Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion: Vaynerchuk, Gary: 9780061914171
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Do you have a hobby you wish you could indulge in all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? Now is the perfect time to take that passion and make a living doing what you love. In Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuk shows you how to use the power of the Internet to turn your real interests into real businesses. Gary spent years building his family business from a local wine shop into a national industry leader. Then one day he turned on a video camera, and by using the secrets revealed here, transformed his entire life and earning potential by building his personal brand. By the end of this book, readers will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, Crush It! is the ultimate driver’s manual for modern business. Read more
Publisher : Harper Studio
Publication date : October 13, 2009
Edition : First Edition
Language : English
Print length : 142 pages
ISBN-10 : 0061914177
ISBN-13 : 978-0061914171
Item Weight : 8.8 ounces
Dimensions : 0.7 x 5.6 x 8.3 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #136,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #15 in Social Media for Business #22 in Social Media Guides #43 in E-Commerce (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars
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Top Amazon Reviews
Format: Hardcover
I have rarely felt the need to review a book or even comment on it after a read. I don't believe I've ever left a review here, which will likely be obvious. In short, I loved the book. I bought a copy locally the week it came out, then ordered another through Amazon to pass along to someone else. It is a very brief read. It could be read anytime a spare hour or two is found. If you aren't familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk, this book does cover his background pretty well. I had heard of Gary about a year ago through a blog or online mention (Tim Ferriss, I believe). I saw a few minutes of his show but wasn't very interested because I don't drink wine, so I didn't care about the topic of wine (like he VERY obviously did). He seemed kind of funny, but I was too busy to watch a show about wine, and didn't think much more about it. A month or so prior to this book being released, I began to hear this "wine guy" pop up among people I associated with online and in meatspace. I watched a short keynote speech he gave at an event about Web 2.0. In the video, he gave a passionate, cussword-laden speech about the nature of business and changing times. Everything he said was very spot-on. "Crush It!" is an expansion of his business keynotes, filling in a bit more detail about the how and why of the changing business world. Being in business used to be a lot more difficult when the gatekeepers of the big media outlets were the only game in town (radio, tv and print). The little guy could perhaps compete on a very local level, but it took huge dollars to get seen by the masses in years past. With the largely free tools available to anyone with access to the internet, you can get your brand seen by more and more people every day. This is in no way a "Get-Rich-Quick" book. The 3 major tenets in the first chapter of the "Crush It" methodology are: "Love your family. Work superhard. Live your passion." Hardly a get-rich-quick strategy unless you skip all the parts where he talks about working until your eyeballs bleed instead of playing video games or watching tv. Several times throughout the book, he talks about the realities of how hard you will have to work to make even a decent living like you may make at your current job. As he says, if you are even 1% unhappy with your job, you should work to change it. He does NOT suggest quitting your job to become a blogger. But if you want to change and do something you love, work your ass off after work until you can get to that place. Hard work and hustle is the theme of the book that he never lets the reader forget. He goes into more detail about starting out for the person who may be completely new to the "social media" scene. It is not a detailed "one size fits all" approach to what specifically every person should do for a living. There are several examples of possibilities people could follow that can open eyes, and more than enough to get them started. It's not about selling chachkies and passing that off as a living. It's about working hard, becoming known as an expert in your field and doing something your grandkids will be proud of. Everyone has something they are passionate about. Something we would be doing if we didn't have to be working (that job that makes you unhappy. If you're 100% happy this doesn't apply). There are ways to do what you are passionate about, and make a decent living doing so. You may not get filthy rich doing it, but there are so many ways to make a living, it only makes sense to use the tools we have nowadays. They have made it far simpler to get started than in the past. I've been involved with the tech world since well before there were computers in every household and mobile phones existed only in the movies. The tools that now exist and the eyeballs that are on these platforms Gary discusses are changing the way business is done. It's still a big deal for Gary to get on the Today Show and do a little sniffy-sniff with Matt Lauer, but advertisers are spending more and more money on internet platforms. The numbers of people watching each is changing daily. The little guys without the big dollars the mainstream media channels have available are able to be competitive in this rapidly-changing world. Money follows the attention. More attention is on these internet tools every day. Work your face off, and you can build a business that thrives, doing something you love to do. This book is a good starting place to start getting the ideas flowing. I don't work for Gary, have never met him, and am not being paid to say any of this. I still don't drink wine, but when it comes to business, I agree with him. As busy as he is, he answers emails and twitter comments. If there is anything you find unclear about the book, he tries to answer any questions.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2009 by Amazon Customer
