The Brutal TRUTH About Why You’re Not Winning on Social Media| Tea with GaryVee Ep. 65

Summary

Summary of "The Brutal TRUTH About Why You’re Not Winning on Social Media | Tea with GaryVee Ep. 65"

In this episode of The GaryVee Audio Experience, Gary Vaynerchuk delves deep into the challenges and misconceptions surrounding social media marketing. Through a series of live interactions with listeners, Gary offers actionable insights, candid advice, and motivational encouragement to help entrepreneurs and content creators overcome obstacles and achieve success on various platforms.

---

1. Embracing Global Reach Despite Geographic Limitations

Caller: Willy from New Zealand
Timestamp: 00:08 - 02:00

Willy initiates the conversation by expressing concerns about marketing himself from New Zealand, feeling isolated from major markets. Gary swiftly dispels this notion, emphasizing the boundless opportunities provided by social media. He asserts that geographic location no longer limits one's ability to reach a global audience.

Gary Vaynerchuk [00:22]:
"Unlike 1980 and 1990 and 2000, social media has created the world SC on the world scale... there's zero truth to that in 2025."

Key Insights:

• Social media breaks down geographical barriers, enabling global reach.
• The primary limitation is mindset; believing you can't reach beyond your locale restricts your potential.
• Focus on providing value to your audience to gain recognition and a global following.

---

2. Choosing the Right Platforms for Real Estate Marketing

Caller: Adriel from Johnson City, Tennessee
Timestamp: 02:00 - 11:35

Adriel, a realtor, seeks advice on leveraging platforms like Whatnot for business growth. Gary advises that while Whatnot is beneficial for selling physical products, real estate professionals would benefit more from platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook. He underscores the importance of live streaming on platforms like TikTok for broader audience engagement.

Gary Vaynerchuk [04:03]:
"TikTok's giving me audience. Everybody else is showing it to the audience I've already amassed."

Key Insights:

• Select platforms that align with your business model and target audience.
• Live streaming on TikTok can significantly enhance visibility due to its discovery algorithms.
• Consistency and providing value are crucial for building a substantial online presence.

---

3. Defining and Understanding Your Target Audience

Caller: Andrew from Miami, Florida
Timestamp: 05:02 - 14:08

Andrew discusses transitioning his fitness clothing brand from a personal project to a sustainable business. Gary emphasizes the necessity of identifying and understanding diverse audience cohorts. He encourages creating varied content tailored to different segments, ensuring content resonates with each target group.

Gary Vaynerchuk [06:24]:
"When I make content, I think about who the fuck am I making this for. Do that. You don't know who your corporate cohorts are. Make, make, make, make, make."

Key Insights:

• Clearly define who your content is for by considering different demographics and psychographics.
• Experiment with various content formats to discover what best engages your audience.
• Overcome fear of judgment by focusing on content creation and providing value.

---

4. Monetizing Large Social Media Followings Without Sacrificing Engagement

Caller: Jalen (Andrew) from Romania
Timestamp: 11:35 - 14:42

Jalen, with a substantial following on TikTok, seeks advice on monetizing his account through testimonials without diminishing reach. Gary advises that while promotional content may not achieve the same reach as value-driven posts, it remains essential for business sustainability. He reinforces the balance between providing free content and strategically asking for sales.

Gary Vaynerchuk [12:27]:
"You may believe, because people believe this, that that post not Getting a lot of reach is hurting your reach on the next post."

Key Insights:

• Promotional content will inherently receive less reach compared to value-based content.
• Ensure high-quality promotional posts to maintain engagement and effectiveness.
• Balance between giving value and making sales pitches is vital for long-term success.

---

5. Tailoring B2B Content Strategies on LinkedIn

Caller: Sid from Orlando, Florida
Timestamp: 14:42 - 16:46

Sid, involved in the firearms and securities industry, seeks strategies to appeal to B2B clients on LinkedIn. Gary likens LinkedIn to TikTok for B2B marketing, emphasizing authenticity and providing actionable value. He suggests creating informative content, such as security tips, to engage and attract potential business clients.

