For those of you who haven’t been exposed to the delights of Gary Vee the guy is a machine.

The ever ready bunny who has made multi millions worth of dollars through originally sharing his passion for wine on YouTube. And then moving into social media marketing when the $30m business got too ‘small’ for his ambitions.

Gary is not for everyone. He is passionate about the grind and believes that the number one reason for his success is not to do with his intuition (which he relies on heavily) not because of his thirst for data analysis and trend watching, but because of his ability to out work everyone.

The man is a content machine often working 19 hour days. As I said he is not for everyone. But whenever I am lacking in motivation and need a kick up the backside it’s his YouTube channel that is the first port of call for me.

Last week I was lucky enough to go and see Gary keynote at The Best Marketing Event Ever Times Infinity + 1 and these were my key take aways.

1. Give Without Expectation

This is such a valuable life lesson to be reminded of.

Whenever we do something in our personal life without the expectation of anything but a thank you….we’re losing. We’re being inauthentic. And it’s something that so many of us in business, particularly when we have decided to go down the content creation route are guilty of.

• If I offer x, y and z then I can expect this in return.
• If I write 5 blogs, a customer should come and find me.
• If I offer to help this person then they owe me one.

This is short term thinking that blocks your authenticity and stops you in your tracks if you don’t receive what it was you thought you were going to get at the outset. Which is super bad for life and business. Stop giving with any other motive other than wanting to give supreme value to the people whose lives you happen to stumble across.

2. Stop Thinking it’s All About the Tactics

As someone who preaches mindset ‘rules’ over and above marketing strategy this really resonated with me.

Tactics will only ever get a person so far. You have to be an authentic storyteller if you want to move the needle and move beyond commoditisation. And in order to tell stories 1) you have to know what you’re talking about and 2) You have to have the confidence to go out there and be you, warts and all.

In a world where all of the information you are selling can be accessed at the click of an internet button. People are craving connection with real and honest people. Yes tactics will come into it at some point, but being real is where it starts.

3. Innovate

Don’t think it’s okay to sit on your laurels. If you’re already winning look to see where your expansion lies how can industry proof your business by understanding exactly what is lacking from your ideal client’s life and give it to them.

4. Always Think Big

If you’re going to play the game. Play the game. Stop making excuses for not doing the work and playing small because you are literally just wasting your time and your energy. You will not ‘make it’ if you confine yourself to what’s normal, what’s acceptable, what other people deem possible for you. Understanding when you have a BIG dream, that it keeps you motivated and momentum moving forward.

5. Think Long Term

Many times people are only thinking about the next sale and what that is worth rather than the bigger picture and the life time value of a service.

How many times have you said yes to something because you have wanted or needed the money even though you knew that the person standing in front of you was far from your ideal client? And then wanted to stab your eyeballs with a biro?

6. Forget About Width it’s all About Depth

It’s really easy to get locked into the idea that the more Facebook likes, Instagram followers, or Twitter fans the more successful you are. This is shallow and doesn’t mean a thing without connection.

When Gary talks about width, he’s talking about your top line numbers and when he refers to depth, he’s talking about how much your fans care about what you have to say.

Engagement, conversation what relationships you have with the people you like. An audience of 500 highly engaged fans is infinitely more valuable than 5000 who couldn’t care less. Always look to see how you can build depth through engaging. Tweet that!

7. Stop Expecting it to Happen Overnight

Building a profitable, sustainable and successful business doesn’t happen overnight for 99% of entrepreneurs. However, because of the stories we hear are from the rare exceptions to the rule, we think that if it hasn’t happened after six months then it’s never going to happen. And there’s not a lot more than that perspective to really piss Gary off.

If you want to make it happen, while you don’t have to work 19 hours a day, you have to do the work. You got to be great at what you do, you have to ask for the sale and you have to show up consistently to do so. Even when – especially when it feels like the world is ignoring you.

8. Stop Using Your Age as an Excuse

When it comes to building followings organically on platforms like Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter. Gary is super clear on what’s preventing many people from getting involved. The ‘I’m too old to get it mentality.’

However, while Facebook feels warm and comfy to us now, 5 years ago it was paving the exact same path as Snapchat is walking now. Saturating the youth market, which quickly leads to cousins, parents, aunties and eventually grandmas getting involved while the ‘new young’ find something else to play with.

His point is, by ignoring the platforms you don’t understand you’re leaving a huge amount of money on the table and reducing your chances of becoming a personality in your field because you’re not utilizing the gap for someone just like you talking about what you do.

So get your backside onto Google or Youtube, pick out some great tutorials and start educating yourself in order to keep both up and ahead.

9. The difference between being rich and wealthy

Investing in yourself and in your company when the money starts coming in is the big difference here. Instead of hiding it under the mattress, identify exactly what you need to grow your business. And top of that list should be an assistant who can do all of the things that aren’t within your zone of genius.

10. Get your head around facebook ads.

Love them or hate them, as a small business owner there is nothing that will give you higher return on investment for advertising in the world as FB ads and understanding how to retarget.