The Thank You Economy Book Review

Posted by John Paul in Reviews

Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk

I just finished reading this book on Sunday and I have to say, it is one of the best books I have read.

Why? Usually when you read a book like this, you say “cool, can’t wait to try this on my business“ or something similar.  But you have no proof it works, or will work for you and your business.

But with The Thank You Economy book, after the first chapter I KNEW it works, I KNEW what Gary was saying is real and I KNEW this because I have already been doing it for about 2 years.

Gary talks about connecting with people, building strong relationships and offering over the top customer service and value.

If you have read my blog for any amount of time, you know I push engagement and building relationships.

What is my biggest secret to my Twitter success?

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I thank every person for every tweet and I thank them with their first name! I do the work to find their name on their profile on their blog on their about me page on the author title in a new post wherever it is I find it and use it to say thank you.

Why? Because nothing makes someone feel more important or that you are engaged with them, then to use their first name when you talk to them.

Side story: In Dec I got hired by an author releasing a new book as her social media manager for 3 months, a gig that paid me $2500  I asked her why me?  She said that the first time she RT’d one of my posts, I thanked her using her name and she said NO ONE has ever done that.

This is a small part of what you will learn in The Thank You Economy

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Social Media Is The Future

Gary feels that for any business to have long term success, they will need to take their business back to the 1950’s. Back when Customer service was king.

The power of social media will force business leaders to start thinking like small-town shop owners: allowing “the personality, heart, and soul of the people who run all levels of the business to show,” having authentic conversations, and demonstrating real caring. “We’re living in what I like to call the Thank You Economy,” “because only the companies that can figure out how to mind their manners in a very old-fashioned way–and do it authentically–are going to have a prayer of competing.”

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Favorite Quotes

“Social media is like a kidney. You can survive with one, but your odds are better with two. And in the future, “social media will be as important to a business as a strong heart.”

Quality content is king. Always.

But from now on, quality content must be followed up with quality engagement. You had better be ready and waiting to engage your consumer online when they start Googling and Tweeting Facebooking to find out more about the awesome content they just experienced, because that’s how our consumer culture works now.”

I like this one the best, since I had a Kidney Transplant   Gary is right, sharing and tweeting something is good, but being there after to engage with people is best.

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“There’s only so low you can go on price. There’s only so excellent you can make your product or service. There’s only so far you can stretch your marketing budget. Your heart, though, that’s boundless”

Social Media done right will put you way ahead of your competitor. It can be the difference of you failing or succeeding.

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“Business leaders consistently underestimate two things. First, they underestimate people’s willingness to forgive. They are afraid to put up fan pages because they think any negative comment is equal to a ’60 Minutes’ investigation showing the whole world how much they stink….  Second, they underestimate people’s [B.S.] radar.”

People don’t care if you make mistakes, it shows you are normal. What people really care about is how you deal with the mistakes.

Every product or company will have problems, how you work to fix those problems and make your customer happy is what will make you stand out.

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2 Things That Stood Out

I liked how Gary broke down how Yelp almost crushed Zagat as the go to place for restaurant reviews. Here’s how Gary shared it…

Zagat is the go-to guide for foodies the world over until 2004, when former PayPal employees Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons launch Yelp, a new, free site driven by user reviews.

By 2008, Yelp has 10 million unique visitors. Zagat tries to sell its business that year, but there are no takers. Later that same year, Yelp releases its free iPhone app, while Zagat launches a $10 iPhone app.

By 2009, Yelp reports 25 million unique visitors, while the $25-per-year membership fee-based Zagat gets 270,000. December 2009 sees Yelp turn down a $550 million offer from Google and $700 million offer from Microsoft, having become one of the great Internet brands.

In 2010, Zagat finally gets with it by teaming with Foursqaure and embracing social media strategies like enabling users to post photos and comments about their experiences.

Gary goes into even more ways social media will help your business stand out against the big guy in The Thank You Economy

Social Media is like Word-Of-Mouth on steroids, the power is to the people now. This is another thing that caught my eye when I was reading…

It is no longer about what you say about you.  It is now about what other people say about you (68% of consumers trust peer recommendations over ads) and how you react and respond to what is being said.

Are you giving people a reason to say thanks right now?  Are you creating a virtual footprint that once people discover allows them to become engrossed with your brand the way that I was with Gary’s?  If not do that.  It works.

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Hear From Gary

Watch a video from Gary on “The Thank You Economy” and get a Free 20 pg sample.

Watch Video Now

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