Crush It! Why Now Is The Time To Cash In On Your Passion (Review)

This is the first in a series of Book Reviews that I am doing as part of the Life is Volunteer project where I'm working through several dozen incredible books on international service, leadership, social entrepreneurship, volunteerism, and unconventional living. Each time I finish a book that I think you might really like, I'll write a review here on the blog and share some of my favorite big ideas from the book.

The awesome book I just finished is called Crush It! Why Now Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk. It's a New York Times Bestseller and a book that was good enough, and short enough, that I was able to finish it in one sitting. Thanks Mend-Orshikh for letting me borrow it!


Quick Overview

Crush It! is about how the internet is changing marketing and leveling the playing field for businesses and individuals around the world. Gary makes a compelling case that each of us has an unprecedented opportunity to promote our businesses (big or small), our projects and our personal brand like never before. After convincing you of that, he spends the rest of the book showing you how to do it using his own experience as an example.

Whether you're a writer, marketing specialist, entrepreneur, wine connoisseur or someone who wants to represent their own "personal brand", the internet has opened up opportunities for everyone. Throughout Crush It! Gary tells his story of how he helped turn his small family-owned wine and liquor store into a multi-million dollar business thanks to online videos. Every week he features new reviews on WineLibraryTV.com and slowly over several years built a following of hundreds of thousands of people. Throughout the book he breaks down the way he did this and how anyone can do it, usually for free. This includes things like making websites (which I've done for free for a long time) and engaging with people using social media like Facebook and Twitter.

My Favorite Big Ideas

One of the key messages of the book is the idea of creating your own personal brand. He makes the point that in today's internet-connected world everyone has a brand online. Whether you like it or not when you type your name in Google something is coming up. Gary makes the case that, if you want, you can be the one in charge of that. You can create websites, profiles and products that have your name associated with them or your name can be at the mercy of whoever wants to write about you. Creating your own personal brand is the idea that you need to protect and promote things that you believe in: who you are and who you want to be. The idea is summed up very well in his checklist that appears at the end of Crush It! which I have provided at the end of this review. But before we get there, here is one of my favorite parts of the book:

Ultimately this book is not about making a million dollars, although it just might help you do that. It’s about ensuring your own happiness by enabling you to live every day passionately and productively. I measure my success by how happy I am, not how big the business is or how much money I’ve made.


Living your passion means that when you get up for work every morning, every single morning, you are pumped because you get to talk about or work with or do the thing that interests you the most in the world. You don’t live for vacations because you don’t need a break from what you’re doing – working, playing, and relaxing are on and the same. You don’t even pay attention to how many hours you’re working because to you, it’s not really work. You’re making money, but you’d do whatever it is you’re doing for free.


Does this sound like you? Are you living, or just earning a living? You spend so much time at work, why waste it doing anything other than what you love most? Life is too short for that. You owe it to yourself to make a massive change for the better, and all you have to do is go online and start using the tools waiting for you there.


Learn to live your passion, and you’ll have all the money you need plus total control over your own destiny. That’s a pretty comfortable place to be, wouldn’t you say?


I don’t care if your passion is rehabilitating abandoned ferrets; if you learn to tap into everything the digital world has to offer, you can turn water into wine – you can transform what you live into a legacy-building business that makes a crapload of money, and still be true to yourself.


Making connections, creating and continuing meaningful interaction with other people, whether in person or in the digital domain, is the only reason we’re here. Remember that, set the tone, and build legacy.

The Final Word

"If there’s any message I want you to take away," writes Gary, "it’s that true success – financial, personal and professional – lies above all in loving your family, working hard, and living your passion. In telling your story. In authenticity, hustle, and patience. In caring fiercely about the big and the small stuff. In valuing legacy over currency. Social media is an important part of it for now, but maybe it won’t always be. These concepts, however, are forever, no matter what the next business platform or social phenomenon turns out to be."

