Highlights from Gary Vaynerchuk’s Latest Book

After his impressive keynote address at the 2016 Clio Conference in Chicago, I could not wait to read Gary Vaynerchuk’s latest book, #AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur’s Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness. A thoroughly entertaining and informative compilation of questions and answers from Gary’s regular  #Ask GaryVee Show on YouTube, where he fields questions on marketing, social media, and entrepreneurship.  I give Gary special props for his spot-on analogy between tennis and business, and here are a handful of other great suggestions from the book:

1. Religiously follow a few core business philosophies that mean the most to you and devote most of your time to them (the rest will naturally fall into place).
2. IDEAS are WORTHLESS without EXECUTION (and vice versa).
3. CASH is OXYGEN to your small business. If a business owner does not master effective cash flow management, his or her business is doomed.
4. The best way to become “SOMETHING” is to do the WORK required to become “something”.
5. Simply put, your business needs to solve a problem , serve a need, and/or make people happy.
6. The two keys to becoming a leader in your industry:  PASSION and HUSTLE.
7. Better to bet big on your strengths than to dwell on trying to improve your weaknesses.
8. When developing social media content, be yourself and engage your audience.
9. Focus social media efforts on the specific platforms that your target audience loves.
10. DEPTH matters more than WIDTH in the world of entrepreneurship and small business.

Recommended reading for all Virginia small business owners and entrepreneurs!