BOOK REVIEW – Crushing It! How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence – and How You Can, Too (2018) by Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk or GaryVee, is a Russian-American entrepreneur, author, speaker and internet personality. It’s you’re an entrepreneur (or wanna-be) and active in social media, you’ll know him. In his 2009 international bestseller Crust It!, Gary insisted that a vibrant personal brand was crucial to entrepreneurial success. In Crushing It!, 9 years later, Gary explains why that’s even truer today, offering his unique perspective on what has changed and what principles remain timeless.

How do I know Gary? Through social media, books, and podcasts. How Gary makes a difference in my life? Because of his in-your-face advice and sometimes renegade wisdom, I start again using Instagram again and created a Twitter account to share my materials on leadership, leadership, and creativity – in short, my personal brand. Also, when my blog URL was blocked on Facebook last month, I have to find another way to spread my brand. Wala!? Create videos and share them on YouTube! It’s not because of Gary alone, of course, but one of the cheerleaders is him. So you can see how valuable this book is to me personally.

There are two (2) parts in this book:

Part 1: Get Pumped. Here Gary tells the importance of building your personal brand, turn your passion into profit, eight things that really matter to “Crushing It!” (Namely, 1) Intent, 2) Authenticity, 3) Passion, 4) Patience, 5) Speed, 6) Work, 7) Attention, and 8) Content. I shared briefly in the video), advised his readers to document rather than creating, reveals the reasons what stopping people from “Crushing It!” and a chapter on giving yourself permission to just do it! I’m pumped up after I finished reading this part.

Part 2: Create Your Pillar. Basically, this part is all about practicality. There are three (3) basics thing that you HAVE to do: 1) create a Facebook page; 2) the importance of using hashtags#, and 3) encouragement to collaborate and partner with others. Then he devotes each chapter to explain about Musical.ly, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Podcasts and Voice-First. Worth reading it! Gary also tells the stories at the end of each chapter how others used his timeless principles in “Crush It!” to build their businesses and influence.

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THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Likeable Business (2013) by Dave Kerpen, Book Review

Likeable Business: Why Today’s Consumers Demand More and How Leaders Can Deliver (2013)
by Dave Kerpen with Theresa Baun and Valerie Pritchard

Dave Kerpen ends this book with Seth Godin’s quote but I’ll put it at the beginning: “How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?” All individual is inherently likeable said Dave. With all the advancements and accomplishments in the world today especially in technology and social media, it is easier (high probability, great potential) for us “to be remarkable” – and at the same time, unlikeable, too. Before I read this book, I asked myself, why likeable is important? Can’t business just be… business? Who cares about some complaining customers? After I read the introduction of this book, I changed my mind. “In hyper-connected, social media-driven society,” explain Dave, “businesses can no longer afford to be mediocre. Businesses large or small must be obsessed with their customers, making and keeping them happy.” When I read about how one angry customer, Dave Carroll, damaging United Airlines’ reputation and stock price by uploaded a video onto YouTube (over 12 million views) because United breaks his guitar and treated him rudely, I’m ready to learn to be likeable.

It seems scary that one disgruntled customer could negatively impact a business. Scary yes, but this is also good news. If one person can damage a reputation and stock price with just one negative feedback on social media, imagine what one or more customers share positive recommendations. “Stories of customer service failures can spread quickly,” writes Dave, “so can stories of going above and beyond to delight your customers.” Agree! There are three (3) reasons why I LIKE this book: 1) Although Dave admits that the 11 principles that he outlines in this book are not new, he makes it interesting by sharing stories, personal examples and straight to the point anecdotes that even a non-marketing background person like me can understand; 2) Each chapter and subchapter is broken up into bite-sized chunk for easy reading and to come back to if you’re a busy person, and 3) Action items at the end of every chapter are very helpful to apply the principle. Here are the 11 Principles of Likeable Business that together make for more likeable leaders and better, more customer-centric organizations:

#1 Listening: One Mouth, Two Ears, Many Opportunities. “Listening is the foundation of any good business.”

#2 Storytelling: Tell, Don’t Sell. “A likeable leader has a strong vision and purpose and always has stories to see that vision.”

#3 Authenticity: Just Be Yourself. “Likeable leaders are transparent about who they are online, merging their personal and professional life together.”

#4 Transparency: The Truth Shall Set You Free. “Openness and honesty lead to happier staff and customers – and a happier you.”

#5 Team Playing: There’s No ‘I’ in Team (or Culture). “Letting others shine, encouraging innovative ideas, and following other rules for working in teams will help you become a more likeable leader.”

#6 Responsiveness: Taking Listening One Step Further. “Responding shows you care and gives your customers and employees a say, allowing them to make a positive impact on your company.”

#7 Adaptability: Change or Perish. “Stubbornness is no longer desirable. Instead, humility and the willingness to adapt mark a great leader.”

#8 Passion: Love the Work You’re With. “People who are able to bring passion to their business have a remarkable advantage, as that passion is contagious to customers and colleagues alike.”

#9 Surprise and Delight: Every Mistake Is an Opportunity. “Likeable leaders underpromise and overdeliver, assuring that customers and staff are surprised in a positive way.”

#10 Simplicity: Be Simply Human. “The world is more complex than ever before, and yet what customers often respond to best is simplicity – in design, form, and function.”

