Most People Are Just Not Asking | Tea with GaryVee

0:00This is the Gary Vee Audio Experience. Gary, it's been a huge pleasure to have you for the first time here in Brazil. Thank you very much. Yes, we have a huge audience here with businessmen, people from marketing, people from self-development. And for us to start, one thing I think is very important is most of the guys also know your story. But tell me a little more, what was the exact moment you started creating this huge content on the internet? I know you started on YouTube, you were one of the first guys to monetize, to make money through YouTube. Yes, but tell a little about your story. You know, I was a very entrepreneurial kid, always creative, always focused on signs when I was selling lemonade, when I was selling baseball cards, when I was helping my dad's liquor store.

1:01I didn't, you know, only recently did I realize I was creative. But in hindsight, I was always making signs. I always thought that was being a salesman. But in reality, I was doing marketing and I was doing creativity. And then it was a website. And I spent a lot of time being creative with the website. And then it was advertising on Google AdWords and email. And I was doing copy. Okay. And I didn't realize all these things. They just thought like the thing you would do to sell. I didn't think of it as a profession or as a concept. For me it was sales and business man, not creative, not content.

1:34And then YouTube came along and I saw it very early on. Eric Kastner. My - How old were you at that moment? At that moment I was 29. 29. And then just turned 30 and my first video was when Wine Library TV was three months after I turned 30. and in front of a camera just like this with three bottles of wine, I did a video. It was the first time I ever done a video in any shape or form and it felt right. I remember as soon as it was over, you know, a couple hours later it was on YouTube. YouTube was very small back then. Not a lot of views. It was like the beginning of YouTube. But we had a big email service and you know it was funny back then when you made videos on YouTube, you didn't think about them being watched on YouTube.

2:21They gave you an embed code and you would take the code and you would put it on your site. So I sent an email to the people that buy wine to Wine Library. We hosted it for a little while then eventually I made a Wine Library TV site. But we would spend real money building sites to embed YouTube videos back then. And that became the process. Several months later to about a year later Twitter started getting very hot. I became very aggressive on Twitter, and that was it. Then the cat was out of the bag. That was the beginning of what has me sitting here. From that moment on, except for a very small period between 2011 and 2013 where I did very limited content because I was so head down on building VaynerMedia, basically over the last 13 years, except for maybe a two year soft period, I've been producing content very aggressively on the internet.

3:17Nice. And imagine nowadays a lot of people are producing content on the internet. Here in Brazil is the same. What tips could you give to these people because the market now is very aggressive. It's hard for you, for example, to get audience as we got in the past. As it should be. Like anything, if you're the first, you're going to, and you're right. It's like real estate. If you're first and you're right, you make the most. And so audience development is hard now on platforms that are mature. It's hard to develop audience because now when it's mature, you have to be the best, not the first. And most people aren't the best or in the top 5%.

4:01Today, somebody in Southern Brazil can start an Instagram account and in a year be number one. But she or he has to be tremendous. The prettiest, the smartest, the funniest, the most strategic, or the biggest expert in sparkling wine from Brazil. The biggest expert on new fashion trends. Or she or he can take a different strategy and decide to become the leader of the first people on TikTok. Or the first people on a new medium. So you're either first or you're best and I don't feel any sympathy or sadness for anybody who cries about it's hard to build an audience because I want to remind everybody who's watching, when you say that you want to build a big audience, what you're really saying is that you want to live a 1 % life.

4:58I want to live a life where I get to do whatever I want and make enough money to be happy. That's extremely hard. Very few people achieve that in their lives. So I think the audacity to want to be an influencer or a content producer who makes a living off of that, I think people need to be reminded it's not so easy. It's not supposed to be easy. Wait, wait to Instagram starts to decline. You know how many, you know, maybe four or five years ago a lot of the marketers will remember Facebook pages stopped getting as many people seeing it organically and everybody cried. But that was a lot of business people.

5:42Instagram is almost everybody. Oh yeah, sure. And when Instagram starts declining in a year or two or six months or three years, a lot of people are gonna be in trouble for not diversifying into podcasting, into LinkedIn, into YouTube, into TikTok, into Twitter, or into anything that's emerging. Nice. And talking about marketing, imagine a lot of people are creating this content and I understand that it's very important and you have kind of a pool of different sources of sending information to people. In your concern, comparing, for example, US with Latin America, which are the main markets? Which are the markets that you feel is very warm and people should invest in?

