

Gary Vaynerchuk and Hustling - Don’t Underestimate Effort - bennesvig
http://www.fuzedmarketing.com/social-media/dont-underestimate-effort-gary-vaynerchuk-and-hustling/

======
MicahWedemeyer
This is the real truth when people talk about how they work very little and
make a lot. They redefine "work" to conveniently ignore the huge amount of
self-promotion that goes on.

I often wonder how much Tim Ferris, Mr. 4-hour workweek, spends promoting all
his shit. I'm going to guess that it's significantly more than 4 hours a week.

Engaging with a community is extremely time consuming, but is also very
rewarding. It definitely translated to increased sales on my site, which was a
huge surprise to me.

~~~
brlewis
That's good to hear. Actually I'd like to see more self-promotion from you
here, or at least less fear of self-promotion.

When I read your comment I immediately wonder what kind of site had community
engagement translate into increased sales. Rather than make me go to your
profile and figure out which site you're referring to, please just put in a
link. That makes it a lot easier for me. Don't fear self-promotion when you're
on topic.

~~~
MicahWedemeyer
One of the things I've found about effective promotion is choosing your
audience. While I'd love more attention and respect from the HN crowd, it
doesn't really translate to sales for me. So, I don't put a lot of effort into
promoting myself here. I think it's an important point that a lot of us tech
geeks miss: Unless your product is aimed at fellow tech geeks, don't worry
what HN people think of it (or of you).

But, since you asked, on <http://www.obsidianportal.com> we saw a significant
uptick in premium subscriptions when we hired someone to manage our Twitter
and Facebook account. We brought in someone from our community and he did a
great job increasing engagement.

We have a reputation for being very easy to engage, and I do as many
interviews/guest-spots on podcasts and blogs (roleplaying game blogs, not tech
stuff) as people will have me. I love the subject material, so it's fun to
talk about, but it's still "work" and takes a lot of time.

------
brlewis
We geeks habitually look for shortcuts in everything. We love the "viral"
concept because other people do the hustling for us. But sometimes there's no
substitute for effort.

Case in point: Metcalfe/Ethernet:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1418874>

~~~
aaronblohowiak
You have to seed the market even if you have a viral coefficient exceeding 1.

------
ludicast
Loved his talk at RailsConf. Was a longtime fan of his show and he seemed like
a real genuine dude. Great off the cuff too.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QWHkcCP3tA&feature=playe...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QWHkcCP3tA&feature=player_embedded)

------
AaronWormus
Seems like they've underestimated the effort it needs to keep a database
server running.

------
jsavimbi
Vaynerchuk is neither an anomaly nor is he wildly successful. He's a guy who
talks about himself that way, a lot, but in the end knows very little about
many things.

~~~
garyvee
@jsavimbi I am super sorry you feel that way about me, it's funny I do talk a
lot but what I am proud of is what i do when I am not talking. I hope we can
meet one day and talk, I am not really looking to change your mind but I am
hoping you may look at me in a different light, I wish you well and hope to
prove you wrong ;) ( In a good way )

~~~
ekanes
Hey gary, any quick tips for us on how you manage notification about you/your
brand? Ie how do you find threads about you and reply so quickly? Google
alerts seems ok but not as real-time as I'd like.

~~~
garyvee
Alerts and search.twitter are huge for me, not much else I see

~~~
ekanes
Thanks Gary!

