Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion

Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk 
ASIN : 0061914177

Bottom line: There are some nuggets but, because it's prescriptive, it's a little too dated. 

1/4

It seems like there are two types of business books out there; the generic ones and the specific ones. Generic ones try to provide principles that you can figure out how to apply in the current times. Specific ones, well, give you specifics in terms of what to do; it's more of an attempt at a recipe. That can be exceedingly helpful but there is a shelf life to the recipe. Crush It! is of the second variety and it shows. 

One sentence stands out to me. When discussing the potential of Twitter, Vaynerchuk says, "D-to-C-level entertainment figures like Will Wheaton, Brooke Burke, Levar Burton, and Fred Durst are building great opportunities that will likely propel them from B- to A-level status." I can't remember the last time I heard Fred Durst's name mentioned.

If the prescription is a little stale, is Crush It! worth anything? Meh.

Vaynerchuk gives a strategy for turning your passion into a valuable business opportunity. The core of his strategy is to identify your passion, hustle, have patience, and when you become an authority on that passion fame and fortune will follow. 

There are two key parts to his method: social media and blogging.

Once you have this passion, you have to be able to share that passion with the world. He recommends blogging (via WordPress or Tumblr), a video blog (YouTube), or a podcast and, once you have this outlet, it's important to take advantage of social networking to make connections and create an association between you and your passion (what becomes your personal brand). If you are a staple of the communities then you'll become positively associated with that passion. 

He gives a number of off-the-cuff feeling examples. One, for example, centers around worms. Let's say you are fascinated by worms. You become an authority on worms and you use a blog to share your passion with the world. Eventually, a person whose passion is business finds your blog post about a worm that increases bass catches by 80%. You two partner and start selling those types of worms. Boom.

My big takeaway: focus on doing something that you enjoy and figure out ways to get that passion in front of people. It'll be a lot of work to get it in front of people (let alone the "right" people) but if you enjoy it, then it'll be a fun ride while you try.

The audio version of this Crush It! was only a few hours along and I started skimming when he goes into detail about how great Tumblr is.

Would I recommend it? I don't think so. I gave you the big takeaways here and, if you're incline to learn more, find a more detailed synopsis rather than reading the full book.