This week, I have the pleasure of reviewing a book that I’ve been looking forward to reading for quite some time: Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Gary’s work, he is the raging ball of charisma that hosts Wine Library TV, an online video blog about his consuming passion – wine. Gary built his parents’ local discount liquor store into a multi-million dollar/year business by harnessing his incredible passion and enthusiasm and channeling it through a medium that suited it: one of the first video blogs.

Through his efforts, Gary has built upon this passion to create a career that involves television appearances, keynote speaking invitations, business consulting, and a myriad of other outlets and opportunities.

The best part (and the premise of Crush It!) is that he managed to accomplish all of this while doing exactly what he loves (and his argument is that it is exclusively because he was doing what he loved that it was possible in the first place).

Crush It! is an extremely enjoyable read and much of the unbridled hyperbolic exuberance that Gary demonstrates on WLTV translates well to the written word. It is a book that is well suited to people who need direction into how to go about thinking about their passions in a career-oriented sense. It is also a book that is perfect for novices and veterans alike of social media outlets.

Gary is a social media pro and despite having a decent amount of experience with social media marketing, I found myself highlighting and noting a number of strategies and even platforms that Gary presents in the book. Crush It! does an excellent job of presenting the fundamentals of business development strategy and planning in a very straightforward and accessible manner that is also tailored in an extremely contemporary manner (which is nearly impossible to find in traditional marketing books) to allow for the use of social media tools.

Vaynerchuk’s primary argument is that social media has completely changed the game – that business today is about becoming and establishing yourself as an expert in your field/what you are passionate about and then leveraging that position into a monetizable career. Gary does an excellent job of providing real actionable strategies for monetizing a career using social media and his insights are extremely valuable. The best part? Nobody practices their preaching better than Gary. From watching one of his keynotes to an episode of Wine Library TV, Gary Vaynerchuk lives by his own rules and his career makes for an excellent case study.

I really highly recommend Crush It! not just because of how likeable a character Gary has established himself as but because the book is not just a bunch of optimistic self-help fluff – it really provides useful and actionable information to readers. Like this excerpt from a numbered list of activities to use to build -your online presence:

….and so forth.

As always, we look forward to your comments, thoughts, and ideas (particularly if you’ve read the book).

-Patrick R

patrick@rabbitholeconsulting.com

Interested in how to implement Business Development Strategy and Intelligent Marketing Concepts for your Music Enterprise or small business? ContactRabbitHole Consulting to learn about how we can help you reach your target.