Gary Vaynerchuk [15:24]:
"Tell the truth. Be like, hey, this is me. This is who I am. This is what I do."

Key Insights:

• Authentic and truthful content resonates well on professional platforms like LinkedIn.
• Providing valuable, actionable advice can establish authority and attract B2B clients.
• Diversify content formats to maintain engagement and reach a broader audience.

---

6. Marketing Niche Industrial Products to a Broader Audience

Caller: Ramos from Monterrey, Mexico
Timestamp: 16:46 - 19:00

Ramos, an industrial electrical supply business owner, inquires about expanding his niche market. Gary advises focusing on the specific audience likely to purchase his products and leveraging LinkedIn's robust networking capabilities. He recommends consistent content creation and direct outreach through messaging to build relationships with potential clients.

Gary Vaynerchuk [17:18]:
"You've been doing only three months on LinkedIn and you're already feeling something. Now, if you start messaging 10 cold emails a day..."

Key Insights:

• Niche markets require targeted strategies to effectively reach potential customers.
• Consistent content and proactive networking are key to expanding reach within a specialized industry.
• Direct messaging combined with valuable content can enhance relationship-building with prospects.

---

7. Navigating Partnership Dynamics in Business Transformation

Caller: Ryan from Vermont
Timestamp: 19:00 - 23:34

Ryan discusses transforming a personal project into a sustainable business amidst partner alignment issues. Gary provides a framework for evaluating each partner's contribution and impact, advocating for candid conversations to determine the future of the business relationship. He emphasizes prioritizing the sustainability of the business over maintaining friendships if conflicts arise.

Gary Vaynerchuk [21:27]:
"Look, whether I'm right in. That means who's. Who's the person that's at 15%. What is her name? Dave..."

Key Insights:

• Assess each partner's contribution objectively to identify imbalances in the business.
• Prioritize clear communication and honesty to resolve partnership conflicts.
• The sustainability of the business should take precedence over preserving strained personal relationships.

---

Conclusion: Gary's Core Recommendations for Social Media Success

Throughout the episode, Gary Vaynerchuk underscores several pivotal strategies for excelling on social media:

1. Mindset Over Geography: Embrace the global nature of social media, leveraging it to transcend physical limitations.
2. Platform Alignment: Choose social media platforms that align with your business goals and audience demographics.
3. Audience Understanding: Deeply understand and define your target audience to tailor content effectively.
4. Content Diversity: Produce a variety of content formats to engage different segments of your audience.
5. Value-Driven Engagement: Prioritize providing value through your content to build trust and authority.
6. Balanced Monetization: Strategically incorporate promotional content without overwhelming your audience.
7. Consistent Effort: Maintain consistency in content creation and engagement to sustain growth and visibility.
8. Authenticity and Truth: Be genuine and transparent in your communications to foster authentic connections.

By adhering to these principles, entrepreneurs and content creators can navigate the complexities of social media marketing, overcome common obstacles, and achieve meaningful success in their respective industries.

---

Notable Quotes:

• On Global Opportunities:
  Gary Vaynerchuk [00:22]:
  "There is unlimited opportunity for people in New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and Japan and everywhere else to reach the global audience with whatever message."

• On Content Creation:
  Gary Vaynerchuk [06:24]:
  "When I make content, I think about who the fuck am I making this for."

• On Overcoming Fear of Posting:
  Gary Vaynerchuk [07:20]:
  "The ones that hate. You should not feel bad for yourself. You should feel bad for them."

• On Partnership and Business Sustainability:
  Gary Vaynerchuk [21:35]:
  "I am willing to quit this because this won't be sustainable anyway as a non profit and go start something else."

---

This episode serves as a comprehensive guide for individuals striving to enhance their social media presence, offering a blend of strategic advice and motivational insights to drive personal and professional growth.

Transcript

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Good morning tea with Gary Vee. Super excited to be with all of you. Here we go. What's the first question? Team Wheelie, you're up from New Zealand. What's good, Gary Vee?

