Friday, July 31, 2009

Never Eat Alone

Keith Ferrazzi - Never Eat Alone

This is a very interesting book that illustrates the importance of networking for succeeding in life: Professionally and personally.
I enjoyed reading it.

Keith gives several practical tips on how to build and maintain your network. The book gives enthusiasm and energizes to do things differently.

You won't go anywhere by yourself. Hence Keith suggests that for every goal, one should write a NPA or Network Plan of Action.
Define the people that could help you reach your goal, either by their knowledge, their own network, their position...
Then strive to meet these people. (research for the most successful people in the field you are interested in, find out where you could meet them)

Before meeting the people you want to meet, do your homework and research who they are, what they like etc...when you finally meet them, flatter them by letting them know you researched them.

Whenever you decide to reach a certain position, start immediately to network in that domain.
Before changing career, build the network in that new domain, work for free to get references in that domain.

Establish a Personal Board of Advisors, similarly a company has a board of administrator, once should seek advise from several wise people or mentors.

Judge someone by how they treat people below them, not the people above them
Never forget who helped you get where you are in the present. Keep in touch. Don't hesitate to keep in touch with several people at the same time, for example you can very well meet 3-4 people for dinner and introduce them to each other.
Be an organizer, events, dinners, conferences, be a speaker at conferences...

Focus on giving and helping your network rather than receiving. Strive to be a connector and introduce people that can help out each other.
When you help others, they often help you.

After a talk, be among the first to ask a smart question and introduce yourself, that will probably be the only question most people will remember.

Don't be afraid of failure or rejection and rest in inaction:
"The choice isn't between success and failure; it's between choosing risk and striving for greatness, or risking nothing and being certain of mediocrity"

"Is it what you know or who you know that leads to success?
Both. Who you know determines how effectively you can apply what you know."

You need to broadcast who you are and your achievements
"Everyone sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are"

After meeting someone, always follow-up.
- Express your gratitude
- remember an item of interest from the discussion
- reaffirm whatever commitments you both made (meet again?)
If you met someone at an event where they probably met a lot of people, be the first to follow up, or get noticed, with a picture, a sentence remembering the discussion...


Check out Keith's blog at http://nevereatalone.typepad.com/

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