ARE YOU CRUSHing IT?

I recently finished reading the second book of my Book Trifecta for the first third of 2010: CRUSH IT!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk. CRUSH IT! is one of those unique books that not only conveys a message but also the author’s passion. Sometimes the black letters on white paper tend to be emotionless or subjective to the reader’s interpretation, this is not the case with Gary Vaynerchuk and his message in CRUSH IT!. If you ever heard him talk either in person, on the web, or on television you know what I am talking about. If you have not heard him talk you really should.

In his book, Gary Vaynerchuk lays out, in no uncertain terms, his master plan towards the successful purchase and ownership of the New York Jets. How does this apply to the reader? Gary gives you his playbook and reveals how by following it he and his organizations have reach and level of genuine authenticity that keeps customers coming back for more and hoards of new and potential customers banging on his door.
There are no magic beans, no smoke to cloud your judgment; no ego stroking talking mirrors, no secret handshakes, or hidden links to what Gary is offering in CRUSH IT!. He tells it like it is, that my friends is the secret to Gary Vaynerchuk's success. Throughout the book, Gary reminds us that business is playing by a new set of rules and every one is on the same level playing field right along side the big corporations.

The level of the playing field starts to change when people either fail to do something about their situation or do something about your situation. When they do something positive about the situation they find themselves in thus they can start to rival those top tier mega organizations. When individuals and small businesses fail to do something about their situation they fall behind and the longer they wait to do something a further behind they will be. In CRUSH IT!, Gary tells us that not only do we need to start doing something about our situation, we do not need to worry about the other guy we only need to worry about ourselves and ultimately "Keeping it real…Very real."

Lastly, Vaynerchuk offers up what Social media services have helped propel him to top of his field. In one chapter, Gary dedicates himself to telling us what works for him in the Social Media arena and how to create community by digging your own “Internet trench.” In that chapter, Gary is saying is that by creating an online presence one must be prepared to shake a lot of hands and never stop shaking. While everyone might not like your message you'll have to continue shaking hands until those that want to hear your message find you. Then and only then is the rest is up to.

I will close by adding the following: CRUSH IT! is a book for everyone. There is at least one golden nugget for everyone and that is a good thing. At the end of the book there's a message that sums up what Gary has been saying for the previous 133 pages, "listen to your DNA-it will always lead you in the right direction." He’s not kidding, Gary tells us this straight from his heart. As an example, he took his father’s liquor store from $4Million operation to $50Million operation in just eight years and more recently reaching #2 on the New York Times Bestseller List with CRUSH IT! with success like that what can go wrong?

Complete & Total Disclosure: I am a huge fan of @garyvee (if you are not already, I recommend you follow him on Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/gary). Also, check out his Wine Library video blog on Winelibrary.tv it is loaded with great stuff.


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Do you have a Corner-man?

Everyone needs a good Corner-man. The fictional Boxing Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa had Mickey Goodmill. Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, José Nápoles, George Foreman, Jimmy Ellis, Carmen Basilio and Luis Rodriguez each had Angelo Dundee as their Corner-man.

Who is fighting in your corner? Who is the one person that can look you in your bloody eye and tell you that you can go the distance and beat the bum?

What if you don’t you have a Corner-man, then what? You get yourself a Corner-man ASAP!!! Get one as soon as it is humanly possible. Of course, you just can’t walk up to a complete stranger and say, “Hey, will you be my Corner-man?” You have to recognize that a Corner-man is what you need.

Once you have accepted that fact, they you do what you can to find one that will take you to where you want to be. You start hunting high and low for the one person that will be in your corner, all the time. However, until you find that person you will have to pay your dues and rest assured, it will be a struggle.

For example, in the motion picture Rocky, the first time we see Mickey and Rocky together, Mickey tells Rocky about why Mickey is paying more attention to another boxer, “Dipper’s a contender, a climber, you know what you are? A tomato. That’s right a tomato, I run a business here not a soup kitchen.” Mickey pulled no punches with Rocky and that is exactly what a good Corner-man should do. When Rocky asked Mickey why he didn’t care, in no uncertain terms Mickey said, “You had the talent to become a good fighter and instead of that you became a leg breaker for some cheap second rate loan shark…It’s a waste of life.” They worked out their issues and Mickey was in Rocky’s corner when it came time to fight the big fight. In the end, it was Mickey, the Corner-man, that went on to help make Rocky the success he went on to eventually become the champ (see Rocky II).

In real-life, Angelo Dundee is considered the greatest Corner-man in the history of professional boxing. He not only made champions, he made household names out of George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Muhammad Ali. Dundee made them champs because he pulled no punches and always gave them exactly what they needed: Someone to tell them the truth no matter how much it hurt. Each one of those great boxers had what it took to be champion but it was the Corner-man that kept their vision focused and kept them on track when it came to preparing and fighting the Big Fight.

Everyone needs a great Corner-man to keep them focused, keep them on track, and above all to keep them real. How do you find a great Corner-man? The answer is real simple: Become someone else's Corner-man.

While it is that simple, it is not going to be that easy. Becoming someone’s Corner-man will not happen overnight, nor will it be handed to you. What it will be is difficult and lengthy. That along with a large dose of being authentic, genuine, and the willingness to share will all but ensure your place as great Corner-man. Then by setting the standard you let any would be Corner-man know what you will expect of them.

The concept of a Corner-man isn’t new especially as it is based on common sense plain and simple. Always remember that no matter what you do and how hard you work the trick is to ensure that your Corner-man does not become your “Yes-man”.

“Yes-men” are dime a dozen and offer no real benefit other than to stroke your ego. There is nothing wrong with someone stroking your ego but if that’s all you have then you have no real shot at the success that comes by having someone fighting in your corner. No shot at being great because you’ll start believing what those that are stroking your ego are telling you. Certainly, that would be the last thing you want and that would defeat the purpose of having a Corner-man altogether.



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Who is your middleman?

Who is your middleman? How many middlemen (or women) do you have between you and your customers/clients? How many do you have that are giving the first impression about you or your organization to potential customer? Are they all talking the same talk as you, after all they are the first voice of your company that they hear? They are the first face they see when they walk through the front door.

Those are some seriously loaded questions and rest assured the answers are just as loaded.

Right now, there is a customer that needs your help. Right now, that customer or client is reaching for the phone and someone other than you will answer the phone. Right now, that client is banging out an email and will you be the one that gets it? Probably not.

In large organizations it is with great certainty that there will be a middle-person that will run interference for some top-level official(s). Thus further down the corporate ladder the need for a middleman drastically diminishes almost to the point that the person at the bottom of the corporate ladder is the middleman.

There are those Small-, Medium- sized Enterprises that the existence of a middleman is all but assured. For the most part, the one-man operations are exempt (to a certain extent). Those organizations that have grown to a point that now someone other than the boss is answering the phones will have a middleman (or woman).

In most cases that person is known as the Receptionist. They are the ones that are the face of the company, the first person a guest sees when they arrive and the last person they say "Goodbye" to. They are the ones that will answer the phone, they are the ones that will convey your message to everyone they come in contact with everyday.

The long and short of this is really simple. Those middle-men and -women will either make or break you. They will only do that with your permission. Train them right and they will make you look good all the time, every time. Fail to train them and you get what you give.

So, why not take some time tomorrow morning and have a quick one-on-one training session to ensure that your message and that of your organization is easily understood and can be passed along to your guests, clients, customers, and potential customers without any deviation. A little investment in ensuring that your middleman is an extension of you and not the antithesis of you will certainly go a long way towards ensuring that customers are guaranteed to hear the same story of you and your organization from the first "hello" to the last "goodbye."




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