I thought it would be helpful to provide a checklist of all the steps you want to take as you build your personal brand:

1. Identify your passion.
2. Make sure you can think of at least fifty awesome blog topics to ensure stickiness.
3. Answer the following questions:
1. Am I sure my passion is what I think it is?
2. Can I talk about it better than anyone else?
4. Name your personal brand. You don’t have to refer to it anywhere in your content, but you should have a clear idea of what it is. For example, “The no-bs real-estate agent,” “The connoisseur of cookware,” “The cool guide to young-adult books boys will love to read.”
5. Buy your use name.com and .tv if possible – at GoDaddy.com
6. Choose your medium: video, audio, written word.
7. Start a Wordpress or Tumblr account.
8. Hire a designer.
9. Include a Facebook Connect link, Call-to-Action buttons, Share Functions and a button that invites people to do business with you in a prominent place on your blog.
10. Create a Facebook fan page.
11. Sign up for Ping.fm or TubeMogul and select all of the platforms to which you want to distribute your content. Choosing Twitter and Facebook is imperative; the others you can select according to your needs and preference.
12. Post your content.
13. Start creating community by leaving comments on other people’s blogs and forums and replying to comments to your own comment.
14. Use Twitter Search (or Search.Twitter) to find as many people as possible talking about your topic, and communicate with them.
15. Use Blogsearch.Google.com to find more blogs that are relevant to your subject.
16. Join as many active Facebook fan pages and groups relating to your blog topic as possible.
17. Repeat steps 12 through 16 over and over and over and over and over.
18. Do it again.
19. And again.
20. When you feel your personal brand has gained sufficient attention and stickiness, start reaching out to advertisers and being monetizing.
21. Enjoy the ride.

I highly recommend giving Crush It! a read, it's a fascinating and helpful book. I'm also reading through the Thank You Economy right now, which is his second book, and I'm really enjoying so far. I look forward to writing a short review on that soon too. I would also love to hear your recommendations on other great books I should read! Please visit the Life is Volunteer Get Involved page page and join me on Facebook to tell me what you think I should check out! Oh, and if you want to borrow my copy of Crush It! just let me know!

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A Secret Weapon in the Battle Against the Email Monster

There can definitely be too much of a good thing. Case in point: communication by email. It's wonderful to be able to communicate with people that we love all around the world all the time, but sometimes looking at a full inbox can feel like 50 people talking to you at once. If you're like me you deal with a lot of e-mails every day (maybe not as many as some, but still a lot). For a long time this meant I would never get to all of them. I felt too pressured to write long replies and there would always be several messages sitting there for days or weeks until I would magically find time to answer them. Enter the five sentence rule and now I've had an empty inbox at work and at home every night for months.

Five Sentences

The most helpful thing I've found in my battle against the inbox is the five.sentenc.es method, which I first heard about on ZenHabits. Nine times out of ten it's the best way for me to respond to any e-mail message. On occasion I'll include an attachment or forward someone to a website to find more information, but almost always the five sentences method allows me to clear my inbox every day (sometimes even using something small like an iPod Touch which I can take with me anywhere). 

Don't get me wrong, I love talking to people on the phone and on Skype forever - email is usually just not the place for those long conversations. Don't pressure yourself into crafting the perfect reply. Stick to five sentences, clear your inbox, move on to more complete conversations person-to-person, and enjoy a less stressful digital life. Good luck!

Once you empty out that inbox, come say "hi!" on Facebook!
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6 Tips For Self-Publishing That Book You've Always Dreamed of Writing

I had a great Skype conversation with Thomas Burns last month, who is a new friend, a former Fulbright Scholar and author of the upcoming book The Unofficial Guide to Fulbright Scholarships. After coming across my book, he asked if we could meet and a few days later we were talking, halfway around the world, about his awesome idea.

We live in an amazing age, unlike anytime in history, and it's redefining fields like technology, communication, media and much more. The fact that you are reading this, seconds after I write it in Mongolia, days after I video-conference with sometime halfway around the world, about publishing books using a mechanism that didn't exist a few years ago, is the perfect example of just how amazing it is.

When I was in America over the holiday season I spoke with my Uncle Josh about a book he self-published when I was younger. It cost him hundreds of dollars to buy dozens of copies and then sell them to family and friends himself. He really enjoyed writing it but, as you can imagine, the self-publishing process was a little difficult and very expensive. After handing him a copy of my book and talking  about the process of self-publishing online for a few minutes, he was convinced. "Next time I think I'm doing it your way," he said.

