Prevential » Gary Vaynerchuk

How I Used Twitter to Earn 34,771 Unique Web Hits

Derek — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 17:50:57 +0000

You’re about to learn the tactics I used to write a blog post that went viral on Twitter.

And, this was a VIRAL blog post. It was sent to around 300,000 Twitter Feeds.

Want to know the best part? This all happened when I had less than 300 followers on Twitter — my profile clearly didn’t do the work.

First, let me set the record straight. Of those 300,000 Twitter Feeds, only ~ 30,000 people clicked over to my website. But, who would turn down 30,000 unique visits?

Now, here’s how I did it.

1. Talk About Twitter

Did you know that more than 40% of the most retweeted URLs are about Twitter? Just head over to Retweetist and take a look at the top 100 retweeted links.

This won’t change in the near-term because Tweeters are vain (and who could blame us? this service rocks!). And, in the long-term, it won’t change either. Just take a look at Digg. The Digg community still loves articles about Digg. Fark? They love Fark.

Tip 1: So if you want to go viral on Twitter, write about Twitter. That’s what I did and it worked.

WARNING: You need great content. Learn more about this in Tip 5.

2. Promote Other Services

When your article starts to see some traffic, make sure you slap a Delicious or Digg button on the page.

Most people have been using the “Tweet This” button, but I’m not sold on its’ usefulness. Tweets are great, but I prefer links. And, when you hit the Digg or Delicious home page, you get links AND traffic for a lifetime.

For example, when my article started receiving some traffic from Twitter, I used a Delicious button — I got to the homepage within a few hours. This resulted in more tweets, 10-20 links, and thousands of visitors.

Tip 2: Don’t limit your options to just Twitter. Pick one other service to promote heavily. If you land on the Delicious home page, don’t be afraid to switch it up to Digg… This is how you leverage success.

3. Use Copywriting Templates

There is a reason why expert Copywriters make a ton of money. Their tactics persuade people. And, these same tactics work on Tweeple.

Copywriters pack a lot of punch in their short headlines. This premium on concise writing is perfect for Twitter because we only have 140 characters. So, when you title your articles, you should use the sure-fire copywriting templates that work. Here are three examples:

How to [Blank] on Twitter

[3, 5, 7, or 10] Ways Twitter Helps [Blank]

Little Known Ways to [Blank] on Twitter

If you want more examples, look at Brian Clark’s Magnetic Headlines series and add “on Twitter” to any of the templates.

Tip 3: Copywriters know how to make people act. Study and use their tactics.

4. Ask for Tweets

I started my snowball by asking people to Tweet my article — and they did. But, please don’t mistaken that for spam everyone. I asked people I had rapport with and they were happy to help.

Or, you could try another method for asking for tweets…

You could include (pls ReTweet) in your Twitter Headline. This call to action lets your opt-in followers know that you would like them to retweet your article (you may think this sounds like begging, but it is no different from a “Tweet This” button).

Tip 4: Twitter is a great community. They won’t mind helping you out if you ask.

5. Create Comprehensive Content

You have heard this before. But, when you’re writing for Twitter, the rules change. If you want people to Tweet your article, you need to create a complete resource — something people NEED to Tweet.

In my Twitter Tips article, I created a comprehensive list of resources that help people improve their Twitter game. And, please note how I divided the entire post into small sections (chapters).

Since comprehensive resources require time, sections allow your reader to divide that time up how they see fit. And, take a guess how they get back to the article? They favorite it for later reference.

Unfortunately, some people can’t create comprehensive resources. So, here are some other examples of content that works on Twitter:

Be Contrary – It’s easy to say what other people say, but as the saying goes… “only a dead fish swims with the stream all the time.” So, if you want to be comprehensive, ensure that you say something different.

Break News – This is a no-brainer. If you break news, your article will get credit for it. I won’t go into much detail here because this is not within all of our capabilities.

Borrow Influence - You may remember my Gary Vaynerchuk articles. They borrowed influence from Gary Vaynerchuk and since it was good content, people tweeted it (including Gary Himself).

Tip 5: Pick one of the above types of content and create it.

Is This The Real Deal?

That is the first question I would ask too.

But, I’m certain these tactics work because they worked for my good friend Gyutae Park of Winning the Web.

