It was an okay book, but I preferred "The E-Myth"

The author is obviously passionate about the topic, but I got tired of the high-school-teenager-style of writing. "Awesome!" "Crush it!" "Totally sick!" It wore on me.

But the reason for my low review isn't because of the author's verbage. It's because, like many business books, it just didn't leave me with any real insight as to how I can change my business to apply the ideas. The actual "how to do it" chapters were pretty old news to me. Get a blog, use this or that technology, what social media sites are best, etc. I'm looking for how to use those technologies better, with specific tips.... not what tools are best.

The one thing in the book that helped me and has stuck with me is the chapter on caring. Changed my perspective.

I don't think I would have bought this book if I could go back in time, but that's just my personal preference. I'm sure there are many thousands who find this book to be useful.

In my opinion, the best small business book ever written is "The E-Myth Revisited." I read that book and it completely changed my business.

167 people found this helpful

Crush It?

It starts with promises of methods to start doing what you love, then goes on to become a redundant ramble about the benefits of having a personal website and the evils of corporate workplaces, which turned out to be difficult to swallow.

I've never heard of this guy before, and his repetitive plugging of his work at Wine Library TV (and he mentions that A LOT) becomes extremely irritating halfway through.

Also, the author/narrator is talking as if he's the obnoxious guy hanging out with the gang. If I had a penny for every time he said "Are you ready for this?" I'd easily have more than I paid for this purchase. I wanted an audiobook to listen to, not a guy who thinks he's cool telling the rest of us how we got it all wrong and he didn't.

114 people found this helpful

Awful...

Has Crush It! turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes. Be VERY selective with self help books. This has zero content. It's just a guy rambling about what social media is.
The entire message is:
Work hard
Create good content
Create Social media profiles
Share your content

So how do you create good content?
Google it
How do you get more people to come to your page?
Google it

Are you fucking kidding me? Don't waste your money, please. I feel stupid for having purchased this.
Do yourself a favor and get one of the following:
4 hour work week
$100 dollar startup
The Lean Startup

These books are written by SMART people who really put effort into them, not some jackass who just plugged a mic in and started rambling.

108 people found this helpful

Outdated and redundant

I'm a big fan of Gary V, but this book is now part of history of the Internet. 8 years have passed since this audiobook has been recorded, alot of the info, websites and apps he talks about are either updated, forgotten, don't exist anymore, irrelevant or replaced by other modern websites. Most of the things you learn in this book can easily be found anywhere with a simple Google search.

on top of that, Gary is extremely repetitive. he keeps repeating over and over again "follow your passion", "work hard". yes we get it, we understand. I know that for those who need that motivation, this is a good thing, but for those who already understand the concept of working hard for your passion, it just gets annoying to hear every few sentences the same thing over again.

Also, why does he tell us at the beginning of the book that "loving your family" is one of the 3 components to success? That's one of his own personal values, not a universal principle of success.

With all that being said, I think that if you are a noob, and have no idea how to get into branding and social media, this book is a great place to start, but then again you could just search the Gary V engine on his website and find all the info you need, or read one of his more recent books for up to date information.

In conclusion, I still think Gary is an awesome dude with so much value to offer, but this book is just a relic of ancient times.

92 people found this helpful

Too self-promotional

There is some useful information in this book - but it is so entangled with the self-promotional material by the author that it actually loses all credibility in my view. I know the author has been successful and I have no doubt that he is very talented but this book becomes very irritating very quickly.

79 people found this helpful

Yawn...

Not necessarily a bad book, but if you've done anything with marketing or web branding this will come off as very basic and obvious. It should have been called "Personal Branding for Idiots". I really got nothing new out of this book and it was quite painful to finish.

51 people found this helpful

A waste of a credit

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If the author provided any substance at all it might have been worthwhile.

Would you ever listen to anything by Gary Vaynerchuk again?

Never

What didn’t you like about Gary Vaynerchuk’s performance?

self-serving worthless information

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Total disappointment - this guy must love to hear himself talk

49 people found this helpful

Death by obviousness.

I purchased this book because it had a 4 star in Amazon. One reviewer complained about how he got 76 "not helpful" votes on a single day for his 2 star review of this book. I still went ahed and bought it cause of all the 4 star reviews! I regret deeply the couple hours I spent with it, I did not fully finish the 3rd hour. The book contains no original thought or insights. Just keeps repeating that I should CRUSH IT!

35 people found this helpful

Gary delivers!

I have the hard cover of this book, and ordered the audio to read along with it, and Gary gives his audible customers a treat by adding commentary, often straying from the text to inject little (and sometimes BIG) bonuses; it's like he's talking right to his fans! And the book is rich with information - worth several listens! Have your pen and paper ready, this one is worth taking notes on!

28 people found this helpful

One Of The Best I've Heard

I'm an info-junkie, so when I'm not online or reading, I'm listening to a book or podcast.
Let's be honest: For a long time, most audio books have been a compromise--they're something you consume when you're too busy to sit down and read the book yourself.
Only rarely does an audiobook match up to the print version, let alone exceed it, even when it's read by its own author.
This is one of those times. I bought the print version over the holidays but it kept disappearing (people in my family kept nicking it). So I downloaded the audio and there was just no comparison--it's twice as good as the book. Print just does not do the material--nor it's charismatic author-- justice.
The premise of the book is as simple as it is powerful: Social networking platforms are creating unprecedented opportunities for anyone with the drive and the persistence to go after them.
And nobody can deliver the message better than "Garyvee". He's funny, inspiring and irrepressible.
And he has a terrible time "sticking to the script", as he puts it, which means the audiobook is chock-full of "bonus material" you won't find in the print version.
I think that, like me, a lot of people will end up buying both formats, using the book as a quick reference/refresher and the audio download for inspiration and motivation.
But if you have to choose, definitely get the audio book--you won't be disappointed!

28 people found this helpful