Should You Expand Your Business or Stay Focused? Here’s How to Know | Tea with GaryVee Ep.74

Summary

Podcast Summary: The GaryVee Audio Experience – "Should You Expand Your Business or Stay Focused? Here’s How to Know | Tea with GaryVee Ep.74"

Release Date: June 26, 2025

In Episode 74 of "Tea with GaryVee," host Gary Vaynerchuk delves into the critical decision-making process businesses face: whether to expand or maintain focus. Throughout the episode, Gary addresses various audience questions, providing actionable insights on scaling businesses, leadership, content strategy, and personal branding. The discussion is enriched with real-time interactions, practical advice, and Gary's characteristic candidness.

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1. Current Business Highlights and Updates

Gary kicks off the episode with updates on ongoing projects and business ventures. Notably, he mentions the successful launch of Veefriends trading cards in collaboration with Topps Chrome, emphasizing their rapid popularity. This sets the stage for his discussion on business growth and strategic focus.

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2. Scaling a Business on Platforms Like Whatnot

Audience Question: Pablo from Kade inquires about scaling her successful Whatnot sales, having achieved close to $2 million in sales over two years at the age of 22 ([00:36]).

Gary's Insight:

• Focus Over Diversification: Gary advises against diversifying too early. He states, “No. Unless you hate it. But she's just starting. Like, no, no, no. Get that to 10 million” ([01:13]).
• Financial Prudence: Emphasizes the importance of cutting overhead and saving money to sustain business operations. “The number one goal for anyone who's trying to live a life on their own means is to cut down their overhead. Save money” ([01:35]).
• Long-Term Commitment: Encourages scaling the current platform to its full potential before considering expansion.

Notable Quote:

“Live social shopping is a monster. Like straight up. Even, like this weekend, sign up for account on Whatnot, sign up to sell and like sit in your living room and sell random shit in your house. It's like eBay. It's free money.” – Gary Vaynerchuk ([00:46])

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3. Leadership and Company Culture

Audience Question: Caitlin from Calgary, Alberta, seeks advice on cultivating strong leadership within her culture-focused company ([03:17]).

Gary's Insight:

• Love and Accountability: Gary underscores the dual pillars of love and accountability in leadership. “The reason people deliver for me and my companies is because I deliver for them first” ([04:03]).
• Personalized Motivation: Recognizes that each employee is driven by different factors, be it titles, money, or mentorship. “I know everybody in my office is motivated by different things” ([04:03]).
• Candor in Accountability: Stresses the importance of honest feedback and difficult decisions, including firing underperforming executives. “When an employee doesn't do that for a sustained period of time... we have to give them candor that they're in trouble and then they're fired” ([06:09]).

Notable Quote:

“Love and accountability. When an employee doesn't do that for a sustained period of time... we have to give them candor that they're in trouble and then they're fired.” – Gary Vaynerchuk ([06:09])

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4. Content Strategy: Building Trust by Advising Against Hiring

Audience Question: Pablo asks why businesses succeed by creating content that advises potential clients not to hire them ([07:57]).

Gary's Insight:

• Building Trust Through Honesty: By telling potential clients why they shouldn't hire you, businesses can establish trust. “Because it builds trust.” ([08:05])
• Value-Driven Content: Encourages providing actionable advice and free resources, which can convert into loyal clients when they genuinely need the service. “The number of trust that happens that when that same family that didn't need the sink... which plumber do you think they're gonna fucking call?” ([11:26])
• Reputation Over Transactional Relationships: Advocates for a relationship-driven approach over purely transactional interactions. “Gary's fucking making us do shit for people for free reputation trust. It's doing the right thing.” ([10:25])

Notable Quote:

“The number one way to do business in the world is trust.” – Gary Vaynerchuk ([09:22])

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5. Starting a Business with Limited Resources

Audience Question: Rachel asks how to market her catering business for offices in New York with zero dollars and no initial client base ([11:26]).

Gary's Insight:

• Gain Experience First: Suggests working for an established catering business to build experience and simultaneously create content documenting the learning journey. “You should work for a catering business in New York... make a whole content series called the Road to My Own Business” ([11:36]).
• Content as a Learning Tool: Recommends sharing daily learnings to build credibility and attract future clients. “Every day what she's learned on her job” ([11:36]).
• Long-Term Strategy: Emphasizes patience and long-term content creation as pathways to eventual business success.

Notable Quote:

“Somebody should literally take a job at a company or for someone they want to be, document every day what they've learned that day about it in their content for two to three years and then they will become.” – Gary Vaynerchuk ([12:00])

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6. Balancing Personal and Business Branding

Audience Question: Adriel from Miami seeks advice on integrating his personal brand with his business’s content strategy ([14:22]).