Format: Hardcover
The first time I watched Wine Library TV, I was intrigued. Gary was so unique in a world that most perceive as a subject to be discussed by stuffy, snooty intellectuals. Sure he is over the top at times - my wife refers to him as that "obnoxious wine guy" but he gets your attention and he knows what he is talking about. The video blog is the perfect vehicle for him because it suits his character so well. One very good thing about his book is this: it is short. I mean that as a compliment, not as in "thank goodness it is over with." There are far too many books out there that have a bunch of useless pages simply to justify a high purchase price or make people think it is filled with knowledge but for most of these books you could cut out a large percentage of the pages and not lose a thing as far as useful information. Gary's book is to the point and it is not one big advertisement for his business, either. His personality really comes across in the words so it is like either you are watching his blog or listening to him in person. This book is about establishing your brand, your true identity that reveals your passion to people, and that is exactly what he does here - his brand comes across nice and clear. He also has a lot of very sensible and useful things to tell you about how to monetize your passion, though it is not a book that worships money. It is about being happy and if you are passionate about something and are lucky enough to make a living from it, then you are doing very well indeed. There have been some who criticize the book because they say that use of social media is so widespread these days, it has become a ho-hum thing compared to being more cutting edge back when Gary began using it. In a sense that is true; just like in the early days of the internet web sites were very primitive and people who were able to create one had the advantage over those who did not simply because they had a web site. But while web sites are now much more commonplace, that doesn't mean that they are no longer effective. It is what you do with the site that counts, and that is what Gary is trying to get across in his book. It is what you do with your passion that counts. While Facebook, Twitter, etc. have become much more popular, there is still plenty of room for people who are willing to work very hard to be successful. You just have to work harder these days because there is more competition. But if you follow your passions (instead of doing something just for the money) and create a game plan, that still gives you the edge over all the people who don't even bother to try, or whose efforts are half-hearted. The message is if you are passionate, you're going to have fun doing what you do and success will follow. There's a lot more in the book to like. I don't agree with everything Gary said but I find there is no denying his passion and enthusiasm and that comes across on every page. It is well worth reading even if you've heard it all before, because of hearing it from his perspective as well as letting his words serve as a motivator and reminder. We can all use a kick to get us going! I felt this was a worthwhile read. It is short and to the point with a great ratio of useful content per page.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2009 by monkuboy
Format: Hardcover
After having this book recommended to me time and again (and being wowed by Gary's energy in speeches), I decided to see what the hype's all about. I think this is a good book in general, just not so great for me. Before going into the subject matter, I have to say I was disappointed by the book's size. Though it's a hardback, it's a very small one - closer in size to a trade paperback. It's a quick read at less than 150 pages long, with large-ish type (including one page that only has one word on it). After all the hype touting this as a magnum opus, I was definitely expecting more weight. Crush It! has a lot to say about the power of social media, and leveraging that power to build Internet businesses (based on your personal passions) capable of making you round-the-clock money. Sounds great, right? It is! If you're willing to work incredibly hard, and be human while you're doing it, you can go far. Even if the thing you love most in life is swimming pool pH levels or knitting tail cozies for your dog, you can make a living at it. If you're already running a blog and/or using other forms of social media on a regular basis, this may not be the book for you. This book provides a great introduction to how Twitter, Facebook and YouTube (among others) can be used to project your personality and passion into multiple formats, but you should know how to do these things if you use those platforms already. You won't get any "social networking secrets," just common sense advice on how to be your passionate self. If you aren't quite sure where to start, Crush It! provides an easy-to-follow roadmap that I can pretty much guarantee will show you spectacular results if you follow it closely. The suggestions are smart, just geared to slightly behind me on the learning curve. Even if your experience in blogging and social media is beyond the entry-level instructions in Crush It!, there are still some valuable portions of this book for you. First and foremost, Gary's trademark passion still translates in print. Reading the story of how he came to the United States, his family's work ethic, and his early ventures into entrepreneurship show that he's truly doing what he was born to do. I also found the book inspirational, as it gave me lots of ideas about how to streamline several things I already had going on. Despite its drawbacks, I'd still recommend this as something to read. If you're already on the road to probloggerdom, it may be less valuable for you - but you're still bound to find something useful in Crush It!