Self-publishing online has cost me nothing, not a penny, and after selling hundreds of copies of the Unofficial Handbook in a few short months, we have already raised hundreds of dollars for Peace Corps projects around the world. In case you are interested in self-publishing your own book, like Thomas and my Uncle Josh, here are a few tips that you might find helpful...

1. Clarify Your Idea

Before you begin, it's important to ask yourself a few questions: 

• What exactly are you writing? 
• Why are you writing? 
• And who are you writing for? 

In my case, I wanted to help people who were interested in being Peace Corps Volunteers, to give them the book I wished someone would have given me, and I knew it was a small target audience. Self-publishing allowed me to freely express my ideas, raise about $4.00 from every book to give back to Peace Corps and update it as many times as I wanted. Take time to answer these questions carefully.

2. Gather An Incredible Support Team

At first it was just me, but the more people I told about my book the more people wanted to help. Some of my friends used to work for magazines or publishers, some loved to write, some loved to read, some loved graphic design and all of them were excited to help. It will be very helpful to have a support team of people you love and respect whether editors, proof-readers, advisors, press contacts, graphic designers or even cooperating organizations. Don't go it alone. Ask for help and you'll be amazed at who steps forward.

3. Write Consistently and Stay Inspired

Chris recently said, "When you get writer's block, lower your standards and keep going." It's easy to be hard on ourselves and get overwhelmed, with standards that are so high that they might drive us crazy. Be easy on yourself. Surround yourself with things that inspire you, other books, videos and people who remind you why you are writing. Keep something with you that makes it easy to jot down your ideas, a small notebook, an electronic note-taking application or even your cellphone. Let out your great ideas and keep them organized. There are tons of great free resources out there. Some of my favorites are Evernote, MindNode, PBWorks and GoogleSites. They are all free and very easy to learn. Pick one or two and use them all the time.

4. Create Space For Yourself

In writing consistency trumps bursts of inspiration in the same way that exercising 30 minutes everyday trumps vigorous exercise just one time a week. Create space for yourself to write, maybe a physical space but certainly uninterrupted time, so that you can chip away at your work. It can be a little lonely at times, and it might take longer than you thought originally, but if you stick at it you will finish. Trust me.

5. Consider Self-Publishing

Take a look at the self-publishing services out there, like Lulu.com. They require no start-up cash and are usually print-on-demand services, meaning that when someone orders your book they print it and ship it right then. You just write the book and they take care of everything else. In Lulu's case, they even put the book up on Amazon.com for you for free. Also, the growing industry of eBooks (which can be read on computers, Kindles, Nooks, iPads and just about anything now) are another great option. E-junkie.com is a good service for selling your eBooks online, again with no start-up costs. Remember, when you self-publish you retain the rights to your book and you can always go with a traditional publisher later if you want.

6. Keep People Updated

The last thing, which is easy to forget, is to keep people updated on your book. Use Facebook, Twitter, your own website, whatever you want. Post regularly about how you are doing, good or bad. It gives you a chance to talk with others, for them to support and even motivate you, and it keeps people excited for the day when they can finally hold your book in their hands. Keeping people updated benefits everyone. Also keep it as personal as possible, connect with people individually whether through email, in person, or in writing. Integrity is the best long-term marketing strategy. Be yourself, be kind and be helpful. And when you mention them in the Acknowledgments, it'll be like icing on the cake.

Writing a book is a daunting task, but it's not as difficult as you may imagine it to be. Give it a shot, gather your support team around you and remember I'm right here with you. Contact me online through our community on Facebook, I'm excited to help anyway I can!

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What Would You Do With Unlimited Sponsorship?

What would you do with unlimited sponsorship? By this I mean unlimited money or resources or connections to do something great - something you've always wanted to do. Maybe that means reading 100 incredible books and reviewing them for thousands of people. Maybe it means traveling to every country in the world. Or maybe just trying to help people change themselves and change the world. 

That last one, in case you didn't already know, is what I'm trying to do with Advance Humanity. The second to last one is Chris Guilbeau at the Art of Nonconformity. And the first was Brian Johnson with PhilosophersNotes. Both Chris and Brian have been very inspiring for me personally as I think about what I want to do. 