[Willy]

It's Willy from down under in New Zealand. Awesome to be here. New Zealand, it's on the other side of the world from everyone else. How does someone like myself market myself to, you know, be on a world, world scale?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, you're on a world scale right now, brother. Unlike 1980 and unlike 1990 and unlike 2000, social media has created the world SC on the world scale. Somebody from a small town or a country from the other side of the world of America. I've been to New Zealand many times. I don't consider New Zealand the other side of the world. It's the other side of the world of America. And obviously America is a media capital of the world, and I understand all that, but there is unlimited opportunity for people in New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and Japan and everywhere else to reach the global audience with whatever message. So I think the way you reach the global audience is by first understanding that you can reach the global audience. If that's your question, you've already limited yourself by believing, oh, I'm on a small little island, I can't get to everybody. And there was some truth to that in 1974. There's zero truth to that in 2025. My post that I just posted on Instagram talks about everybody, how they use social media. And in there, I wrote just now, on the way into the office, how you see the world is how it is. If you decide that you could be the most known person on earth from New Zealand with the tools that we have that we're using right now, brother, I am in New York City, you are in New Zealand. At three in the morning, we are talking to each other live for free on a social shopping app called Whatnot. The world is insanely filled with opportunities. Crazy. You can reach the audience now. The question becomes, are you just making that excuse because you're not bringing enough value to your audience to become well known? And so what you need to focus on is providing value. Makes sense. Yeah.

[Willy]

That's awesome.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Awesome, awesome. Thanks. Have the best day. Ryan, how are you, my friend? Where are you from?

[Ryan]

Yeah.

[Adriel]

What's up, Gary? Johnson City, Tennessee. How are you, buddy?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Pleasure, brother. How are things, man?

[Adriel]

It's going great. Great year, Great. Off to the great. Just starting the year off right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Awesome, my friend, what can I answer for you?

[Adriel]

Hey, so I'm a Realtor, you know, we are in that mid market, smaller market, but at the same time, we're utilizing everything that you do to help grow our business. We realize we're a media company.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes, sir.

[Adriel]

Promot ourselves.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes, sir.

[Adriel]

More than anything that anybody else can do. So we're on whatnot. And I've held two live shows, just testing it out, kind of tasting it. Right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

As a real estate agent, whatnot is much more a nice to have than a requirement. Unless you're selling a hat or a T shirt because you're trying to really brand it. Whatnot is much more for somebody who sells something physical than it is for someone who is, let's say, a B2B SaaS salesperson or a real estate agent or a financial advisor. Again, if you're a very creative financial advisor, real estate agent, SaaS software salesman, you may want to sell some hats, some mugs, some T shirts, and you might just be entrepreneurial and you want to learn other things. Or it could turn into a side hustle. But for you, LinkedIn, LinkedIn, LinkedIn shorts, YouTube shorts. YouTube shorts. And number one by far, Facebook. Facebook, Facebook.

[Adriel]

That's where we play. We do play.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Good brother. And you should be doing lives on those and where you should be doing lives if you want to gain audience and awareness. The number one place you should be doing live is TikTok. Now, of course, it is not lost on me that we are in the midst of maybe TikTok being banned in the US this a. This is a global show, so everybody globally who's watching should be live on TikTok, but everybody in America too. Like, you've got what's different about TikTok. When you go on whatnot, you have three people. But when you go on TikTok. Have you gone live on TikTok?

[Adriel]

No.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Do that right after we hang up. Right now. Like, right now. Do you have a TikTok?

[Willy]

Yep.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Good. I want you to go live.

[Adriel]

You're gonna be having a followers, though.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Oh, is that right? Does TikTok still require you? A thousand. Great. I want you to spam your entire life, literally. Text everybody, which might be a little weird because it's in the midst of the potential ban, but.

[Adriel]

Right. Yeah, that's all right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Let me explain this because I think that all the other platforms are gonna follow, and I just want everybody to get the macro of why this works. When you go on TIK Live, you start to get people to see you in there for you page that have no idea who you are. TikTok gives you audience. Most other platforms don't, including the ones I'm on right now. TikTok's giving me audience. Everybody else is showing it to the audience I've already amassed. That's a level of discovery that is profound. So anyway, that's the game. I don't think you need to be on whatnot, but I don't mind you playing with it because it might lead to another entrepreneurial venture.

