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Gary Vaynerchuk and Hustling - Don’t Underestimate Effort
- MicahWedemeyer 16y agoThis is the real truth when people talk about how they work very little and make a lot. They redefine "work" to conveniently ignore the huge amount of self-promotion that goes on. I often wonder how much Tim Ferris, Mr. 4-hour workweek, spends promoting all his shit. I'm going to guess that it's significantly more than 4 hours a week. Engaging with a community is extremely time consuming, but is also very rewarding. It definitely translated to increased sales on my site, which was a huge surprise to me.
- brlewis 16y agoThat's good to hear. Actually I'd like to see more self-promotion from you here, or at least less fear of self-promotion. When I read your comment I immediately wonder what kind of site had community engagement translate into increased sales. Rather than make me go to your profile and figure out which site you're referring to, please just put in a link. That makes it a lot easier for me. Don't fear self-promotion when you're on topic.
- MicahWedemeyer 16y agoOne of the things I've found about effective promotion is choosing your audience. While I'd love more attention and respect from the HN crowd, it doesn't really translate to sales for me. So, I don't put a lot of effort into promoting myself here. I think it's an important point that a lot of us tech geeks miss: Unless your product is aimed at fellow tech geeks, don't worry what HN people think of it (or of you). But, since you asked, on http://www.obsidianportal.com http://www.obsidianportal.com we saw a significant uptick in premium subscriptions when we hired someone to manage our Twitter and Facebook account. We brought in someone from our community and he did a great job increasing engagement. We have a reputation for being very easy to engage, and I do as many interviews/guest-spots on podcasts and blogs (roleplaying game blogs, not tech stuff) as people will have me. I love the subject material, so it's fun to talk about, but it's still "work" and takes a lot of time.
- jsavimbi 16y agoVaynerchuk is neither an anomaly nor is he wildly successful. He's a guy who talks about himself that way, a lot, but in the end knows very little about many things.
- slouch 16y agoi consider him wildly successful, and every time i have reached out to him with a question or comment he has responded. i can't say those things about many others.
- garyvee 16y agoThnx Slouch that means so much to me
- anthonycerra 16y agoGary, You blew off a phone call we were supposed to have in 2009. Matt and I had it all set up, but you never followed through. I'm not mad about it, but I never forgot.
- ekanes 16y agoDon't confuse overwhelmed/busy with someone disrespecting you - some people's calendars/inboxes scroll like crazy, and they can miss things without any ill-intent.
- garyvee 16y agoIs that true man? I am sure it can happen, I promise I didnt blow it off, life is hectic at time, I would love to resched and I a, sorry ( gary@vaynermedia .com )
- anthonycerra 16y agoI appreciate the gesture man. If we can chat for a few minutes (under 10) this week, that would be really cool. CrushIt was great btw :)
- brlewis 16y agoWe geeks habitually look for shortcuts in everything. We love the "viral" concept because other people do the hustling for us. But sometimes there's no substitute for effort. Case in point: Metcalfe/Ethernet: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1418874 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1418874
- aaronblohowiak 16y agoYou have to seed the market even if you have a viral coefficient exceeding 1.
- AaronWormus 16y agoSeems like they've underestimated the effort it needs to keep a database server running.
- ludicast 16y agoLoved his talk at RailsConf. Was a longtime fan of his show and he seemed like a real genuine dude. Great off the cuff too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QWHkcCP3tA&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QWHkcCP3tA&feature=playe...