6:26From a macro-global perspective versus platform? In a macro-global perspective. Well, I think South America and Asia are actually the most interesting markets because the maturity of the big companies spending money in the platforms is lower. Ads in Brazil on Facebook and Instagram are a better deal than they are in America. Oh yeah, sure, yeah, I can see that because I buy a lot of media. Here is cheaper than when I buy, for example, some advertisement in the US, perfect, perfect, yeah. That is the answer. No, no, so cool. South America and Asia have scale, there's a lot of people, it's not Greenland, it's not Iceland, you know, there's people, and the price is underpriced.

7:05You know business perspective. I apologize. Where I'm actually, actually I want to bring value. The place I'm seeing my best results right now is the Middle East. Middle East. Middle East is very inexpensive on Instagram and I'm building very quick awareness for me or any business I'm involved in. What about Far East? For example, Vietnam. Yes. These countries also. Southeast Asia. Yes, yes, yes. Perfect. As a whole. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia. Very, very good. Uh-huh. And for example, that's the first time you're coming to Brazil. Yes. Do you have, for example, some intent to invest in Brazil, bring your agency, for example?

7:42Yes. And why? Because I want to be everywhere. Okay, and why you want to be everywhere? Because I want to win. Quick answer. You know, I want to build the biggest business I can build. Okay. And the biggest business I can build includes every place in the world from Africa to Southeast Asia to, now where exactly? So for example, in the media business that I run, Brazil has unique laws where media and creative have to be together. So I have to decide, is it Brazil? Is it Argentina? Is it Colombia? Where a lot of culture and music is coming from that I'm interested in. So I haven't decided where VaynerMedia's office is gonna be.

8:26the biggest businesses are here but the restrictions on media and creative having to be together which is unlike any other part of the world is something that I have to be thoughtful about. Hey everybody hope you're enjoying the podcast right now make sure you follow the podcast that's why I'm interrupting let's keep going on this show but follow the podcast it'll make my mom super happy. Nice, nice, nice. So cool. And imagine you have some you have three tips for Brazilians to succeed in their business? Which are these three tips? I think self-awareness. Self-awareness? I think the biggest issue right now is that people are delusional or not self-aware.

9:10They think they're just, I mean the amount of kids that come up to me in the street and say they're gonna build a billion dollar company, I mean, it's just talk. You know, self-awareness, what makes you happy? Just having more followers or more money does not make people happy. Being, liking what you do always makes people happy. You know, not being embarrassed of your insecurities is what makes people happy. So, you know, are you a creator? Are you an actor? Are you a wine maker? Or, you know, who are you? And I'm always fear as my popularity grows that a lot of the kids that watch me, or not even the kids, everyone, starts to try to be like me.

9:55And the only thing that anybody should be like me in is that I was confident enough and patient enough to actually be myself. Which at the time, in 2006 when I hit the scene, in 2009 when I really hit the scene, cursing was very frowned upon. Dressing casual was very frowned upon. I didn't look, the amount of people that would say hey, you look great. But in reverse, in 2009, I would get hundreds of emails. You look like a bum. Nobody's gonna take you seriously if you don't wear a suit. Things that make people laugh right now. But that was my life. Don't talk about football. American football, I know where I am.

10:40You know, don't talk about, don't talk about, you know, don't talk about this. You want the best one? Which one? In 2009, when I started making business content, more than half of the comments that I got were for me not to talk about business because I should only stick to wine because that's what I know. Whoa. You know, that is probably, you know, I just said it for the first time this clear. I see DRock in the background making notes. I might not have something better to say right now than that. That more than half the people that commented on my content in 2009 made snarky comments that I should stay in my lane.

11:21that I'm just the wine guy. And I think that would be very good advice for a lot of people. Because I know for fact, because I get so many DMs, the amount of people who no longer want to be posting what they're posting on Instagram, but because they were funny and a comedian, but now they're a serious business person. They used to be a model, but now they want to talk about their vegan food business. They used to be a serious businessman, but now they want to be a comedian. There's a lot of people, but they're scared because the first time they post something else, especially people that are attractive.

