Most of the time I stick to health/fitness/food related stuff here, but once in a while I dive into some more business-y things, and today is one of those days. So, if you are not the least bit interested in hearing about networking then feel free to skip today’s post.
On the other hand, if you are a blogger like me, then you know the importance of networking. And if you are self employed like me, you also know the importance of networking. Or perhaps you realize the general importance of getting to know people and that the world really is more about who you know rather than what you know.
If any of the above sound like you, then stick around would ya?
I first heard of the book Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz on Savvy Sexy Social when Amy reviewed it back in the summer <– additional news flash, if you are still reading this post, I can only assume that networking and/or social media is of interest to you. In which case you should be following Amy because she’s fan-freaking-tastic. Anyway, let’s’ get back to the book.
I have to admit her glowing review didn’t make me take the plunge and buy the book, however when I saw it was available to me to review as a blogger not long ago I figured it was meant to be and decided to check it out.
Let’s backtrack for a second to get one little thing out of the way. I’m an introvert. Yes I write this blog and post lots of parts of my life here, on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter for the world to see, I can at any time close the computer, put down the phone and retreat into my introvert hole. And why yes, I am a fitness instructor which means I speak in front of crowds multiple times a day, but once again – when that hour (or hours) are over, I can go back home and into my hole.
I’m not good at going up to people I don’t know and introducing myself and chatting. If someone comes to me I have no problem at all striking up a conversation, but I’m horrible, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE at being the person who make the first initiative. It’s not because I don’t want to meet other people (well….on occasion it might be…) but I don’t feel comfortable talking to people I don’t know out of the blue mainly because I think that they don’t want to talk to me, or don’t want to be bothered. And that is where this book scares the pants off of me. It’s pure networking gold, that’s for sure, but it definitely requires you to stick your neck out in order to grow.
Really though, that’s the way it should be, and I know that most people feel a little heeby jeeby about introducing themselves to others like I do. There are those rare people that don’t mind it though, and I’m quite happy my friend Lisa is one of them because it means we can send her to do the dirty work anytime we want to find out who someone is, or really want to pet a strangers dog but are afraid to ask on our own. Not that, that has ever happened….
But this book isn’t just about meeting people, it’s about how to stay in contact with people, how to develop good relationships, reaching your goals and about being the type of person that other people want to meet.
I found this book wildly helpful, and while I’m not sure I’ll ever be the person who feels comfortable freely introducing myself to anyone I meet there are still so many things I’ve taken away from this book that will certainly help me to further develop and maintain the relationships I already have, and those I will build in the future.
Another big piece of Never Eat Alone is learning to ask for what you want, because the worst someone can say is no. Keith doesn’t come from a family with money, his father wanted more for his son than he had for himself so he did what he could to get his son a better education, better connections and a better life. And how did he do that? By asking. This is something that comes up in blogging groups often, and is something I’m still not comfortable doing but need to reach out of my comfort zone in order to grow. Just a few weeks ago Cassey (Blogilates) wrote a great post on something that happened to her recently because she asked. Long story short, she was invited to Taylor Swift’s house to listen to her new album with Taylor. The invite was originally just for her but she asked if her sister could come too and they said yes! You can read all about it on her blog, but because she wasn’t afraid to ask, they both got to go! Would they have let everyone bring along a second person? Probably not, but most people aren’t even going to ask to begin with!
Obviously you’re not always going to get a “yes” when you ask, but you’ll get a heck of a lot more yeses if you ask than you will if you don’t. So while there are a lot of things to take away from this book, that is probably the biggest one for me.
Just. Ask.
I am selling this book horribly short, but I swear, if you are an entrepreneur, a blogger or anyone who could benefit from a larger network of contacts and friends (spoiler alert – that is everyone) then I’d highly recommend checking out this book. I’m with Amy – this is your networking bible hand down! You can pick it up on Amazon here: Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
or at your local library/bookstore.
Disclosure: I was provided with a free e-book version of this book for the purpose of this review. If I didn’t like it I wouldn’t have written about it so please trust me when I say I really liked it!