What Am I Reading? Crushing It





To say that it was overwhelming, would not be a long shot.

Gary is, by his own admission, unusual. I did watch many of his YouTube videos and came across some of his work prior to picking up Crushing It - the follow up to his 2009 book Crush It.

First few pages in, and wham - Is this guy mildly narcissistic? Yes. Was what he saying making sense? Oh yes - and after some time, narcissism didn't seem to matter. For what he said, resonated loud and clear. Clear actionable strategies on how to build your business and influence online - acceptable even with the ever present dose of self-promotion.

Having read countless books on social media, you'd think that hey, this is more of the same stuff, perhaps bottled differently. But this book is, thankfully, a lot more. Filled with his unique perspectives on social media, brand building, entrepreneurship and life, it is as much of a live-wire as Gary himself is on stage. I can almost hear his exhortations as he encourages an audience to never give up trying.

Covering the seven principles for building social media presence: intent, authenticity, passion, patience, speed, work, attention, Gary moves on to content and motivation in the second part of the book. Readers get unique insights when he discusses typical challenges - actual and perceived along with strategies to build presence right from established platforms to more nascent ones.

What I liked about this book?

The book does have practical value, and ready to implement strategies and tips for virtually anyone. Its a fun and easy read, and you can connect with the journeys of the people mentioned in the book - its almost as if every challenge that you told yourself, you could not overcome, someone has gone ahead and transcended that [and managed to get covered in Crushing It, too, in the interim.]

How can this book help you?
Are you an entrepreneur looking to build your online presence? Are you looking to build your personal brand online? This book is for you - with examples of real-life people who have gone ahead and build sustainable businesses for themselves, with varying degrees of financial success.

What I felt this book lacked
The last mile - I would have loved to sink my teeth into the actual last mile strategies. How to make content monetizable? How to strike the brand collaborations that can actually rocket you into a different league?. The devil, as they say, is in the details.

Final take
Engrossing read, nonetheless. Go figure.

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