I received a free copy of the book during Gary’s wine tasting at the Boston Wine Expo 2010 a few months ago. It was a great surprise as I was shopping around online to pickup the book anyway. Crush It is a great inspirational read for those looking to start their own “brand” now, using new media technologies and social networking. I quoted the word “brand” because this book isn’t a simple business book about starting a company, it’s more about building a reputation for yourself or your company.

I’ve given lectures myself at Keene State College about this very topic and I think it helps guide people to something more than a simple nine-to-five grunt job. However, this book isn’t going to equip you with the knowledge to quit your job tomorrow and start your own little venture into the world-wide-web, it’s going to motivate you and give you some guides to eventually getting to such a goal.

The book is much more valuable when you understand Gary’s perspective. He is teaching us his personal techniques to how he went from zero to one-hundred miles an hour using social media tools and new media in the video format. If you’re looking to start a blog that will someday make you money, this book will not get you any technical information. As a matter of fact, I’d start by learning more about blogging techniques, SEO and gathering an audience using other books or free online resources. Crush It, in this capacity, will mainly teach you how to react and understand your audience and encourage you to reach out and treat them as humans rather than just a statistics; this is still good information worth the USD $19 for serious bloggers looking to interact with their people.

The message within this book is simple: work hard and bust your ass. If you’re not ready to do that, seriously not mentally or physically prepared to work 14+ hours a day, then you’ll have a tough time putting his concepts to work for you. While it is mentioned a few times in this book, Gary doesn’t really care if you’ve got a typical 9-5 job, he wants you to come home and work on your own brand from 6PM to 2AM and bust your rump.

Crush It does not really talk to the technical aspects of building a brand outside of getting a content management system like WordPress or Tumblr and using social media tools like twitter and facebook. He does explain a bit about the theory behind buying/hiring a theme designer for your site but Gary is not a big technical guy, he’s really all about business and adapting to circumstances as they arrive. There are thousands of technical resources you can seek out if you’re looking to build up a website with all the tools needed to maximize your search results and track statistics and is beyond the scope of the book.

The premise of Crush It can be summed up by the word “people.” Gary Vaynerchuck documents ways to handle viewers and how to reach out and understand them. From big business to small startups, learning how to put yourself out there and act like a human with other humans can change a single statistic into a dedicated fan. You’ll learn to turn your passion for a topic into a conversation with like minded individuals (the audience/viewers) and build trust.

For Gary Vaynerchuck fans that follow his personal blog about building brands, you’ll find little new information within the Crush It pages. The book expands upon some of the information/rants he’s talked about in his video’s and can be used to re-enforce what you believe you took away from his 3-minute acts of brilliance. Should you still purchase the book? Of course fans should support his efforts, that’s a no brainer. I’m both a fan and a follower in his beliefs and I’d buy the book again (for real) because I’m seeking to learn all knowledge on the topic; even three pages of useful information is better than going without.

The only downside to Crush It is the fantasy world that I believe Gary sometimes lives in. He tells us to work until 2AM for the no-kids family or 3AM if you’ve got kids (since you’ve got to put family first). Unfortunately, this is not a realistic goal if you’ve got a job which requires you to wake up at 5 o’clock in the morning because of a long commute. Many of his ideas work great if you’re working the program as a full-time job and speaks to the fact that almost all passions/topics can build your brand to a USD $40,000+/year job.

In today’s times, a  $40,000 a year job might as well be poverty. I know in my world, 40k was barely enough to cover child care during the day. How long must I struggle at 40-50k a year before I can feed my family and continue the life I lived before following my passion? One reason many of us work the “grind” of a boring day-to-day job is because it pays well and allows us the comfort of living life without financial strife. The reality is, if you cannot make at least what you’re making in your day job then your “passion” is going to require some angel investors or other funding to get you to the next level (and help pay for health insurance). Kids, health insurance, mortgage and all these expenses are not really brought up in Crush It–Gary assumes you’ll just figure all that out on your own.

While the concepts in this book are solid ways to build inspiration, the reality of the situation is often left on the cutting room floor. Gary built his video show while also working at Wine Library (the store). Where does he buy all the wine from his show? Does he “borrow” it from the store or does he buy 10+ bottles a week out of pocket? The reality of the situation is this: if you’re looking to do something similar where are you getting the product you’re using on your own shows? Probably out of pocket as an expense, not for free until you get the traffic to start receiving “review copies” from those in the industry.

Overall, while many of the theories seem to forget the reality of the situation, the inspiration and knowledge about how to handle people and build your personal brands is solid information. For myself, this is a nice boost of self-confidence as it re-enforces what I’m already doing each night. The biggest issue many casual readers are going to have is getting your ass off the couch and implementing even 30% of the ideas within the confines of this text.

When we’re asking ourselves, “why do we do this week in and week out? what is the reward?” we are uplifted when an e-mail or comment arrives telling us how we entertain and give listeners something to do at work, during their commute or on lunch break. We find comfort knowing that our efforts have changed the life of at least one single individual.