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Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2010 by Jillian
Format: Hardcover
Crush It! Reviewed by Brian Wing Crush It, Why now is the time to cash in on your passion, a book by Gary Vaynerchuk, written in 2009, is a book that discusses the use of social media and the internet to develop and market your own personal brand. The book is written in a very conversational mode, where Gary tells a story of his own brand development and the tools and methods he used to make himself the man and brand he is today. Along the way he imparts many of the core values of brand marketing and promotion. Gary Vaynerchuk, an immigrant from Babruysk Russia, born in 1975, comes to America with his family. His father opens a liquor store in northern New Jersey. Along the way Gary educates himself in wine, a growing market, and proceeds to grow that business from a single store to a wine empire. Gary delves into his "DNA" and talks about how he sees value in collectible items, such as baseball cards. His focus evolves into entrepreneurship and he takes over the wine business and grows winelibrary.tv into a wine empire. He has become one of the most prominent figures in the wine reviewing business, and commands a ransom to present on social media and the use of the Internet to promote branding and new business development. The book "Crush It!" focuses on utilizing new, free tools on the Internet to capitalize on branding and developing a business. Some of the major themes include: Becoming the foremost expert in your "passion"; Use of social media and the Internet to promote yourself/brand; Differentiation; Hard work; and Caring. In "Crush It!," Gary's first pearl of marketing wisdom is take whatever it is you love the most and develop that into a business. Educate yourself in every aspect of your passion. Read every bit of material about your subject, find others who are considered experts in that subject and learn from them. Insert yourself into the conversations on the topic and make your opinion known. Once you become an expert in your field, develop content to "sell" your ideas to others. The key to developing this rapport is building trust. Gary states over and over be authentic and original with the content and the "eyeballs" will come. A great deal of the book is dedicated to developing and using new age media an social networks to promote your newly developed brand. As we have discussed (at great length) social media networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and a multitude of others, have gained great traction with many "old school of thought" marketers. More and more Facebook and Twitter "badges" can be seen on old media promotions. For example, television advertisements will have the Facebook and/or Twitter logos at the end of the ad, and suggest that you "find us on X." This is the new value marketing play. Brand loyalty is perpetuated by "fans and followers" of these social media networks. New networks are arising daily if not hourly. One such example is "WOMMA " a website devoted to the development and support of word of mouth marketing. Large, household names like Best Buy, McDonalds, Kraft, and Pepsi-Co are all contributors. A whole new network of social media marketing gurus has been developed. Each has a focus and specializes in certain market segments. Another, more local, company two-five media, specializes in wine and hospitality in Sonoma County. Companies now have the ability to use these social media networks to conduct targeted research as well as have "personal" communications directly with their consumers. This is the most powerful tool to come to marketing in a generation. Differentiation is another core marketing value discussed in "Crush It!" With the Internet age upon us it is exceptionally easy to blend in with the noise and chaff. One must truly be exceptional to stand out in a crowd. A favorite quote of mine from the book is "So how are you going to differentiate yourself from all the other clowns? ("Clowns" is, of course, used in the best possible way.)" It's this, in-your-face method that Gary delivers the message that you need to be the best you that you can be. It's a challenge, no doubt. Just Googling "differentiate using social media" gives the following: Results 1 - 10 of about 59,500 for how to differentiate yourself in social media. The social media landscape is moving at light speed and a marketer needs to "hustle" just to keep up with it, which leads me to the next pearl. Hustle! Gary Vaynerchuk makes no bones about the fact that 99% of the people who embark on a journey to "Crush It!" will not have the "chops" to get the job done. Hard work and patience are the two keys to making it happen. Another gem Gary provides is about patience, he says "If you contact me within a year of starting your business to complain that you haven't made the money you thought you would, you're not listening. I said that you could make a ton of money being happy; I didn't say you could do it overnight." Patience and hard work, seems reasonable, right? Gary devotes an entire chapter to the next pearl of wisdom. Chapter nine is called the best marketing strategy ever. The entirety of this chapter consists of only five characters, C-A-R-E-. It may be just that, the best marketing strategy ever, many companies have lost touch with their consumers. This harkens back to the use of ethnography and psychographic segmentation. Both of these market research strategies hinge on understanding the emotional connection with brands and products as well as the behaviors that motivate a consumer to make the choices that he or she does. By "Caring" a marketer should be able to glean this information. In summary there are some great anecdotal stories in "Crush It!" that expose Gary's brash and cavalier personality. Behind these stories lay some basic marketing strategies that can and should be applied to any marketing situation. Understand your business and be the most knowledgeable about your market and products. Use technology to your advantage. Your competition is! Differentiate yourself and stand out in that online crowd. Work your ass off but don't expect instant results, hard work takes time and patience. Finally and most importantly, take the time to care about your consumer. They are after all the sponsor of your business and their recommendations are worth more than anything you could pay for.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2010 by Brian J. Wing
