On the surface, Gary Vaynerchuk‘s Crush It is a primer on how to use the Internet to create a business or personal brand.

But this slim volume (142 pages) unintentionally doubles as a guide to building a successful career in talk radio.  Indeed, just about all Vaynerchuk’s New Media advice applies to radio, including his two c0re beliefs:

1. “Keep It Real — Very Real.” Crush It emphasizes the life-or-death importance of passion and authenticity.  You must be truly, deeply passionate about your subject matter, whether it’s politics, personal finance or knitting.   And you must bring your authentic self to the show, warts and all. Vaynerchuk, who does a hugely popular video blog about wine, notes that he gets a lot of criticism for his wild on-air style.  He understands the complaints and acknowledges that his antics do alienate some wine aficionados.  But, Vaynerchuk says, changing his style would endanger everything he’s built because then “I’d be putting on an act.”

2. Hustle, Hustle, Hustle. New Media success requires a willingness to work tirelessly to create GREAT content and maintain visibility.  The same is true in radio.  Show prep, relationship-building, sales calls, show prep, speaking engagements, maintaining your social blog and social media channels, show prep, getting feedback on the show, creating original content for the podcast, show prep.

You can buy Crush It on Amazon.com for about $13.  It’s not the most detailed nuts-and-bolts book on social media.  But it does offer a good overview combined with some excellent insights on how to shape your personal brand strategy. Plus, Vaynerchuk’s eagerness to get you to follow your passion is contagious.