And, he just wrote a similar article where he talks about how he received 35,967 hits to his website in 14 days

I Challenge You…

…to use these five tips on your next blog post. Remember, this is exactly what I did and I received more than 30,000 unique visitors.

Want More Viral Twitter Tips?

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How to Encourage People to Jump on Your Business Bandwagon

Derek — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:27:58 +0000

There is a well-documented psychological phenomenon called the Bandwagon Effect. Many of you know what I’m talking about, but for those who don’t, this is when people do things because other people do them.

For example, have you ever wondered why many A-List bloggers show their feedcounter? It isn’t for bragging rights, it’s because they want people to feel like they’re missing out if they are not subscribing. They want people to think, “10,000 other people are subscribing, so I should too.”

This same phenomenon can have an opposite effect. When you show your Feedcounter and it’s quite small — less than 5,000 — people may think, “nobody else is listening, so why should I?”

In the business world, the effects of this phenomenon can be the difference between success and failure. So, in the remaining part of this article, I will show you how you can make people jump on your bandwagon.

Influence People’s Snap Decisions

And, they’re pretty good at it, too. They are so good at it that they take whatever information that is readily available — like a feedcounter — and use it to make their decisions. So, here are three other ways you can present information that will make people jump on your bandwagon:

Use Case Studies – You don’t have to be big to have people “jump on your bandwagon.” You just need a few great examples. Copywriters use case studies religiously in their marketing because they work. Take a look at Brian Clark’s latest sales letter where he shows how Sonia Simone used Mass Control to build her online business. People will want to jump on the Sonia Simone bandwagon because it worked for her.

Borrow Influence - When I launched Prevential, I wrote several articles about Gary Vaynerchuk. I love what he does with business and wine, but when I wrote about him, I knew I would be borrowing his influence to attract blog readers. Both attempts were successful — he tweeted both articles — because I added my own unique spin to his ideas. People jumped on the Gary Vaynerchuk bandwagon and subscribed to Prevential.

Give the Secret – When in doubt, offer the secret. Have you ever wondered why so many cosmetics have “magic ingredients?” It’s because they sell — even if they aren’t magic. People want these secret “magic ingredients” because they’re easy and all you have to do is tell them you have it and show them why it’s magic.

Use People’s Existing Relationships

Most people have friends and they often listen to them. This is one of the reasons why Social Media marketing is one of the hottest new trends on the internet. So, here are three ways you can use people’s existing relationships to make them jump on your bandwagon:

Ask Them - Have you noticed how many websites ask their users to refer the service to other friends? They do it because it’s cheap and it works. The iPhone did it with “sent from the iPhone” and the Flip Mino did it with “share the credit.” So, if you want people to jump on your bandwagon, you should just ask them to. The worst they say is no and you move on.

Make it Exclusive - When Facebook launched, they limited their registrants to specific colleges. Since most people have friends in several different colleges, this meant that most people were sure to know someone who had Facebook. This meant that the people who had it told their friends who didn’t have it and they usually said, “this is a better MySpace.” People jumped on the Facebook bandwagon because their other friends from other schools did.

Use Invite-Only Marketing - Now think about how Google launched Gmail. They called it beta and gave each member a few invites. SInce these invites were limited, they were worth something. People sold invites on eBay, people raffled them off in contests, and more importantly, people told their friends about these invites. Overall, people jumped on the Google bandwagon because they wanted to be a part of the invite-only community.

Stop People’s Procrastination With Urgency

So you created a bandwagon that people want to join, but they still aren’t signing up. It is because people procrastinate and if you want them to jump on your bandwagon today instead of tomorrow, you need to create a sense of urgency. You need to show them that this bandwagon won’t be around forever and here is how you do it:

Impose a Time Limit - Last week I offered a free consulting session to people who contacted me before Feb. 11th. Most requests came in within the first few hours because people didn’t want to miss the bandwagon. However, this just doesn’t apply to me and Prevential. Other marketers use time limits on infomercials or during “holiday sales.” They use them because it works. It fights through people’s procrastination and makes them jump on your bandwagon immediately instead of later.

