Blurb

Do you have a hobby you wish you could indulge in all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? Now is the perfect time to take that passion and make a living doing what you love. In Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuk shows you how to use the power of the Internet to turn your real interests into real businesses. Gary spent years building his family business from a local wine shop into a national industry leader. Then one day he turned on a video camera, and by using the secrets revealed here, transformed his entire life and earning potential by building his personal brand. By the end of this book, readers will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, Crush It! is the ultimate driver’s manual for modern business.

Review

I first discovered Gary Vaynerchuk back in the Wine Library TV days—when he was the loud, passionate wine guy filming from behind a desk and helping people navigate cabernets and pinots. Around the same time, I also got into craft beer and watched Chris from the Craft Beer Temple for his reviews. But I drifted away from Gary before he fully leaned into the personal branding and online marketing space.

Reading Crush It! more than a decade and a half after its release is an interesting experience. The book was written in 2009, and that shows. Many of the platform-specific tips feel outdated (Twitter was still fresh, and Instagram didn’t even exist), but that’s to be expected this deep into a tech cycle.

Still, the main message holds up.

Gary’s core idea is simple: find your passion, build a brand around it, and work your ass off to share it with the world. He’s big on authenticity, consistency, and leveraging whatever platform helps tell your story. Even if the tools have changed, that playbook remains relevant.

The book is short, high-energy, and motivational. It’s not filled with step-by-step instructions, but it doesn’t try to be. It’s a pep talk from someone who walked the walk.

It wasn’t a waste of time. If anything, it reminded me why Gary V blew up in the first place. I actually got this because I had already purchased Crushing It, not realizing that one was a follow up to Crush It. So I backtracked. I’m currently in the middle of reading Crushing It now.

If you’re interested in the roots of content-driven entrepreneurship or just want a quick hit of inspiration, Crush It! still delivers some useful content.

3 of 5 stars.