500 plus advertising agencies were represented at Hubspot’s 2012 Inbound Conference in Boston, MA.
Hubspot saved the best for last at Inbound 2012, a conference that attracted over 2800 marketers from around the globe. New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling author Gary Vaynerchuk was the keynote speaker for the final day of the conference.
Gary is a self-trained wine and social media expert. From a young age, it was clear that he was a businessman. At 8-years-old he was operating seven lemonade stands in his neighborhood and by age 10 he had moved on to selling baseball cards at local malls.
In high school while working at his family owned liquor store, Gary started reading The Wine Spectator and wine books. He realized collecting wine offered an allure similar to his previous hobby of collecting baseball cards. With a wealth of knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit, Gary spent every weekend of his college years at his parents’ wine store. Recognizing the importance of e-commerce in 1997, Gary launched Winelibrary.com and helped grow his family business significantly from $3 million to $45 million by 2005.
He has close to 1 million followers on Twitter and was included in BusinessWeek’s list of the top 20 people every entrepreneur should follow.
Gary’s keynote message for the conference was, “Care Immensely or Die: This is a bigger culture shift than you realize.”
When Gary finished, I felt like I had sat through the greatest marketing presentation and I wasn’t even there!
I spoke at Inbound 2012 on Wednesday and had to catch a flight back to Birmingham that evening. Gary’s presentation was given in the packed auditorium of the Hine’s Convention Center in Boston. I was able to follow along by the thousands who were in attendance and tweeting the highlights. The conversations via the #inbound12 Twitter hashtag flowed so well it was as if I was there. The most important insights rose to the top as attendees tweeted the things that really resonated. At the conclusion of his presentation, Gary was given a deserved standing ovation.
Below is a collection of the Tweets of Gary’s presentation as he shared how massive the social media cultural shift really is, where he thinks it is going and how you can take advantage of it.
@TwistIMC@garyvee “The reason I love social media so much is you can sell s#!* on it!”#inbound12@Michael_Pru@garyvee had $30K in cash selling baseball cards at age 12, until dad made him bag ice for $2/hr at family liquor store.#Inbound12@MAltaee To all social media gurus who say numbers is what make#SM rocks!http://twitpic.com/ap86vy#Inbound12@jennymoebius- Marketers ruin everything. We see something shiny and squeeze the #$%@ out of it. Via
@garyvee love this guy…hysterical#Inbound12 -
@bostonmarketer What’s the ROI of social media? For most, not good. Because they’re doing it wrong. You’re trying to close on the first move.#inbound12 @wholebrainprez Yes.@garyvee uses dating metaphors to explain#SM too. Don’t propose on the first date!#Inbound12-
@cmee The game of business isn’t about how many customers you get but how many you keep via@garyvee at#inbound12 @paulpennelli We worry way too much about acquisition and not enough about retention, which is the real game, according to@garyvee#INBOUND12@Ginaschreck If you want to do “social” right, it WILL TAKE TIME! Relationships take time.@Garyvee#Inbound12@Bryan_phc 70% of people have used Facebook to re-connect with people from 20 years ago says@garyvee#inbound12@frankisca@garyvee We’re living in the largest ever cultural shift and we’re not respecting it!#inbound12#weidertIM12@dharmesh “There’s no automation in social. No auto-retweets, no auto-follows. Social is human.”@garyvee a#inbound12@AlGetler#inbound12@Garyvee All of us are media companies today.@AlGetler#inbound12@Garyvee “The same way that people said the internet was stupid is the same way people talk about Twitter.”@minetmarketing “Don’t think about what to say, just say what you think.”#socialmediainsights listening to@garyvee at#inbound12@wholebrainprez Technology is exposing the shadows of our society – people can’t get away with as much. So don’t be afraid of social! –@garyvee#inbound12@bostonmarketer Whover tells the best story to the people, wins.#inbound12@BooksMel: Businesses using social media are like 19-yr old boys: trying to close on 1st move: doesn’t work@garyvee#INBOUND12”@sarahryantweets “A video on YouTube over 10 seconds doesn’t do as well as if it’s 9 seconds”@garyvee#inbound12@Ginaschreck Todays young consumer has trained their brain to ignore right side of screens (YOUR SUCKY AD!)@GaryVee#inbound12@frankisca@garyvee “Why are we spending billions on outdoor media when half of drivers aren’t even looking at the f#%king road!”