FIR Live #15 with Gary Vaynerchuk: June 26, 2009

Content Summary: In today’s FIR Live, a panel discusses effective influencer outreach. The topic was kicked off by John Cass’s commentary on an email pitch sent out on behalf of online entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, and the ensuing discussion that included considerable engagement from Gary. (The post attracted a separate set of comments from its cross-post on Social Media Today.)

Discussion participants were FIR co-hosts Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz. In addition, we were joined by the following guests:

Callers to the show included Krishna De and Paull Young.

The transcript from the BlogTalk Radio chat room is available here.

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This FIR Live Call-In episode is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by shel on 06/26 at 10:26 AM
  1. It didn’t strike me as all that bad. Yes, it’s a form letter, but it’s totally transparent about that fact, it focuses on the value to you just as much as to Gary V (even though you reject that value - a totally supportable position to take), it encourages personal follow-up and, I think, in its tone and approach tries to mitigate the form-letter approach microsoft exam.

    Do you think it’s ever okay for an initial contact to be of this non-personal nature? I’d rather this than some mail-merge which attempts to look like it’s a personal note.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  06/29  at  05:40 AM
  2. This episode succeeded in totally vindicate John Cass and any comments made about the pitch. Gary failed to listen to the constructive criticism being offered and whilst frequently saying he understood what was being said, he interrupted throughout and gave people little opportunity to voice their views. Sorry Shel and Neville, love the show, but this one had me shouting ‘Shut up and listen’ at the iPod player in the car! Frequent comments were made by Gary about communication…but he failed to show any understanding that it is not a one way process.

    Posted by Jane Rowe  on  07/02  at  02:41 PM
  3. Dear Shel & Neville,
    Thanks for being such great facilitators of conversation. This was quite an episode!

    I’m deeply ambivalent about Gary’s tactics, but I’m not ready to condemn him for them. I disagree with Jane Rowe’s above comment for this reason: I believe Gary was listening. I just don’t think John Cass was saying anything new. It’s as if he believes the practice of blogger relations is akin to “settled law.” Gary granted John the best practices that everyone has agreed to, but Gary was open in his intent to push the boundaries to fit his personal style. It’s seems to me that his personal style is hyper type-A; going beyond the bad email, perhaps it’s that style that seems to grate on the more measured and thoughtful types like John Cass.

    Thanks again from an attentive and long-time listener (although infrequent commenter!).

    Best,
    Jonathan

    Posted by Jonathan Goodman  on  07/17  at  06:02 AM
  4. I just don’t think John Cass was saying anything new. It’s as if he believes the practice of blogger relations is akin to “settled law.” Gary granted John the best practices that everyone has agreed to, but Gary was open in his intent to push the boundaries to fit his personal style.

    Posted by explore talent  on  12/31  at  01:21 AM
  5. I disagree with Jane Rowe’s above comment for this reason: I believe Gary was listening. I just don’t think John Cass was saying anything new. It’s as if he believes the practice of blogger relations is akin to “settled law.” Gary granted John the best practices that everyone has agreed to, but Gary was open in his intent to push the boundaries to fit his personal style.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  01/19  at  09:36 PM

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