[Sid]

Great.

[Adriel]

Thanks, man.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Let's go to the next question. G3, what's your name, brother?

[Andrew]

Adriel. How's everything?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Gary. Adrell. Pleasure. My brother. Where are you from?

[Andrew]

I'm from Miami here, Florida.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Amazing. My guy.

[Andrew]

So it's great to be on the show. As you know, I have it here, I read it twice. It's amazing. Love it. I just want to say it's obvious. It definitely inspired me to start producing a lot more content for my. I have a fitness clothing brand.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Andrew]

I've done some live shows on whatnot.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Andrew]

I've been doing it daily on TikTok. I'll do it like at the gym, working out, wearing the merch and showcasing it. So just doing consistent with it. So I want to say building on that like from your book, when it comes to live shopping and I say cohorts, as you mentioned in your book. As a startup, I recently started in almost a year, like February 2020 last year when I launched. And so I've been building it out only last, let's say December when I started getting really serious with content of social media. From your book, when you really don't know who your audience is and creating your cohorts, how would you go about that as like a startup? Common sense, analytics on social.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Common sense. You know, who goes to the gym. Yeah, you're gonna need guys and girls. Then you're gonna need, you know, Caucasians, African Americans, Latinos. And then you're gonna go into, you know, people that care about sports or food or music. Like you get to pick. Then you play for a little bit. Cause now you're thinking about them. When you make the content. When I make a piece of content, sometimes I'm thinking about that 17 year old dude that's a fucking D student like I was. And I'm making that content. Other times I'm like, I'm gonna make this for the moms who are 42 who think their life is over and those girls haven't even fucking started.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Another time I'm gonna make it for somebody who's 61 who's literally sitting in their house fucking depressed, watching bullshit television, thinking their life's over and they're gonna live for 30. Then I'm thinking about first generation Mexican immigrant living in San Antonio whose parents don't speak English, who's 14, getting straight as and working at fucking Walmart and fucking Grind. When I make content, I think about, who the fuck am I making this for? Do that. You don't know who your corporate cohorts are. Make, make, make, make, make. And then they will come to you.

[Andrew]

Gotcha. And the key, like you said, is always as much as you can. It's not like I know some say, oh, just one, it didn't do well. And then you're like, let me do something else. It's like, produce a bunch of variety. And so, yeah, you're.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

How old are you?

[Andrew]

26.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Perfect. So you're not that. High school was not that long ago. You'll remember. You'll remember. The reason most people don't post enough is they still think life is high school and they're insecure and they're worried someone's going to make fun of them or it's not going to do good. It's not going to do good. Who gives a fuck? Yeah.

[Andrew]

Yeah. And I've taken something to heart that now I'm just posting like, you know what? I don't even care what people say. It's like, the ones who's going to hate, they're always going to hate. Screw them. I'm just going to focus on just creating, bro.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The ones that hate. You should not feel bad for yourself. You should feel bad for them. Could you imagine being a human being that goes around the Internet and leaves comments of hate? That is the most depressing life on earth. I'm not mad at those fuckers. I feel sad for those fuckers. My man. Good luck. How are you, brother?

[Willy]

I'm good, I'm good. How are you?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Good, man. Where are you from?

[Willy]

I'm from India.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Very nice. Sid, you sound the show. Look at this guy. Looks just like you. It's amazing. All right, great to see you, brother. Sid is like, loading the deck with his relatives. All right, Avi, what's good?

[Willy]

I've been. I've been very much following your content and my friend told me about you, like, a couple years back. And I've been following Grinding. I started my podcast like a couple years back where I interviewed actors from video games and it's been going well. I got my YouTube partnership from that and it's reached 4.5 million views now, so it's doing very good. However, one of the things that I always worry about is how to get up there and not lose confidence when I'm trying to go there. I know I should not be looking for the end goal, but there are times where I feel like, can I get there? Because I'm obviously grinding and putting out content. But.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. What number did you make up? That's an arbitrary number of success that has nothing to do with reality and has become the jail and the driver of your insecurity, my friend. What number is that?

