I always say that the real success of Wine Library wasn’t due to the videos I posted, but to the hours I spent talking to people online afterward, making connections and building relationships.

Gary Vaynerchuk rose to prominence in the mid-2000s by transforming his family’s New Jersey wine shop into an e-commerce business and by launching the video blog “Wine Library TV.” The quote reflects his oft-repeated lesson from that period: the show created attention, but the real business leverage came from what he did after publishing—replying to comments, engaging on forums and early social platforms, and turning viewers into a community. It fits his broader advocacy of “community first” marketing and the idea that sustained, one-to-one interaction online can outperform polished content alone in building trust and loyalty.

The statement distinguishes between broadcasting and relationship-building. Vaynerchuk argues that content (the videos) is only the opening move; durable “success” comes from the unglamorous follow-through—listening, responding, and investing time in individual interactions. Implicitly, he reframes marketing as service and social capital: attention is rented, but relationships are owned. The quote also challenges creator-centric narratives by crediting the audience and the ongoing dialogue as the engine of growth. In practical terms, it endorses high-touch engagement—especially early on—over chasing scale, virality, or production value.