11:53I feel a lot of empathy towards people who are attractive. Their self-worth and their likes come from being attractive. Then they try to make one post about something else and it doesn't get as many likes and they feel insecure. And they'd rather get likes than be happy, which is crazy. So my biggest advice, number one, is self-awareness. Number two, make. Make it. Make. Everyone's thinking, they're working towards it, they're looking for their videographer, all these bullshit excuses to not make. People come up with 100 excuses. They're insecure, they're scared, they deep down don't think they can achieve what they're saying they're gonna achieve, and so they're not making.

12:36Number three is patience. I cannot understand how people think that in a week, or in a month or even in a year, they're gonna be so famous and so rich. It's delusional. And so patience. A difficult question now. Please. Imagine there's a question. You'd love somebody to ask you, but nobody ever has asked you this question. Which is this question? And please answer that. I'm happy to answer it, but I wanna do what I do in every interview, which is give you the truth, which is the following. I, any question I wanted to be asked of me, I would give that story and take control of the narrative. If there was something I wanted to talk about, I would make videos talking about it.

13:28When I answer questions, I'm there to answer somebody's question. Let me give you the reverse. The amount of people that come up to me that are my friends or around me that say, Gary, you know, I'll do a keynote, like today, 30 questions, and you'll come to me and you'll say, Gary, aren't you tired, you know, because you've watched, aren't you tired of people asking you the same question? The answer's no. It's their question. Right now, today on Friday in Brazil, that's the question they want to ask of me. And if they need affirmation, or if they need justification, or if they need the clip to show their mother, see, Gary said so, I don't care.

14:03When I'm being asked questions, I'm there for them, not for me. It's impossible for me to be selfish on a question, if I want somebody to ask me something, I'm gonna ask myself something and put it out to the fucking word. You know, like I don't need that. So it's a great question. And I'll tell you why it's a great question. I believe most people, when they produce content, actually are not bringing value to the audience. They are actually PR-ing themselves. I promise you, right? And I'll tell you why you reacted like that. Cause you know right now, that sometimes you bring in somebody and you get frustrated with the presentation because you're like, Shira, he's doing a press release for themselves.

14:44Oh yeah, sure. You know, I come here today and I'm completely focused, like laser focused today on those 90 minutes on stage today. How do I bring the most value to those 2 ,000 people knowing a lot of them already know what I have to say? Oh yeah? Knowing some of them don't even like me and they're going there because their friend wants to come and knowing some percentage doesn't know who I am. How to mix that all in? That's how I think about it. Nice, nice. I've been bringing people from US, from Europe to Brazil, also to make connections, yes. And I've been learning a lot with people like you, with people like Richard, which is coming for my next event, for example, yes.

15:24I've been creating this connection all over, and also here in Brazil. What do you think about connections? What's the importance of connections to succeed in business? I think it's one of the biggest variables. Yeah. I think the tricky part for somebody as dynamic as you, and there's a you in many markets. Because I've met them, because I live the life I now live. Connections are the most important. The problem is most people have a difficult time of how to find a balance of giving and taking. Perfect, perfect. And a lot of people, yeah, yeah. I feel that here. And most of the people I also bring to Brazil, they start connecting to some businessmen here in Brazil.

16:03And at the same point, these guys who got connected to you, for example, they want only to take value to their selves, not give value, yes? 95 to 98 % of the interactions I have in the world, whether it's disguised or whether it's transparent, is somebody asking for something. Yeah. They always want to take something. You know how many people offered to drive me from the airport to this event today? A hundred. They didn't wanna drive me. They wanted me to sit in their car and answer their questions and give them advice. By the way, honestly, on the record, I'm fine. I'm flattered. I'm flattered that people admire or have interest or see value in me.

16:59I just also am aware it's happening, which means 90 % of the time I'm happy to give it, I'll give it. But I also know that that's the beginning of our relationship. And any relationship that starts with you taking means you do not have the leverage. Last question. One of the last, in fact, did you have mentors? If yes, who were your mentors? And do you recommend a book that you read and you think, oh, this is the book you should read. I'm smiling because I'm watching DRock laugh because it's a very funny question because you asked two things that I think are interesting because I don't learn the way most people learn.

