Gary Vaynerchuk has emerged as a social media superstar and, in the process, become a popular video-blogger, speaker, social media consultant and author, who snapped up a 10-book contract from Harper Collins.
Vaynerchuk’s first book – actually a novella at 142 pages – is Crush It!. While I admire Vaynerchuk’s energy and passion, Crush It! is, frankly, underwhelming.
It’s not oozing with new or compelling insight or ideas. Crush It!’s biggest shortcoming is its simplistic thesis – the Web is a huge opportunity, and that anyone who has passion, works really hard and generates lots of great content can be successful. It also helps if you spend nearly all your waking hours on the Web. If it was only that easy!
Crush It! strikes me as a pep talk/keynote as opposed to something that offers in-depth perspective or insight.
That said, Crush It! is probably aimed at the mainstream market as opposed to people already immersed in the Web and social media. In addition to the enthusiastic tone, it provides basic information about the tools and how to use them, which is helpful if you’re not particularly Web savvy but, nevertheless, interested in the Web.
Vaynerchuk has lofty ambitions (his ultimate goal is being able to purchase his beloved and playoff-bound New York Jets) so Crush It! could be a good vehicle to move him into the mainstream. For its part, Harper Collins is clearly counting on Vaynerchuk’s popularity and the fact he’s becoming a leading figure in the wine industry – a product that mainstream consumers can easily relate to – to sell a lot of books.
One final thought about Crush It! is how it’s just one of many, many social media books on the market. I’ve got at least six books on my desk from Mitch Joel, Dan Zarella, Darren Barefoot and Dharmsh Shah. Unless you’ve written a book that really does crush it, attracting readers is going to be a huge challenge.
Great post, it was about time someone set him straight! I agree with many things Garyvee says, but find a lot of it overhyped.
Thanks for the comment!
I would agree that the hardcore social media users wouldn't find a lot of value out of this book. I did however love the conversational tone of the book, and Gary's passion seems to rub off on whoever comes into contact with him. When I saw him speak at DemoCamp I know that was certainly true in person.
This book was written for the average person, and if it wasn't it likely wouldn't be seeing the success it has attracted so far. I guess that was intentional but with the big book deal Gary has don't be surprised to see at least one book specifically tailored towards the passionate social media lover. Or at least let's hope so.
I saw Gary speak at DemoCamp last month, and there's no doubt he's got the personality and drive to do well. I guess I expected more insight from Crush It! For example, it would have been interesting to learn more about what Gary does online other than do video blogs – what's his approach to comments, SEO, social networks (does he participate in every social network or just a few?).
Mark
Agreed Mark, let's hope that he gets more specific about his tactics and strategies in his next book. Crush It sets up well as an introductory book to social media, he should follow it up with more in depth action steps to be taken.
Hope you get a chance to at least skim our book! It's more common sense than big ideas, I think, and generally aimed at the back half of the ol' adoption curve.
Indeed, it's a crazy market place. When we wrote our ebook on social media marketing back in 2007, there was hardly a competitor to be found. Now there are dozens.
You know, I mean this in the nicest possible way, but every time I watch video of Mr. Vaynerchuk he strikes me as a teeny bit of a douche canoe. There's no denying that he's a sharp guy, and has been very successful and become highly influential, but he's a little too Joe Pesci for my taste.
A couple of things came to mind after I read your post:
1. Aren't most "business" books really about motivation, especially the how-to kind? There seems to be an endless market for "kicks-in-the-ass" that people buy in the form of books. It's almost like an addiction. You could argue that someone like Seth Godin's book are more about motivation than they are about imparting knowledge.
2. I reviewed Trust Agents on my blog today and one of the commentators asked me what I thought would make a "great" social media book. I struggled with that question and wound up saying that I'd only read four and wanted to read more before making a judgement. I'd guess that there's going to be a lot of competition to be a "great" social media book, as your own desk indicates.
Good points. In terms of a "great" social media book, I'm partial to ones that provide insight into how to effectively use social media. I'm current reading Inbound Marketing by Dharmesh Shah and Brian Halligan, and discovering some practical and useful advice.
As one of the people mentioned in your post Mark, I think it's also important to discuss context. For me, the idea for writing a business book – and not just tell people to read my Blog – is because when I go out and speak in public (which I do about 70 events a year) or sit down with potential clients, it is amazing to me how many businesses are simply not engaged online or thinking like the way people online (us) tend to think. So, I wrote this book using a medium they are comfortable and used to (a business book). You would be shocked to see how few people have ever heard of Seth Godin, Chris Brogan, Robert Scoble or Gary Vee is these audiences.
I’ve also read almost all of the books that are out on the topic as well, and (I’m not just defending my book here), these books are much more about how to think strategically different and engage in a much more human way in this new world. I loved Gary’s book for all of the reasons you mentioned: it was short, to the point, written in a human voice and filled with passion. Sometimes a kick in the pants helps me more than 600 case studies with graphs ever can. And yes, even though I know the content, a fresh perspective is still always fresh.
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