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.
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.
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.
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.
i consider him wildly successful, and every time i have reached out to him with a question or comment he has responded. i can't say those things about many others.
You blew off a phone call we were supposed to have in 2009. Matt and I had it all set up, but you never followed through. I'm not mad about it, but I never forgot.
Don't confuse overwhelmed/busy with someone disrespecting you - some people's calendars/inboxes scroll like crazy, and they can miss things without any ill-intent.
Is that true man? I am sure it can happen, I promise I didnt blow it off, life is hectic at time, I would love to resched and I a, sorry ( gary@vaynermedia .com )
He grew a company from 4 million in sales to 60 million and has a NY Times Bestselling book. How is that not "wildly successful"? Because he literally isn't Mark Zuckerberg? I can only hope to get to that point so early in life.
He may not have the legendarily technical chops of a Fabrice Bellard or the leadership prowess of Peter Drucker, but he _surely_ knows how to sell things pretty well. I'd say he's the online equivalent of Joe Ades the Gentleman Peeler[1], which is absolutely nothing to sneeze at.
@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 )
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.
can you tell your guys at wine library to stop carding me every time I shop there...I'm 27...but there hasn't been a single time where I wasn't asked to show my ID.
It's not that big of a deal(my wallet is already out to pay)...but it's annoying when the people in front of you who don't look that much older than you get to avoid it.
I don't have a dog in this fight whether people think of him as successful or not, but by most rational peoples definition of successful, he is.
I never thought I'd be a massive fan of a wine blogger, but here I am defending him. I've been following him online for a few years and he (in my opinion) is the most genuine author/blogger/tech commentator out there. If you say something good or bad about him, he goes out of his way to respond to you. He doesn't have to, but he does. And the message you get is that he genuinely cares what people have to say. I wish some of my other favorite authors would give at least half the effort with engagement that Gary does.
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.
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[ 4.5 ms ] story [ 69.7 ms ] threadI 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.
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.
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.
You blew off a phone call we were supposed to have in 2009. Matt and I had it all set up, but you never followed through. I'm not mad about it, but I never forgot.
He may not have the legendarily technical chops of a Fabrice Bellard or the leadership prowess of Peter Drucker, but he _surely_ knows how to sell things pretty well. I'd say he's the online equivalent of Joe Ades the Gentleman Peeler[1], which is absolutely nothing to sneeze at.
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGOjFhKeLiU
It's not that big of a deal(my wallet is already out to pay)...but it's annoying when the people in front of you who don't look that much older than you get to avoid it.
Or maybe no, no clue. But I'd card everyone.
I never thought I'd be a massive fan of a wine blogger, but here I am defending him. I've been following him online for a few years and he (in my opinion) is the most genuine author/blogger/tech commentator out there. If you say something good or bad about him, he goes out of his way to respond to you. He doesn't have to, but he does. And the message you get is that he genuinely cares what people have to say. I wish some of my other favorite authors would give at least half the effort with engagement that Gary does.
-gv
Case in point: Metcalfe/Ethernet: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1418874
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QWHkcCP3tA&feature=playe...