Way to many people and companies are thinking of themselves 1st and then repackaging it as something for the community or their customers. I can honestly say this video makes me smile! It’s just so damn simple!
Do it for them!
Tags: , "do it for them", business, community, garyvee, people, vaynerchuk
April 11th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
hey gary I just started watching you videos, and they are all awesome, you have an interesting perspective on issues. great video once again!
April 11th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Another great video! If you help enough people and always do “right” by them… The money will come!!
- Adam DesAutels
April 11th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Excellent point, Gary. I’m trying to think of that with everything that I do nowadays, from the full-time gig to the teaching gig to my work online.
Love these vids, man. Keep ‘em coming!
April 11th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
YES! Hole in one Gary - thanks for doing it for us on your own show!
April 11th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I wish mr boss thought this way
April 11th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Truth. I hate the idea of pitching to users. If the product is good, it will sell. People will talk and send it forward.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Good words. I think the reason few crack the code on this is that authenticity cannot be faked, and many, many businesses are structured “at odds” with consumers.
For example, many businesses seek to hide pricing, disguise margins, charge different prices, escalate prices when consumers don’t notice, create hidden switching costs, etc. The momentum of this dishonesty is built into their business, encouraged by competitors who do the same thing, and frankly, the executives running these programs probably can’t escape.
So, you can’t be transparent if you can’t be honest, and you can’t be honest if you’re caught in a dysfunctional business-consumer relationship. Which is why real help for users is hard to find. Which is why people like you, Gary, are successful — because you are so rare.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Right on. Care about people first. Simple indeed.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
100% absolutely yes!!!
The same notion holds true in any business - the customer/user/friend is always first. They call the shots - as business owners our job is to listen.
Keep doing these posts! They rock my world.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Very good point. I’ve been saying that for ages, but many people don’t comprehend it. All they want to know is how it will help them out. Not how it TRULY helps the users.
Great video as always!
April 11th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
DUGG - http://digg.com/people/Do_it_for_them
April 11th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I’m not sure I get you on this one Gary. Customers/Users/Friends are the ones that keep a business, well, in business. Why wouldn’t I create something for the users AND monetize it? My friends are getting something of value and they’re helping me put food on the table. Your passion is wine, and you do so much to help us enjoy the wine experience, and I really love what you do. But you’re looking to sell a few bottles from your store as well, right? So yes, do things for your friends by adding value to their lives, and be thankful when they give you money for it.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Right to the point. And a very important one, Gary.
As soon as you lose focus on the user, your client, your prospect, your whatever, they’re likely to feel more like the tide is washing over them than they’re being pulled by your ski rope. Water is water–from every direction–and whoever gets them wet gets their attention. But if the rope is always connected to your boat they know exactly in whose wake they’ll thrive. So put the rope into their hands.
Good stuff!
DrTodd
http://www.MapYourAptitude.com
April 11th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
You should read Get Back In The Box by Rushkoff. It’s good (#2 favorite business book after How Brands Become Icons). People always think that because I teach marketing that I can teach them something about their own product/business. In today’s competitive world, if you are not the expert on your product/business you are going to fail, no matter how you package it and try to sell it to users, friends, customers, etc. If people need an honest outside opinion and want to pay me lots of money, then I can provide my opinion, but I can’t teach people how to be an expert on their own product/business.
April 11th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Absolutely. It must be from your heart. It must be love-based, not greed-based.
April 11th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Hey Gary,
Right on! I have been learning so much from you since I saw you at Rich Schefren’s Maven Bootcamp. As an artist, while it is critical that I paint from my soul, I must do so as though my soul is connected to those might find my work and love as i do. I never thought of it like that till I started following you. I have multiple sites, and a blog and I’m changing them all because I didn’t get it when they were built. Thank you so much.
