My Takeaways

This book is a gamechanger for me. It rocked my narrow perspective that success relies primarily on getting shit done. After reading, that perspective couldn't be farther from the truth.

Note: I did leave out one of my favorite parts in the skillset section. His chapter on how to crush conferences deserves a post of it's own which I'll link to when I publish it.

The Mindset

Formula to remember:
SUCCESS IN LIFE = (THE PEOPLE YOU MEET) + (WHAT YOU CREATE TOGETHER).

  • To achieve your goals in life, you must understand that you can never get their alone. What matters less is intelligence, talent, where you came from + how much you started with.

  • It’s better to give before you receive. And never keep score.

  • A goal is a dream with a deadline

Relationship Action Plan:

Part 1 - Development of the goals that will help you fulfill your mission

Part 2 - Connecting those goals to the people, places, and things that will help you get the job done.

Part 3 - Determine the best way to reach out to the people that will help you accomplish your goals

  • Networking hack: Offer your services for free

  • Don’t get caught up efficiently doing inefficient things. Be constantly creating the environment and community you want for yourself.

  • 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.

  • The recipe for achievement is a medley of self-assuredness, dogged persistence, and audacity.

The Skillset

Do your homework - Spectacular achievement is always preceded by spectacular preparation

Take names - Map out the most important players in your industry. Create sheets organized by type. Goal is to not only know who the players in your field are but eventually be recognized as one of the players.

Cold calls are for suckers. 4 rules for “warm calling”:

  1. Convey credibility by mentioning a familiar person or institution - 1st thing you want to do, gotta establish trust.
  2. State your value prop
  3. Impart urgency and convenience by being prepared to do whatever it takes to meet the person on their terms
  4. Be prepared to offer a compromise that secures a definite follow-up at a minimum.

  • Selling is, reduced to its essence, solving another person’s problems.

  • Invisibility is a fate far worse than failure. In building a network, remember: Above all, never, ever disappear

Follow up or fail (the hammer and nails of your networking tool)

  • Take the extra step to ensure you won’t be lost in their mental attic

  • The most memorable gifts I have ever received are those whose value could not be measured in terms of dollars and cents. They are the heartfelt letters, e-mails, and cards I receive from people thanking me for guidance and advice.

  • When the other person agrees to do something, get it in writing to force the commitment

  • Always focus on what you might be able to do for them. Give them a reason to follow up.

  • Forward articles to people in your network who might be interested

  • The real winners—those with astounding careers, warm relationships, and unstoppable charisma—are those people who put it all out there and don’t waste a bunch of time and energy trying to be something (or someone) they’re not. Charm is simply a matter of being yourself.

Pinging all the time:

  • People you’re contacting to create a new relationship need to see or hear your name in at least three modes of communication—by, say, an e-mail, a phone call, and a face-to-face encounter—before there is substantive recognition.

  • Maintaining a secondary relationship requires two to three pings a year.

  • The question now is, How often do you contact each person on the list? I use a pretty simple system, but there’s no reason you can’t improve upon it. I’ll go down my master list and add the numbers 1, 2, or 3 next to each name.

  • have one friend who takes pictures of people he meets wherever he goes. When he returns from a conference or work-related travels, he pings the people he met with a quick hello and a picture attached. It’s a great idea that has worked very well for him.

  • The trick is making the shift back and forth between the 50 or 150 folks who are front and center in your RAP, with whom you want to build real, intimate relationships, and that broader, scaled network that brings you new ideas and information.

Become the King of Content:

  • Creating content that gets read and builds trust requires you to adopt and communicate the same core values that help you build relationships in the physical world. Here’s my formula: GENEROSITY + VULNERABILITY + ACCOUNTABILITY + CANDOR = TRUST
  • Subject lines tease one of two humans needs: Utility or Curiosity
    • Either they clearly state the usefulness or they setup an intriguing mystery that clicking will solve

Be Interesting:

  • Remember, people don’t only hire people they like, they hire people who they think can make them and their companies better. That means someone with an expanded view of the world

Build Your Brand:

  • Good personal brands do three highly significant things for your network of contacts: They provide a credible, distinctive, and trustworthy identity. They project a compelling message. They attract more and more people to you and your cause, as you’ll stand out in an increasingly cluttered world.
  • the bottom line for everyone comes down to a choice: to be distinct or extinct.
  • A successful brand, then, is the promise and guarantee of a mind-shattering experience each and every time. It’s the e-mail you always read because of who it’s from. It’s the employee who always gets the cool projects.
  • Your positioning message should include a list of words that you want people to use when referring to you. Writing those words down is a big first step in having others believe them.