17:43Okay, yeah. And so most people learn through books and mentors and I don't. I think I've read seven books in my life. Uh-huh, uh-huh. And none of, like two were business books. As a matter of fact, one of the books I read was about 3G. It was a great private equity built out of Brazil, so that's fun. No, I don't have a mentor. Obviously, I admire my father. He came to America with nothing. I admire him. And then, you know, but I would be, it would be disingenuous for me to say my dad was my mentor. I spent most of my childhood telling my dad he was doing things wrong, more so than taking on. Though he taught me things, including probably the most important thing I needed to learn at 14.

18:22I was so good at selling. I was so good with words that in my childhood I was full of shit. I would do anything to sell. And I think that my dad in a lot of ways saved me from not being the people I make fun of today. Because you never lie. You do the right thing. So, but no, my mentor actually is all of you. I spend all my time not reading books or looking at other business men and women. I spend all my time reading your comments. Reading your comments. That's what I do. I read your comments. I read your comments. I read your DMs. I read your replies. And I read and I read. And that's why I'm often first or early in talking about things that end up happening.

19:12Whether it's platforms. Whether it's mindset. Whether it's trends. Okay. I tend to be early because you see them happening in reality, not reading it from somebody else. Nice. And one thing I was thinking, yes, there's a lot of startups here, also at the event, yeah? And you are kind of an early investor of many business, yes? And you have kind of, probably you have some procedures, some way to decide in which business you're going to invest your money. I do, I do. What do you do to decide, okay, I'm going to invest in this company because you succeed a lot in many companies you already invested in.

19:52And I failed a lot because I'm very loud about Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. I don't talk about the 50 to 100 companies. Actually, can you give me a favor? Can you get Phil to put together a list of all the companies that are completely out of business? I want to make a video and just go through it. Anyway, nonetheless, through winning and losing, here's what I now do. A, I don't invest a lot right now because I think right now it's so cool to be a founder that everyone's doing it, but they're not meant to be good at it. So that's number one. Number two, I call it 51-49. And really it's 50.1, 49.9.

20:39First, I make a decision about the person. Do I think she can do it? Do I think she can do it? And then I have to love the idea for the customer now or very soon. Those are my two ways. That's what I spend my time on. Do I think she can do it? Does she have the stomach when she gets punched in the mouth? When the market turns? Will she fold or will she triple down? And number two, do I like the idea? Do I think people want to buy pencils on the internet? You know, like, you know, so, and where I lost most of my money was I loved the idea and didn't think thoughtfully enough if she or he could do it.

21:25Okay. Because what I did, I apologize, but I want to get this thought across, I think a lot of people make this mistake. I was right about a lot of those ideas, but what I thought was what I, as an operator, would do. but I wasn't the one operating the business and those are mistakes I've made nice okay coming to the end yes some last advice you think is very important for Brazilians imagine they are following this video until now I think Brazilians obviously I'm paying very close attention to this market obviously there's political conversations in the air there's global conversations in the air here's what I would say it is there's no debate because of the way the internet works there has never been a better time to build something for yourself if you live in Brazil.

22:12The end. Smartphones, infrastructure, dollar, everything's in place. Blockchain. Humongous consumer base. This is the biggest opportunity. This is actually the easiest time to build a successful business in the history of Brazil. Perfect. I believe in the same. It's just true. It's the maturity of the internet. It's the scale the internet's at and how low the cost is to get involved. So my last piece of advice is understand that in your head and do something about it. So cool. Thanks a lot, man. Thank you. I'm very happy to bring you to Brazil. I'm really happy. I'm really happy I'm here. I hope you have an amazing experience.

22:52I know you are going to be here for a few hours. Yeah. Listen. When you're planning to come back to Brazil? I actually am coming back. I saw it on my calendar. Yeah. But you should come more times here also to know. Look, I came here because I'm ready to start coming here more. Perfect. And so I plan on being in Brazil every year of my life. Nice, nice, nice. Thank you. Thank you so much. Bye, everyone. Bye, everyone. Bye, everybody. Bye, everybody. Hey, everybody. If you enjoyed this podcast, please go back and look at the prior episodes. They're loaded. I appreciate your attention. And thanks for being part of this journey.

23:30See you later.