gary vaynerchuk | Justin Levy

Gary Vaynerchuk Treats People Like Goldfish

August 18, 2009 By Justin Levy 8 Comments

I bet if you were just cruising through your tweets or feeds, this probably caught your eye huh? You might be thinking that I’m just trying to create a catchy title to get you to stop on by, right? Well, if that’s what you thought then you’re partially correct. Of course, I love it when you stop by here and am incredibly humbled by it. However, in a recent tweet Gary stated that you should treat everyone like a goldfish. So, what did he mean by this?

Check out Gary explain what he means by that statement and why YOU should be treating everyone like a goldfish as well.

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I completely agree with Gary and think that his analogy is perfect. This is what Gary lives by each and every day and one of the reasons why he has such a dedicated group of friends, fans, and supporters. Sure, it’s hard to scale that as an individual but as long as you’re connecting as often as possible with as many people as possible, others notice and are appreciative. Also, it doesn’t have to be long connections. Just a simple “congrats” can make someone’s day (trust me, I know)

But, I think you can and should take it one step past Gary’s concept. Instead of just connecting with someone like they were a goldfish in a bowl by themselves, how about connect with them and if possible, help them jump into a fish tank where they might have an opportunity with other fish that they may not already know. Be that connector and help others with no selfish reasons behind it.

You know who does this really, really well? Gary definitely does. But, also, others like Chris Brogan, Jason Falls, Amber Naslund, Brian Solis (all of whom YOU can connect with at the Inbound Marketing Summit) and many, many others, who spend most of their time connecting and helping others just because.

Are you treating everyone that you’re lucky enough to have the opportunity to connect with like a goldfish? Are you connecting with and helping your network as often as possible? Know someone that is doing it really well and want to recognize them for it?

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Photo by: a_trotskyite

Filed Under: Community, Social Media, Videos Tagged With: Community, gary vaynerchuk, networking, Social Media, videos

Are You Focused

February 12, 2009 By Justin Levy 22 Comments

Earlier tonight I decided to watch a keynote by Gary Vaynerchuk that I like to watch often as a source of motivation. I’ve watched this presentation when I’m tired in the middle of the night; when I miss being home while I’m 10,000 miles away from my fiance; when I’ve been stressed out before with projects; or when I’m busy trying to crush it and just want that extra little shove.

If you haven’t seen this keynote before, take the 15 minutes to watch it. If you have seen it before, then watch it again. Then, instead of just moving on to the next blog post, or next meeting, or next tweet, stop. Yes, stop. Stop and think about if you’re doing what you really love. I know I am. I work extremely hard but I’m having more fun with Chris Brogan and Colin Browning over on our pirate ship of New Marketing Labs, than I can explain. I love running my steakhouse with my best friend, Joseph Gionfriddo.

Think about if you spend all day (or at least most of your day) focused. Focused on executing on your goals. Focused on killing it today. Focused on killing it in 2009. If you’re not, if you slow down for even a 1/2 second, then your competition is going to pass you by. Ok, maybe they won’t fly by you for just taking a break for a 1/2 second. Or will they? Are you willing to take that risk? Are you ok with that? If you are then that’s cool. But, I’m not. I want to be producing content, coming up with new ideas for the steakhouse; working on client projects, working on New Marketing Labs events, experimenting with tools, having meaningful conversations and developing strategy/vision all the time. When I’m relaxing, I’m mulling over new ideas in my head. I’m always analyzing, thinking of what’s next, and focused on what my goals are. When most people are watching tv and getting a good night’s sleep, I’m trying to stay that extra step ahead.

What motivates you to stay focused and kill it every day? Is it a video, a book, a quote, or someone in your life?

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Filed Under: Personal Branding, Productivity, Social Media, Videos Tagged With: gary vaynerchuk, hustling, Productivity, videos

Being Better Than Zero and Appreciating It

November 12, 2008 By Justin Levy 4 Comments

One of the things I really enjoy doing is to dig through blog archives and read older content. Why? Because most of the time it is still relevant today. Also, it allows you to see the progression of a blog and the person or people behind that blog.

Tonight I decided to dig through the archives of Gary Vaynerchuk because all of his video blogs are entertaining, informative and motivating. I came across a video where Gary states that “everything is better than zero”. Part of Gary’s point was that you should take everything you can get and be appreciative of it – whether it’s 1 subscriber or 1,000; whether it’s 1 advertiser with a $10 spot or 25 advertisers each with $1,000 spots….whatever it is and no matter the quantity of it, the point is to appreciate it all!

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When I first started blogging I wasn’t sure where it would take me but so far it continues to lead to nothing but good things. One of the most important things that blogging and social media has provided me is a group of awesome people who I get to interact with on a daily basis.

So, as I prepare this post in the wee hours of the night since I’ll be attending 3 social media events and hosting a wine dinner in the next 36hrs, I wanted to say thank you to all of you who read this blog and find what I have to say interesting. You continue to motivate me every day! It is very humbling to receive comments, emails, pings on various social networks and talking with people in person who tell me that they enjoy reading the blog or what I talk about on Twitter or any of the other networks that I’m active in. I look forward to continuing to grow this blog and hope that you stick around for the ride!

Thank you, you are all awesome!

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Filed Under: Social Media, Videos Tagged With: gary vaynerchuk, Social Media, social networks, Videos

Did You Know Britney Spears is on Twitter?

October 22, 2008 By Justin Levy 4 Comments

Over the past couple days there has been some chatter in the social media space about Britney Spears joining Twitter (@therealbritney) as part of her new website which just launched. Well, Britney didn’t just join Twitter but also has accounts on YouTube, MySpace and Facebook. However, I am more impressed with her and her team’s decision to venture onto Twitter. Why? Because for the past few years every new artist has a MySpace page. Unfortunately, it is usually just a PR machine for the artist though there are some artists that actually write their own content, respond to fans, post videos, etc. We have also seen an influx of musicians sign up for YouTube accounts and start video blogging. An example of an artist who has embraced video would definitely be Diddy who has approximately 280 videos posted on YouTube.

Ok, back to my thoughts on Brtiney being on Twitter. The first handful of tweets appeared to be yet another example of a celebrity’s team who sets up an account on a social media site only to use it to post updates about CD launches, appearances, etc. This led to Gary Vaynerchuk posting his thoughts about it:

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But, then, in my opinion, something interesting and unexpected happened: Britney’s social media director, Lauren Kozag, responded in the comments. Lauren responded by thanking Gary for his advice and letting everyone know that she was showing the video to the rest of Britney’s team. Lauren also mentioned that they are actively discussing how transparent Britney should be. I was extremely impressed to see this because, like many others, I was skeptical at how “real” this would all be.

By Lauren responding she showed that her and the rest of Brtiney’s team are monitoring online discussions about Britney and are willing to reach out and respond. This could be great for Britney’s brand as well as being among the first few celebrities to join sites like Twitter and actively use them to interact and not just push out information. I hope this continues not only with Britney and her team but also encourages other celebrities to get actively involved because they already have the fan bases to drive more people onto sites like Twitter thus taking it more mainstream. I’d be interested to know how many new people are discovering Twitter for the first time solely because they saw the logo on Britney’s website.

Now I want to hear your thoughts on this in the comments below. Do you think it’s good that celebrities like Britney Spears actively use social media sites such as Twitter? What advice would you have for them or their teams if they were to read this?

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