Gary's Insight:

• Eliminate Balance, Embrace Both: Advises that instead of balancing, entrepreneurs should fully commit to both personal and business branding. “No balance. No balance. Go hard on both.” ([15:16])
• Humanizing the Brand: Encourages sharing personal anecdotes and authentic content to strengthen human connections. “Follow me and people connect to humans 100%.” ([15:02])
• Authentic Content Creation: Recommends sharing diverse aspects of personal life to engage audiences. “You're pissed that the Heat got knocked out of the playoffs and that your grandma was your hero and that you love burritos.” ([15:11])

Notable Quote:

“No balance. No balance. Go hard on both and everything is.” – Gary Vaynerchuk ([15:16])

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7. Acquiring First Clients for Service-Based Businesses

Audience Question: Mary, via Pablo, asks for strategies to secure initial clients for her service-based business without appearing desperate ([24:00]).

Gary's Insight:

• Proactive Outreach: Emphasizes the importance of cold messaging and proactive outreach to build an initial client base. “Yes, you do. Cold message.” ([24:09])
• Personalized Communication: Recommends creating personalized videos and messages to reach out to contacts and potential clients. “Make a video from you every day.” ([20:27])
• Relentless Effort: Encourages committing significant time to outreach efforts to establish a presence and secure clients. “Grab your favorite beverage of choice... get it done.” ([24:09])

Notable Quote:

“Negativity is winless, Pablo. People in the chat that are spewing positivity on their way to winning, people in the chat that are cynical cats and spewing negativity, currently losing.” – Gary Vaynerchuk ([31:09])

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8. Enhancing Marketing Strategies for Viral Ads

Audience Question: Alex Yard asks how to leverage a viral ad created for a fast-food chain to attract more clients and stabilize income ([25:53]).

Gary's Insight:

• Targeted Outreach to Executives: Advises contacting Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) of Fortune 500 companies on LinkedIn and other platforms to showcase the viral ad. “Connect with every CMO of every Fortune 500 QSR company in the world on LinkedIn” ([26:04]).
• Utilizing Modern Tools: Suggests using tools like ChatGPT to identify and reach out to key decision-makers. “Go to ChatGPT and say, give me a list of 10 CMOs of Fortune 500 companies and their Instagram handles.” ([26:04])
• Demonstrating Value: Recommends presenting the viral ad to potential clients as a portfolio piece to demonstrate capability and attract high-level contracts. “Here's the video we made and we would love to do it for you.” ([26:04])

Notable Quote:

“That's where I was hoping you would go. I'm Gary Vee now because I fucking did what I'm telling you to do. For 15 years, every day I've given away content for free.” – Gary Vaynerchuk ([22:59])

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9. Navigating Personal Relationships in Business Passions

Audience Question: Ryan discusses balancing his passion for NFTs with his spouse's skepticism, seeking advice on maintaining harmony while pursuing his interests ([27:00]).

Gary's Insight:

• Communication and Empathy: Highlights the importance of open and empathetic communication between partners to balance personal passions and mutual understanding. “I hope that you guys can continue to over communicate in a healthy way that allows her to understand your needs for this energy.” ([29:42])
• Practical Vulnerability: Encourages setting realistic boundaries to avoid becoming overly invested in dreams that may not materialize. “I hope that you are very conscious of not going too delusional on your dreams and hopes and needs” ([29:42])
• Natural Integration: Suggests that shared interests may develop organically, fostering mutual support without force. “So you can't push it. It just comes natural.” ([30:26])

Notable Quote:

“The more you love it right now, if she's worried, the more she's gonna hate vee friends, you know what I mean?” – Gary Vaynerchuk ([30:26])

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10. Overcoming Negativity and Embracing Positivity at Midlife

Audience Question: Camo asks about eliminating negative thoughts and fears at 48 to achieve success ([31:00]).

Gary's Insight:

• Reject Negativity: Firmly advises against allowing negativity to dictate one's path, emphasizing that negativity isolates individuals and hinders success. “Negativity is winless, Pablo.” ([31:09])
• Positive Mindset as a Weapon: Encourages adopting a resilient and positive mindset to attract success and meaningful relationships. “You better be a fucking positive porcupine. Because being a cynical cat. A fucking lonely life.” ([31:09])
• Emotional Intelligence: Highlights the importance of understanding and managing one's emotions to navigate life's challenges effectively. “I've been on this, paying attention to fucking human beings kick for 40 fucking years.” ([31:09])

Notable Quote:

“Negativity is lonely, y'all. Why do you think they like the Internet so much?” – Gary Vaynerchuk ([31:09])

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Conclusion

Throughout Episode 74, Gary Vaynerchuk provides a wealth of knowledge tailored to entrepreneurs at various stages of their business journey. From scaling existing platforms and fostering robust leadership to authentic content creation and maintaining personal well-being, Gary's advice is both pragmatic and motivational. His emphasis on trust, perseverance, and emotional intelligence offers listeners actionable strategies to navigate the complexities of modern business landscapes.

