We live in the disposable age. We eat take out, use disposable dishes, and look for a quick and easy fix for everything. The current bestselling books talk about doing less and enjoying more like “The Four Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferriss (which I am all for by the way). We are bombarded with mlm (multi-level marketing), network marketing, internet marketing and many other disguises for a way to make a quick buck. It seems like most people have forgotten that the most important ingredient in becoming successful is hard work.
Being involved in social media, I am very familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk, a wine expert/store owner who has used social media to grow his family business from $4 million per year to a $50 million business. I’m mentioning Gary Vaynerchuk because he is a modern example of a hard worker. He is passionate about what he does and he may be one of the hardest workers out there.
Not long ago, platforms such as the Facebook and iPhone opened up to developers so that anyone can create an application for their platform. Most people saw this as an opportunity to create a scalable app that can continue to make them money while they slept. It was a dream come true for some people. Gary Vaynerchuk jumped on the bandwagon and created his own Facebook app but contrary to what everyone else was trying to do, he may have created the absolute least scalable app in Facebook history. His app “Ask Gary” was pretty much just a place for people to ask him questions about wine. Gary answered every single one of the questions himself.
Gary Vaynerchuk’s lack of scalability doesn’t end there. He also answers every single one of thousands of emails he gets every day. To top it off, he personally speaks to almost every customer that comes in to his store. Gary also manages to record Wine Library TV, a regular videocast on wine which happens to be very entertaining.
Gary was recently asked how much time he spends on social media platforms such asFacebook and Twitter to which he responded “about 2.5 hours per day”. Shocked at the answer, Gary explained that it is a CEO’s job to make connections and get business and that he has found Social Media, the best place to make his connections.
Looking at Gary and what he has done, you may think that Gary has it made and can start delegating now. He can let other people do his work for him and go relax on a beach, he can definitely afford it now. Gary feels otherwise and for a very good reason. By answering thousands of people’s questions, speaking to customers and doing research online, his mind and gut are a better R&D team than you can ever possibly hire. He can smell new trends and predict what people will want and like. The human mind can accurately crunch more information that any super computer in existence. Gary takes advantage of this and stays years ahead of his competition.
Hard work does pay off… Just “Ask Gary”.
I am a typical person more or less that has always tried to get away with doing the absolute minimum to get by. In school, I did my assignments last minute, I barely passes some of my tests, I crammed for everything and didn't care about retaining any information. I always wanted to be successful and get lucky but my problem was that I thought that luck and chance were synonymous. One day, all that changed when i found out that there was more to "Luck". I learned that it was possible to make your own luck and that people that were "lucky", all had very similar characteristics. I made a conscious decision to become one of those lucky people and the world started to open up. It didn't happen overnight and I'm still not there yet but at least I know what to look for and what to do. Recognizing the opportunities to get lucky is only the beginning of the battle. Now I have to train myself to jump on every opportunity and one day be truly "lucky".
Tim Ferriss and Gary Vaynerchuk are Complete Opposites, How are they Both Successful?
I Hate Homework Rule: Follow it and Get Lucky!
What Should I Read Next?
Get Lucky by Working Towards a Four Hour Work Week
Don’t Wait for Opportunity to Knock
Get Lucky by Saving a Penny
Get Lucky by Rereading a Book
Get Lucky by Disciplining Yourself