Limit Members - Now you know how this works. When you limit members, people want to ensure that they are part of the limited few who are allowed to join. When Daniel Scocco launched Online Profits, he placed a cap on the amount of people who could join. Brian Clark did the same thing with Teaching Sells. Both of these courses sold out almost immediately because people didn’t want to miss the bandwagon.

So, are you letting the bandwagon effect hurt or help your business? Talk about it in the comments.

Shelly Palmer: Why You Need to Translate Value Into Wealth

Derek — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:27:39 +0000

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I was at SocComm today — Jeff Pulver’s conference on Social Communication. There were many great speakers and I will be posting videos, summaries, and articles over the next few days to share this priceless information with you. So, check back daily.

Shelly Palmer on Value and Wealth

Here is what you’ll learn from his keynote:

Learn what the Jerry Garcia effect is and how it built their empire

Learn the 4 currencies online and how it applies to business

Here are some highlights from Shelly Palmer’s keynote:

Value is simple, but translating it into wealth isn’t. Skype, a ton of value, but no profit. Twitter, a ton of value, but they haven’t made a penny.

There are different currencies online: 1) Attention, 2) Intention, 3) Fame, and 4) Street Cred.

Do something you love, but you need to translate it to wealth.

When you’re inside the walls of a gatekeeper, it isn’t that bad. When you’re outside, it sucks.

Want More Shelly Palmer?

Why don’t you check out his video blog?

Do You Have These 5 Essential Traits of Successful People?

Derek — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:27:00 +0000

Here is Michael Martine’s guest post to the Success Factors blog series.

“The secret to success is … and for a few bucks it can be yours.”

Sound familiar?

People claim to know the secret and they try to sell it. Other people buy it because they want a shortcut, but it never works. Success is about hard work, but there is more. There are five other essential traits of successful people and in the remaining part of this article, I will show you all five of them.

1. Passion

Passion comes in many forms. There is the Gary Vaynerchuk blow the top of your head off with enthusiasm sort of passion and then there is the quiet, reflective, and influential sort of passion of Brian Clark. Wherever you fall, you need passion to be successful. Consider these two points:

It’s Not About The Money - Do you think Gary Vaynerchuk would have been able to video blog about wine for 8 months with zero traffic if he cared about the money? He actually lost money because sales dropped in his store-front.

Without Passion, It’s Just Work – Do you think the guy at McDonalds that says “Would you like fries with that?” is passionate about his job? No, he’s doing it for the money and it’s just work. He doesn’t go home and dream about it — nightmares maybe…

But how do you develop your passions? You need to make a list of what you really love in life. The things you talk about, the things you dream about. If you feed these things time, money, and effort, they will grow into something more and the money will come soon thereafter.

2. Compassion

Let me say this again. Compassion. ComPASSION. CompanionPASSION. This is where you care about other people. It helps you earn a living by helping others — it’s win-win. If you care about people, they will care about you and your business. But how do you develop compassion?

Pick a Cause – Find something you care about and donate time and money. Like a bank, you have to make some deposits in society before you make withdrawals.

Listen to Complaints - Every complaint is an opportunity. For example, when Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google, they undoubtedly heard “I can’t find anything on the internet” as a complaint. So, they solved it.

Help the Desperate – Find the people who need help and help them. Your kindness will be appreciated and remembered.

So what have you done for your community lately?

3. Observation

Success starts with an observation. Larry Page and Sergey Brin observed that you couldn’t find information on the internet. That single observation changed the world. They set off a chain of events that created new products, new markets, and new innovations. Now what are you doing to become more observant?

Start a Journal and Fill It Daily – Whether you’re blogging on the internet, or writing in a moleskin, daily writing forces you to make observations.

Watch What People Do - When you go to work, just watch what people do. How do they drink their coffee? How do they hold their paper?

Make Observations – Simple, right? Just make observations. When you shop, look at how goods and services are presented. Look for inconsistencies. Look for opportunities. Just go out there and do it.

4. Imagination

At Disney, imagination is one of the most valuable attributes of a person — they even have positions called “Imagineers.” Do you know why? Imagination is the only durable competitive advantage. It can never be taken from you. It helps you solve problems, create art, woo a mate, and the list goes on. But how do you develop your imagination?

Imagine a Movie – Watch the first half of a movie and try to imagine how it ends. Then, compare how close you were.

