As you will know if you have read this blog before, I like the work of Keith Ferrazzi. His books “Never Eat Alone” and “Who’s Got Your Back” are great reads if you want to get an understanding of the dynamics behind building a Personal Network. The style is a little “American” for a shy, retiring Brit like myself – but the principles are good. As you can see from the banner above – he’s much more in to rubbing shoulders with the famous than is realistic for us mere mortal Personal Networkers!
With the success of his books, Keith has followed up with “The Relationship Masters Academy”. I’ve seen a good review of it from one of my LinkedIn contacts – Peter Osborne who runs Bulldog Simplicity blog. He says: “As someone who participated in Keith’s Relationship Management Academy, I can tell you that Keith’s teachings will indeed change the way you approach relationship-building.” He also offers this link to download Keith’s “Executive Relationship Management Blueprint”, which is basically a “cheat sheet for everything Keith teaches”.
I found it very interesting to receive an invitation from Keith today for a Free Webinar on 4th November – “Networking Secrets for Thriving in Totally Screwed-Up Times!” It’s unfortunately at 9pm US time (so in the middle of the night in the UK) – however, they will send a link to a recording of the session.
To sign up, there is a brief survey – and low and behold … the first 4 questions are about “Personal Networks”. Give it a try – I’m chuffed to seeing the term getting more usage (as you know from previous posts – the term hardly registers on Google at the moment).
There’s an interesting study in Chris Brogan & Julien Smith’s book “Trust Agents” about how the term “Lifestyle Design” was unknown until Tim Ferriss promoted the idea in his book “4-Hour Workweek”. Maybe I can get “Personal Network” to the same status (with a little help from Keith!).
Phil, As ever, a great article. Your style is very easy to read and always worth the few minutes that it takes to do so. You must have developed an incredible amount of data on networking now. I look forward to reading your blog as a very credible source of balanced information. I wonder if you would ever see yourself getting to a similar level as Keith Ferrazzi?
Thanks again,
Chris
Thanks Chris – your comments keep me going!! You are right that I’ve gathered an incredible amount of data – and my stress at the moment is trying to sort that in to my own “ethos”. I am also hoping to build a business from this – so I am trying to find a strategy that finds me a “green field” in this busy area … whilst setting a course that gives me energy and keeps integrity.
Interesting you mention about Keith Ferrazzi – I was doing some thinking at the weekend about what he is/and I’m not (and vice versa). I think Keith is brilliant at what he does – but he’s not me… I think he is fundamentally driven by the “sticker collecting”/”head hunting” style of networking (although he does understand and execute in other areas of Personal Networking). You can see that characteristic in his banner with pics of Richard Branson, Clint Eastwood, etc. I’d never dream of doing that. As a photographer, I had lots of opportunities in my work to photograph interesting people (e.g. The Queen, Princess Diana, Margaret Thatcher, The Pope, Nelson Mandela, Bobby Moore, etc) – but my focus was always on building the trust of my subjects and the people around them (not getting a pic of me and them for my office wall!). Maybe it’s just that I’m not “salesy” enough to ask … but I believe it is a more typical characteristic of the trust building. I think my audience (and eventually customers) will be very much thinking Trust/Integrity first!
Thanks again for your support. Phil
[…] Regular readers of the blog will know that I’ve read and reviewed two books by Keith Ferrazzi – and more recently created a post talking about and recommending a free webinar he was offering to preview his Executive Relation…. […]