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Note: The timestamps correspond to sections within the provided transcript to facilitate easy reference.

Transcript

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Good morning, good morning, good morning. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Tea with gary vee. Episode 74. Live from New York City, Game 4, Knicks, Celtics @ the Garden. Tonight, everything's on the line. Every Celtic, Nick and NBA fan knows whoever wins game four is going to win it. So everyone's super hyped about that. We are now into week two of the launch of Veefriends trading cards. Topps, Chrome. These have been an absolute movie. If you don't know about them, please go to befriends.com tops, Chrome. Pablo, we're going to you first. You have a question?

[Pablo]

Yeah, from Kade. Her question is. Hey, Gary. I've been selling full time on whatnot for almost two years now. And I've scaled close to 2 million in sales. I'm 22 years old.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Stop right there. She's 22 and has done 2 million in sales in the last 24 months. From 20 to 22, live social shopping is a monster. Like straight up. Even, like this weekend, sign up for account on whatnot, sign up to sell and like sit in your living room and sell random shit in your house. It's like ebay. It's free money, Dustin. Anyway, go ahead.

[Pablo]

Do you think it's time to start other businesses or should I keep focusing on whatnot?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No. Unless you hate it. But she's just starting. Like, no, no, no. Get that to 10 million. Save money. The number one goal for anyone who's trying to live a life on their own means is to cut down their overhead. Save money. So much so that you can attack your dream for a year and not worry about money. Which means you kind of need 18 months worth of money because you attack it for a year. And then when you're like, fuck, I failed at my dream. Let me get a job. You gotta give yourself a couple minutes there to find a new job. So my number one goal for everyone is cut your overhead, meaning cut your expenses. Like, you don't need four streaming services. You don't need to buy $8 coffee. You could take public transportation instead of Ubers. You don't need six handbags. Maybe two's good enough. You don't need to buy fucking collectibles. Rips. Like, don't let anybody be buying these fucking veefriends collectibles. Even though they're gonna go to the fucking moon. Cause I'm gonna execute for 40 means 40 years. Don't let them buy it right now. If they don't have money. I get upset. Rips. I don't Know if you've seen these tweets, sometimes people are like, oh, I can't buy the comic book this week. I have to wait for my paycheck. I literally DM these motherfuckers. I'm like, do not buy the comic book. Even though I think the comic book is. Even though the comic book was a good buy, right? Even though it was 20 and you could sell for 50. I do encourage flip life. Like, what if it didn't do that? Like, we need people to understand the game. 18 months of savings against a low overhead, less expensive apartment. If you're. If you're 26 and you're living on your own apartment, move in with your roommate, with your best friend, and have a roommate and cut it in half. If you, like, you don't need Paramount. Plus, if you don't have $100,000 in savings in your bank, it is inappropriate to have prime Hulu, ESPN Plus, YouTube TV. Like, what the fuck? Yes. That's where I'm going. By the way, you can have. I notice what I said. You can't have six services you're paying for. You can have two. I'll let you have Netflix and one other. All right, you got it. So anyway, no, not move on. She's just gaining heat right now, but she's not as far. Like, maybe, like there's follow up questions there because she might be talented enough. But anyway, who's on the screen? Hi.

[Caitlin]

Hi.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Gary.

[Caitlin]

It's so nice to meet you. My name is Caitlin.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Caitlin?

[Caitlin]

Yes.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Nice to meet you. Where are you from?

[Caitlin]

I'm from Calgary, Alberta.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Amazing. I'll be there soon. Am I in Calgary this week or is that next week? I'm going to Calgary next week.

[Caitlin]

Oh, really? That's amazing.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Caitlin]

Well, you'll have to tell me where I'm at. I will come and see. Oh, is it private?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It might be on my website, on GaryVee.com events. Anyway. All right, Caitlin, ask a question for.

[Caitlin]