[Willy]

I just have this dream of like, what if I could make this turn into a much bigger show? That's all I have.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What is a bigger show? Yeah. Good. I respect that. What is that? What is bigger? Define bigger for me, my friend.

[Willy]

Turn this into a. I don't know, a show that is hosted on any network, any kind of network that it can be hosted on. So that's a dream that I feel impossible for them.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What network? Give me an example.

[Willy]

Let's say Amazon Prime.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Got it. So you want your video podcast show to be on Amazon Prime. That's going to come down to how talented you are and how consistent you are. Right? That's how that would play out.

[Sid]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And how consistent are you? How often do you do it? How long have you been doing it?

[Willy]

It's been two years. And I post every episode, every podcast episode, every week. Because that's how many guests I get.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Depending upon that, I think two years, every week. You've now given enough effort and consistency, which I appreciate, to give you a read. Right. What you want to figure out is if it's not popping off the way you want, you've got to change it up a little bit. Maybe do a different format, start a different way, rename. It would be more patient to get bigger guests by dming more people. This is about your execution and your talents and you being not delusional and self aware. Maybe you're not destined to be that famous or that aware, and that is okay. You need to fall in love with doing it. For example, I could speak for myself when I started Wine Library TV when I was 31 years old and finally came out to the world because I was working on, you know, in my dad's liquor store. I didn't do it because I thought I was going to become famous or known. I did it because I wanted to do it. I wanted to educate the world about wine and I wanted it to bring awareness to my dad's Store. I think too many people now are trying to do things for the fame and if they do it for the purpose of why they're doing the show, they have a bigger chance of actually getting the fame. Does that make sense?

[Willy]

Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. I think at the end of the day, it's all about wedding. About the fact that because I want. I want to turn this into a thing that I can. Business, a job kind of thing where I don't want to go somewhere else.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I love that. So maybe you should learn about live social shopping. Maybe you should be doing what I'm doing because I've sold a bunch of mugs while I've been on here and like maybe selling something, maybe you add a piece of retail to your content. Maybe that will help. I'm gonna run because a lot of questions. I love you, brother. Good luck.

[Jalen]

Hello, Gary.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Hello, my friend. What's your name?

[Jalen]

Andrew. I'm from Romania.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Very nice. I love Romania. Been there many times. How are you?

[Jalen]

I'm fine, thank you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What is your question?

[Jalen]

My question is the following. I have on my Romain account a lot of followers, over 100, 800k. And after that I did the international account, a dancing account. This is.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Oh, I remember. We've talked. I remember, I remember. Angel, good to see you. Yes, great to see you again.

[Jalen]

Thank you. Thank you very much. And now this account is growing very well. I have 1.6 million followers now. The question is the following. Because I try to monetize better my. My account. If I put, for example, I don't know, testimonials, couples that danced my choreographies and their wedding was very well. The reach of course is not that high.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Correct. The.

[Jalen]

The question is I should make another account just for a more salesly testimonial things or put it all on my big. On the big account.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Both can work now. Your big account is going to have more awareness at first. What you're doing right now hurts a lot of people to try to build a business. You're overvaluing the amount of reach on your right hook. You know, in my old book, jab, jab, jab, right hook, give content, give content, give content and then ask for business right over. When you ask for business, it never gets the reach for sure because you're not giving, you're asking. But that's okay because you're running a business. Okay, Stan? And I think you're making a mistake that a lot of people make. You may believe, because people believe this, that that post not Getting a lot of reach is hurting your reach on the next post.

[Jalen]

It can be because you're in your mind. If you do, I don't know, a 10 million views clip, and after that you're going 100k. You are. Oh, my God. I don't want this to happen.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It won't happen again. If you go 10 million and then you do 100,000 and the next one does 3 million. It didn't do 3 million because you're 100,000. It did a million because of the quality of that. Yes. Once you understand that, Andrew, you will not be scared to post sales in your big account.

[Jalen]

Because if the sales clip is good, it will perform. If not, it doesn't matter.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's right. But it will never perform like a giving clip, right? Right. Never.

