May 3, 2022
Returning to To The Point, Gary Vaynerchuk – or as most know him – Gary “Vee”, needs no introduction. CEO of VaynerMedia, Gary Vee was actually the one that encouraged CEO of RYNO Strategic Solutions and
Chris and Gary had a conversation about marketing, sales, recruiting, and NFTs that we’ll cover briefly below. If you want to hear the conversation in full, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and listen to the episode! You can also check out his previous appearance on the podcast to hear more of Gary Vee’s thoughts on home services growth.
Chris asked Gary Vee about how SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay-per-click) should work together with branding in an overall digital marketing strategy for a company. Gary Vee made a distinction between marketing and sales. Both matter tremendously, but one thing is for sure: there is no better sales engine than Google Adwords because it’s intent-based marketing. If you’re a plumber and someone searches for “plumbing repair”, why wouldn’t you want to be the first option?
Gary Vee also pointed out that there is some creativity here. It’s not simply about spending the most money, having good copy and a great brand is what will set you apart. Not only that, a great brand might end up lowering your cost per click. If company A is more expensive than company B, but the consumer recognizes and trusts company A’s brand, they are still more likely to choose company A.
The key here is to think of each of these things as a complete toolbox. Social media might be a wrench, and PPC may be a hammer. These tools are all useful for specific things, but you need them all together to build a house. Something like NFTs might be a new tool you haven’t found a use for, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth investigating. If you’re pumping out content and winning with your SEM (search engine marketing), that’s the holy grail. It’s that combination of a winning social media creative strategy, marketing, and branding together that will make you win.
Recruiting certainly remains a pain point in the trades, and isn’t something exclusive to our industries, either. It’s a pretty universal obstacle at this point, and mostly it’s a lack of qualified candidates. The skilled trades are difficult, and many companies have turned towards making their own incubators such as a university or in-house trade school. Chris asked Gary Vee about this, and Gary Vee agrees: so many people have mis-played the skilled worker game by not creating their own incubator.
Gary Vee is no stranger to mastering and implementing new technologies and trends with massive success. By now, things like cryptocurrency and NFT as somewhat “mainstream” as terms, but the actual concept and functionality remains a mystery to many. That will change. Gary Vee distinguishes that NFTs are simply a “smart contract”. Much like a maintenance agreement, for example. He says to imagine a world where your maintenance agreement is an NFT. Perhaps you’ve partnered with a local artist to create the NFT. Now, instead of the maintenance agreement being $200/year, maybe it’s $500/year. Why would someone pay more for it?
For starters, our hypothetical NFT here has a lot going for it. Not only does the owner of this NFT have the perks of the maintenance agreement you’re selling, but they now have a piece of art that could someday become more valuable. Now imagine a step further, and that you’ve also partnered with a local steakhouse. Anyone with one of your NFT maintenance agreements now has exclusive access to a wine night once a month, or maybe it’s a discount at a local theater. You can start to see the untapped potential here. Gary Vee points out that he realizes a lot of this might sound wild to everyone, but it’s not wild at all to him. It’s going to happen in some form or another; it’s just a matter of time.
Interested in learning a bit more about NFTs, or even buying your very own? Gary Vee actually has his very own NFT project, called VeeFriends! Check it out! You can also follow Gary Vee on his personal Twitter account here.