Often, I think we overestimate the cost (as Chris has mentioned before) of how much it will really take for us to achieve our dreams. I think it's also easy to forget that sponsorship doesn't just mean money, like $50,000 to achieve your dream. It can also mean in-kind donations: maybe someone who can provide you with the space or technology or resources to get things done. Also funding or sponsorship can come from all kinds of places that you might forget about: like people who want to buy your writing as you go. In both Brian's and Chris's projects, they wrote things as they went and people gladly supporting them as they creating their dream work. 

On any given day, we all have a chance to do incredible things things that we've always dreamed of doing but never really thought were possible. Not only are they possible, there are tons of people out there who want to help you make your dreams a reality. I, for one, am right here with you. So when I ask what would you do with unlimited sponsorship, what I'm really asking is "What will you do when you realize that sponsorship is all around you?"

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Why I Recommend 10 Days of Silent Meditation

I'm a big fan of Vipassana meditation, which is a free course organized for people who want to learn about meditation in a comfortable, quiet and safe environment over a 10-day period. I went when I had some time before Peace Corps in 2008 and I really enjoyed it. Meditation can seem like a confusing concept, but I found this retreat really easy to understand and very well run. 

You can read more about my experience here and here, but I wanted to share some thoughts from Daniel who talked with me a few weeks ago before he went on the retreat himself. He just completed the retreat earlier this month and I thought you might enjoy hearing what he had to say. I just asked him a few questions and he gave some great answers:

Why did you want to do this retreat?

I saw the Dhamma Brothers documentary and was intrigued. Not sold - just curious. I'd also been exposed to Asian philosophy before. I liked that Vipassana was avowedly NOT religious.

Were you nervous?

I was very nervous. In the days before the retreat I kept trying to justify flaking out. I got close several times. I was seriously afraid that this could be a cult. Mostly, I think, because the whole course was free. Who does that? If you're giving away a week-long course with food and board, surely you are in the business of mind control. But I kept telling myself to just be curious about this thing.

Was it rewarding?

It was immensely rewarding. Not in the sense that I got out and had a smile permanently tattooed on my face, or that I decided I wanted to worship someone. I felt noticeably better in a way that feels sustainable. Meditation is a practice, and after 10 days you really are able to begin the practice solo.

What would you tell someone who is thinking about going, but they are a little nervous?

I would never try to talk someone into doing a Vipassana retreat. If they don't want it, they absolutely could not handle it. But to someone who is curious but hesitant, I'd say go for it. Don't commit. That'd be silly. But go and give Vipassana a chance for ten days. Ten days. It's sounds long, but you'll have the right combination of business, rest, challenges, and support. No one will ask you to do anything weird, no one will ever even kind-of push you to give them your money, and if you really hate it, you can leave without any trouble. But, if like almost everyone else who went on my retreat, you're a nice, normal, curious, nervous person, you've got ten short days to lose and a whole lot to gain.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us Daniel, it's awesome that you had such a great experience! 

If you want to learn more about Vipassana meditation, you can visit their website at dhamma.org and sign up for a retreat of your own at any time. Good luck and let me know if you ever need any help!

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How To Start Your Own TEDx Event

This week I had a great Skype conversation with Chris DeBruyn, a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia, who is currently teaching in Iraq. Together with another former PCV, Kevin Johnstone, they are doing some amazing things with projects like Development Now and they have even bigger plans in the works. Chris is an inspiring guy and I look forward to seeing where his projects take him!

During our conversation Chris and I got to talking about TEDxUlaanbaatar, which we are organizing here in Mongolia, and asked "How do you start a TEDx event?" I thought you all might enjoy hearing what I said in case you want to start your own TEDx event. Note: It's a lot easier and way more awesome than you imagine!

1. Get Motivated
2. Advertise Your Intentions
3. Gather Around Incredible People
4. Be Open To How Things Might Unfold
5. Stay Enthusiastic

1. Get Motivated

Early in 2010 I thought about my dreams for the future and I made a long-term goal that I wanted to speak at the worldwide TED conference. I've been a huge fan of TEDTalks for several years and I hoped some day, maybe in my fifties, I would have lived an enlightened life and have something worth saying up there on the stage. Throughout the year, however, I kept seeing TEDx talks mixed with TEDTalks. TEDx events are independently organized events that happen all over the world, in little grass huts with a dozen audience members and university auditoriums filled with hundreds of people. The more I read about TEDx, the more I thought this was something we should do in Mongolia.