Business leaders out there who are growing their companies. We're a culture company. So we go in and we do team building and then we help build those cultures into the process. I want to know, because I know what you speak a lot about, like creating great leaders in your company. What is it that you do for your leadership so that they take your culture, what you, your dream, your vision.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And they put it into the company love and accountability. So, number one is love. The reason people deliver for me and my companies is because I deliver for them first. I truly believe in my soul that I Work for everybody that works for me. I believe it to. To my soul. I know everybody in my office is motivated by different things. Some people care about a title, right? Zach over in the corner doesn't give a fuck about a title. He's trying to put in the fucking hours to get the skills, build a close relationship with me and. And then he'll decide what he does with that. Other people need money, right? Like something bad happened in their life and they're motivated by money right now. Or not even something bad. They just are motivated by money. Allowed. Motivated by title allowed. Motivated by mentorship. Allowed. A mix of all three allowed. What I'm spending my time trying to figure out is who wants what and how do I deliver it. So, Katelyn first, it's about what I can do for them. What am. How am I delivering for them that all of a sudden gets them into the same place that I am with the world. I am grateful and I'm grateful and feel guilty on how my circumstances played out. Meaning I got lucky that I had the best mom in the world and that I grew up in shit. Growing up with Little and having the best mom made me fundamentally unstoppable. So I have spent my life trying to give back to society through Gary Vee and now through Vee friends. When I do what I do for my employees, they go through a similar guilt and gratitude framework. They have unlimited buddies who hate their job. They go and try different shit and sit in a cubicle for one second like, fuck this shit. I'm coming to family. They can taste it. They can taste it. And then that motivates them to deliver on our North Star, right? And then accountability. When an employee doesn't do that for a sustained period of time, especially if they're senior, we have to give them candor that they're in trouble and then they're fired. This is tough to say out loud, but we fired two very senior executives at VaynerMedia last week. Very senior.

[Caitlin]

Oh, no, I'm sorry.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

One ran an entire office. One was a number two and, like, gone. Just. We were unable over years, years to get them into the right place. And it kills me. And by the way, I have to approve every firing. So literally, in my 2,500 person company at VaynerX, I have to approve every firing because I want to be the last line of defense in case my company gets political. So I feel very good about that. I feel like I've crossed every T and I. So because I've always struggled with firing that led to bad candor. That led to all my problems. Lack of candor. So that's where we're at, sister. You know, love and accountability.

[Caitlin]

And how do you measure that or how do you observe it in your leaders so that they, you're saying, okay, I can see you're doing it. I can see you're doing it. Like, what are the warning signs for?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You meet the warning signs.

[Caitlin]

Yeah, they're not doing it. You said you let two people go, unfortunately.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Oh, I mean, we have, you know, I have, I have seven people in HR that have been here for a decade. They're like sisters and brothers to me. I trust their intuition. We take feedback from people. We create a safe lack of fear environment that a lot of people, you know, a lot of people trust so they'll go and talk about people's bad behaviors. We look at client feedback, we look at results. You know, businesses like sports, if someone's the head of clients and they've lost three of their last four clients, well, guess what happens? There's results to that.

[Caitlin]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Especially when I make them feel safe and say, hey, if you feel like you're losing a client, use me, bring me in. I can help.

[Caitlin]

Yes.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So just really family, family business vibes, you know, I love that.

[Caitlin]

Thank you, Gary. I really appreciate.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You're welcome. Hope you have the best day. All right, next question.

[Pablo]

Pablo, any ask. Can you explain why it works as a business to make content telling people why they shouldn't hire you?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Sure. Because it builds trust. And a lot of times when you're making content. So like when you're a plumber, you're saying you shouldn't hire me? Let's say you're a plumber. Right. Or let's say you're landscaper. Or let's say you're a marketing company. I, I mean. Garyvee.com attention admins. Put that up right now. 44 page deck that allows you to not buy my latest book for 20 bucks. Right? Somebody find me a day trading attention for the visual. Thank you so much, team. GaryVee.com Nope, not GaryVaynerchuk.com Adrian GaryVee.com Attention GaryVee.com Attention Not GaryVaynerchuk.com attention GaryVee.com Attention is a 40 page deck on how to do marketing. This is 20 bucks. And then Vader's a million dollars in fee. I'm creating layers to not hire me. Garyvee.com attention is for you not to buy this for 20 bucks. This is more detailed. And for 20 bucks, you don't have to hire us for consulting for 150,000. But here's why, Pablo. It's good to do that. Because some people can't afford it. And some people need just the surface level. Other people need deeper fucking execution. Today was a post by the sign guy in Long Island. He did a free sign for my dad's store. I gave him consulting. Way more valuable in return. His business has exploded. Exploded. But he read day trading, attention and the deck, and he didn't get it. He needed those extra five hours. If you're a plumber and you know that a third of your clients hire you for 500 bucks, 10 to change a little thing that they could have changed if they went to YouTube and to home Depot, if you make that content and say, don't hire me on this situation, go to this video. In fact, if that person made. If that plumber made the video, instead of pointing them to a video building brand and said, go to this video that I made and go to Lowe's and spend $19. And this is how you do it. The level of trust that happens that when that same family that didn't need the sink, but when their oldest son took a huge poop and exploded their bathroom and it fucking broke and they actually did need help. Which plumber do you think they're gonna fucking call? It's called trust. The number one way to do business in the world is trust. I see Matt Garcia over your shoulder. Matt is a fucking real marketing executive. He's now been in Vaynerx for a little while. He now work leads the Sasha Group, which was a big promo for him when Marcus went to go run international. Matt is like, look at his slicked hair. He's a salesman. You know what I mean? It's a real fucking salesman. I promise you, if you go talk to him and ask him what's happened these two years, he'll say it's stunning how our company is not as transactional as every agency I've ever worked for. Every agency I've ever worked for. If they even like, if the person even walks in the building, we're selling, selling, selling. Gary's fucking making us do shit for people for free reputation trust. It's doing the right thing. So, you know, that's what I think. You know, that's what I think, Pablo. I think, why do you tell people not to hire you? Because they end up hiring you when they actually need you. I don't want people hiring me when they don't need me. I don't need people doing that. Pablo hit me.