[Jalen]

Never.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I will not watch. I'm doing all this content for free right now. A thing that many people sell and yet I will not sell very many $18 mugs right now. Even though I'm providing a lot of value, people will not click down there. And that's okay because maybe they don't need a mug now. By the way, I think a lot of you need this mug because I think you have shitty mugs in your house, but that's a different story. Anyway, selling will never do as well as branding and providing value, and that's okay. But you're also allowed to ask for the sale. Got it?

[Jalen]

Got it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

All right, brother, good luck. Love you. Jalen. What's good?

[Sid]

What's good, brother? Orlando, Florida.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My man.

[Sid]

God damn excited to be on here. Sorry for cursing.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I curse every third word. You're fucking kidding.

[Sid]

I know. So I'm in the firearms and securities industry. I just opened a security agency within the last couple months.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Just.

[Sid]

Agency just approved me like last week or so. How do I tailor content on LinkedIn to kind of reach some of the B2B on the firearms training side, I know how to get the consumers all day long. Been doing that for years. Took your advice on TikTok, killed it. But going to B2B, little more.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Honestly, brother, no, it's really good, bro. LinkedIn is TikTok. LinkedIn is the B2B. TikTok.

[Sid]

That's what I think.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My guy, easy. Tell the truth. Be like, hey, this is me. This is who I am. This is what I do. A lot more of you need security, you know, the world is much more open the data. I think I provide a great service. I'm that guy. Hit me up. That's a right hook as we just said in the last thing that won't convert as well. Let me give you another one. Make a video. Three tips high net worth and famous people or executives should be thinking about in a post United Health CEO murder.

[Sid]

We've been really thinking about that and how to really.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And like, I'm not trying to scare people, but you're going to give advice. Be like, hey. And the opening lines like, hey. Yes, I have my own security service that I'd be thrilled to do business with you. My email is in the copy. But now let me give you three tips if you don't want to hire somebody or you can't afford a full time security person. Step one, vpn. Step two, look around the corner. Step three, don't tell people like, like provide fucking value. My guy.

[Sid]

Yeah, gotcha. Go down the nitty gritty. Absolutely.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

100%. And over and over, bro. I say the same 1740 things over and over in different ways.

[Sid]

Yep.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm not ma. I'm not making up new ideas. I don't have that many ideas. I just have that many ways. I'm gonna say it in picture form, in cartoon form, in audio form, in written form, in me in a video clip form, in me, in a podcast. Like, you know, different adjectives, but got it.

[Sid]

Yep. Absolutely. Appreciate it, man.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Good luck. Proud of you, Ramos, you hear me?

[Ramos]

Yeah, he is.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I can't see you, bro. It's a calling show. Ask you, ask your question. Where are you from?

[Ramos]

Okay. I'm from Monterrey, Mexico.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Very nice.

[Ramos]

I'm a business owner. Yes, I'm a business owner and I have an industrial electrical supply.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Ramos]

So my question is, how will you go to try and sell these kind of very niche products to a broader audience?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You can't because it's too niche. But what you can do is focus on your audience. That would buy it and I would do that on LinkedIn. You should be a very strong content creator on LinkedIn. It will lead to a lot of business.

[Ramos]

Yeah, that's what I'm doing right now. I'm focusing.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

How much?

[Andrew]

Like how much?

[Ramos]

I'm doing like almost two daily.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Very. How long have you been doing it?

[Ramos]

Maybe three months now.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And have you felt anything yet or is it too early?

[Ramos]

I'm starting to get some connections for potential clients. Most of the work I do is like I go into a factory and then I go out. I was thinking, I don't know, what's your opinion on this? Maybe to film some of the things that I'm doing once I'm inside 100%.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Very good. And I want you to also DM message people on LinkedIn that own factories and just saying, hey, around in 2025, when they click your face, they'll see your content and that will help reinforce the cold call.

[Andrew]

Okay?

[Ramos]

Okay, that sounds right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So those things. Three months. Listen this. You've been doing only three months on LinkedIn and you're already feeling something. Now, if you start messaging 10 cold emails a day to owners and managers of factories and saying, hi, just wishing you a happy 2025, I'm around if you ever need anything. Very light cold call, but because you have content, they're going to click your face and see your content. And then three, when you're starting to do jobs, film in there, it's going to help you quite a bit.

