Vince McMahon Interview: Knowing Your Audience and More

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon recently took part in a question-and-answer session for ACP AdvisorNet, which gives current and former members of the United States military a chance to connect with business leaders. “Vinny Mac” answered a fair share of questions, offering some tricks of the trade.

McMahon hit on WWE’s use of social media, and how it can be an effective and low-cost way to gain recognition:

“Social media is today’s “word of mouth” and an important part of WWE’s success. Social and digital media provides us with an opportunity to engage our fans one-on-one and have a direct conversation with them. These same tactics apply to small businesses as well.”

Continuing, discussed the necessity of “knowing your audience:”

“It’s important to know your audience, keep them engaged and always stay relevant. On a personal level, a strong work ethic and first day on the job thinking are two attributes that an employee must bring each day. It’s also important to have a good sense of humor. Take your work, but not yourself, seriously.”

Vince also took a question on what was more challenging: making WWE a success in the beginning, or maintaining success today:

“Both are challenging. At WrestleMania 1, we mortgaged everything we owned, hoping it would be a success. It was a huge gamble that paid off. Today, the challenge is to stay relevant, take advantage of new technologies and continue to evolve. The one constant is to approach every day like it’s my first day on the job with fresh thinking and new ideas. But to answer your question directly, it is extremely difficult to get to the top but even more difficult to stay there.”

Check out Vince McMahon’s entire Q&A, here. He also talked about keeping his staff motivated, the role military veterans have WWE, and much more.