The Way I Work: Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuk, a social media marketing guru, splits his time between two companies, and spends every free second tweeting his heart out.
David Yellen
Internet Celebrity: Gary Vaynerchuk's video blogs, on which he tastes and reviews wine, get some 90,000 views a day. The New York Jets helmet serves as his spittoon.
Gary Vaynerchuk, 35, has been a salesman for as long as he can remember. It was lemonade as a kid and baseball cards as a teenager. At 22, Vaynerchuk took over operations at Wine Library, his father's Springfield, New Jersey, wine store, eventually transforming it into a $60 million-a-year business and one of the largest online wine retailers. Customers flock to the company's website for Vaynerchuk's daily video blogs, on which he reviews wine with a playful irreverence and a New Jersey attitude.
In 2009, Vaynerchuk parlayed his social media buzz into a new business, VaynerMedia, which advises large companies on managing their online communities. These days, Vaynerchuk splits his time between the two companies, packing his days with wine reviews, client pitch meetings, and a constant stream of tweets.
When it comes to social media, I think most companies are putting a couple of chips on the table. I'm all in. Engagement is key to building real relationships with the people you do business with. People want to be heard and feel like their opinions matter.
I typically spend four or five hours a day using social media to engage with people. Some days, I've spent up to 12 hours on TweetDeck. Every day, between every phone call or meeting, in every cab ride—during every spare second—I'm on Twitter. I have 850,000 followers, and I care about every tweet.
As soon as I wake up in the morning—usually between 7 and 8:30—I grab my laptop and start answering e-mails. I try to answer every single e-mail I receive, but it's tough. I get hundreds, maybe even a thousand a day. My assistant organizes my e-mail into folders for me, which helps. I also have it set up so that, when people write to me, they get an e-mail with a video of me promising to do my best to write back.
I usually spend about 15 to 45 minutes on the computer first thing in the morning. Then I'll shower and go play with Misha, my 20-month-old daughter, while I chat with my wife, Lizzie, who is a stay-at-home mom.
Every Monday, I make the trip to Wine Library in Springfield, New Jersey. That's the only day of the week I'm in the office. It's about a 45-minute drive from where I live in New York City. I usually spend that time on the phone. The first call is always to my mom—we talk about family stuff. Then, I'll usually call Brandon Warnke, Wine Library's vice president of operations. I've groomed Brandon over the past few years to run things, so I can focus on VaynerMedia. But we talk two to three times a day on the phone. We'll discuss a range of things—problematic inventory, new products, pissed-off customers.
I get to the office around 10 a.m. and meet with the key managers. We have a fantasy baseball league—so, during baseball season, I'll talk trash about that for a few minutes, and we'll make some trades. Then everyone catches me up on the business. We'll talk about things like new orders, Robert Parker reviews, and which vineyards want to sell us what for how much.
After the meeting, I start picking the wines I want to feature on my online show, Wine Library TV. Some shows are super planned out, some aren't. I know wine so well that I don't need prep work. From age 16, I lived and breathed wine. I read every magazine and book about wine. By the time I was 23, I was doing all of the buying for the store, so I tasted a lot of wine. I know my shit.
Some people think I'm a huckster, but with the show, my intent isn't to sell our wine. It's to educate people about wine. There's a big difference. Too many companies think they want to do a video blog to sell merchandise, but if you turn your site into QVC, you lose. I have an audience that trusts me. It's about building a global brand—not selling four more bottles of Pinot Grigio.
When I started the show in 2006, I used to tape one episode a day, but I've gotten too busy. Now, I record all five shows—for Monday through Friday—in one day. I change shirts to make it look like it's a new day, but people are catching on.
I hate recording all the shows for the week in one day, because I want to be able to mention current events and pop culture. If Madonna punches Britney in the face today, I want to reference that on Wine Library TV tomorrow. Monday's episode is always the best, because it's hot off the press.
We usually tape from noon until 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. It's superinformal. And since everyone knows that's the only day I'm in the office, employees will come by to say hello, or fans might show up and ask me to sign a bottle. I take random breaks to chat and sometimes ask people—like my dad—to make cameo appearances on the show.
I carry my laptop with me everywhere. If I have any downtime during the day, I'll jump on my computer and answer e-mails. At least once a week, I log in to Ustream, a free video streaming site that lets you interact with people. I'll send a tweet and let people know I'm online. Then, I'll sit at my desk for two or three hours, chatting with up to 500 people through my webcam. I get all kinds of questions: "How do I build my car wash?" "How can I get more traction with my blog?" "What wine should I have for my daughter's wedding?" I believe that kind of one-on-one engagement with people is key to growing my personal brand. And I love the Vayniacs, my fans.
When I'm at Wine Library, I usually spend at least an hour with my dad, talking about something silly or something big. He still works at the store every day, running the back office and making a lot of the buying decisions. My dad is like a cactus—introverted and tough. I'm a people person, like my mom, but I got my competitiveness from my dad. He came to this country from Belarus with nothing and built a real business. He's my hero for giving me that need to run a business and for having enormous confidence in me. But there were times we battled about the business. I think he and I have a better relationship today, because I started doing my own things.