April 11th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Gary — another way of saying the same thing as you eloquently put in your video is - Be PASSIONATE about the product you build. Also, listen like crazy to your customers, but don’t be afraid to innovate and then keep going back to the provervial drawing board to keep making your product better. If you focus on your product and its usefulness and quality, then the the business side will take care of itself and a by-product will be that you will end up with community of users who are equally passionate about your product or service.
By way of example, InfoWorld recently came out with very positive first look at our latest Version of Alpha Five (v9) which lets one build web 2.0/ajax and desktop database applications rapidly.
http://weblog.infoworld.com/stratdev/archives/2008/03/alpha_five_plat.html
There were a couple of the negative comments that appeared from a person who had never heard of the product and from someone who had used a much earlier version 10 years ago.
Now here is the interesting part - we, the company did not have to do ANYTHING to defend ourselves, but rather our users came to our defense in a most dramatic and powerful way and the net result is that the defense was incredibly powerful because it was AUTHENTIC and real.
So the moral of the story is: I agree with Gary - focus on your customer needs and building a superb product and in turn everything else will take care of itself.
Richard Rabins
http://www.alphasoftware.com
April 11th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
well said Gary totally agree.
a friend of mine has just made a new twitter app
not to make him any money, just as something he and
his friends can use to make their twitter life a little
bit better.i know this is a shameless plug but check it out
i think you might find it useful.
http://crowdstatus.com/
April 11th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Sup Gary!!! It’s me Goku and I have to say that was an excellent video you posted. Keep keeping it real and I’ll keep holding it down for you in Georgia!
April 11th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
*Closes eyes and slowly nods up and down…. up and down…*
April 11th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
You need to be passionate about your product, no doubt. But having a marketing strategy and monetization plan for your business/product is an essential step for anyone. If you are passionate about your product, you want to tell people about it, spread the word, That’s marketing! You also would like to do what you love, all day everyday! That takes money for bills and lifestyle.
So I think you really need to make a balance. There is a difference between greed and making money and marketing something you love. I love promoting music, but if I want to pay mortgage on time, I need to bring in a nice paycheck.
Keep pumping out kick ass rock star videos my man and we’ll keep the talks going!
April 11th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Gary, Spot On!
Mike1115, it has nothing to do with businesses making money off their products, it is about the businesses “selling” and/or pushing product onto users by putting the square peg(the user’s actual needs) into a round hole (their product) merely to maximize their own products. You as a seller should work on defining your product through advertising instead of trying to water it down for the broader market and push it out as a commodity. With all the information online about products and services if you have a good product your users/customers will find you and if there is adequate demand you will make money. Companies have gotten into this business model of making things for the masses by watering down the quality of the individual functionalities (i.e. phone/camera/IM/text messaging/browser/mp3 player/navigation/etc..etc..) to attract more customers instead of making one thing work then expanding to additional functionalities ONLY if there is a demand AND if the added functionality WORKS WELL.
Also, if you continue to produce products that work for your customers they will continue to return.
April 11th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I dislike the term User for all sorts of reasons. I don’t feel like being Used that much! But your points are Right on the mark~! Way to call it GV!
April 11th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
totally agree. its like your 80/20. or it fits into it at least. many thanks!
April 11th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
@tonybls12 Interesting Twitter app from your friend. Going to give it a try
April 11th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Awesome. I think you’re more cutting edge than even you think, GV. There are so many apps and brands started by people but when you see them on Twitter or Pownce, they have a TON of fans and maybe a dozen friends. That sends a horrible message, I think.
On the other hand, someone like that can’t friend up everyone, so there’s a fine line. It comes down to passion and sincerity. Which is why you’re cutting that edge. We should never forget to interact with our customers!
April 11th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
You tell ‘em G. I like what 37signals has to say on this as well… Build things for you.
“When you solve your own problem, you create a tool that you’re passionate about. And passion is key. Passion means you’ll truly use it and care about it. And that’s the best way to get others to feel passionate about it too.”
April 11th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
You got it man, thats the way it works.
