May 17, 2011 By 6 Comments

Book Review- @garyvee’s “Thank You Economy”

I had the privilege to meet @garyvee at SXSW while hanging at the Samsung Bloggers Lounge. I also had the opportunity to receive a complimentary copy of his new book The Thank You Economy (Amazon Affiliate Link). I also listened to his Keynote where I came in a bit late. He made key references to topics that captivated my attention right away.

That is the power @garyvee has over many people. He is so transparent and genuine that one begins to trust his judgement very quickly. @Garyvee spoke about the Old Spice commercials and how the company used various social platforms to get their message heard. One key factor that @Garyvee touched was the fact that although multiple platforms were used, they forgot the most important part of the campaign; the social part with customers. I had thought that  the Old Spice commercials where great examples of Social Media but when he pointed this out to us, I look at the campaign from a different perspective. The Old Spice company ran a marketing campaign and did not make sure to continue building and taking care of the following they built.

I read The Thank You Economy (Amazon Affiliate Link) and many phrases caught my attention. One of them being that @garyvee is Not a fan of SEO. I completely understand him when he approaches it the way he explains it in his book. It should not be a priority when there are many other things on the table that will bring good quality traffic to your site. I was also very happy to see @joesorge someone I admire and have gotten to know a bit more online since I joined Kitchen Table Companies (Affiliate Link). I had the opportunity to learn a bit more about @ajbombers from @garyvee perspective which really made me want to visit the establishment. (I am not sure if they have vegetarian options). I have interacted with @joesorge and I can say many of the qualities @garyvee pointed out in the book, I have been able to experience. I will try to summarize as much as possible some of the points I really enjoyed.

Perfect Date

Gary always uses the example of dating towards creating relationships in social media. I am a fan of quality content and thanks to @garyvee I can also see I am even a bigger fan of Quality Engagement. Gary gave me a quick way to explain this in one or two phrases. He also sees it as a marathon; many business people want to sprint the whole 26 miles without even knowing what direction to take. Make sure you are making steady progress while providing Quality Engagement and Quality Content.

Everything has Changed Except Human Nature

During his keynote at #SXSW, Gary mentioned how the family dog went from being an outside dog in the 50′s towards being really part of the family and living inside of the house (in my case Juanga sleeps on my bed.) Everything has changed except human nature and how easy it is for many people to forget that. Customers are no longer just walking wallets they are seeking something more. On the other side people have prioritized profit over principle and only those who put principle first will have an advantage over it.

Shock and Awe

I have always been a believer of surprising those who are always there for you including your customers. Gary’s advice is “Not too much money invested just a whole lot of heart”.

Intent

The importance of Good Intent is key and for @Garyvee it plays the same role. Intent allows to put Quality vs. Quantity into the equation which can be the difference between being popular and/or successful.

Importance of the Right Culture

I have collaborated with several organizations and getting everything in place for the success of the effort has been key. For an organization to take advantage of the Thank You Economy they need to invest in their culture. Gary advices us to stay away from script reading foreigners (or even locals) and telephone systems that make us press to0 many numbers after the call has been already answered. There is a need for passionate armies not employes.

“A capitalist society taking a communist approach towards there employees”~@garyvee

Gary also brings up the importance of complacency. If a person or organization becoming complacent, they deserve to go out of business. Also the right culture will allow you to identify pain points in your business process or organization which can serve as a map towards improvment.

Social Media is more than Media

Many organizations think Social Media is just another channel for them to push out their message and broadcast. Spreading the message can happen only when you are willing to commit and engage.

“Great for Putting out fires, Even better for building brand equity and relationships with your customers”~@garyvee

Although it is great for putting out fires it does a better job at keeping the sparks from flying in the first place.

I really enjoyed the example of how @garyvee explains the effect of creating a community in social media being similar to how ants collectively gather together, go under a table, and pick it up. The importance is in the unity. It is not the number of followers it is the strength of your bond. The strength of your bond will also make it more difficult for someone to come out of nowhere and take away your clients or community.

It also gives the opportunity for Engagement, which should not be forced. In the next few weeks I will be analyzing how I can improve converting a casual buyer to a committed buyer and on to an advocate. I really have to work on attracting the casual buyer i guess the other part I have to work it with time.

Resist the Thank You Economy

Where I have to agree with @garyvee is that organizations that resist the Thank You Economy will have an exodus of employees and many other things will affect them negatively. I will try to follow his example so in the long run I am on the winning side.

Thank You!

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  • http://www.miWindowsPhone.net Edwin Torres

     After reading your article I began to do a introspection about what I am writing right now in term of quantity vs. quality. I am aware that now I’am at quantity side to create a writing habit. But I need to begin in the quality side. Great blog! Thanks you.

    • http://raulcolon.net Raul Colon

      Edwin, 

      When it comes to blogging I guess I would focus more on getting quality readers. Quality writing on a blog does not mean it has to be grammatically correct It has to do more with giving things of interest. 

      If you look back at my writing at the beginning of this blog ( I hope it has improved) you can see how many things can be improved. I have someone else check my writing and I try to schedule my posts out at least one day ahead so I can take a look at it before publishing. 

      The quality part comes in with having quality people reading your blog who are willing to share and interact like you just did. So there goes the Quality engagement part Gary speaks about which really makes the difference. 

      Practice and writing more does help you improve but engaging with those who visit your blog and are interested is there the real secret sauce is. 

      thanks for stopping. 

    • http://raulcolon.net Raul Colon

       Edwin, 

      I see that in your blog your biggest advantage is that you write for a specific niche Windows Phone users. That must work very well for you! Thanks again for your comment. Tried commenting on your posts but  I am not too familiar with the Windows Phone. 

      • http://www.miWindowsPhone.net Edwin Torres

        Quality is something difficult to define.

        I write many article with short term life. (“vigencia corta”). Could it be catalog as quality article? I tend to think that it’s not. What do you think?

        Maybe a good article about development could be quality.

        • http://raulcolon.net Raul Colon

           I focus on Quality of people around me. Something much harder to do. 

          I have written some short term post like for example the one where My Ipad 2 cracked and every day I get somewhere near 100 readers daily. I guess when it comes to quality of a post the readers decide. Your analytics play in. 

          Listen to your readers and that circle of trust (quality people) to see what they want. At least that is what works for me.  

          • http://www.miWindowsPhone.net Edwin Torres

            Good advice.  Thanks.