The #1 Thing That's Holding You Back

Our reading notes on Gary Vaynerchuk

• Why You Need to Forget Your “Mistakes” and Focus on Your Next Thing

  The episode listing describes Vaynerchuk’s conversation with CRWD founder Ryan Chen about paying people to try products, visit a store and give feedback. For someone planning a sampling day, that raises two separate questions. Did someone take the free sample, and did the experience give them a reason to look for the product again?

• Document, Don’t Create: Creating Content That Builds Your Personal Brand

  Vaynerchuk proposes documenting work in progress as an alternative starting point for someone stuck trying to invent a polished persona. The useful material is a decision or lesson that really occurred. An ordinary workday also contains private details and unfinished judgments that an editor should leave out.

• The One Thing I Didn’t Clarify Enough in Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook

  Vaynerchuk revisits his book’s distinction between doing something useful for an audience and asking for a sale. His clarification addresses a mistaken expectation that giving entitles the seller to a response. He also discusses reducing friction when a reader does choose to act.