Book Review: Crush it! by Gary Vaynerchuk

Compared to most business books, Crush it!: Why Now is the Time to Cash in on your Passion is as exciting and enthusiastic as it gets.  This book is a quick read in which Gary Vaynerchuk doesn't waste any time throwing you into the deep end of marketing and promotion methods that will cost any business virtually little or no money to apply.  Strategies include constructing Facebook fan sites, writing expert context through Twitter, Wordpress and Blogger to effectively gain the respect of your peers and community, ultimately driving traffic to your website. Theoretically these tactics will lead to your prosperity, opening the door for you to "cash in on your passion" (as the title implies).  As said before, the book is a quick read (good for an airplane) and reads more like a motivational speech or pep talk before the big game than it does a business book.  As far as writing goes, this isn't a literary masterpiece, and Mr. Vaynerchuk loses a few points for not writing, but rather dictating the entire text.  However, he does fully disclaim this fact, adding that writing isn't his strongest attribute (a subliminal point perhaps: knowing your own weaknesses through perpetual and relentless self critique). Some reviews of this book will tell you that the author is preoccupied with telling stories about himself and his own success.  Nonetheless, if this is the only lesson you take from this book, you probably shouldn't be trying to run your own business, for without creativity and ingenuity (i.e., tailoring these lessons to your own scenario) you will inevitably Crash it!