Why I Did an 11-Hour Livestream ( Day Trading Attention)

Hey LinkedIn,?

Before we dive into this month's newsletter, I wanted to share my new book Day Trading Attention releasing May 21st - garyvee.com/dta . I think it will help so many of you grow … grow your business, grow your brand, grow your reach … GROW !? If you happen to pre order the book now leave the ?? emoji in the comments - if you’ve already ordered the book leave the ?? emoji in the comments :) … I’m so hyped … I think this one is gonna really hit for a lot of you - watch the full video

Now let’s get into it…?

As some of you may be aware, live-streaming has been a big focus of mine for 2024. I now go live on Twitch or YouTube several times a week. If I’m not sharing behind-the-scenes content from my pillar shows like WineText TV or Podcast with Friends , I’m live-streaming from my office (on mute) all day long. On April 3rd , however, I did an epic marathon of a live-stream that lasted 11 – yes, 11 – hours… but why??

For the April edition of LinkedIn 360, allow me to share with you all exactly why I’m so excited about live-streaming, and more importantly, why I think it’s one of the best arbitrages for anybody reading this to take their brand or business to the next level.?

“What is the ROI of 11 hours on live-stream?”

This was a question asked during my 11-hour Q&A, and I’ll give you a few answers: attention, access, sales, the art of brand building… Basically, live-streaming is another underpriced attention avenue where anyone – creators, influencers, small businesses, CEOs, athletes, artists, musicians, etc – can scale their reach, impact, or business results in a real way.?

Also, compared to other forms of organic social content, live-streaming is relatively low friction – you can go live as much as you want, doing whatever you want, with little to no cost or production. Just set up your device and go. Selling a product? You could go live from your warehouse and show the process of packaging or filling orders. Promoting your new music? You could go live and talk about your creative process, or play snippets to tease an upcoming song.?

Alternatively, you can go the same route as I do and use live-streaming as a means to connect and provide value to your community through things like Q&A or surprise and delights (giveaways, etc.). Over the course of the 11 hours, I was able to jam with over 70 guests, providing tactical business advice and social media strategy which my team then turned into micros – clipped short-form videos – for more organic social content.?

Here are some of the common themes discussed.

One of the things I love most about live Q&A’s is that people often ask a question that many others are wondering as well. For example, this was one question that was asked that I know many people want an answer for. The simple answer is: it’s okay to take a break when things are too heavy. If you’re struggling trying to juggle your own business and pay the bills, a great option is to take a break from your business and get a job while you work to figure out how you can make things better.? Do not demonize selling the business or shutting it down. Your business is not you.

This was another great question that was asked that could help many of you. The phrase “I am struggling to grow right now” is one I hear often that can be solved by one word: patience. Too often we fall into the world of being impatient and it causes unnecessary stress. If you’re stuck at 3,000 followers on TikTok for months, it’s because you’re not doing what you should be. I’ve said it many times before that you need to go live on TikTok. Regardless of if you’re selling something on TikTok Shop or not, the platform offers FREE awareness. You can answer questions, offer insights, and connect with your audience and customers for free! Humans are humans, and they love connecting with other humans that are similar to them.?

You need to change your perspective on posting from “Is this post going to help me grow” to “Why would somebody listen to this and will it be good for them?” So connect with your audience, extract value, and have patience.

Another great question I received during my 11 hour livestream came from this moment . When you have garnered enough online credibility to be known as “that person” on social media, but people still don’t know your name, understand that you are in the pre-dawn of superstardom. Your name is not your issue. I saw it happen with Kevin Hart 15 years ago. I’ve seen Shane Gillis rolled up on in public places in the past and people say “Oh you’re that guy!” Give it some time. This is a moment you can enjoy because when you get to the top, you have to have to deal with all that extra baggage that comes along with that level of fame. So enjoy the moment now and build on what you’ve done and in no time people will know exactly who you are.

