I’ve read a number of books on business, leadership, sales, marketing, etc. However I have found the ONE business book that I could not put down. Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence-and How You Can, Too by Gary Vaynerchuk was a book that I found myself immediately hooked on. Gary is a Rockstar social media marketer. He’s pretty much on almost every single social media outlet you can name, plus the ones that you can’t name.

If you were like me and knew about Gary Vaynerchuk from a distance but didn’t really KNOW what he was about and why he blew up, let me share with a brief background. Gary took over his family liquor store business that was averaging about $4M per year. He started cultivating an online personal brand by studying his industry, his target market, branding and social media. He used what he learned to grow that business into $60 million per year in under 10 years. In addition, he started a separate media company that averages revenue around $150 million per year.

What’s interesting about Gary’s story is that he went all in with social media. He started simple by reviewing wines on YouTube. And not as in a way that a sommelier would. He talked like his target market would talk. He gave, gave, gave and then gave some more, often for free before he was starting to see his revenue increase. Even now as the influencer marketing style has evolved to a multi-billion dollar industry, he doesn’t get paid to review any products.

I know some of you are leery about going all in with social media. If you’re like me you’re thinking my target market isn’t on there or you may think it’s a giant waste of time. When I read what Gary said which is essentially your target market is on social media more now than they were 5 years ago and will be on there more next year than they are today, I was HOOKED. Combing social media a way to reach more of your target market with valuable information in an efficient, consume as they want it type of method fits within my overall business strategy.

“CARE. Still the best marketing strategy ever.” This is a strategy I will be implementing immediately. If you have read this book, I’d be interested to know your thoughts and how you’ve used it to create your brand. If you haven’t read it, you absolutely should. To prove just how much I’m all-in with this strategy, I’ll be on Facebook LIVE on the 20th of September at 2pm CST, doing a live in-depth review of the book with what I’ve implemented and a Q&A. Make sure to like our page on Facebook by typing in the search bar on Facebook kobomaha. See you on the 20th!

Contributor: Hallie Talley, Owner - Knights of Bytes -

Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence-and How You Can, Too
By: Gary Vaynerchuk

Four-time New York Times bestselling author Gary Vayner-chuk offers new lessons and inspiration drawn from the experiences of dozens of influencers and entrepreneurs who rejected the predictable corporate path in favor of pur-suing their dreams by building thriving businesses and extraordinary personal brands.

Available for Purchase on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2wcr4Dl