"Crushing It"

Happy Friday everyone! I'm thankful we had Monday off for Columbus Day, so this week really seemed to fly by.

I wanted to share this inspiring book I'm currently reading called Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk.  I received a copy of the book at a seminar my company put on recently and have been reading it intermittently since. The title refers to the author's idea that anyone can take their passion and make money using social media networks (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogging, etc.). His main idea is that social media outlets help an individual build a personal brand. This book contains valuable information on how the Internet is changing people's everyday interactions with one another and how virtually anyone can use social media to start a business and expand their brand.

Vaynerchuk goes into great detail using his own successful company, Wine Library TV as an example. Basically, he took his knowledge and love of wine to YouTube and started stating his opinion to the public. Love him or hate him, people were tuning in and subscribing to his channel. From there, he built a platform for himself in the online business world and started making money talking about wine. Who wouldn't like getting paid for that?

As I've stated in a previous post, I would love to make a decent living as a writer. The author has a section discussing journalists and how they can use social media platforms to jump start their careers making considerably more money than what the usual poorly-paid journalist currently brings in. Of course this immediately sparked my attention and got me thinking how I can use the Internet to make my dream a reality.

I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a change in their life and who wants to make a living doing what they love most. I liked the fact that the book is a quick read and the concepts are easy to grasp. It was definitely written to appeal to the average Joe. You can pick this book up at Amazon.com or local retail bookstore such as Borders. Here's to "crushing it!"

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The smell of a good book...

Anyone who knows me, can attest to the fact that I love reading. I'll read pretty much anything, but I really appreciate a good fiction novel. I love getting caught up in the adventure, mystery, love affair or whatever else the story may bring.

Currently I'm finishing up the last of Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy. The books have proven to be captivating, adventurous and enraging at times. Larsson uses his own experience as a journalist, writer and political activist to shape one of the main characters, Mikael Blomkvist. Many of the themes throughout the novels delve into women's rights, exploitation and scandal. There never seems to be a dull moment and when you think you've started to work out the ending, the story suddenly takes you completely off course.

Larsson wrote the trilogy in his spare time for pleasure and didn't consider the books for publication. It wasn't until his sudden death in 2004, that his partner brought the novels to light. It's noted that Larsson had almost completed a fourth novel and had notes for a fifth and sixth novel.

These crime novels have held a permanent place on the best-seller's list and with the Swedish version of the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo out for release, Hollywood has decided to venture into making the American version. I'm looking forward to seeing how it will be interpreted in film, however I'm not getting my hopes up too high. I always seem to enjoy the books much better than the films.

You can find each of these books at your local retail bookstore or on Amazon , which seems to be the most reasonably priced. Happy reading!

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