But, there are haters as well. Those that tell us our stuff is boring, inaccurate, too long, too short or just simply sucks. You can disqualify them as “haters” that lurk the internet making sure they let everyone knows how much they are non-valued citizens of the world. I’ve grown a thick skin as I put myself out there for the world to see but I’ve also grown a bit because I listen.

While 80% of what a hater will say in a comment is unjustified and immature, they will occasionally say something profound. They may point out a flaw in your content that can use work or a slight bit of polish. Those that love your content will often times set disregard the small things because the overall content is good. If you’re a person of perfection, always looking to better yourself and your content then listen to those that criticize your work.

In my own experience, I’ve had a person tell me that my cocktail video’s are too long and they don’t get down to the point: getting drunk. I thought to myself, “since when have I been making cocktails to get you drunk?” That was never my goal of the show and I apparently never made that point clear to viewers. This doesn’t mean the next episode will start with a paragraph of my goals of the show, but I can use that lesson to further define the underlying structure of each episode.

For instance, instead of concentrating on the potency of a cocktail, I may concentrate on “expanding your cocktail palate” and request people try new brands, new styles and enjoy new experiences. I also focus less on getting an individual drunk and more on the economy of the cocktail and how to save an individual money from going to a bar to get a good drink when they can be made affordable at home. The tastes, the costs and the overall experience is the theme of the show so I make sure to enforce the behavior throughout the content.

What I learned from such a “hater” is to enforce my overall goals and to refine my “pitch” when telling sponsors and potential viewers about the show. We’re about making cocktails for the home enthusiasts that are looking for great new tasty recipes and introduce new brands to the public; we don’t promote excessive drinking or suggest such an act.

The “hater” may come back again someday and find that the content is even further from their expectations from the first viewing. If they leave another scathing comment about how the show is “too much about talking and not enough about drinking” then you know you’ve learned from the experience of their first comment and grown as an individual.

Take comfort in those that love your content and let the haters guide you and focus your content to better please the ones that enjoy the show. Don’t let the hate mail rent space in your head, flip it around and use it to better the quality of your podcasts.

When it comes to building your “celebrity” presence on the Internet, you can go about it two ways: hard work and struggle or kissing up to other internet celebrities. Getting into the web celeb circle can be a real bitch if you’re not one of “the boys” and they’re really not looking to sign anyone up as friends “just because.” However, if you continue to tell every web celeb you see just how awesome they are, they may eventually notice you.

I don’t mind kissing a little ass to get around but I also have my own personal ideas of respect. Hard work pays off and building a list of friends that actually like you on a genuine level appeals to my personality. Building real relationships creates a stronger bond with people that will be there for you while kissing people’s asses only gets you as far as they want you to go. If I meet a few Internet celebrities along the way I can tell them of my hard work and struggle with truthfulness and everyone can respect it.

Hopefully, whatever decision you make when you climb the latter of recognition and success you can go to bed satisfied with the work you did to get there. Struggle, hardwork and a final win is how I want to be remembered, you?

Looking through iTunes, I can find tons of untapped niche markets that could bring old advertisers to new media. Want to test the waters before you start down the road of video podcasting? Start a blog.

This sounds like old school marketing but this is your petri dish to start building relationships with companys and PR agencies. If you become a small “professional” in your field of blogging, from yarn, wood, tools, clocks to gardening you’ll start receiving e-mails asking to post reviews, news and events for people in the industry. Once you grab a few PR agencies and establish relationships with them, they’ll send you press releases, product demonstrations and perhaps hook you up with interviews with company owners.

As you build your reputation over the course of three to six months you can start experimenting with some video content as you roll your blog into a vlog. Now, you can push out new shows and begin to build a small viewership of a few dozen or a few hundred downloads. Once you’ve got your fan base started, four months after producing some video shows and providing evidence that people care enough to come back and watch your episodes, you can start pitching to sponsors.

Some people will say you need 1,000 to 2,000 views a day to get sponsorship but that’s highly dependent on your industry. You can get sponsorship with as low as 450 views per show if you price it right and provide content that’s so niche and specific that your viewers actually desire the products of your sponsor.

Using a $30.00 CPM ($30 per 1,000 viewers) model, you can sell a sponsor a full episode of your video show for around $12 (considering you don’t have 1,000 viewers yet) and still get them interested. Why? Because $12 to gain 450 highly focused eyes on a brand is huge value to anyone that understands new media. Plus, when six months down the line their ad is still in the old video and new viewers typically drive through old archives to catch up and see what you have covered in the past. Their old sponsorship grows with the audience of your show, long after they paid the measly $12.

Companies will spend millions of dollars to reach 2% of a large pool of viewership. You’re just asking for $12 to gain 100% attention of the viewership pool, sounds tempting, no? A single episode will not build huge brand awareness and your sponsor knows this; they will buy a block of episodes to test the waters. Realistically, without at least three to four episodes on your show there is no way to track the impact. So, even if they decide not to renew, they’re probably already in it for $36 to $48 which goes into your pocket for your hard work.

