Gary Vaynerchuk is a businessman who thinks ahead and knows how to get people’s attention. He is the CEO of Vayner Media, which is a full-service advertising agency that helps Fortune 1000 companies get more attention from consumers.
He is also the Chairman of VaynerX, a modern communications holding company; a five-time New York Times best-selling author; a highly sought-after public speaker; and a frequent angel investor.
Gary knows a thing or two about success. In this Gary Vaynerchuk Success Story special, we will try to figure out some of his secrets to success. “Do your best. Work hard and don’t rush things.” – GARY VEE
Gary Vee, as he is now known, is a successful businessman, and his story of how he got there can teach us and help us in many ways. So, with that out of the way, let’s talk about what makes a good business owner.
Early Life:
Gary Vaynerchuk and his family moved to the United States from Belarus in 1978, when he was only three years old. At the time, Belarus was part of the Soviet Union. His family first lived with relatives in Queens, New York. Later, they moved to Edison, New Jersey.
At first, his father worked in a spirits shop as a stock boy. And, like most immigrants, he worked hard and spent his money wisely for a long time. In the end, Gary’s father was able to slowly but surely buy his own liquor shop because of this.
Gary’s father would teach him a lot about hard work and hustle, and he would learn about business at the young age of six. He actually got his first taste of being an entrepreneur when he tried selling flowers.
People say that Gary used to steal flowers from his neighbor’s garden, ring the doorbell of that neighbor, and then use his charm and wit to sell the flowers back to the neighbor.
Gary’s desire to be an entrepreneur grew, and by the time he was 7, he was already running a successful lemonade franchise in New Jersey. He had set up eight lemonade stands and had his friends run them.
But Gary Vee didn’t really get his first taste of business success until he was 13 years old. When he could sell baseball cards every weekend and make thousands of dollars, that would be his big break. During these years, Gary learned a lot about the idea of supply and demand.
The Daily Routine:
Gary would end up working for his father’s business, where he was first paid $2 an hour to bag ice. Gary would go on to work for his father in the family business for a few years in different jobs.
But when Gary learned how powerful the internet could be, he went all in to help his dad’s business. And soon after Gary graduated from college, he started using social media and strategic content creation in a way that grew his father’s business from making $3 million a year to $60 million a year in just a few short years.
How did he do it? Gary put his father’s liquor store business on the internet and changed the name to Wine Library. Then, in 2006, he made Wine Library TV, a very entertaining and educational show where he talked about how different wines and liquors taste.
Gary grew the number of people who watched the show over the course of five years by making more than 1000 episodes and using his deep knowledge of wines, his lively personality, and his daily hustle.
Gary also paid close attention to what his audience was interested in and wanted to hear more about. He then gave them the answers and engagement they were looking for.
What happened? His father’s spirits shop is making a lot more money than ever before. Gary says the following about his first success with Wine Library, in his own words:
“I’ve always said that the success of that business was due to how hard I worked and how dedicated I was to connecting with my fans and customers by answering every email or blog comment I got and going above and beyond to show them how much I appreciated their business.” —Gary Vaynerchuk
The Next Chapter:
After helping his father’s business grow a lot, Gary would start the next part of his business career. Gary would start his own full-service advertising agency, using what he had learned from Wine Library TV and his years of experience with social media. This new business would be called Vayner Media.
Gary started small with Vayner Media. In fact, when he first started out, he had to use another company’s conference room because he didn’t have enough money to rent his own office space. But he didn’t give up. He kept doing what he does best. He worked hard to get people’s attention, and that got him business.
And Gary’s media company would take off after he gave a successful public speech in New York. Soon after that, Gary also signed a 10-book deal with HarperCollins for $1 million. Since then, he has written many books, and five of them have made the New York Times’ list of best sellers.
Gary is now the CEO of Vayner Media and the chairman of Vayner X. His name has become a synonym for hustle, getting things done, and digital advertising. When he’s not helping his clients build their businesses, he jets around the world giving charismatic and thought-provoking speeches that inspire the next generation of business owners.
Gary Vee’s Enduring Success
Gary Vee’s success keeps going up, and he now has over 800 people working for him at his media companies. He has over 12 million social media followers, and that number is growing. His popular YouTube show, The Gary Vee Video Experience, and his popular podcast, The Gary Vee Audio Experience, help him build his brand and increase his influence.
So, why has Gary Vee been so successful for so long? Well, it can’t be denied that Gary Vaynerchuk has a magical charisma that has helped him a lot in capturing the attention of his audience.
But Gary’s success has come from and will continue to come from his uncanny ability to spot trends and figure out what people are interested in. This quote from him says it best:
“Look at what people care about and figure out why they care about it.” Gary Vaynerchuk is a businessman. Just as important is the fact that he works hard all the time. This probably helps him see what works and what doesn’t when it comes to building businesses and spotting trends. Again, he has said it well in his own words in the past. “While everyone else hopes and dreams, I’ll be taking action.” Gary Vaynerchuk is a businessman.
Gary has also shown he knows how to reach more people by using technology, the people around him, and the media.
Because of this skill, he and his clients are able to get more and more attention. In short, he is very good at making the most of his team, the technology he is using, and his media channels. How he put it himself…
“You always get the most juice out of a full orange. When it’s empty, you find a pear, which is harder to squeeze, but you hope a grapefruit comes along. I used to open 90% of the emails I got. It’s no longer true. It used to cost 5 cents per click to use Google Adwords. It’s no longer true.” Gary Vaynerchuk is a businessman.
Peer into the Mind of a Master: Gary may not be P.T. Barnum, but he has learned how to use attention to get things done. So, to give you a better idea of what this master thinks and how he got to where he is today,
Key Takeaways:
We can learn a lot from Gary Vaynerchuk’s story of making it big. It shows how an immigrant from Belarus worked hard, made the best of his situation, and used the technology of the time to build his brand and businesses to unbelievable heights. His story also shows that the American Dream is still alive and well for people who choose to be put to death instead of making excuses.
We hope his story shows you that anything is possible with a lot of hard work, a healthy obsession with what your customers want and need, and a little leverage. So, use what you’ve learned and start writing your own story of success that will inspire others.
Thank you: The Strive