Format: Hardcover
Crush It! is a very motivational book focused on turning your passion into a business and building a personal brand online. The strongest part is the energy and urgency throughout the book. It really pushes the idea that you should stop overthinking and start building something with what you already love doing. If you need motivation to take action, it definitely delivers that. It also does a good job reinforcing the importance of social media, consistency, and documenting your journey. Even though the book is older, the core ideas around branding and attention still apply today. That said, a lot of the content is repetitive. The same ideas about passion, execution, and “crushing it” are repeated in different ways throughout the book, so it can feel stretched at times. Overall, it’s a solid motivational read if you are just getting into entrepreneurship or personal branding, but not much of it will feel new if you’ve already read similar business books.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2026 by David
Format: Hardcover
I am not sure what more I can say about this book but I'm going to try and say a few things anyways. This book changed my life. PERIOD. Now I know that sounds maybe a little corny or cheesy but it hit me HARD. I've been following Gary for about a year and a half now only through WIneLibrary.tv - around mid 2008 I started to follow his business words. When "Crush It" came out, I still wasn't sure but I decided to buy a copy anyways. I sat down to read the book and finished it in about 3 hours. It changed my life. I emailed Gary and let him know right away. Here's the thing. I've been making very good money for many years. VERY good. I've done very very well. But something about Gary's words hit me hard to the point I was willing to give it up and start over. Gary's message is simple: 1) Love Your Family 2) Work Super hard 3) Live your passion So here's the thing. I love my family. I work super hard but was I really living my passion? Tough one to answer. Yes and No. Living my passion in a sense that I'm self employed and could work from where I want and when I want. I'm an entrepreneur at heart. I've been starting businesses since I was seven and pulling a little red wagon filled with soda around the local marina, to crushing it in stamps and baseball cards, becoming an eBay powerseller, to building highly profitable websites... But I realized I'm wasnt living my passion to the extent where I was building and leaving the legacy I wanted to leave for my kids. Legacy. Hit me the hardest. Not in terms of monetary legacy but the things my kids and grandkids are going to see that I did in my life. Everything we do in our lifetime is permanent. I emailed Gary that night and let him know I was willing to give up all the money I make to live more closely aligned with his 3 simple suggestions. Gary responded right away. Class act. That week I drove to Toronto to meet Gary. I had two opportunities to talk with him. First, we chatted in an elevator and Gary said a few things that solidified my thoughts moving forward. Then I spoke to Gary again where he said a few kind words and gave me a few tidbits of advice. But Gary is relentless......... When I got home I decided I wanted to purchase 35 copies to give out to friends, family and donate to local HIgh Schools. (if this book was around when I was in High School I would have saved about 15 years of grief) Gary goes on to thank me two more times. First, he thanks me live on UStream and then emails me again thanking me a second time. To which I replied, "Gary, you already thanked me..." Gary wrote back "I know, I wanted to do it again." I've never met someone live by the words they've written more than this guy. There isn't an ounce of B.S. in the book. It's raw, real and the author lives it every single day. It would be hard to find someone else living this true and honest to their words. The book's concept is really simple and the author is living it. Since reading the book I've begun to crush it on all levels. This book will no doubt allow you to cash in on your passion. I know I will. IN two weeks I've made bigger moves and strides than I have in the past few years. (even though I made a lot of money in those years) While not meant to be a motivational book, this book will kick your ass off the couch and get you into gear. And if it doesn't, let Gary know... He'll probably come to your house and return your money personally. Some people look at the book strictly as a way to make more money and utilize the social media tools...But there is a deeper message to this book. Find it and you'll win every time. Guaranteed. 35 copies cost me $401.45 - a true bargain for what you'll learn in the short 150 pages or so. Crush it folks. Seriously.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2009 by N.F
Format: Hardcover
