#52Books Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence-and How You Can, Too (Amazon affiliate link)
Format: Kindle
Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee) speaks to the exhausting work of becoming a social media star on all channels. He provides case studies and ideas for content. He also warns (repeatedly) that this is not a fast process. We’re talking years + finding the right niche + a little bit of luck. How bad do you want it?
The most useful section of Crushing It is his evaluation of various social media platforms: best practices, how much time it takes to create content for each, ideal length, and the amount of time you will need to spend on the platform. He argues that you need to be omnipresent. I found myself wondering about return on time investment for some of the platforms – particularly Twitter. 4-6 hours per day on Twitter struck me as 4-6 hours per day I could spend serving the customers I have.
Before tackling this book, I think it is important to ask yourself what your true aspirations are. If you want to be as big as Gary Vee – prepare to eat, sleep, breathe your work. The advice in Crushing It is how he currently does it.
As I read it, however, I easily saw myself spending more time doing social media than servicing my current clients and making sure their experience is awesome. I don’t aspire to be the next big social media star or become the next Deloitte. Understanding this about myself will allow me to more mindfully pull out the advice in this book that will work for me and for the scale I wish to work at. I’m probably not Gary Vee’s optimal audience.
Still, as a current reference for social media best practice, Crushing It is a solid read.
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