2. Advertise Your Intentions

I joined the TED.com community by creating a profile, with a little bit about what I do here in Mongolia, and searched all the profiles to see who else was in Mongolia. Then I messaged everyone from Mongolia (about 35 people) and said I was hoping to do a TEDx event here in case anyone was interested in helping. All that probably took about 30 minutes. Then I posted an update on my blog and started a small facebook group called TEDx in Mongolia. I got several responses, including one from Mende who I then met in November, and one amazing meeting led to another. When you put your intentions out there and tell people about your dreams, I find that people are generally very supportive. Be clear about what you want, how people can help and you'll be amazed at how people will come out of the woodwork and find you.

3. Gather Around Incredible People

Once you meet some incredible people, hold tight. This goes for anytime in life really. If you are already around a great group of students, colleagues, and friends, ask them to get involved in on your project. A TEDx event involves organizers, speakers, production staff and people with a wide variety of talent. If someone has a heart for the project, they will have plenty of opportunities to add valuable support. Meet with these people regularly, start to figure out what types of roles and duties people fall into, and keep each other excited.

4. Be Open To How Things Might Unfold

There are some guidelines that need to be followed which you can read about on TED.com (including applying for a free license and so on) but it's important to remember that a TEDx event can unfold in unexpected ways. You might picture it happening in a small meeting room and it evolves into an auditorium event, or the other way around. Details change, plans evolve and unexpected opportunities present themselves all the time, but the idea remains the same. TEDx and TED are about ideas worth spreading: inspiring speakers, innovative ideas, incredible stories and bringing together people who want to change the world for the better. The specifics of how that happens are usually just icing on the cake.

5. Stay Enthusiastic

As people get involved and as things like a website or formal team start to materialize, be sure to stay guided by your original intentions. Watch videos on TED.com to remember what great speakers look like and sound like, talk with people who have never heard about TED before and see their reactions when you share videos with them, and get back in touch with why you wanted to do an event in the first place - read things you wrote down, talk with the first people you met who inspired you.

Going down the road of starting a TEDx event is very rewarding, I can't recommend it enough. Regardless of how things turn out, you will meet incredible people and make awesome connections. Good luck and let me know how I can help anytime!

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A Philosopher's Notes

  

As I have written twice before, I'm a big fan of PhilosophersNotes and the man who writes them, Brian Johnson. He is a very inspiring guy and has created some great businesses and resources for over a decade.

This week he is releasing a new book which he has called A Philosopher's Notes, with 100 of the best lessons that he has learned after reading more than 100 great books on everything from philosophy to positive psychology. The book is available for purchase, but it's also available for free in this newsletter that you can get delivered every day, once a week, or whenever you want. I've signed up myself and I'm really excited to start receiving great ideas from Brian when he launches next week.

The Advance Humanity Foundation is all about changing ourselves and then changing our world, PhilosophersNotes are a perfect example of just how we can do that. Discovering the great ideas of everyone from Emerson to Buddha to Campbell to Maslow and then applying them to our daily lives allows us to realize our own greatness and then go out and share that with other people around the world. Thanks for the great ideas, the inspiration and for being awesome Brian!

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Free Rice

FreeRice.com is an unique online game that provides food for the hungry managed through the United Nations World Food Programme, the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. It is a growing community of hundreds of thousands of people across the globe who, like you, are committed to feeding the world's hungriest people. So far enough rice has been donated to feed 4.6 million people. That's why we've added it to our Resources and Inspirations on AdvanceHumanity.com. To play yourself and learn more, visit freerice.com and facebook.com/freerice. Below is a YouTube video by the World Food Programme.

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Are you easily distracted when online?

