gary vaynerchuk Archives - TheWayoftheWeb

This is a great example of how you can listen to someone talk about the way that social media, social business and engagement are all supposed to work, and yet miss the entire point when it comes to actually trying to interact. If you’re not familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk, it’s worth me pointing out there’s some strong language.

It’s so often the case, particular with larger companies and the relentless need to show immediate ROI that even when someone understands the concept of earning what they want, that they succumb to the temptation of just diving straight in with the request, because someone has insisted they need to show results in the next day or week.

(Incidentally, Gary has released two books, Crush It! and The Thank You Economy. Both are well worth reading).

It’s why I’m been sharing this article by Michael Ellsberg on the Forbes website – a recommendation from one notable blogger did more for the success of his book than national broadcast television or newspapers. But the flipside is that he’d built that relationship up over a period of years, rather than days, weeks or months.

That’s also potentially a great reason to use freelance resources, which is something I intend to expand on. If you’re a new company or you’ve never tried earning coverage and referrals before, then it can take a long time to build those relationships. Whereas I’ve tried to work on them every day for the past decade, which is why I’m able to survive via word-of-mouth referrals and work via previous clients, colleagues and friends.

Because that’s a difference between the old world and the new.

I’ve been following the always awesome Gary Vaynerchuk for the while on Twitter, as well as watching his videos at GaryVaynerchuk.com. If you don’t recognise the name, he decided to launch Wine Library TV from his basement, became a major internet celebrity and business success, and now also speaks with authority on what is happening to business and marketing, such as this great appearance at Web 2.0 Expo:

Another great example of how he does things differently to a traditional marketer or businessman appeared on Twitter yesterday:

In case the image is too small, he’s actually telling people not to buy from his own company, because he was about to reveal a free shipping code for wine.

Now companies have special offers all the time, especially at the moment, with the economic climate – that isn’t unusual.

But how many firms would actively tell people ‘Dont BUY ANYTHING FROM @wldaily ( winelibrary.com) for another 4 1/2 hours’?

In general, they wouldn’t, because it would seem stupid to stop people paying full price while they’re willing, and then to get the boost at a lower price.

But what that misses is the amount of immensely annoyed people who find out they missed out on a special offer by valuing your product enough to pay full price – and by a matter of days, hours, or minutes.

Not only are they likely to be annoyed about your brand in general, but are they likely to pay full retail price ever again if they know you could launch a sale at any second without warning them?

Sure, you might get a higher profit on one purchase, but what will the difference be over a year? five? ten? Especially when they’ll tell everyone they know?