#11 Gratefulness: The ROI (Return on Investment) of ‘Thank You.’ “Likeable leaders are ever grateful for the people who contribute to their opportunities and successes.”

Meg Cadoux Hirshber, author and entrepreneur, writes this praise for Likeable Business: “This important, persuasive book will change the way you think about and operate your business. Anyone who hopes to lead successfully in the twenty-first century needs to read this book.” Amen. With that, I must return back this book to the state library, Pustaka Negeri Sarawak, hoping that another reader will be blessed like I do. Can’t wait to incorporate these principles into my new small (perhaps smaller) business – online bookstore. By the way, do you want to buy great and valuable books? CLICK HERE.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Entrepreneur for the Rest of Us (2015) by Paul B. Brown, Book Review

Entrepreneur for the Rest of Us: How to Create Innovation and Opportunity Everywhere (2015)

by Paul B. Brown

I was looking for a book on entrepreneurship/business at the library last week and my criteria were: 1) Less than 200 pages [because I need to bring it during my travel, travel light]; 2) Hardcover [tough for my traveling bag]; 3) Easy-to-read [thus the subtitle]; and recently published [2015 is quite recent] – and so, I choose this one! Surprisingly, I enjoy reading Paul Brown’s book and I have about a dozen ideas taken from this book ready for actions. I read on average one book per week and sometimes readers like me can get caught in the trap of consistently reading and never taking action on anything they read. I must make sure that if I found good ideas from a book, I will take notes (and write a review) and if it is applicable, I will test the wisdom and take actions accordingly.

Entrepreneur for the Rest of Us is really… for the rest of us. If you want to improve your company or if you’re working for a growing company or if you own a start-up or (like me) you are thinking about going out on your own, then this book is suitable for you. For about 30 years, Paul Brown has been studying and writing about entrepreneurs, and he said that the most important is “to study how the most successful entrepreneurs think.” What do they have in common? Brown listed 6 of them. They… #1 Figure out what they really want to do, they get a firm handle on what they want to create; #2 Take a small step toward that goal; #3 Pause after taking that small step to see what they have learned; #4 Build off that learning and take another small step; #5 Pause after taking that step; and #6 Build off what they learned from taking that second step and take another small step. Brown reduced the process into this formula: Act – Learn – Build – Repeat. “Successful entrepreneurs don’t spend a lot of time planning or playing ‘what if’ games,” write the author, “They start (with a small step) and see how the world responds.” There are three benefits if we follow these steps: 1) You can get started right away; 2) You don’t need a lot of resources, and 3) You can respond quickly to market needs. I like what I’m reading!

This book is divided into 9 chapters and end with an afterward. For each chapter, there is three points summary (but I shorten it here), except for chapter 1:

Chapter 2: How the Best Entrepreneurs Think. “Don’t reinvent the proverbial wheel. You don’t need to learn everything the hard way. Serial entrepreneurs… have a proven approach to creating innovation and opportunity. The approach that has worked for them will work for you.” “Despite the myths, the best entrepreneurs take small steps.” “The formula the best entrepreneurs follow is: Act. Learn. Build. Repeat.”

Chapter 3: Always Start with a Market Need (And Not the Great Idea). “Always, always, always start by solving a market need instead of coming up with a wonderful idea.” “Make sure the need is real and big enough…” “Get underway quickly. Don’t wait to perfect your product or service.”

Chapter 4: The Secret of Marketing? Compete Differently. “At the highest level, marketing is remarkably simple: you figure out who you want to sell to, and then you determine how you are going to get those people to buy.” “Listen, listen, and listen some more.” “Costumer is not a ‘nice to have.’ It must be an essential part of your business strategy.”

Chapter 5: Don’t Sell Out to Become Rich. “Focus on making customers happy. If you do, the money will follow.” “Prove it to yourself. [Study the rich and] you will inevitably find that becoming rich was never a motivating force for them.” “Don’t wait until you have a lot of money in hand before you start something new.”

Chapter 6: You Need Less Money Than You Think. “You are going to need substantially less money than you think you get underway if you do things correctly.” “Spending less allows you to experiment more.”

Chapter 7: Building the Team. “Hire before you have to.” “Hire better than you have to.” “Delegate before you have to.”

Chapter 8: How the Most Successful People Turn Obstacles into Assets. “If you faced with a pleasant surprise, simply proceed down the path you were heading…” “If you encounter an unwanted surprise, treat it as a gift…” “Attitude is key. If you assume that everything, even the unexpected, is a gift, it will be.”

Chapter 9: Getting Motivated and Staying Motivated for the Long Haul. “When it comes to obstacles, your attitude and mindset are probably the most important things.” When times get tough, focusing on your end goal can help keep you going.” “Keep things as simple as you can.”

Afterward: Being an Entrepreneur Is Less Scary Than You Think. “Breaking your ideas for something new into extremely small steps diminishes the risk and thus (hopefully) the fear as well. It also gives you early confirmation that you are on to something, or it could reveal that you need to do more work.”

This formula: Act – Learn – Build – Repeat, is memorable and I’m practicing it now for my personal project and the other project with my friend lately. I do feel like I’m an entrepreneur now. Indeed this book is “for the rest of us” and I enjoy reading it!

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.