A Little Story About a Powerful Business Ideastring(45) "A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea"

Throughout my years in networking, I have worked and connected with countless amazing businesspeople. I have seen successful business campaigns, and I have seen drives that could have used a little more planning. After seeing all ends of the spectrum, it is gratifying when a close friend takes a leap and succeeds.

Go-Giver-Print-flatBob Burg, whom I have known for more years than I could count, recently re-released his wildly successful The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea. Co-authored between Bob and John Mann, The Go-Giver focuses on the story of Joe, a young businessperson, who is trying to make his way in his field and searching for success. Despite being ambitious and working hard, Joe isn’t getting the results he wants. While working with The Chairman, his mentor, Joe beings meeting Go-Givers, whom are friends of The Chairman. Here, he learns the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success: The Law of Value; The Law of Compensation; The Law of Influence; The Law of Authenticity; and The Law of Receptivity.

After selling over 500,000 copies, Bob went back and expanded on his powerful novel and released the new edition earlier this month. The Go-Giver closely aligns with many of the core philosophies that I have encouraged over the decades, and Bob himself is the embodiment of ‘Givers Gain®.’ After reading both versions, I can say that the expansion truly adds another dimension to the work, with a new introduction, foreword, author Q&A, and discussion topics, so even if you have already read the original release, take some time to pick up a copy of the 2015 re-print. Click here to get your copy.

Have you read The Go-Giver? How do you use the principles expressed in the book everyday for your business?

Talking to Crazystring(16) "Talking to Crazy"

A good friend of mine, Dr. Mark Goulston, is preparing for the publish of his new book, Talking to Crazy. This book deals specifically with handling those irrational people in your life, whom we all have one or two of.

Talking to CrazyWhen you are networking, you are sure to run into a difficult person from time to time. Oftentimes, the way businesspeople deal with these irrational people can make or break their relationship with not just that individual, but with others as well. Think about it, if you were to watch someone get openly and outwardly frustrated with a difficult person, would you want to connect with either individual? Probably not.

After reading the book myself, I have to say that it is a great resource to help improve everyone’s patience. Whether it’s in our personal life, our work environment, or during our day-to-day activities with the general public, all too often we talk to someone and find ourselves shaking our heads and thinking, ‘This person is crazy!’ But now, with this breakthrough book, Mark has given us the ultimate key to finally understanding how to make sense of the ‘crazy’ and effectively handle the irrational people in our lives. Simply brilliant!

Mark’s prior book, Just Listen, became a chart-topper upon its release, as well. This book is all about learning how to listen to others – not just in professional environments, but in personal life as well. I highly recommend in, as well.

Right now, Talking to Crazy is available for pre-order, but it will officially launch on October 15.

"New Year’s Resolutions and Networking"string(55) ""New Year’s Resolutions and Networking""

A friend of mine, TR Garland (pictured with me in the photo at right), just wrote a great blog entry which contains some very timely information for many people across the globe and I’d like to take the opportunity to share it with you today as a guest blog.  Enjoy . . .

“New Year’s Resolutions and Networking” by TR Garland

In about 30 days, the majority of people around the world are going to be faced with the same thing we’re all faced with once at a certain point every single year.

No, I’m not talking about keeping a smile on your face while spending the holidays with your in-laws (wink-wink).  I’m talking about setting New Year’s Resolutions.

Every year, one of the top resolutions is to “get in shape.”  The truth of the matter is that most of us already know how to get in shape:

1.  Design a nutritional plan and stick to it

2.  Design a workout schedule and stick to it

3.  Track your actions and results daily and recalibrate if needed

The problem is, a large percentage of people don’t reach their goals because:

1.  They don’t write out a formal nutrition plan or workout schedule

2.  They don’t hold themselves accountable

In other words, life gets in their way.

So what can be done about this?  Well, there’s something about human psychology that pushes us to not let someone else down. Because of this, people who invest in a personal trainer to help keep them accountable tend to achieve desired results much more consistently than they ever would by attempting to get in shape on their own.

It’s important to note that this same concept holds true for business networking and referral marketing.

Many people are spending a lot of time networking by just chatting away with others and maybe grabbing others’ business cards.  By doing this, they then expect results; they expect that the people whom they’ve met and exchanged business cards with will eventually pass a referral to them.  This mindset is called being reactive ( . . . and hoping for the best!).  Being reactive is an employee  mindset or mentality that, in my opinion, gets placed into the same category as punch cards, guaranteed smoke breaks, assembly lines, benefits entitlement, and cubicles.  In other words, this mindset is something that isn’t really that viable anymore in today’s economic environment.

If you don’t believe me, look around and note which businesses are thriving and hiring.  I’m confident you’ll discover that the businesses which are doing well are those that do not have a reactive mindset and, instead, maintain an entrepreneurial mindset.

An entrepreneurial mindset is one that takes ownership and focuses on being proactive versus reactive.  Just like the “getting in shape” example above, being proactive and accountable in your business networking and referral marketing efforts is a sure-fire way to get results–plain and simple.

So, especially if you’ll be out attending holiday parties in the coming 30 days with your spouse, significant other, family, or friends, remember to be proactive with your networking efforts.  Go to each event with a purpose (in addition to your goal of having fun).  Don’t simply gather business cards, that’s not what I’m talking about.  Instead, set relevant and realistic networking goals and ask the person you went with to hold you accountable to your goals.

And, of course, there’s a time and a place for everything.  You need to respect the event you’re attending and if the environment doesn’t warrant you achieving certain networking goals . . . grab a celebratory beverage and some festive treats and remember, there’s always next year!

* TR Garland is a Referral Marketing Strategist for the Referral Institute® in Orange County, California where he is a consultant to top performers and entrepreneurs on maximizing their ROI/ROT from business contacts and networking.  Starting in 2011, you can follow TR for his tips, tactics, and techniques on effective networking at his newly launched blog located at www.BeABetterNetworker.com.