#inbound12#texting@sarahryantweets “If Content is King … Context is God”@garyvee#inbound12@rkwinters “We are living in a streaming world, need to have tremendous understanding of streaming economy”@garyvee#INBOUND12@MikePetes “If you’re not where your customers’ attention is you’re going to lose big”-@garyvee#inbound12@amybklatt “There are grown ass men in this room that in the last 24 hours have texted OMG”@garyvee#inbound12@BUCOMGrad The interest graph is the next thing we need to understand.@garyvee#INBOUND12@deluxegourmet The way we communicate as human beings is being disrupted & changed#inbound12@garyvee@bostonmarketer Pinterest and Tumblr are starting to map the “interest graph” — understanding what a customer’s interests are.#inbound12@deluxegourmet We’re saying things on social media that we never would have picked up the phone to say#inbound12@garyvee@airbarry The interest graph is what really matters.#inbound12@garyvee. People r posting pics of what they love.@AlGetler@Garyvee “Pink Berry Yougart’s delicious! No one picked up their phone and said that ten years ago” but we tweet it.#inbound12@JoannaSpark as our world goes more Jetsons, the marketers who act more Flintstones will succeed, people want effort –@garyvee#inbound12@Ginaschreck Find prospect on LinkedIn, watch their Twitter feed to see what they like & then reverse engineer whole thing!@GaryVee#inbound12@WorkMommyWork “Every one of your grandparents was more prepared to be successful than you are” –@garyvee#Inbound12@ValaAfshar The best marketing? CARE MORE.@garyvee#inbound12@Michael_Pru Charge people more and give them free shipping, they love it. Via@garyvee#Inbound12@CommunityMGR If you don’t give EFFORT to your customers, you will FAIL. It’s all about understanding & building relationships…@GaryVee#inbound12@Bryan_phc Big statement! Google+ is not a social network.. It’s a social API says@garyvee#inbound12@HubSpot “Humans like to buy from humans” –@garyvee. RT if you agree!#INBOUND12@sarahryantweets “You have to care about the end user, because if you don’t someone else will”@garyvee#inbound12@SteveHaase Travel sites are receiving more traffic from their apps than from their sites.#Inbound12@CommunityMGR Social is just a tool, but you must execute. Execution is HARD. Ppl avoid bullsh*t tactics. Avoid automation. Authenticity is KEY#inbound12@AlGetler “People are putting more effort into their wedding than their marriage. That is what marketing is doing.”‘#inbound12@Garyvee@Bryan_phc If you drive your business only on data, you’re always in the post game says@garyvee#inbound12@bostonmarketer The amount of information we created from the beg of mankind until 2003, we replicate every 48 hours.#inbound12@MarcoMorawec “Emotional IQ is going to dominate the business in the next decade!” Closing words of@garyvee#inbound12#marketing@HubSpot Tactics are GREAT, but you need to put in effort and commit to execution if you want to build a strong brand.@garyvee#INBOUND12@cliffpollan show the effort you will get #100%referenceability Every client should be willing to refer if you show the effort@garyvee#inbound12@wholebrainprez Data is great, but don’t forget to listen to your heart too. –@garyvee at#Inbound12@cliffpollan The least expensive client is the one you keep. The next least expensive is the one they refer you to.@garyvee#inbound12
Some additional highlights of Gary’s marketing career:
- Gary began Wine Library TV which revolutionized the wine world. His wine reviews soon attracted over 100,000 viewers each day and his die-hard fans nicknamed themselves “Vayniacs.”
- Gary’s first business book Crush It! Why Now Is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion (October 2009) hit the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press Best-Sellers lists in its first weeks.
- His second New York Times bestseller The Thank You Economy (March 2011), details the effect of social media on business and has become required reading for business leaders.
Gary and his brother AJ have launched VaynerMedia, a new breed of agency that helps Fortune 500 companies like Campbell Soup Company, PepsiCo, Green Mountain Coffee, the NY Jets, and the Brooklyn Nets find their social media voices and build their digital brands.
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Gary Vee was great….But you’re “no slouch” either, Michael. Your presentation at Inbound 12 was terrific! I loved how you were able to build your business so quickly and rank for your keywords -Agency New Business by putting them in every blog post title.
You gave us some great ideas for our own business. Thanks.
Don Battis, CEO
Pawntique
Very kind of you Don. It was a great group to present to. Lots of energy.