The Wit and Wisdom of Gary Vaynerchuk

Without even the promise of free wine, Wine Library TV’s Gary Vaynerchuk (an NTV Breakout Video Star and old favorite) packed an auditorium here at South by Southwest Sunday evening with the faithfully devoted of the Web 2.0. Moderator Susanna Hamner, a self-employed writer, Jenna Wortham of the New York Times basically stayed out of the way — the interview triumphed thanks to the sheer force of Vaynerchuk’s immense amounts of personality. The result was a panel that became a sermon on the man’s philosophies regarding work, life and self-promotion, with quoted lines flying fast around the web.

The gist was this: the best thing you can do to create your brand online is be as aggressively yourself online as possible. But below please find an assortment of some classic lines, transcribed as best I could for your re-Twittering ease. Because if you’ve never heard Vaynerchuk speak, just know this — he talks FAST.

“The work is when you go into the community and you find your audience.” “Stop emailing me to ask what kind of camera I’m using. The camera is not the game, the lights are not the game, the mike is not the game.” “It doesn’t matter how many followers you have. It’s about the people who care, that’s the game.” “Putting up the content is the beginning of your day.” “Delegate everything except what you love.” “When you go for what you want, you have to pay for the consequences.”

And finally, in regards to his experience of taking a risk on following his passions:

“If you live for the weekends and vacations, your sh– is broken.”