It is hard work. Don’t expect to toss your mug on a camera and get people to throw money your way. You’re going to have to prove to them that you’re energetic, consistent, trustworthy and have the passion to get the job done. Of course, $12 an episode isn’t going to make you rich, but everyone has to start somewhere.

You start at the bottom and work your way to the top. If you think there is an easier way, show us. Otherwise, get out there and produce great content and watch your community grow.

A few folks have been disgruntled at the effort of promoting yourself on every social media site and getting very little result. For instance, I’ll post my videos on digg.com and receive six hits for a specific show, only two to four “diggs” from those six leads. Then people will say, “well, it’s not worth my time to only get six hits for posting my shows on digg.”

It is worth your time.

People get too hung up watching internet celebrities pimp their shows on one site and get 10,000 hits from the exposure. Everyone else has to fight one person at a time, this is how you grow. If you’re not willing to put in the 2-minutes of effort to post your show on digg or other social media sites to get one or two referrals than you’re going to struggle with success. You might as well quit now.

One new user may find your content interesting. Why else did they click the link to go there? If you get no referrals than you have no chance to obtain an audience but if you get one, just one, you now have a chance to build a fan. Six users gives you six times the luck in building a fan. A single fan can tell their friends about the show, send the link to a buddy or sit down and listen/watch your content in the office with co-workers or at home with family and share the experience together.

It all starts with one person in your audience. After you get a few dedicated folks you’ll know if your content is something people are willing to return to view. If they are, it’s only a matter of time before you’re audience grows from one to one-hundred and beyond.

No matter what the effort, every single encounter is a chance to establish a relationship with a new fan.

Success is really what you want to make it, if you want to be the next big social networking scene than do it, but you’ve got a lot of challengers. Or, you can just try to be something unique and different all together. Niche markets exist for all areas of life and they’re going to draw a smaller audience than a broad topic but have less competition.

You can be a success in a small demographic more so than you can in a huge demographic. Much the way I chose a college, I could go to a smaller college and be known as someone or I could go to a huge college and be yet another number in a classroom of hundreds. I wanted to stand out without having to break through the thousands of peers. Was I looking for less of a challenge? No, I was looking to be seen for who I was: an individual with desires and motivations in a timely manner.

I’ve found the Internet follows much the same social structures. By picking an area to blog, talk or video yourself you’ll soon become somewhat of an expert in the field: no certification required. If you take it seriously, you’ll learn a ton of information along the way as you prepare your show notes, blog articles and news reporting. You’ll establish a small community of like-minded individuals that, hopefully, enjoy the content you are providing. You’ve got your niche and you’re ready to take it to the next level.

Now, you can establish relationships in your area of “expertise.” When you seek advertisers or look to establish partnership with others in your industry you’ll find plenty of great opportunities. If you run a show about beer cozy’s, you’ll be able to affiliate with folks making custom cozies, labeled cozies or beer products expanding beyond the cozy. You may not reach Coors Brewing Company’s attention, but who cares? You’ll find plenty of smaller businesses and individuals trying to make it in the industry, like yourself, by grouping together with like-minded folks.

You may find a person that can produce custom glassware, a shop looking for some promotions on their home brew accessories or small/local cozy manufacturers. One by one your circle of relationships grow and each one makes your brand stronger than the last. But, why would they want to work with you?

Because your community, the viewers of your content, want to know what you have to say. They’re not random readers, they are people that are interested in the topic you’re working in. They are the perfect eyes and ears to promote products and advertising; the industry is learning this quickly. Why bid on a google keyword “cozy” hoping someone will find your ad, click on it and be interested enough to buy it from you. Furthermore, what if they’re looking for a “cozy place” to vacation? Wrong audience.

However, had that cozy been talked about on a show by a host that’s passionate about the topic, someone you can relate to on a personal level (as often happens with viewers) then the game changes. Your community will get to know you, even if you’ve not met them all or communicated with them. You see this behavior all the time with celebrities who have tons of fans talking to them as if they’re their best friends – complete strangers! If you run a website, video podcast or audio show your fans will feel much the same, only in smaller quantities and with less insane fervor.

Do you trust a google ad or the word of someone you’ve grown to watch on internet shows, audio shows or a frequented blog? Most people won’t click a banner ad and those that do may still not purchase the product. You and your brand are more important than ever to these advertisers looking to spend their cash for the “biggest bang for the buck.”

In this down economy advertisers want to make more with less. Focused niche markets are a great place to experiment with little cash in hopes for a big return. You start a website about tea and write about tea for two months and you’ll probably find tea producers asking to ship you products so you can review them on your website or Internet show. You get free products, they get virtually free advertising and your community gets to learn about a product they may never have heard about otherwise.

It’s a win win situation. You win relationships and you win great content for your brand.