đ´ Why Live Commerce is GaryVee's Next Big Thingâand How I Jumped In
Remember when work-from-home was brand new, and we called it the ânew normalâ?
During that time, I was editing videos from my bedroom in Michigan listening to GaryVee livestreaming life advice on his show called TeaWithGaryVee.
My biggest takeaway from watching Gary is that once or twice a year, Gary repeats grand slam advice, and he repeats it with conviction to everyone who needs to hear it.
In 2020 he was early on TikTok and told his followers to make TikToks for themselves.
In 2021 he was early on NFTs and told his followers to buy NFTs for themselves
In 2022 he was early on personal brand and told his followers to build for themselves.
In 2023 he was early in AI and told his followers to use it for themselves.
Fast forward to today.
I got a job working for Gary, and Iâm sitting at my desk in the VeeFriends office while Gary streamed TeaWithGaryVee from across the room.
Four years ago, I heard him sharing advice with others through the screen, and today I hear him filming in real life. I mean it when I say I heard the exact same conviction about live commerce as I heard about TikTok four years ago.
In 2024 his high-conviction advice is live commerce, and heâs telling his followers to try it for themselves.
I realized why heâs constantly right about these âpredictionsâ.
The VeeFriends team has been doing live commerce for OVER A YEAR. Gary didnât say anything about live commerce until recently. These âpredictionsâ arenât random. VeeFriends has been testing the theory this whole time.
When I realized that VeeFriends was the testing grounds while he talked about live commerce on TeaWithGaryVee, I realized that I needed to take action now.
It pays to be the first mover on new things, so I created my Whatnot account and planned to sell some of my original photography prints.
Whatnot is like if TikTok and QVC had a baby.
When youâre on Whatnot, youâll see normal, average people streaming from their bedrooms and warehouses selling things. As of now, the main items sold on Whatnot are trading cards, shoes, and tools. But as time goes on, youâll see all kinds of different things sold, which is exactly why I wanted to be one of the first original art sellers on Whatnot.
The wild thing to me is that right now as you read this sentence, Iâm just a regular person with 5 years of photography experience selling prints for the first time, and I sold nearly $1,000 in prints in two 90-minute streams đą
Of course, thereâs a lot of thought behind the pictures and storytelling, and you have to be intentional about the pre-launch marketing, the entertainment value of the stream, and the product youâre selling. But still, those are some serious numbers for a first attempt at streaming.
If youâre interested in seeing how I sold 17 prints in the first show, the replay is here!
I donât share these sales numbers to flaunt, I share them as proof that with strategy and entertainment value, you could probably make an extra $10,000 in 2025 by selling on Whatnot.
As I wrote in February of 2024, if you want to go full-time into your own thing, you canât just quit your job. You have to slowly match your income with your side hustle, and $10,000 in a year is a great start.
In 2025 and beyond, society will move much faster, and live streaming will be the next wave of social content. It already kind of is.
The only difference is that live streaming with the intention to sell (and watching with the intent to buy) will be the ânew normal.â
If you want to see how the future of commerce looks, check out Whatnot and start scrolling.
If you want to support me (and see how I approach selling photography prints online) bookmark my next livestream for December 11th!
I hope to see you in the live stream!
As a bonus, Iâm adding some links to previous newsletters that still hold value!
đ I wrote this Bitcoin newsletter almost a year ago, and the prediction I made happened EXACTLY as expected. Click above to see.
đ If youâre feeling a bit lost, this newsletter is for you.
đ Everything you experience, good or bad, is a coin in the jar.
I understand the change of landscape when it comes to selling online. Can almost see the end of the traditional yard sale, moving sales any day of the week, no matter the weather, and boom.
My only thought is that in order for this to work for the âevery day personâ they have to think of something they can sell. Not everyone wants to sell their stuff, not everyone has a course to sell, merch, etc.
So it goes back to just being active on social. But does this move âforceâ people to figure out what their selling point is, or is this just another option for those who want to take advantage of it.