[Pablo]

Rachel asked, I want to start a catering business for offices in New York, but I have zero dollars and don't know how to get my foot in the door. How can I market myself?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You should work for a catering business in New York. So she has zero dollars and she wants to start a business for catering businesses. She should go work for a company that does that and gain experience while making content of what she's learning. Got it. And, like, do a whole content series called the Road to My Own Business, showing people every day what she learned on her job. Doing that for three years, saving her money, not spending too much saving, and then starting her own business because she did three years of content. Like, intern Wattenberg can literally go home, be like, here's what I learned today. That's what she should do. Like, when you have no money and you have no experience and you have no connections and you're not doing anything, what content are you going to put out? So many people, Pablo, that want to be something. I want to be a rapper. I want to be Gary Vee. I want to be a sneaker store owner. So many people should literally take a job at a company or for someone they want to be, document every day what they've learned that day about it in their content for two to three years and then they will become. But all you kids got confused and thought, like, you're all Mark Zuckerberg and you could just start a business and be a billionaire. I didn't do that. Fucking worked in a. The reason wine library exploded right off the bat. You know, people are like, wow, 22 to 27. You took it from 3 to 50 million. Wow, that's crazy. It wasn't that crazy. If you realize that I worked in that fucking store every weekend and every summer vacation from 14 to 22. When I tell you I walked in. Day one, May 19, 1998. First full day of work. I walked in like I'd been doing it like I was 79 years old and knew everything. Like, like, like a veteran. And too many kids are like, I'm gonna do this. On what? On who? The best content series right now. I'm in love with this advice. Go work for what you want to become. Get home every night and make a video while you're cooking or decompressing or on the walk home or on the ride home or like after you take a shower in the bathroom, video with clothes on. Preferably make a video about what you Learned, because then there will be three to four years of what you've learned on the Internet, which will give your customers confidence when you open your own shit in four, five, six, seven, eight years. Imagine if all of you did that. That's, you know, obviously you guys know I co sign you and all that stuff, but you'd have your own leverage. That's the advice. All right. Throw somebody on the screen. What's your name?

[Adriel]

Hey, Gary. How are you?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Can you hear me? I can hear you, brother. What's your name?

[Adriel]

Awesome. My name is Adriel from Miami. How's everything, Adrell?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's great to see you, brother.

[Adriel]

Likewise. Pleasure to speak with you. Gary. My question to you would be in the sense of both that content aspect from both, let's say, personal brand and business brand. So I started like a clothing company a while back, and I just focused heavy on posting a lot of content on the business, like, going crazy, all different kind of. And I kind of left my own personal account, kind of just haven't been posting. I want to bring it back into because, like, hey, as the. Let's say, the founder of the clothing brand, I feel like I could also. People can promote, you know, like, they.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Follow me and people connect to humans 100%.

[Adriel]

Exactly. That's what I'm seeing. They connect way more with, like, with that personal connection. So I'm trying to see, in a sense, how to balance, let's say that personal brand branding with my own account, with the business.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No balance. No balance. Go hard as on both and.

[Adriel]

Well, and from the per. Let's say from the personal account, what kind of content? Just like founder story or like show and.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And that you're pissed that the Heat got knocked out of the playoffs and that your grandma was your hero and that you love burritos. All right. Human and business. All right. Do you. You know, how long have you been following me.

[Adriel]

At least? I don't know. Since before 2020, I would say.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Okay. Do you know that I'm a New York jets fan?

[Adriel]

Yes.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Do you know that I like blueberries?

[Adriel]

Yes. I remember. I saw that in another. Another video that you posted. You talked about that, actually. The blueberries.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Do you know that I like garage sailing?

[Adriel]

Yep. Flipping and everything.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Do you know that I have a marketing company?

[Adriel]

Yes, sir.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Do you know that I have friends? Yep.

[Adriel]

I have cars. I've collected to you following?

[Pablo]

Yep.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I got you everything.

[Adriel]

Got you just like whatever is personal to you. Whatever you just like, don't even overthink it. Just like go for it, in a sense, my brother.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Everything, everything, everything, everything. Do you understand?

[Ryan]

I appreciate.

