Gary Vaynerchuk Book Signing in Atlanta

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Gary Signing Books

I got the opportunity to meet Gary Vaynerchuk at a book signing tonight at Cost Plus Market in Buckhead. I got there right after it started, due to the lovely traffic we have here in Atlanta. I wanted to be there a little early. I walked in and thought the line maybe horrendously long, but it wasn’t too bad. I would say about 150 people or so where there and I only had to wait about 30 minutes to get my book signed.

The one thing that really impressed me with Gary is that he took the time to talk to everyone there. Which shouldn’t surprise me due to him being one of the few to actually answer all his emails. It was great to go to a book signing where they didn’t herd you out the door. I got to talk to him for a few minutes and then get my picture taken.  When he was signing my book I said “Thanks for the book, I am one of the Linked In winners from two weeks ago.” Which he enjoyed hearing. Two weeks ago, he tweeted that if you tweet and use #in (which sends the tweet to update your Linked In status when set up) and the name of someone crushing it, you will win a copy of the book if you are the first 200 to do so. And, I was!

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Gary addressing the crowd before Q&A

After signing all the people’s books he talked for about an hour and fifteen minutes. The topics he talked about were the book, about emerging technology, mobile marketing and more. After talking four about 45 minutes he took questions for the next 45 minutes.

The one thing I really like about Gary is he’s speaks his mind. He talks about technologies, trends and all other areas of social media/marketing. I hear him speak and usually agree with what he is foretelling.

He said something I have heard from Lily Winsaft of Aldeberan and Associates has said for years. If you want to follow your dream, then take a job that pays the bills, but allows you to work on your dream. That is one thing Gary talked about tonight. If you want your dream to happen you have to work for it and sacrifice.

One of the other things that he said rang very true to me is “Drive will not thrive under oppression.” Meaning if you work under an oppressive boss or company, no one will have the drive or ambition to do new and innovative things. You will look at situations and say what’s the point in even trying.  I think his message is very good, its about passion and doing something right NOW about it.

Some of the interesting things he said were:

  • Mobile is going to only grow
  • You have to be persistent and work at it.
  • He’s working on his next book
  • The business world is going back to more mom & pop shops where customer service and personal service are key
  • If you are going to be a player, you will need an iPhone app
  • To be successful you need to work at it, and do it for two years or more, don’t expect over night success.
  • The barriers to enter into a new business on the net are virtually zero

I had a great time, and if Gary comes to your town I suggest you go. He is an awesome speaker and you just may learn something.

Tim is the founder of Element33. A social media agency specializing in education, management and strategy for small businesses. He comes from a traditional marketing agency but has embraced all things digital. He considers himself a marketing nerd and believes that all marketing is tied together. This means no matter what silo you are in, social, email, seach, etc, changes in one will affect the other!

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