The other thing that I think could help a lot of people is perspective. I’m always asked is “How do you keep such a positive mindset in a world that can feel negative?” This was a great example of how changing your perspective can really shift things for you. People are affected in a positive way when people are making themselves happy. The world becomes a better place when people are happy. This happens when people give themselves permission to make themselves happy in a chaotic world. The world's been in much worse places than it is today. Just to remind you, the world was much worse in 1940. How did we get out of it? By people focusing on making themselves happy and that reverberating to everybody else.?

The way to be selfless is to be selfish to yourself first. If you're not happy yourself, you can't make anyone else happy.

Questions That Might Bring You Value

The best part of my 11-hour livestream was getting to chat with so many people and help answer their questions. I felt some of these questions might help you in your own journey so I’ve highlighted some here below. Enjoy!

Question #1 : “How do you bounce back from burnout? I’m working on my mental health but can’t seem to get my motivation or energy back.”

The first thing I need all of you to understand here is that balance is different for everyone. The true key is to find happiness. When I say “go hard” it is meant for going hard in something that brings you joy and happiness. I went all 4 years of highschool without doing a single piece of homework or even opening a single book. I also can’t go hard on handy work around my apartment. I hate it. You can only go hard if you love it, otherwise you will crash and burn.

The number one piece here is that you may not have found your balance yet. “Yet” is such a powerful word because it means that you’re still figuring things out. It will take time but if you continue to choose happiness, you will find your version of it. After burnout, you're now trying to reset, and maybe you don’t have a couple things that you had before, like a title or a steady income yet. It’s a foregone conclusion. Once you’ve had it, you’ll always have it. You are very capable of doing things that make you happy.

Question #2: “I’ve heard you talk about LinkedIn. I have an apparel brand. Should I run ads to fashion editors?”

My first piece of advice here is to read the living **** out of Day Trading Attention . It’s full of real-life examples that can help you further.

But to answer this question, first of all LinkedIn is great for B2C, but it’s really a tier 3 “fill in the blanks” platform for something like an apparel brand. You need to crush Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts for sure. Instagram is hard because there is so much competition for attention so I think Facebook is a great opportunity to take things up a notch.

I really do think Facebook is a golden goose for so many apparel brands right now. I know so many people think it’s for their Grandmas but you would not believe the amount of underpriced attention on Facebook right now. So try attacking that and I bet you’ll be surprised at how much traction you receive.??

Question #3 : “How do you get your team to buy into your vision and separate the vision from the manager? It feels like they don't like my management style.”

That’s actually a very interesting question. I think it’s similar to what I go through. I have an ideological point of view on what I want my office behavior and culture to look like and what I want our marketing to be and where we’re at at this point because you’re never there.?

When you are trying to run a good business, you are setting a vision. And that’s amazing in and of itself, but you can over-articulate that you’re not there yet when you’re operating, I do that everyday. You just broke down how I run VaynerX. There’s a vision, there’s an ideology, but you’re not always hitting on it and that’s okay as long as the intent is to hit on it. That’s different than saying something and then not being about that life. When he intent is that vision, thn you’re good.?

When you’re operating a business and have a vision, but you have to take time away to operate, that doesn’t mean that you don’t aspire for things to be good. If the business is out of business, you can’t do anything. And with that comes the responsibility and niceness. You can be honest and be mean. I believe that the way someone says or does something matters more than the things they are actually saying or doing. Tone is everything.?

If you find your employees not completely aligning with your vision and values, the easiest way to address it is to have dinner with them. You need to have more 1-on-1 time with your employees outside of the work day in order for them to fully buy into your vision. Let them know that you may be projecting things as you’re operating, but you want them each to know that they can feel safe and come to you with anything. If you want this to work, you definitely need to get more of a close family vibe with your employees.

The Art of Brand Building

Many were shocked that I went live for 11 hours, but this is not the first time I’ve done something like this. In fact, marathon live-streaming has been a strategy that has allowed me to not only provide value to my online communities, but to leverage that attention and turn it into a direct “right hook,” aka an “ask” or a hard sell.

