Why GaryVee Will Never Buy The Jets!!
…until he changes this one simple thing about the way he does business.
This post was inspired by the above episode.
In this episode, the scientist of online marketing and the world’s most enthusiastic social media marketer have a conversation.
I hated this episode because watching them talk past each other was awful.
…and I loved it because Seth was patient, insightful - and Gary wasn’t afraid to interrupt him to ask questions. It really showed more of who both of them are than most of their usual appearances.
Who?
Seth is the original scientist of online marketing. He’s been doing as much of what works as he possibly can for the last 30 years, and in doing so he’s gained international respect. Nearly everyone I know has referenced one of Seth’s ideas without even knowing it. For any given topic (especially online topics), you can count on the fact that Seth wrote about it, his writing got passed through the grape vine, and people repeat it endlessly because it works. In contrast, I have entrepreneur friends who have never heard of Gary Vaynerchuck.
Now, I’m a big fan of both of them, so I don’t want to come accross as unecessarily critical. Gary knows what he’s doing and he’s very intentional about the image he puts accross.
I’m not saying “I have friends who have never heard of Gary” to emphasize anything other than:
Both Seth and Gary are playing the same game. They have ideas about the world that they know work, and they’re trying to share those ideas effectively. What Seth does what works really well, what Gary does could work better.
What’s up with Gary?
As far as I can tell, Gary wants to end up with a louder, more sports-themed version of Seth’s success and respect, but he’s missing this critical piece.
(now obviously, I don’t know this, but from how Gary reacts to the word “science”, I assume that he doesn’t see science as a simple methodology. He neither sees it as personally useful nor worth taking the time to understand.)
Like most of us, Gary does what feels right.
Gary doesn’t do science.
Gary doesn’t think of his work as something that would benefit from the scientific method.
Some of what Gary does doesn’t work. Some of it does. I’d bet he doesn’t have a reliable system to determine one from the other, because apparently he’s ignored science. He doesn’t know that all science IS is a reliable system to determine what works and what doesn’t.
Gary will keep doing some things that don’t work because he isn't a scientist.
What is science?
Science is the only way that humans can predict the future. Hippy as it sounds, this is true.
People on their own are unreliable, intuitive, and often assume incorrect things about the world around them (see the stick breaking & lion analogy in the video — and no Gary, it has nothing to do with hippos and sharks, Seth was just being polite).
Why Isn’t Gary A Scientist?
When you (or your company) get hired to build a rocket, you need to know that it’s going to get to space to make your clients happy. To do this, you have to RUTHLESSLY eliminate things that don’t work.
This is why rocket engineers are scientists and marketers are not.
Because in the world of marketing the stakes are low, and the margins are huge. It’s not necessary to ruthlessly eliminate things that don’t work. In fact, entire marketing businesses have been built on practices that don’t work.
But imagine if a marketing business was built using only scientific principles and practices?
A marketing business that always worked? Predictably? Every time?
Science = Do Only What Works Every Time
Until he understands that science is just code for “do what works, don’t waste your time on bullshit” (which honestly sounds like a slogan he would love) Gary won’t reliably succeed in the way he hopes to.
Gary, be a scientist. It’s the only repeatable, dependable practice that reliably and predictably moves humanity forward.
If you want to know how to get started, ask Seth how science has helped him build his empire of ideas. Now that’s a Gary Vee Show I would love watching.
Remember, every time you hit recommend on my medium posts, you get free kittens.
Steve Moraco wrote this immediately after watching the 30 minute Gary Vee show above to procrastinate on writing copy for his online business. Now, per Seth's advice, Steve is going to go make meaningful work. Steve feels the need to write third person bios at the end of his posts because it's funny and because it gives you a reminder to hit the "recommend" button below (the little heart) so that other people can see this post!Thank you for reading. Your time and attention means the world. As Seth said, this is why we built the internet.
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