Crush It

I recently read Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk, a book about Web 2.0, social media, and how to leverage the numerous resources on the internet to market your brand. Vaynerchuk used hustle and determination to grow a family liquor store from $5 to $50 million within a period of about 8 years. He then built on that success with the creation of WineLibraryTV.com where he provides insight into all things oriented to wine. Through the use of social media, WineLibraryTV has become an enormous success. Vaynerchuk gives lots of great insight into building community for your brand including such platforms as Twitter, Facebook, uStream, Viddler, YouTube, blogging, and podcasts, amongst a host of others.

The title "Crush It" comes from identifying passion and what the person or company enjoys doing more than anything. By engaging in the identified passion and utilizing the Web 2.0 marketing tools, the company or person can Crush It, Blow it Up, or other terms indicative of outstanding success.

Vaynerchuk notes that once you identify your passion that you should work at it at full speed, constantly. The only drawback to the book is that it is in written form. With the social media landscape changing so rapidly, perhaps Vaynerchuck could work with organizations such as Amazon to release an ebook version every 6 months or so to provide updated content based on new innovations. Crush It could become to social media what What Color Is Your Parachute is to career guidance.

This book is good for anyone looking for a fairly comprehensive look at social media and how to leverage it to enhance your passion and brand.