I just read this great suggestion from Litemind. Luciano writes:

Imagine you have some important work to do at the computer. I bet you know the drill: you sit down to get it done... but then resistance kicks in. You want to check that last email ("just this one, really!"). And then you go for that last news check ("quickly, I promise!"). And Facebook. And Twitter... You know how this story ends: suddenly, your day is gone. It happens too often, doesn't it?
To avoid that problem, one trick that works really well for me is to set the 'start page' (or 'home page') in my browser to a page that reminds me to focus on what I should really be doing.
Every time I open the browser, I have an extra checkpoint -- yet another chance -- to escape from automatic behaviors that could sidetrack me.
To understand exactly what I mean, check the start page I use: litemind.com/on-task.html
Granted, sometimes the urge to procrastinate wins regardless, but this saves me from getting sidetracked almost every day. The advice on the byline is just too wise to ignore -- the reason it works so well for me is because it reminds me it's all about choices, not about forcing myself to work.
If you like the idea of having a "focus start page" and don't want to create your own, feel free to use the one I created. You can even steal it and save it locally to a folder on your computer so that it loads even faster.

I definitely stole his idea and made my own page with a few additional suggestions: advancehumanity.com/focus. Whatever you choose to do, I hope it reminds you that you always have a choice. Good luck staying focused!

Have you seen our growing community on Facebook? Check it out: http://facebook.com/advancehumanity

A Working Perspective

Coming back to work after a long holiday can be hard. Especially when your vacation is something around six weeks long and on the other side of the world. I've enjoyed coming back to Mongolia, but it was easy to get overwhelmed with work, projects, responsibilities and much more.

Two articles that I read recently, one at ZenHabits and a speech shared with me by a fellow Volunteer Alison, showed me that I'm definitely not facing that challenge alone. All of us have the challenge of work in front of us everyday. We get to decide our attitude and perspective every moment, every week, and it's important to face that consciously. 

In Leo's article on Work-Life Balance, he makes some good suggestions and my favorite two are: build your skills to prepare for leaving work and remember you are not your work. The first one requires daily attention to the fact that we should always be learning, growing and changing as our world and the job market changes. As we expand our abilities and skills, we become more valuable to our current job and future work as well. What are you doing and learning today that helps you be where you want to be in the future? 

The second revolves around the idea that our job is what we do, but not who we are. We are family members, friends, people. Those roles require a lot of attention too, exercise, good nutrition, time alone together with people we love. That's easy to lose sight of. 

In fact, it wasn't until a few days ago after I read the commencement speech that Alison shared with me that I realized I had already drifted too far myself. I had started to look at work, walking in the cold, and many other things as sources of stress rather than incredible opportunities to do things that I love to do. The speech doesn't really have a title, but I like calling it This is Water and you can read it in full here.

It's easy to lose focus, but I'm very grateful to friends and resources that allow me to stay positive and centered every day. Thank you all very much, I hope these reminders might be helpful to you as well.

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Free Mind Mapping Software

Here is a little application of awesomeness for Apple computers available for free on MindNode (mentioned on Primer). It's a way to organize your thoughts when they don't fit easily into a to-do list or five paragraph essay. Personally I am a fan of code-naming adventures like Operation Beneathus or projects like the Community Fund as I try to map them out in my own mind. This has been a really nice way for me to organize those operations and see it all in one place. If this is helpful for you, I hope you download it and try it out yourself.

Free, Helpful and Awesome

I wanted to share some fun things I have really enjoyed this month. First, taxes. For my fifth year in a row I filed my state and federal taxes online, for free, in under 10 minutes. It's a luxury I am provided by the Freedom Edition of TurboTax given my state of residence and my low income and it might be something you qualify for as well (especially if you are a Peace Corps Volunteer). Check it out here to learn more...


Second, signatures. I found out about this cool way to sign your emails with neat little icons and even updates on your most recent blog posts if you want to. It's called WiseStamp and works with all major email programs including Gmail and Yahoo. Check it out here to learn more...

Lastly, an awesome button. I recently added this to both Advance Humanity and the Advance Humanity Blog featuring one of the most awesome people I know, the Dalai Lama. It is inspired by the Hyperbole and a Half blog which is hilarious and awesome. You never know what it'll point to, blogs, things like Wisestamp, the Dalai Lama himself, who knows! It's going to be a crazy awesome ride. If you're afraid of awesomeness don't click it.