Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook

Unknown Lands: Where Winners Arrive Before Everyone Else

Imagine you’re in the age of exploration. Hundreds of years ago, great explorers set out for unknown lands, places where no one had ever set foot. They faced danger, fought disease, and sometimes never returned. But those who succeeded not only gained enormous wealth but also etched their names into history. Now, in this section of the book, Vaynerchuk takes us into another world of exploration: emerging social networks.

Vaynerchuk believes social networks are constantly changing, and platforms that seem small and insignificant today may become giants of the industry in the not-too-distant future. He has seen this in his own career: when Twitter was just starting and no one took it seriously, Vaynerchuk was one of the first to invest in it. Today? Twitter has become one of the most powerful social networks in the world.

The Golden Advantage: Less Competition, Cheaper Attention

One of the main advantages of entering emerging networks early is that competition is usually lower. Big brands tend to be more cautious about entering new platforms, and this can create opportunities for small, agile businesses. A small brand can become the voice on an emerging platform that thousands later follow—simply because it was there before anyone else.

The core concept of this section is about “attention”—finding places where audience attention is still cheaper and easier to access. The bigger and more crowded a network becomes, the fiercer the competition for visibility. On Facebook today, to get a post seen, you have to compete with millions of other brands. But on an emerging platform with 50,000 users, your chances of being seen are dramatically higher.

“On big networks, you’re one voice among millions. On emerging networks, you can be the voice.”

Vaynerchuk illustrates this with a simple example: suppose you want to open a shop in a crowded city. If you open in the middle of a main street with thousands of other shops, you’ll have to spend millions on advertising for anyone to notice you. But if you open that same shop in a small town with only a few shops, people will quickly get to know you and become loyal customers. Emerging networks are those small towns.

Warning: Being New Isn’t Enough on Its Own

But Vaynerchuk immediately gives an important warning: entering early shouldn’t mean aimlessly showing up on every network. One common mistake is that brands enter a platform simply because it’s new. Being new alone isn’t a sufficient reason to invest time and resources.

A brand must check whether the users of that platform align with its target audience. If an emerging platform is full of 14-year-olds and you sell products for executives, being there is just a waste of time and energy. Every social network must be evaluated based on real value for the business, not on momentary excitement.

Vaynerchuk says a brand should check three things before entering any emerging platform: first, user behavior—are they people you want to reach? Second, technical capabilities—does the platform offer features that align with your content strategy? And third, network culture—does your tone and behavior align with that platform’s culture? If the answer to any of these three questions is negative, entering that platform is probably a mistake.

“A platform being new isn’t reason enough to be there. What matters is whether its audience, capabilities, and culture align with your business.”

The Idea Lab: A Place for Fast Learning

Emerging platforms can be places to test new ideas. A brand can build an initial community of followers before a network becomes fully saturated. Early presence also allows for deeper learning about user behavior. Brands present on emerging platforms can understand before others what type of content works, what time is best to post, and which formats generate the most engagement.

Small brands can experiment faster in such environments and learn from their mistakes. A mistake on a platform with 100,000 users costs less than the same mistake on a platform with 1 billion users. This means emerging platforms are excellent training grounds for brands that want to build their content strategy without excessive risk.

Vaynerchuk gives a compelling example: when Snapchat first emerged and many brands saw it as just an app for teenagers, some agile brands entered and built loyal audiences with content specific to that platform’s culture. A few years later, those same brands had become pioneers on Snapchat, while their larger competitors were just starting to enter.

Risk Management: Travel Wisely in the Unknown

But every social network has a specific life cycle and uncertain future, and some platforms may never grow. History is full of platforms that started with great fanfare and then disappeared after a few years. Therefore, content strategy shouldn’t concentrate all of a brand’s resources on one unknown platform. A brand must seek opportunity while managing risk.

Vaynerchuk suggests a simple rule: distribute your resources by percentage. For example, 70% on proven platforms, 20% on growing platforms, and 10% on emerging ones. This distribution ensures that if an emerging platform fails, your business doesn’t face a serious crisis. And if that platform becomes a giant, you’re already there.

This strategy is what in the investment world is called “diversification.” You don’t put all your eggs in one basket, but at the same time, you don’t miss new opportunities. This balance is the secret to survival in the digital world that changes every day.

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, but don’t miss new opportunities either. Balance is the key to survival in the digital world.”

Native Content: Not Copying, But Recreating

Content on every network must adapt to that network’s conditions and shouldn’t just be a copy of content from other platforms. This is the same Native Content principle Vaynerchuk emphasizes throughout the book. On an emerging platform, this principle is even more critical, because the platform’s culture is still forming, and as a pioneer, you must help shape it.

The marketing team must constantly monitor changes in user behavior and the emergence of new tools. Success in social media requires flexibility, because the rules of the game don’t stay fixed. A brand that relies only on past successful methods may miss future opportunities. This is what in the startup world is called “disruptive innovation”—new platforms can completely change the game.

If your business is looking for a smart presence on emerging platforms and leveraging new opportunities, having a strong and flexible digital infrastructure is essential. Responsive website design, mobile apps, SEO, and social media optimization—even launching new communication channels—are all tools that can help you on this journey. The Stinoment engineering team specializes in this and can support you. If you’re interested, you can get a free consultation through Stinoment.com.

Trending or Building a Sustainable Business? The Difference Matters

In this section, Vaynerchuk gives an important warning: it’s crucial to distinguish between “trending” and “building a sustainable business.” Many brands get seduced by the excitement of emerging platforms and think that just being there will bring success. But trending is temporary. What lasts is a sustainable business, a relationship with the audience, and real value.

A brand must ask itself: “Does being on this emerging platform add lasting value to my business? Or is it just a temporary hype that will be forgotten in a few months?” If the honest answer is “lasting value,” enter. But if it’s just for the excitement of being new, it’s better to wait and see what future that platform has.

Vaynerchuk illustrates this with a historical example: in the early 2000s, some brands rushed to platforms like MySpace and saw it as the future of digital marketing. But in less than a decade, MySpace vanished and Facebook took its place. Brands that had put all their resources into MySpace lost everything. But brands that had distributed wisely easily migrated from MySpace to Facebook.

“Trending is temporary; a sustainable business lasts. Don’t chase trends, chase the future.”

Final Lesson: Enter the Unknown with Open Eyes

The main lesson of this section is that emerging networks can be opportunities, but you must enter them with audience understanding, experimentation, and resource management. Vaynerchuk shows that in the world of social networks, the winner isn’t the one always present on the biggest platform; the winner is the one who knows when to enter, when to wait, and when to exit a platform.

This is the core skill of a digital strategist: seeing opportunities before others, but entering with open eyes and a clear map. Brands that learn this skill will stay ahead of competitors in every era of technological change.

In the next round, Vaynerchuk takes us into the world of LinkedIn—a platform that, despite its formal appearance, holds hidden opportunities for brands that know how to play the game. But before that, remember one principle: in emerging networks, the winner is the one who sees first, decides second, and builds last.