Build It Before You Need It - Ch 4 of Never Eat Alone

March 21st, 2007 by digerati

This is Chapter 4 of the Never Eat Alone series at Catch a Gideon. Points from Mr. Ferrazzi are in bold. I’m asking that you react to the quotes through comments. Share you reaction to each as well as your experiences in college and the real world. (Yeah that’s right, network dammit!)

Know that you must reach out to others long before you need anything at all.

You hate it when someone calls you out of the blue to ask for something. Strangely, we seem to prefer that they even just pretend to be nice for a while before that… The point holds here too. You can’t just call and ask for something, you need a relationship with someone before that. Better yet, develop the relationship so that they offer something before you have to ask. This is great for letters of recommendation or help with finding jobs or college admissions.

Start finding future clients today. Had he thought about what kind of industry he wanted to be in? Had he thought about where the top people in that industry hang out? Next step is to go hand with this group of people. Get to know these people as friends, not potential customers.

So many of my friends talk about starting a business someday. So few of them seem to have any idea what it will be in. Maybe they are trying to keep their award winning ideas secret (probably not), but more likely, they’ve never thought about it. People seem to think that eventually something will just happen, just click and suddenly they will have started a business. In some cases that will be true, but in many more you will develop an idea over time and then decide to finally take action.

If you say you want to be in real estate, watching “Flip that House” won’t get you far. Instead, find someone in real estate. Maybe an agent at first, then a developer, whatever, whatever. Seek out the people you think you want to be like. This lets you confirm (or deny) that the industry is something you want to be a part of, and also you will begin learning what it takes to be successful there.

Volunteer your time to a nonprofit organization they’re involved in, or aid in publicizing a school fundraiser their kids are involved with.

Rich, successful people volunteer. Maybe they feel guilty, maybe they had someone help them and they want to do the same. Volunteering has a multitude of benefits:

Volunteers obviously have at least some interests in common, be it the cause they volunteer for, or just the willingness to donate their time to the less fortunate.
Volunteering makes you look less selfish. Too many potential employees seem out for their own good. If you meet a potential employer or client through volunteering, they are less likely to notice that side of you.
You are out of the office. Business people especially will react differently when meeting someone in the office vs. during another activity. If you are not focused on business, you can set yourself ahead for when you are talking business. Many people are usually qualified for a job. The winner gets it because the manager liked them. It could be their unique skills, but in most cases (especially entry level) it is their smilie, their personality, or some personal connection (or shared experience) they had with the interviewer.

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Never Eat Alone is one of the best networking books written, period. Buy it now and follow along as Catch a Gideon goes through each chapter of the book.