Overnight Success

Have you heard of Bill Burr? How about Louis C.K., or Gary Vaynerchuk?

If you read my blog on a regular basis, or you visit any of my social media channels, then you might have heard of them. But most of you haven't. Two comedians and one entrepreneur.

What do they have in common?

Bill Burr wasn't one of the best known comedians up to just a few years ago. The same thing goes for Louis C.K. Social media put them in the spotlight.

How did they become an "overnight success"?

They've been working small stages with 20 people, shitty stinky bars telling jokes to a small audience.

Gary's been doing videos, and tweets, and interviews with all kinds of audiences and dropping jabs for over 10 years now. He'll even be at Affiliate Summit East this weekend, kind of.

Gary Vaynerchuk and me
Hanging out with Gary Vaynerchuk after he gave me some advice for my business. Cool guy, totally recommend you read his books.

And now, some people think he rose out of nowhere, they think he's an overnight success. They don't know the effort he has put in. They don't know the value he's been delivering day in and day out, sometimes to an absent student.

Gary started Wine Library TV without anybody watching the first month. Ok, maybe a few people watched during that time. Admittedly, I didn't. I met him back in 2009 at an event put together by Bryan Elliot, an event about social media where he casually talked about his first book.

By the way, as a small aside, go watch the very first video he posted, Episode 1 of the Wine Library TV series. Pay attention to the quality of the video, the sound isn't that great, the best quality available is 240! I mention this because I so often emphasize to you that you should start your videos NOW. The content is important, but you don't have to have a totally professional setup to get started. No need to wait for that. Start!

Back in 2009, I bought his book, Crush it and that Christmas I bought 15 copies and gave them away to some of my friends. I told them that this book would change their life. Most of them, to this day, haven't read the book.

[bctt tweet="The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. -- Chinese Proverb" username="notagrouch"]

But they've now heard of Gary through social media, they've heard him at an event that they're familiar with, like a real estate event or SXSW. They saw him on Youtube, or some other place and think, "Where did this guy come from?," they think: "Who is this guy that gets 1000s of likes and comments on every piece of content he posts?

The question of how does someone become an overnight success makes me think about this video:

 

Yes, there is some element of "having the DNA" but you also have to hustle, you have to have talent, you have to have a thick skin, you have to have patience, and most of all, you have to work hard. Nothing happens overnight.

People won't understand you, people won't believe in you, they may even put you down. but your customer will if you treat them well. Develop your people skills, even if you don't have them now, you have to work on them.

Then I thought I would share this and put a nail in that coffin. There is no overnight success! 

If you only watch one video today, watch the one below

Go out there and get it done, don't whine, don't complain, hustle. Ask me any question I can help with, I want to help you.

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