Imagine the Solution - Find one of the problems in your many observations and imagine a solution — even if it’s unrealistic.

Play Games - Scrabble… Risk… Video Games… Any games. Just play games. They make you suspend reality so you can develop your imagination.

Now what are you doing to imagine solutions to your customer’s problems?

5. Bravery

And here is the rub. You can have every one of the above qualities, but without the guts to do something, they’re pointless. Success is not easy and most people will never taste its sweet nectar. The few who do had to overcome personal difficulties and make tremendous sacrifices. But let me reassure you one thing: you can learn to be brave and here are two ways how:

Stay Conscious - Have you ever seen a kid curl up in a blanket when they’re scared? Don’t be that little kid. Be aware of your surroundings and be willing to make tough decisions.

Stay Scared – Want to know the best way to develop bravery? Keep doing things that scare you. Scared of public speaking? Grab a soap box and speak. Scared of rejection? Go get rejected.

Share Your Thoughts

Did I miss any other key characteristics of successful people? Why not leave them in the comments?

About the Author: Michael Martine blogs at Remarkablogger, which is in the top 100 business blogs and the top 100 internet marketing blogs. Why don’t you follow him on Twitter?

Gary Vaynerchuk Case Study: The Mom and Pop Advantage

Derek — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:54:04 +0000

Do you want to learn how to make your company successful? Join Prevential and follow the Success Factors blog series daily in January 2009.

Why did Gary Vaynerchuk become successful? We know he is an expert salesman, but there has to be something else. He needed to do something differently, but what was it?

If you ask him directly, “Hey Gary, Why did you become successful?” he is likely to say something like “I hustled my face off” or “personal brand,” but that isn’t the whole story. Gary Vaynerchuk became successful by bringing the mom and pop shop atmosphere to the internet.

Let me explain.

We all like mom and pop shops. It may not be the cheapest place around, but they know exactly what you want and why. They know you and your family. They’re willing to sell girl scout cookies for your daughter and take night calls to fix a leak. Gary Vaynerchuk took “Mom and Pop” best practices to the internet and in the remaining part of this article, I will talk about some of his tactics.

Every Single E-Mail

How great does it feel when a business appreciates you as a customer? I’m not talking about silly corporate speak that says “We appreciate our customers,” but instead, I’m talking about the kind of corporations that send you a gift basket for Christmas (my hosting service, Choopa, did this).

Mom and Pop shops are known for this kind of treatment. They give you personal phone calls and care about what happens in your life. They’re willing to answer your questions and provide that extra level of support that most corporations cut due to the cost. Most importantly, these mom and pop shops remember your name.

Well, Gary Vaynerchuk appreciates his customers and he shows it by answering every single e-mail. Even if he needs to answer “What wine goes with chicken?” one thousand times, he says he responds to every e-mail.

Become a Social Business

In Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely talks about the difference between a money relationship and a social relationship. The money relationship is when people trade their money or time for a paycheck or goods, whereas a social relationship is where people feel they are part of the team and the community. As Dan Ariely pointed out, when people feel like they are on the same social team, they are more likely to go out of their way for each other.

Now we know Mom and Pop shops aren’t the cheapest, but they build a social relationship with their customers. They know what’s going on and they talk about it. They know who lost their job, or who bought a house. They participate in local town halls and help lobby for community improvement projects. Overall, these mom and pops create social responsibility and the community supports them.

Gary Vaynerchuk did something similar with his online business. Even though he runs a $50 million business, he’s willing to treat you like a human being. He uses a Twitter account, runs a personal blog, and uses various other social media tools such as Facebook. He’s not impossible to reach and he isn’t faceless. He talks about the same things we talk about (sports, business, etc…) and he gave his customers someone to trust. So, not only did he build a loyal fan base, but he made sure each of his fans felt socially responsibile to support him and his business.

Personalized Service

We have all been there. We know where we need to go to buy what we want but we don’t know what to buy. In a big-box store, you can’t find someone to help you and if you do, they can’t help you because they don’t know. The other day when I was in a big box store, I asked the customer service representative, “Where can I find the video cameras?” He said, “I have no idea. Talk to sales.”