[Ramos]

Yeah, okay. I used to be in corporate America, like 10 years. So now that I'm getting back into LinkedIn, I found that I know a lot of business owners. So that that's gonna be mine.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm proud of you, brother. You're gonna get going. Keep going. All right, Mark. How you doing, brother?

[Ryan]

What's up, Gary? Good, how are you?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Where are you from?

[Ryan]

Vermont, man.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Nice, Very nice.

[Ryan]

Go Jets. I'm sorry that we had a really terrible season, but you know what? It's okay. On to the next.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

On to the next. What's cooking? What can I answer for you?

[Ryan]

So I have started kind of a community project that started as a personal project. It gained a lot of traction through the digital art space, and now I've been running it for the past six years. And what has started as a personal project has now turned into a business. And I've done it with friends. And for this thing to become, you know, financially sustainable, we really need to peel back the layers of that quote, unquote, personal project and look at the hardcore numbers. Right. Of how this business can stay sustainable.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's right. So when you go from a project to a business, you need the cash flow and the PNL to be good enough to sustain the business.

[Ryan]

And that's exactly it. And we found some great success, but a lot of it is our, like, you know, founder love and our personal project and us giving our time and effort to make it happen. But for us to continue this, you know, we have to rejig some numbers and all that. And where I'm starting to run into some issues with partners is that we have different alignments of should things be run as a business or should it stay as a personal project. I love this thing so much that I want it to be sustainable.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Who's in control? Like who's the primary partner? Or are you all equal?

[Ryan]

We're all equal. That's the biggest mess up in my head. Have you ever split?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. Oh, so it's only two people.

[Ryan]

It's two entities. It's myself and then another entity that is consisted of two people.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Are both of them wanting to keep it non profit or one of the three? One of the two. One. Can you push them out?

[Ryan]

That is currently what's trying. What we're trying to do. But I'm being very, very conscious because these are friends of mine. I love that don't want to be a friendship.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's right. And that's beautiful. And I like you. Let's keep talking. Of the three people, who is driving the impact on this nonprofit potential business? What is the breakdown on actual impact on it being alive? Like if one of you disappeared. What's the breakdown of percentage? How much do you contribute? Do you think?

[Ryan]

So that's where I feel we are very unequal. I feel like I am in the driver's seat.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Give me a number.

[Ryan]

A lot of myself.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

If God came down and said, here's the impact percentages of the three people. Obviously you're grading your own homework, but like to the best of your ability, with as humble as you can be. What is the percentage breakdown? What percentage of impact are you?

[Ryan]

75%.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What is the person that is on board with you to turn it into a business? What is his or her percentage on the impact?

[Ryan]

I would say that would be about 15.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Okay. So now you guys are up to 90 and the naysayer is at 10%. Yeah. I think there is a nice way that will keep a friendship where you're vulnerable and humble and sweet and compassionate and sympathetic at a coffee shop in Vermont, which is perfect setting, can say to this person, look, whether I'm right in. That means who's. Who's the person that's at 15%. What's her name? Dave. Great. Me and Dave, from my point of view, third person are basically 90% of this to begin with. We both want to do this. Yes. We love you, third person. Mm. But if you. I don't want to lose you as a friend, but I and I and you could even go to the extreme and say, to be honest, your friendship matters more to me than this nonprofit slash potential business. I am willing to quit this because this won't be sustainable anyway as a non profit and go start something else. That's it.

[Ryan]

It's kind of where I'm at with it, too. Of like.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But you've got to be full of questions. No, no. But you've got to be really canderous. Yeah. And when you're talking to a friend, most people aren't fully canderous. They sugarcoat it. Yeah. Yes.

[Ryan]

And there's something I've learned from you, too. Like, by the way it was.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

By the way it was. It was a. A flaw of mine. I'm coming from a place of experience.

[Ryan]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Got it, brother.

[Ryan]

Love it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

All right, brother. Love you. All right.