Millionaire blogger crushes it at mass comm week

Gary Vaynerchuk was once a young immigrant in the Soviet Union hoping for a better life. Today he is a successful entrepreneur who hopes to buy the New York Jets.
Gary Vaynerchuk, author of Crush It!, spoke to students Wednesday about the power of the internet and social media.
Cindy Royal, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, introduced Gary Vaynerchuk as host of The Wine Library TV and a premier speaker at South by Southwest.
“He’s been on Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Ellen; featured in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and he was named AskMen.com’s 18th most influential man,” Royal said. “We got someone here who is really ahead of their game. Gary’s very passionate about what he does.”
Vaynerchuk grew his wine business from a $3 million to a $55 million business by utilizing social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube.
“I’m not a very good writer but I knew I could communicate through video,” Vaynerchuk said.
Vaynerchuk said his success can be attributed to being an effective storyteller.
“The brands that succeed are the ones that most know how to paint a picture,” Vaynerchuk said.
Vaynerchuk said the internet is like “Lebron James 2.0” and has pounded and destroyed everything in its way.
“What it has done is allowed every person in this room a platform at zero cost,” Vaynerchuk said. “The internet is the single most underrated thing in our society right now.”
Vaynerchuk said he still uses the same video camera he had when he first started his company. He said he does not use any lighting or even a microphone for his online videos.
“That’s how ghetto we are,” Vaynerchuk said. “It’s about the message.”
Greg Speir, electronic media senior, said he was a “chronic procrastinator.” He asked Vaynerchuk what are the things that keep him motivated.
Vaynerchuk said he stays motivated because he realized he got lucky in being successful.
“I wasn’t born in this country,” Vaynerchuk said. “I could’ve stayed there and my DNA in Russia would’ve had me in jail or dead.”
After his presentation, while signing copies of his book, Vaynerchuk received a phone call that his book was 300 copies short of making the No. 1 spot on The New York Times’ bestseller list.
“I could have easily sold 300 more books,” Vaynerchuk said.

http://garyvaynerchuk.com/
http://crushitbook.com/
http://tv.winelibrary.com/
http://vaynermedia.com/
http://twitter.com/garyvee