[Adriel]

Yeah, no, and one thing is funny, what I notice is that like you said, something's the most like, raw, unedited content performs like the best. The other day I was at this place, I did a random video compared to my. It got like 3x the views and it was like the most random, like, hey, what do you guys think of this random, like, location? And then everyone's like commenting. So it's funny how that works.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Play, play, play. And, and, and play, play, play. And everything is. And when you're like in your. When I'm not here with you and you're in your head in three weeks and you're like, should I post on my account or should I post up my personal. Or the thing? Or should I post about the business or. Or should I post about this Taco Bell? The answer is and.

[Ryan]

All right, perfect.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Got it.

[Adriel]

All right, thank you so much, Gary. Appreciate you welcome.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Thoughtful. Harpick81 goes, what's your best kept secret? That I understand that and is the unlock that I'm not scared of and that I'm not scared of getting no views that I'm not scared of getting unlimited views that I don't have fear.

[Pablo]

All right, let's go back to questions Pablo David Grimes. He asked Gary, you've inspired many to bet on themselves instead of taking the traditional college route. Yes, but for students already in school, grinding toward graduation, what would a Gary Vee class look like today?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I would just talk about practice. I would probably do this brother. I would just do Q and A and ask people to ask me clouds and dirt questions, right? Psychology, mentality. Emotional questions like, my mom is, you know, ruining me. Or you know, my brother's super successful and smart and I'm like, barely staying in college here, and I don't have the same talents and. Or, you know, that kind of stuff. And then, you know, or my dad is just got cancer. How do I deal with that? So emotional stuff and then just tactical shit like, Gary, I wanna get more views. I'm like, okay, here, let me show you now our team's work. Like, here's how. Notice the copy I wrote here. Why did I write that? Or what's this tactic? Or here's what's going on on Facebook. Do one second videos instead of pictures. So it would be. I'd probably call it clouds and dirt with Professor V. Right, Clouds, macro psychology, dirt, Tactical in the grind shit. That's the answer. Somebody ready to get on Screen.

[Michael]

Am I on?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You're on, Michael. You just need to. Oh, what's up? There we go. Michael. Thank you, brother. Where are you from?

[Michael]

Bronx, New York.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Let's go.

[Michael]

Let's go boogie down.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What's good?

[Michael]

So, celebrating my 10th year in business. Old school B2B recruitment firm. All of our targets live on LinkedIn. We got shut down with the Trump tariffs.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Why?

[Michael]

Yeah, why? Yeah, we deal with a lot of multinationals, place executives, so it kind of froze the market from a hiring perspective. So we're going to come out of it. But if all of our targets really live on LinkedIn, what's the one strategy you recommend? That we double, triple down going into 20, 26.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

How much content are you putting out on LinkedIn a day, a week?

[Michael]

Every day. We post every. We post every day. So we have a full. Yeah, that's me. Yep.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

All right, let's see. So this is. This. These are your posts?

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Okay. See all posts. All right, let's see.

[Michael]

You thought I was lying, huh?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, it's not that I thought you were lying. I thought you were going to do it poorly, and you're doing it poorly. So here's what's happening. What's happening is you're doing way too much words and. And a couple of pictures and like, this is. Michael, is this going to. Is this going to excite anyone?

[Michael]

Probably not.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I believe what's happening here is classic, quote unquote, checking the box to post every day without. It's kind of like going to the gym but not doing the exercise as well. Does that make sense? Yeah. So I want to get you to go. So here's where I want you to go. Even just seeing you on camera with me right now, I want you to post. What you're posting now is fine. Ish. Not my ideal, but I need you to post a video from you every day.

[Michael]

Okay. What's the con? What's the strategy?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What the fuck is being talked about in your world? Like. Like think about where you're placing. What? Like you're talking to people every. I know everything CMOs and marketers are worried about. Right? I. Cause I talk to them every day. You guys are placing B2B executives every day. You know what's going on in the market? Yep.

[Michael]

So in terms of, like, how. How long. How long a video.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'll do it. What's up, everybody? It's Michael from Talent Tractions. All right. One of the things I'm seeing from everybody right now, especially in the B2B SaaS, sector is that people aren't as excited about what college you went to, but they're really looking for how many years you've had with AI at all. Even if you had a year of AI work, you're going to get a huge advantage. So a couple of things for the people out there looking for jobs, start taking these AI courses, start using them, and for recruiters out there, here are some of the places where you can find certifications that matter that. Bro, I just did your post. I'm not even your business.

