Social Media Week Vancouver
Social Media week rolled out the big guns late in the week. On Thursday afternoon we finally got to see a Gary Vaynerchuk talk in person after watching all of his videos. Jeff even got a photo with Gary. As expected… Gary killed it!!
Dragon’s Den
On Friday the Dragon’s Den came to town with Jim Treliving and Bruce Croxon giving some insights into business and marketing before the three pitches. Here were are the takeaways from Gary’s talk and the Dragons’ Den sessions…
Business Tips
Gary Vee’s best business tip – “If we as people and businesses spent more time on what we are good at we would all be more successful. Too many people try to learn or fix things that are hard for them. Over index on what you do well and hire people to do the other things.”
Gary Vee’s best sales tip – “The end customer is what really matters. Why is social media important? It has nothing to do with what you are going to say. It has everything to do with what your customer is going to say. If you listen you can bring value to the conversations. Nobody has patience, respect and caring for the customer anymore. We are going back to small town rules. As we go more “Jetsons” the people that go more “Flinstones” are going to win. The people that connect will be ahead.”
Our favourite Gary Vaynerchuk quote – “The reason I love social media is because it sells shit.”
Bruce’s best business tip – “The most important thing about growing a business from two partners to 200 employees is to build your company culture. Set your core values and then surround yourself with people that think like you and have the same ethics and values. When collaboration happens the answers are better. Build a culture in which your team works together.”
Bruce’s reality check – “It is sexy again to be an entrepreneur but it is not for everyone. In reality companies are built over a lifetime. Overnight successes are few and far between. It is a lot of hard work being an entrepreneur and there is no substitute for the hard work.”
Jim’s reality check – “If you are not on social media then you are way way behind and may never get caught up.” (Jim is not into social media and technology himself but he has built a team to support him and his businesses because he understands how important it is).
Jim’s tip for anyone going on Dragon’s Den – “The time you spend building your business is NOT a part of your valuation. You must have some sales first to demonstrate the relationship between what you’re making now and what your potential is. You need to make sure you can demonstrate cash flow down the road working on a two year business projection.”
It was a great week of learning and fun! Thanks to ING Direct, BCAMA and Socialized for brining Social Media Week to Vancouver.
Jeff & Tara Ciecko of CK Golf Solutions write two blogs on their website, one is there 19th Hole Blog where they share personal experiences and the Biz Blog where they share business best practices and golf industry related opinions. They have owned CK Golf Solutions for 5 years and provide business best practices to a number of industries.
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