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A review by arwy
The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
5.0
Book Review: “The Thank You Economy” by Gary Vaynerchuk
I never talk in absolutes, especially when it comes to books. What one person will like and rave about to everybody they know, another person will find irrelevant and hate. So, I usually exercise caution when giving my recommendations. However, there is no place for caution with “The Thank You Economy” by Gary Vaynerchuk. It’s an absolute must-read! Even better, listen to the audiobook. That’s what I did, and it’s always fun to listen to Gary talk.
If you are a marketing professional, a business owner, an entrepreneur, you should have read this book and keep it on your bookshelf to refer to it later and reread it. No matter who you are, if you live now and have a social media account, you must read it. And if you say you don’t have one, I’m sorry, where are you reading this post now? Chances are you are not on my blog but on one of the social media platforms where I publish it as well.
The book is very well written and very well researched, with numerous cases and hands-on experiences from other successful entrepreneurs and Gary himself. And luckily for me, those are not the same cases, and the same research that migrated from one business book to another and makes reading them particularly boring, at least for me.
What blows my mind is that Gary wrote this book in summer 2010 and recorded the audiobook in summer 2011. (The audiobook has some updated data that Gary provided of the script). He was able to see what social media platforms are going to become now nine years ago! And still, his advice is timeless and relevant.
Another thing that surprises me is that big businesses had nine years to read The Thank You Economy and implement Gary’s ideas in their social media strategy. Do you think they have done it? The answer for most of them is a big resounding NO.
Just take a look at Twitter or Instagram accounts of major US or Canadian banks. I know what I’m talking about because I’ve been looking there for the last couple of weeks.
This is a direct quote from the book.
“The Biggest Mistakes Companies Make with Social Media
1. Using tactics instead of strategy
2. Using it exclusively to put out fires
3. Using it to brag
4. Using it as a press release
5. Exclusively retweeting other people’s material rather than creating your own original content
6. Using it to push product
7. Expecting immediate results”
US and Canadian banks are making all of them. It’s as if this list of mistakes is actually pinned to their walls as a checklist on what to do on social media every day.
Please take your time and read this book. I haven’t read in a long time something so eye-opening and that I enjoyed so much.
A couple of quotes in the end.
1. If your view of social media is so tunnel-visioned that all you care about are the number of fans or retweets or views you’re garnering, you are missing the whole point.
2. Playboy Corporate America. Corporate America is rewarded for hookups and one-night stands, and that’s how much respect most corporations show toward their customers. Don’t hate the player; hate the game.
I never talk in absolutes, especially when it comes to books. What one person will like and rave about to everybody they know, another person will find irrelevant and hate. So, I usually exercise caution when giving my recommendations. However, there is no place for caution with “The Thank You Economy” by Gary Vaynerchuk. It’s an absolute must-read! Even better, listen to the audiobook. That’s what I did, and it’s always fun to listen to Gary talk.
If you are a marketing professional, a business owner, an entrepreneur, you should have read this book and keep it on your bookshelf to refer to it later and reread it. No matter who you are, if you live now and have a social media account, you must read it. And if you say you don’t have one, I’m sorry, where are you reading this post now? Chances are you are not on my blog but on one of the social media platforms where I publish it as well.
The book is very well written and very well researched, with numerous cases and hands-on experiences from other successful entrepreneurs and Gary himself. And luckily for me, those are not the same cases, and the same research that migrated from one business book to another and makes reading them particularly boring, at least for me.
What blows my mind is that Gary wrote this book in summer 2010 and recorded the audiobook in summer 2011. (The audiobook has some updated data that Gary provided of the script). He was able to see what social media platforms are going to become now nine years ago! And still, his advice is timeless and relevant.
Another thing that surprises me is that big businesses had nine years to read The Thank You Economy and implement Gary’s ideas in their social media strategy. Do you think they have done it? The answer for most of them is a big resounding NO.
Just take a look at Twitter or Instagram accounts of major US or Canadian banks. I know what I’m talking about because I’ve been looking there for the last couple of weeks.
This is a direct quote from the book.
“The Biggest Mistakes Companies Make with Social Media
1. Using tactics instead of strategy
2. Using it exclusively to put out fires
3. Using it to brag
4. Using it as a press release
5. Exclusively retweeting other people’s material rather than creating your own original content
6. Using it to push product
7. Expecting immediate results”
US and Canadian banks are making all of them. It’s as if this list of mistakes is actually pinned to their walls as a checklist on what to do on social media every day.
Please take your time and read this book. I haven’t read in a long time something so eye-opening and that I enjoyed so much.
A couple of quotes in the end.
1. If your view of social media is so tunnel-visioned that all you care about are the number of fans or retweets or views you’re garnering, you are missing the whole point.
2. Playboy Corporate America. Corporate America is rewarded for hookups and one-night stands, and that’s how much respect most corporations show toward their customers. Don’t hate the player; hate the game.