Never Eat Alone

We all know a Keith Ferrazzi in our lives. Keiths are people who are always "in the know", always a step ahead of everyone else. They seem to know everyone and, if they don't, they know someone who can introduce them to that elusive person.

Keith Ferrazzi is a master networker. He knows how to develop a good network and how to use that network to generate more business in a month than many other people do in a year.

For those who are unfamiliar with Keith, I highly suggest reading his book, Never Eat Alone. In it, he discusses his very humble beginnings (son of a steel mill worker and a housekeeper), how he learned from his father that *sometimes* just asking others will pay off major dividends (in Keith's case, just asking lead to a scholarship to one of the best prepatory schools in the country, which opened up the doors of Yale and Harvard Business School to him via scholarships earned because of who he met, which then lead to him being the youngest partner EVER in the history of Deloitte Consulting.)

Never Eat Alone lays out the steps needed to, as the old telephone company commerical used to say, "reach out and touch someone." And to be sincere about it, not to become that crude, "hey can I give ya my card?" jerk that everyone meets at every convention.

The book preaches Keith's personal form of networking. A form based on being generous, helping friends and colleagues connect, building genuine relationships along the way. It's not about keeping score (i.e. I did you a favor, now you owe me one...) It's about how to get what you want and making sure that the person giving it gets what they want/need, as well.

Keith recommends you "ping" your connections regularly. By "pinging", he means reach out and stay in touch. Find out who is looking for a new job or who needs to hire someone. See if you can make that introduction. Sure there isn't anything in it for you now but, down the road, when something that is in your realm of expertise becomes available, these people are more likely to remember you favorably and most likely will give you a call.

Never eat alone, especially at corporate and social events. Nothing says "failure" better than being "invisible" at these events. You should spend this time cultivating and nuturing your connections, building new ones, and making yourself seen and heard.

In the end, it's all about the relationships you have, the relationships you build, and the relationships you want to establish. Make it happen.

Mary Stewart McGovern
President
Stewart McGovern Enterprises
http://www.stewartmcgovern.com/

*****Check out Mary's new ebook, I've Graduated from College. Now What? Or, How to Go About Starting Your Career and Not Finding Just Another JOB. Now available for purchase on our website, http://www.stewartmcgovern.com/!