Crushing It

Crushing It is Gary Vaynerchuk’s follow-up to his personal branding manifesto Crush It, in which he reiterates the importance of a personal brand and shows you the endless possibilities that come with building one today.

When you have a restaurant or brick and mortar store, a personal brand seems like an obvious move. After all, you can use your social media clout to fill the seats or make more sales. But what if you have neither a service, nor something to sell? Well, ask Brittany Xavier from Thrifts and Threads.

Initially, she just documented her life as a young mom for fun on Instagram. Eventually, she noticed similar accounts tagging brands in their posts, so she started doing the same. Soon, those brands began reaching out and once she hit 10,000 followers, she began to charge for advertising them in her posts. Now, Thrifts and Threads is a full-fledged family lifestyle brand, focusing on cheap, yet stylish outfits, decor and more.

Like a startup, a personal brand doesn’t need a business model right from the start. You can figure it out as you go. As long as your content is high quality, the money will inevitably follow.

Gary has a few themes, both in business and in life. They’ve changed little to nothing throughout the years, because they’re virtues of who he is as a person. As such, they’re a big part of how he’s grown his own businesses and personal brand to such massive levels. Here they are: Intent. Good entrepreneurs make lots of money. Great entrepreneurs do it in altruistic ways. People can sense when we use them merely for our personal gains, which is why this approach rarely works in the long term. Authenticity. Similar to intent, a 27-year-old like me posing as a life coach or leadership expert would just come across as cheesy. Be transparent about who you are and where you are in life. You don’t have to teach people how to play the guitar. You can just learn it alongside them. Passion. More so than having to be excited about what you want to create or sell or promote, you have to be passionate about life. About giving. Who would you rather hear talk about knitting, video games, or the news: an optimist, or a complainer? Patience. Good things always take time. Those who strike gold early will have to learn how to maintain it later, and those who don’t must slowly grind their way to the top of the mountain. Speed. Just as important as patience in the macro is speed in the micro. Waiting for the results indicates having done something to get them. Work. It’s hard to find someone who…