That would never happen in a Mom and Pop shop. The workers will show you where to go and offer to carry it to your car. If you don’t know what you want, they will make suggestions for you based on your personal interests.

Now as I said before, when you e-mail Gary Vaynerchuk and ask him “What wine goes with my meal?” He will respond and your dinner party in a few weeks will be a huge success. Gary knew that great service was the key to word of mouth marketing, so he made it his priority.

Now What Do You Think?

What else did Gary Vaynerchuk do that made him a great “mom and pop” internet business? Share it in the comments.

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Click Here for the rest of the Success Factors Blog Series

Why Einstein Became Immortal (and how your company can join him)

Derek — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:55:10 +0000

Do you want to learn how to make your company successful? Join Prevential and follow the Success Factors blog series daily in January 2009.

How can you ensure that people remember your company? How can you prevent your products and innovations from spiraling into a black hole? What can you do to be the 1 out of 10 businesses that become successful?

These are all tough questions with no easily discernible answer. However, we can learn a lot from Einstein and how he joined the immortal ranks of Aristotle, Galileo, and Isaac Newton.

Einstein was a genius. Some claim he was one of the smartest people who have ever lived. But his intelligence did not make him an international celebrity. For example, can you tell me a different physicist who won the Nobel prize?

Einstein was also innovative. He created the micro and macro description of the world (quantum physics and relativity respectively). But his innovation in science did not make people know his name. For example, can you tell me who created Penicillin or the Polio vaccination?

So then, what makes Einstein different? Why does everyone know about Einstein and E=mc2? Is it possible for your company to stand out like Einstein?

Smash Your Company

Let me take you back to the early 1900s. A Coca-Cola executive approached a designer and asked him to create a glass bottle that would be easily identified as a Coca-Cola bottle — even if you smashed the bottle into 100 pieces. This idea went down in history as the “Smash Your Brand” test.

Now, lets apply this to Einstein. Can you smash Einstein into 100 pieces and identify him as Einstein? What if I were to show you a picture of wild crazy gray hair that is standing on edge? I’m willing to bet you would be reminded of Einstein.

From a physics perspective, Einstein’s work is obviously Einstein’s work. Scientists can identify Einstein’s ideas just by looking at the scope of the ideas. This is similar to how many people can identify Van Gogh’s art just by looking at it.

Whatever business you are in you need to make sure you can smash it. You need to make sure people will recognize what you do by focusing on seemingly insignificant details like your hair style. Or, in Chris Pearson’s case, a nifty options panel for a wordpress theme.

Differentiate Your Company

What happens when you want to break into an elitist genre of old dogs and proclaimed experts? You will battle resistance, but it isn’t impossible to overcome it.

When Einstein started out in his career, he consistently encountered resistance. As Walter Isaacson pointed out in “Einstein,” Einstein was unable to get a job in academia or admitted into a doctoral program. However, it didn’t stop him. He worked on his theories while he worked at a patent office and his dedication and uniqueness paid off.

Now if his theories were similar to what was being discussed in academia, he would have probably stayed in that patent office for the rest of his life. After all, who would notice a no-name unqualified scientist in some silly patent office?

So, if you are thinking about starting a blog about blogging, think again. It’s been done and Darren Rowse already owns it. However, if you plan to add a unique spin or twist to the genre, do it to your heart’s content. Michael Martine of Remarkablogger is doing this perfectly. He’s not as big as Darren, but he offers much easier and practical advice than other blogs.

Or, if you’re looking to break into a a snobbish niche with snobbish followers, you should take a look at what Gary Vaynerchuk did to the wine industry. He focused on describing wine to regular people. He would say things like, “this wine has some of that raspberry slim jim action going on” instead of “esters,” “vintage,” and other words I can’t define. Oh, and he last I heard, Gary did over $50 million in sales.

The Success Factors Prescription

You have been introduced to the Success Factors Spotlight in “Why You Should Put All Your Eggs in One Basket.” Now you can see the “Success Factors Prescription,” which is where you can learn how to implement what we talked about into your company.

So, how do you differentiate your company? How can you help your company stand out?

Make People Feel Great: Many companies claim that their customers are their biggest asset. However, when we call Bank of America’s help line, it takes us more than 30 minutes to talk to a representative. So, make sure you say what you mean and focus on making people feel great. Maybe you should give them a restaurant mint?