[Michael]

So it's to the point that you were making before about the plumber to add the value to kind of give away content in terms of not wanting the gut for the $500 job. But how do you then attract the B2B exec? Right? You're saying that they'll see those posts as well?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Bro, I, I just got offered a board seat. A board seat to a publicly traded company off of one video I posted on LinkedIn. Now you're Gary Vee. Yeah, but I was fucking Gary in a liquor store making videos every day that nobody gave a fuck about too. It's content. You're exactly right. That's where I was hoping you would go. I'm Gary Vee now because I fucking did what I'm telling you to do. For 15 years, every day I've given away content for free. That's valuable. I've put out good information to the universe and in return I've built reputation. Your videos are going to be based on how well you know it. It doesn't even have to be you. It could be people on your team. It could be you and somebody on your team. But we have to put out content that brings value. How are they going to see it? They all live on LinkedIn. Yeah, right. Just like 14 year old girls live on TikTok. Executives live on LinkedIn. That's why I've been yelling about LinkedIn for a hundred years. George from Providence, New Jersey. What's good brother George, do you go to wine library? You're very close at New Providence. I'm going to be very upset if you go to some bullshit store around you like Bottle King. You better fucking go to wine Library. George, answer me. 39165 George. Yes, I do. Let's go George.

[Michael]

Thanks so much Gary.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You see where I want that content? Like here's what's going on in the market. Here's what's going on in the market. Here's what's going on in the market. Here's why somebody loses their job after six months after we place them, they made this mistake. Here's why. Employees are bad at selecting employee. Employers are bad at picking employees. I've helped people do this, you know, you know your shit, you're in your shit. Got it? That.

[Michael]

Thanks, Gary.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You're welcome, brother. All right, let's give away the mindful Minakawa. One of the fucking most badass V friends characters the Mindful Minakawa Chrome card Distractions soars above Soars above distractions Bringing wisdom and peace through thoughtful reflection and patience. The mindful men of quote rise above the chaos to find your clarity. This card is fucking awesome. Next question.

[Pablo]

Pablo Mary asked, how do I get my first clients for a service based business? Do I do cold message? Feels a little bit desperate.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes, you do. Cold message. She's desperate. She has no clients. Everybody who's got a service business, you cut hair, you do consulting, you're a physical trainer. You make a video that looks like this. I will now make it for everyone. Give me a phone real quick. Hey everybody. I'm making this video because I just started this personal training business. Hey everybody. I'm making this video because I just started my own accounting firm and I'm looking for clients. Hey everybody. I'm finally going after my lifelong passion to start my own landscaping business. So you're getting this video because you're in my contacts. Contacts on my phone. Some of you are my best friends since high school. Others I probably met once. And you're in my phone. I'm sending this to literally everybody from A to Z in my phone. I'm not asking you to hire me to do landscaping, but I have. I'm asking if you know anyone who might be in the market for a landscaper. This is my one plea, my one ask as I start on this journey. And I hope my journey, maybe even inspires some of you to finally jump and start your own thing. So I'm starting with Andrew Anderson and I'm editing with Zachary Zazeloff, please. You know, I apologize if we've only talked once and you find this to be spam. I will put the link to my social media and website. If you like my landscaping business and it means a lot to me if you even watched 30 seconds of this video because it is really my dream. Have the best day. Make that video Cas and literally text every single person. Grab your favorite beverage of choice, tea, wine, water. Put on your favorite music. Start at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon, going to 9pm get it done. You Will have a business. Pablo.

[Pablo]

Next question Alex Yard asks. My partner and I have created the most viral ad of the year for a major fast food chain on our island. How do we get more clients and a more stable income?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

By taking that video and connecting with every CMO of every Fortune 500 QSR company in the world on LinkedIn and then messaging them the video that you made and how you did it. Then going to ChatGPT and say, give me a list of 10 CMOs of Fortune 500 companies and their Instagram handles. And then when it gives you 10, say, and now 10 more. And now 10 more. Find the CMOs, the chief marketing officers of the biggest companies in the world, go to Instagram and DM them because they don't get a lot of DMS there and say, here's a video we made and we would love to do it for you. Burton 935. You get to ask a question by literally asking it here on whatnot and we throw you up. Watch this. Throw up the next person that has a question that was asked on Whatnot.

[Ryan]

Hey, what's up, Gary? This is an amazing moment. I just want to say thank you for the time. Appreciate it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Thank you, sir. What's your name? Where are you from?

[Ryan]

My name's Ryan and I'm from California.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's awesome, brother. Pleasure.

[Ryan]

We'd love to see you guys come over here for an event one time.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm always thinking, what part of California?

[Ryan]

Bay area.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Oh yeah, I'll be in sf. We're gonna Super Bowls in the Bay Area and we have a big Vee friends activation next year at super bowl. So I'll definitely be there for that.

[Ryan]

There we go.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

All right, go ahead.

