I started to follow Gary Vaynerchuk on Facebook about 4
months ago when I saw this interview with Larry King video. That let me to follow him on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat!
Soon I discovered that he was all over the place producing content almost
24/7. Actual value content, no beaches, no yachts, no girls, no bling, no Lamborghinis... Just sound advice on marketing and business.
For those of you who don’t know Gary, he’s an outspoken
entrepreneur, who currently owns and runs Vaynermedia, a 600+ employee digital
media agency in NYC. He has an interesting backstory that includes early
investing in Facebook and Twitter along with being a early Vlogger in
Youtube (First video posted in May 2006). Check this great keynote on Youtube were Gary speaks about his story.
Being an entrepreneur my whole life, I recognized in Gary a true sense of hard work ethic with a huge tone
of practicality and no BS. At first he might strike a bit arrogant or bold, but
his message is clear, on point and I related.
One month ago I was watching an Instagram
livestream when Gary announced an idea that he planned to execute soon. A
small group 1-day full immersion on Vaynermedia operations including a session
with Gary himself! An email was requested to be sent for application purposes.
Let me be clear and point out that this was not free, it required a $10k
payment. I thought to myself, this was worth it and quickly sent that
email hopping to gain a spot on this new opportunity.
So about 3 weeks passed and I got an Eventbrite
invitation to apply to 3 available dates for the VaynerMedia 4Ds "Daily
Digital Deep Dive".
I signed up for the first available date, knowing that
it would be the less polished one, but there’s something special about being
first. NDA's got signed, Flights and hotel got booked and I was on my way to
NYC for the first 4Ds on 4/13/17.
Vaynermedia recently moved to 10 Hudson Yards, a
new development on the Chelsea / High Line area of NYC. I love walking,
so I walked 25 minutes from my hotel to the place. The area is still under
construction, but the building is beautiful. I entered the main lobby and
guess who entered after me? Gary himself, so I introduced myself and proceed to
get my security badge. Got in to the elevator and rided up to the 25th floor!
So the group was about 12 people, all from
different places and industries, the program started at about 9:20
with an intro and history of Gary and Vaynermedia, its goals and mission.
Most of what was discussed on this session we mostly knew so we quickly
went through it and moved to the next sessions:
Platforms: Great discussion with the top brass
of Vaynermedia on the digital platforms, their strengths, how video is the
present and near future of social advertising and future outlook.
Digital Strategy: Details where provided
on how you need to design for the current state of customer attention, and plan
for the future state of it as well.
Creative Approach: Wow this session really
provided excellent insights in to the creative process of Vaynermedia and how
we could duplicate it in our own specific cases. Vayner's Chief Creative Steve Babcock was on
point and provided great examples to relate to our own ideas!
Personal Branding: Vayner has a division exclusively focused on developing personal brands, utilizing strategic insights
from Vayner, this is a topic I will discuss go on more deeply in future posts
Influencer Media: You might think that
influencers are a new thing, but if you take a closer look, it has been here
since movies and TV were the standard media outlets. Vayner's take on
influencers is novel, taking more into consideration micro influencers. More on this in upcoming blogs.
Paid Media: This was out last topic of the day
and the best one in my opinion. Being an Entrepreneur involves lots of
number crunching to maximize your opportunities in all the areas of your
business. The last topic was the one that got me into deeply analyze new opportunities in my business. Frankly some terms mentioned were
foreign to me, but that created the need to deeply study more on the tactics
and strategies to blast media investments into stratosphere.
At lunch break, we had our keynote by Gary, he
simply walked in, greeted everyone and sat down and delivered! Basically
everyone had a chance at bat to ask him questions pertaining directly to their own business or personal brands. It was a really casual experience true to Gary and his spiel.
You can watch it here.
I must attest that Gary is a very down to earth
individual, he cares and delivers based on his experiences, that is truly
valuable and I appreciate him for it!
This whole experience was a big eye opener for
me, as it allowed me to create new connections linking many
business touch points and strategies to many areas of my current and future
businesses.
Now the next step it to implement all this and
execute! Sadly the Daily Digital Deep Dive left me wanting for more and
more!
Hey Gary! Can we do a Week Digital Deep Dive?
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