Same Niche, Different Angle: You don’t need to come up with a unique idea. You need to find an idea and improve it slightly. For example, Facebook crushed Myspace by targeting college students. They made a slight change and emphasized it. So, if you enter a crowded niche, make sure you make your differences your main marketing tactics.

Keep Moving Forward: Einstein’s famous quote “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving” applies to business. If you want to maintain or develop your competitive advantage, you need to continuosly improve upon what you have. If you don’t, you’re likely to fall over and crash into the concrete.

Do Something Quirky: In college I remember a kid we called shades. Nobody knew him, but he always wore sunglasses and a vest 365 days a year. I still remember him to this day because of his quirkiness and I realized you can do this in business. For example, one of Sam Walton’s store managers created the largest display of laundry detergent. It garnered a ton of attention and sales.

Be Trustworthy: We live in a world where different is no longer different. We have thousands of products and companies to choose from. So, if you want to stand out, make sure you are the most trustworthy person on earth. Don’t do anything you would be ashamed of and people will respect you for it.

What Did I Miss?

Do you have anything to add to this list? Do you have any other great ways to differentiate yourself in the marketplace? Why don’t you write a follow-up blog post or leave a comment?

Why You Should Use Humor in Business

Derek — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:15:38 +0000

Photo courtesy of Grace Wong

Do you know why laughter is powerful? It makes people feel great. After all, who wouldn’t want to walk around with a huge smile on their face?

Earlier this week, I wrote an article detailing how professional comedians make people laugh. In it, I go over three sure-fire joke templates of the pros (Chris Rock, Rodney Dangerfield, etc…). Gyutae Park from Winning the Web was kind enough to publish it on his blog and it has started a decent discussion. However, I wanted to elaborate on the importance of humor in business and blogging.

Humor Makes People Listen

The main challenge in business and blogging is getting people to pay attention to you. They need to take time out of their day and give it to you for a few seconds. To make matters worse, you are competing with everything else that demands people’s attention (advertisements, living, work, etc.).

But do you really know what you’re up against? Not only are you in competition with other people and business, but you are also fighting the human body. People are bombarded with so much noise that they learn how to tune everything out. So, if you want to get noticed, you need to make sure you’re not tuned out.

Humor solves this problem. Bad jokes, good jokes, any jokes. As long as you stray from the norm, people will listen to you because you’re doing something different.

When I was reading Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath, they talked about a flight attendant who remixed the traditional safety procedure. Instead of going through the very informative safety session, she made it into a stand-up comedy session. She made jokes about disco balls, bright lights, exits, and safety belts. You can bet each passenger listened to her and understood what she was saying.

Just remember people need to listen to you before they buy anything from you. So, you need to make people listen.

Humor is Personal

How many times have you been told that the key to creating a successful business is by being personally involved with your customers? A million times I’m sure.

Humor is a great way to get personal with your customers. Even if your jokes are bad or offensive, it will promote some kind of response. It will create a conversation. It will make people remember you. It will show people that you’re willing to put yourself out there and see what happens. Just take a look at how Gary Vaynerchuk sells. He just puts himself out there and he built a loyal following.

A few months ago a co-worker mentioned to me, “How come people seemingly tell you everything?” I didn’t really know the answer to this question until a few weeks ago. People trust me because I am always putting myself out there with bad jokes, good jokes, boring jokes, and offensive jokes. They feel like they can tell me anything because I tell them anything. I put myself out there and talk about what I think and as a result, they talk about what they think.

By now you can imagine how great this is for business. When people trust you, they are more willing to become die-hard customers. They will be more willing to become part of that 20% that gets you that 80%.

The Humor Bottom Line

I’m not telling you to go overboard with humor. Too much of it can be detrimental to your reputation, but a controlled amount can be the difference between success and failure.

The master playwright Herbert Gardner once said, “once you get people laughing, you can tell them anything” and he could not be more right. This specifically applies to you and me because once you get people laughing, you can also sell them anything.

So what do you think? Do you think humor is a great way to add some “spice” to your business? Do you think it will help you become more successful?

Who Else Wants To Sell Like Gary Vaynerchuk?