[Ryan]

All right, so my question is related to my spouse and how like even since like 2021, 2022, when I was getting into NFTs and she's like, what are these stupid pictures? Minted the fairy. And she, you know, you sold half of your Apple stock to buy this picture. How much is it worth? And I said, I haven't sold it yet, so it doesn't matter how much, you know. And then, you know, I, I've been getting on whatnot. I'm like, four shows in, absolutely love it. I have a, I have a full time job. I love and I focus on that when I, when I'm doing the job, you know. But then I'm doing these shows and you're like, why are you doing this? It's because I love it and I, and I might actually build Something out of it. I have a passion for it. I've been collecting since I was a kid. So my question is like, did your.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Did your work, did your wife. You said wife, right? I want to make sure I heard that right. Did your wife grow up with very little?

[Ryan]

Maybe like when she was, until she was about 5 or 6. And then her parents, like, were entrepreneurs and they built a few businesses from the ground up. So she didn't have to for very long. But to be honest, like six years ago, her and I got, got out of massive debt. So we've been there before, you know what I mean? So I think.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, she's gunshot. Yeah, yeah, makes sense.

[Ryan]

Yeah, yeah. So I'm saying I'm going to take this slow, you know, I'm not in a hurry, but I like doing it. But I show her these cards, you know, I say like, and I, and I read some of these to her and she's like, okay, whatever, you know, store these cards. These are just like little kid cards, you know, like.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, I mean, look, that's what a lot of wives said about Pokemon in 96. And now when they sell for $30,000 at auction.

[Ryan]

Exactly.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And husbands that shit on their wives and husbands, you know, eat their fucking words. Now that being said, your wife could end up being right, God forbid I could get sick and die and I won't have the next 30 years to build what I know I'm building with be friends. What I love about the whatnot part is that's not relying on me. You're learning the skill to sell on here. So I love that. Look, if you have a fearless fairy. Series one. Nft.

[Ryan]

No, no. Well, yeah, Series two. Yeah, I meant it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Series two, which is great. So look, I think, I think what you're kind of trying to express to your wife is you're trying to balance both responsibility along with trying to have happiness and joy in your life.

[Ryan]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And you know, look, I'm empathetic to your wife. I don't think she doesn't get it, of course, you know, any of those things. I hope that you guys can continue to over communicate in a healthy way that allows her to understand your needs for this energy. And on the flip side, I hope that you are very conscious of not going too delusional on your dreams and hopes and needs, that you put yourself in a vulnerable place that's practical. For example, I think if you showed her the Practical Peacock and told her about the Practical Peacock, she might like the Practical Peacock.

[Ryan]

She might, she Might, you know. You know, she's a very organized person. I keep on telling her, take the quiz, I have a theory. I think she's gonna get the ostrich, but I don't know.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Look, the more you love it right now, if she's worried, the more she's gonna hate vee friends, you know what I mean? Kind of thing, that happens too. So you can't push it. It just comes natural. I like the tone and tenor of this combo. Look, brother, I'll tell you right now, just like I was 100% positive that if people went ham on TikTok in 1817, 1819, it was gonna pay dividends. I'm 100% positive that if people on here jump on whatnot and start garage saleing or selling something sustainable on it, that it will work. So keep pushing the whatnot thing. For sure.

[Ryan]

Yeah. Thanks, brother. Appreciate it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Let's get another question, Pablo.

[Pablo]

Yeah. Camo asks. How do you empty the glass of old fears and thoughts and other BS when you're 48? Trying to achieve success by realizing you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Don'T have a fucking. By realizing you don't have a fucking choice. Negativity is winless, Pablo. People in the chat that are spewing positivity on their way to winning, people in the chat that are cynical cats and spewing negativity, currently losing. Digging deeper holes of losing. The second you're against hope and happiness, you're fucked. And guess what? Nobody gives a fuck. I'm out here trying, but. But the negative energy out here, they're not my fucking children. I'm trying because I'm a good dude like that, because I got lucky, because I have a great moment. But if you don't and you want to dig your heels in on, like, fuck you, Gary, it's negative. The world sucks, okay? Knock yourself out. Like, knock your fucking self out. Negativity is lonely, y' all. Why do you think they like the Internet so much? Oh, I know it's true. I'm fucking 49. I got gray fucking hairs. This isn't day one for me. I'm not a fucking kid. I've watched it for 40 years of my life and I was a. I was a fucking in tune, emotionally intelligent, superly, emotionally charged, thoughtful, wisdom oriented child. So I've been on this, paying attention to fucking human beings kick for 40 fucking years. You want to be negative? I got good news for you. You're only dragging in people that are negative too. You better be a fucking positive porcupine. Because being a cynical cat. A fucking lonely life. And no one's gonna give a fuck because everybody that gave a fuck. Your negativity is gonna chase them away. You're gonna end up lonely. So fuck you. How about that? How about a little punch in your face, too? Clearly love isn't working for some of you. Clearly love is not working for some of you. Some of you that are cynical on me. Clearly love's not working. So let's flip it up. How about fuck you. What the fuck are you gonna do about it?