Back in 2016, for example, I did the “Super 8” live-stream event . Guests tuned in as I streamed live for eight hours of answering questions, being joined by special guests, and more. During the stream, anyone could purchase eight copies of the #AskGaryVee Book for the chance to win a 1-hour solo session with me. Then in 2020, I did a 12-hour livestream for the All In Challenge where I had celebrity guests and the hottest names in culture jam with me on various topics to raise money to help alleviate food insecurity for those in need. Then again, in 2021, I did a three-hour live-stream where people could purchase 12 copies of Twelve and a Half and receive an exclusive NFT. This time around, the 11-hour live-stream was also a funnel to educate people around my two upcoming books, Day Trading Attention and Meet Me in the Middle . Anyone who purchased the exclusive bundle package during the one-day-only offer received the chance to join me live on the stream and ask a question.?

Whether you’re a business owner marketing a product, an author promoting an upcoming book, or an influencer trying to grow your social media presence, live-streaming is a great way to practice the art of brand building, to build a new audience while nurturing your existing community, and of course, to drive sales. For me, if you can go live for three hours a day, then do it, because most people need to practice to be good at live. It’s different than posting on social, so upfront, I would say go live as much as possible to get a cadence going and practice being good at it.?

As always, thank you for reading. I hope today’s newsletter brought you some value. If it did, I’d love to hear from you. Leave me a comment with your biggest takeaway.?

If you want to see more of the questions from the 11- Hour Livestream!

- 00:21:09 I started a marketing group a year and a half ago. We meet 2 times a month but I've become uninspired but it generates income that I would like to keep. How would you handle it?

-00:33:02 How do you bounce back from burnout? Im working on my mental health but cant seem to get my motivation or energy back.

-00:44:23 What's the impact for a founder & their business of building personal brands with organic content, Podcasting, etc.

-00:51:38 How do I culture Hack my industry (Commercial real estate)

-00:57:16 I've heard you talk about LinkedIn. I have an apparel brand. Should I run ads to fashion editors

-01:03:45 I have an online tea business. Should I sell on Amazon first or start on my own platform like Shopify?

-01:10:03 Do you remember where you were 24 turning 25

-01:14:05 I own an aquarium showroom. What are some creative things to do to get attention

-01:25:01 What's the most important thing when I'm putting out content for my new business?

-01:36:48 Built a brand called Matts RV Reviews and just launched a product, Liquified RV toilet treatment. How do I leverage Matts RV Reviews but Make Liquified its own brand?

-1:50:32 I'm a comedian/ Creator with 2M followers but my name is hard to remember. Should I rebrand to a name that's more memorable or easier to understand?

-02:00:50 I'm meant for business but I can't afford to make the leap. It's hard to get my family to “Eat Dirt” Like I want to & a salary makes it hard to leave. What are my options?

-02:11:06 After making over 300 YouTube videos, how do I scale my dream of helping people win in their career and relationships?

-02:22:13 If your social media ad doesn't convert, how do you figure out what you did wrong?

-02:47:57 I'm a charity auctioneer & fundraising consultant starting a podcast. How do I reach the small niche of people who plan galas for schools and nonprofits?

-02:53:27 As upstart and digitally native brands think about the relevance and attention in the market, what are the 3 company traits that brand builders should constantly be thinking about?

-03:02:17 How do you get your team to buy into your vision and separate the vision from the manager? It feels like they don't like my management style.

-03:16:45 I've been a ghost on social media for the past 4 years due to focusing on work. Where do I start?

-03:20:14 Im closing my martial arts school to do seminars and online content full time. Am I too late to the game for online courses and how do I pick a price for courses and appearances?

-03:27:40 I just turned 30 and my goal is to become a full time creator. What made you step into the creator space and what keeps you going.

• Pre-order my new book , Day Trading Attention: How to Actually Build Brand and Sales in the New Social Media World. Official release: May 21, 2024!
• Listen to WineText TV on Apple Podcast or Spotify .
• Check out Podcast with Friends on Twitch .