Derek — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:51:59 +0000

This article is the 5th article in the Sales Training 101 article series.

Photo Courtesy of Brian Solis

I know I do. So, let me explain.

First, have you heard of Gary Vaynerchuk (@Garyvee) yet? He’s the brash, animated guy behind Wine Library TV, a video blog that sells wine, and GaryVaynerchuk.com, a video blog that helps entrepreneurs become successful.

But why does he matter to you?

Gary Vaynerchuk is an expert salesman. He makes a ton of money selling wine on the internet and now selling his ideas and advice on new media. He’s been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Time, and tons of other media outlets (check his About Page).

But how can he help you sell?

I came across Gary Vaynerchuk over at Technosailor, and I was hooked on his videos. I watched every video on his entrepreneur video blog and then went to Wine Library TV, and watched a ton of videos about wine.

Did I mention I hate wine? I absolutely hate the taste of wine, and Gary had me so curious that I went out and had a glass of wine with dinner. I still hated it, but I had it because of Gary.

Just like you, I was left wondering how he managed to convince me to have wine, so I watched his videos again and now, without further ado, here are five ways you can sell like Vaynerchuk:

Embrace Yourself

In a world where nothing is private, you need to embrace yourself. Everything you do is on display somewhere, so you might as well show your true colors to keep the message clear and consistent.

As a new or experienced salesman, your clients and prospects will find out your true intentions. So, you might as well show them. If you’re trying to help, great. Help them. Unfortunately, if you’re selling for the wrong reasons, you better find the right reasons or else you won’t be successful.

Here is Gary stressing the importance of embracing yourself (source):

Go and Get It

It seems simple right? Yet, so many people stand around waiting for success to be handed to them on a silver platter. It just doesn’t make sense.

Successful sales people put themselves in the line of fire (the most crowded places) with a bullet proof vest (a plan) and emerge victorious on all occasions. You can’t sit around waiting for clients to find you, you need to find them and show them why you’re the salesman for the job.

Check out Gary proving this point to the max (source):

Work The Room

Fifty years ago corporations controlled what consumers read and saw about their products. Their job was to present the products to the masses so they would buy them.

Not anymore.

With the internet taking the power away from the gatekeepers (newspapers, television, and radio), everyone has a voice and the corporation who fosters that conversation will be successful.

Not only does this affect corporations, it affects salesmen.

Fifty years ago, when someone wanted to buy a new car, they want to their local dealership because they did not have a choice. They dealt with the people and bought the cars.

Not anymore.

Today, people have the choice of buying local or across the world. If you wanted to buy a car, you could buy it in Texas and have it shipped. If you wanted to buy a computer, you could skip Best Buy and order it on the internet.

The times have changed.

Salesmen are no longer speaking at a set local audience. They need to communicate with their local audience to ensure they don’t go elsewhere. So, work the room, Gary style.

Gary Vaynerchuk Working the Room (source):

Word of Mouth

We all know the importance of word of mouth. If you make people feel great, they will talk about you and your business to their friends.

Master car salesman Joe Girard would regularly take out the car service staff to lunch. As a result, Girard’s clients would get preferential treatment and would rarely wait on line to have their car serviced.

Guess what happened? All of the car buyers talked about it and everyone wanted to deal with Joe Girard.

Now, people today are much more popular than they were twenty years ago. They have hundreds or thousands of friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter. They have hundreds or thousands of loyal readers on their blogs and forums. One huge supporter can be the difference between success and failure.

So, salesmen, not only do you need to keep the client happy with their purchase, you need to get your client talking about you. You need to make sure you take those extra steps and devote more time and resources to making your clients feel great.

Here is Gary on Word of Mouth and Brand Equity(source):

Better Than Zero

When people start a business, they talk about their dreams and where they can end up if they’re successful. They relish in their small victories by posting money on the wall, and celebrating every win.

When people become successful, they forget about their small victories. They forget about their first sale, first account, and their grand-opening. They become focused on their biggest clients and they forget the rest.

Salesmen should never forget their small clients. Sure, they may not be as valuable, but they were there when you first started. They were there keeping you afloat while you built your business.

Here is Gary talking about his theory “Better Than Zero” (source):

Sell Like Vaynerchuk

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