Co-hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens interview Gary Vaynerchuk, a 33
year old self-trained wine and social media expert who has revolutionized the
wine industry. Gary is the
Director of Operations of the Wine Library, his parents’ 3-story, New
Jersey-based wine store.
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His
webcast, “The Thunder Show”, on www.winelibrarytv.com,
attracts over 90,000 viewers each day and his email queue typically holds 1,000
messages from obsessed fans, self-named “Vayniacs”. Gary’s cult-like following is the result of his unconventional,
often irreverent commentary on wine, combined with his business acumen and
foresight to use social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to reach
an untapped audience. Recently,
Gary’s podcast became the most downloaded show on iTunes in the Food category,
beating out venerable names in the industry including Martha Stewart and Jamie
Oliver.
Known as the “King
of Social Media”, Gary is one of the first - and one of a few - Facebook users
that maxed-out his friend limit, with over 17,000 requests pending. He has been the most followed person in
New York City on Twitter and was the keynote speaker at noted events like the 2009
South by Southwest Interactive conference and the New Media and Web 2.0
expos. A weekly contributor to TheStreet.com
and Popeater.com, Gary is regularly asked to consult on social media for some
of the world’s largest and most recognizable companies like Google and Domino’s. Further proving reverence for Gary’s
business expertise, at 27, he became the youngest winner of MarketWatch’s Business Award.
Gary broke
down the barriers in the wine industry, attracting followers from ages 12 to
90, all with one thing in common: an eagerness to learn about wine. Gary’s key goals (after owning the New
York Jets) are to get people to try different wines and trust their own palates
to buy what “brings the thunder.”
One of the hallmarks of Gary’s show is appealing to the Average Joe
through comical expressions like “Sniffy sniff” and “The Oakmonster”, encouraging
straightforward wine tasting and debunking wine myths. In the name of “expanding one’s
palate”, Gary convinced Conan O’Brien to lick salted rocks and shared samples
of dirt and grass with Ellen Degeneres.
Gary’s
interest in wine started while he was working the liquor store owned and
operated by his Russian immigrant parents. He began reading The
Wine Spectator and wine books, realizing collecting wine offered an allure
similar to his previous hobby of collecting baseball cards. With a wealth of
knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit, Gary spent every weekend of his
college years at his parents’ wine store. He rebranded the family business as
Wine Library and grew it from $4 million to $40 million.
He released
his first book, 101 Wines Guaranteed to
Inspire, Delight and Bring Thunder to Your World in 2008 and recently
announced a 10-book deal with HarperStudio. The first title, Crush It! Turn Your Passion into Profits
in a Digital World, will launch in fall 2009.
For entertaining advice join hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe for a lively and informative discussion.
28-Aug-09 9:00 AM
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