I judge a business book by the number of ideas and useable advice I pull from it. Based on this criteria Gary Vaynerchuk's "Crush It" was a sure win for me. Let's face it, social media is changing the face of business, both how it is done and how it is promoted. If you fail to get in front of this train you will be run over by it. Having done well for himself by leveraging the new and evolving internet technologies, the author offers sage advice and the outlines of a plan for others to follow in his footsteps. The book is short, easy to read and written is a conversational style. He emphasizes the need to tell stories and follows that guideline through out the book. More motivational than technical, this is a good primer on leveraging the internet for existing businesses and for people just starting out. The number one thing I took from this book is that you need to get your name out there, follow the trends and just do what works for you. I would add that you need to be willing to make a lot of mistakes. I have read some criticism that because the author started with an existing business, his father's $5 Million liquor business, rather than from nothing his advice should be taken with a grain of salt. I completely disagree with that view. While growing a business from $5 million to $50 million is impressive, I am sure that most people would be more than happy to earn an extra $50,000 to $75,000 annually from their online efforts. In fact, with today's uncertain economic climate and the looming failure of social security and medicare everyone would be well advised to take Gary's advice and start building a coffee table business online following his advice. I can think of no better place to start online than by talking about your passion, that thing that most motivates and drives you. One thing this book isn't is a cookbook for instant success and riches with no effort, although the few negative reviews I have read here fault him for not providing such a guide. He advocates hard work, long hours and study, the same things that have always led to success. The methods haven't really changed,only the medium used to promote yourself and your passion. I would add to his list of things need to be successful a good deal of luck as well, because oftentimes it's not talent, knowledge or skill that wins out, it's being in the right place at the right time. Gary is just asking you to use social networking and marketing to be in more places at once. Have a business, want a business or simply looking for more economic security in your life? This book is worth a read. Highly recommended.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2009 by Steven Chambers
Format: Hardcover
OK, I owe Gary this review after saying I was disappointed on Twitter. The irony is that he replied to me right away (get to that later). Let me preface by saying that a coworker showed me a video of Gary speaking at a conference and I was immediately blown away. The guy has a style that I can appreciate. No nonsense, a bit caustic, bombastic, confident, and funny. I related to it and have since followed Gary. I'm a fan. Watch him on UStream quite a bit and appreciate how he conducts business and uses social media. Was excited to see him launch Cinderella wine and picked up 3 bottles of the first offer (wife glare stopped that trend in it's tracks!). Gary is worth listening to. Without a doubt. He's worth following. He's worth watching. He's worth grabbing 5 minutes of his time if you ever see him. So...the book. When I got it my immediate thought was "Damn. This thing is thin!". It felt like a kids book or some fluff book by some motivational speaker. My expectation - that was stoked by a phenomenal marketing plan - for this book was pretty high. I immediately put down Guy Kawasaki's "Reality Check" that I picked up in a local bookstore and dove right in. I enjoyed the storytelling and hearing about how Gary got where he is. At some point in the book Gary mentions how he knows his strength isn't writing so he partnered with someone and dictated the whole thing. It showed. The book didn't "feel Gary". The more I read the more I wished he had serialized a bunch of videos and sold a DVD of him talking about everything that was written. It all just seemed to beg the question of why you'd write a book if writing is not your passion and core strength. I think it was always going to be a tough thing to pull off, this book deal. Gary's message translates really well via video, hence the success of his keynotes and WLTV. It just didn't come across in writing. Is there value in buying and reading this book? Absolutely. Would I recommend someone drop a ten spot on it? Yep. Did it live up to my expectations? Sadly, no. I don't like the feeling that some people are just tossing kudos Gary's way because it's the thing to do. That's not "being real" at all. Call it like you see it. If you are super hyped up about it and loved it, that's one thing. Some of the other stuff just looks like bandwagonism. I know Gary and Vayner Media are disappointed to get reviews like this or to have disappointment. You know what? There's no disappointment like a reader not getting what they thought they would from a book. I hope this will be taken in the spirit it is intended and the next book is one I'll be raving over. I really do. I mentioned earlier the irony of Gary having responded to my tweet about how I was disappointed in the read of the book. That's the point! You can learn much more by watching Gary in action than by reading about it. I suppose if you just wanted to buy a copy or three to support someone you like, that's fine. Not what I'm into books for and certainly not the intent of publishing one. It's not you, Gary. It's the book. ;-)
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Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2009 by thevesman