April 12th, 2008 at 3:09 am
Im gonna start adding these videos to my Space cause people need the Vay-Ner-Chuk Experience in the every day life
April 12th, 2008 at 7:39 am
I’m a little tired of everyone in the online media world telling everyone else “how its done”. Just do it yourself, and shut up, why do you need to tell everyone else how to operate?
April 12th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Kind of an updated spin on your customers come first!!! right on GV…
April 13th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Gary, does it seem that a reason we are seeing this “bait and switch” now is that for the longest time the reason to do something was “for the spreadsheet” and to change is a shift in fundamentals and that always takes along time and always deals with the stubbornness of the masses to change?
Whatever we can do first for the dollar VS whatever we can do first for the user are in strong opposition to the assumed rules of business when seen from traditional return on investment, development financing, reliability, accounting, business management, legal implications, risk analysis and so on. The structures people make decisions by in corporations need to change, and not just a little but fundamentally change for them to decide to make things for the user first and for themselves second.
Roger Martin from the Toronto School of Business has an interesting perspective on this issue. He frames it by describing a fundamental tension between Design (validity) and Business (reliability). The link is below, jump to 6:00 to get right to it.
http://tinyurl.com/6azrnc
April 13th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Gary - great point!
Just sent you an e-mail to see if you will be in NYC at either the Polaner or IPO tasting this week.
Let me know if you get a chance.
Cheers
April 14th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
GOOD POINT! And a good model for all to follow in a new age! Now what about our politicians! Are they for the users?
April 15th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Ab So Lute Lee
April 15th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
As simple as it is, the “Golden Rule” works in sales and in life. Give the people what they want just like you want to get what you want from people. fah-shizzle
April 16th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Gary, i was trying to explain web2.0 to someone the other day and they were asking how all these sites are making money. i kinda laughed bc people outside this realm don’t really get that people are making these sites to fill a need of the community. sure they’ll get their payday and get bought out or whatever, but to start it’s really just about making people’s lives more organized and easier to manage.
also, thought about you when i saw this this morning:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/04/parducci.php
Parducci is now the first carbon-neutral winery. All solar and wind-powered. I think this fits your theme of doing Good in everything you do. Not sure if their wine is any good, but their ‘greening’ certainly is.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Master of the obvious… I’m going to make a small observation here. I would, with all honesty, call you a “one-trick” pony. You have made a living off of a prefab wine business, expanded your brand/liquor store by making an elitist product accessible to the common denominator. You took that trick, broadcast it on the tubes, and now believe you can pioneer web 3.0 I have run into you so many times in life, while working as a telemarketer, while shopping for cars, eating in an over priced fusion joint with an overly aggressive wine list and part-time sommelier to match, or just trying to find a nice watch on Canal St.
April 17th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Thanks for another great video Gary. So far, 2008 has been a year for me to reflect on what I’ve done for others. I’m trying to apply this to my personal friends as well as business friends (users/customers). It becomes a challenge to champion this thought process to upper management in larger businesses but I am doing my best.
Thanks again.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
The interaction design community has been ranting on this for YEARS! Back in the old days, it was referred to as “human factors”
April 21st, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Really interesting point, and great follow-on discussion. I agree with “lish” when he says “master of the obvious”, but not with the rest of his harsh comments.
It is obvious! Many times its the obvious things that we miss, and Gary has definitely reminded me of that through a couple of these videos.
At Angelsoft, we’ve spent years trying to build the perfect tools for investors (and even then we didn’t get huge adoption at first), but people eventually saw that we were building tools for them, and that our interests were aligned with theirs. Some were suspicious, and that has been extremely frustrating for me as a business development guy, but our persistence keeps winning out. We go back to the drawing board, we call in more users to get feedback, and we get it right for our users.
The real kicker here I think it Authenticity! We are marketed to all day long from every angle, we don’t like anything fake, and we’re getting better at sniffing out the fakers