States in 1978, Vaynerchuk developed his skills by selling lemonade and washing people’s cars. He managed his father’s liquor store in the 1990s and changed its name from Shoppers Discount Liquors to the Wine Library.
People began to recognize his name thanks to his YouTube video show called WineLibraryTV, where he talked about wines, invited wine experts and at times did unexpected things – like pairing wines with cereals.
Additionally, the five-time New York Times bestselling author allows people to see his life as an entrepreneur and CEO through his vlog on DailyVee. He also answers people’s questions on YouTube through #AskGaryVee.
In 2009, Vaynerchuk founded the New York-based digital agency VaynerMedia with his brother AJ. Indonesian animator Wahyu “Pinot” Ichwandardi is among his colleagues. Vaynerchuk said he hires people based on several qualifications, including perseverance and emotional intelligence, especially kindness. “I feel like you can teach skills, but kindness – I think it’s super powerful,” he said during an exclusive interview with The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Read also: Social media tops print as news source for Americans: study
During his speech in Jakarta, Vaynerchuk encouraged people to generate content, either entertainment or information, to grow and build audiences. He also criticized people who want fast results and get caught up by how many people like their Instagram posts. “You’re not in the business of getting likes on Instagram, your business [is] to create awareness of whatever you want,” Vaynerchuk said.
In the interview, Vaynerchuk mentioned several digital platforms he found not to be widely used. “I’m very passionate right now about Instagram Stories Ads – [it’s] very underpriced, very underutilized. I think LinkedIn's organic reach, YouTube's pre-roll [ads], when it’s done based in search query and podcast pre-roll, are underutilized,” he said.
He said he also thought misconceptions about social media still exist, especially about how essential it is to business. “I don’t think people understand how powerful it is. It’s the foundation of communication,” Vaynerchuk said.
Need to know where to start?
Vaynerchuk advised you to take a step back and figure out whether you want to write, do audio or shoot video as a way of communicating. Afterward, choose your media: blog, podcast, or YouTube. You can produce a number of micro-content from your macro or the home of your content. “I have a gift with words, so I’m not scared of the camera,” he said. “But I’m not a good writer even though I’ve written five New York Times best-selling books. I need Stephanie Land, my ghostwriter, to take my audio and structure it.”
If you are afraid to fail, Vaynerchuk said his past has helped him to face failure. “I was fortunate – I was a failure my whole life. […] When I knocked on doors and asked to wash somebody’s car, 90 out of 95 people said no. When I was still at the lemonade stand, 100 cars would drive by for one that would stop,” Vaynerchuk said. “So I was used to failure; it was my foundation, which is why I succeeded.”
He predicted that more digital platforms would arise in the future and said he “cannot wait” for the next big thing. However, getting excited is one thing, but anticipating the change is a different matter. “I think the way you anticipate is [by] moving quickly once you see it instead of worrying about if it’s coming,” Vaynerchuk said. (wng)
