Marketing

Little Black Book of Connections

As I proceed through college and in life, I am becoming more convinced that the way to success, fulfillment, and wealth is through the positive personal connections I establish with others higher up on the business ladder. I’ve seen and heard of numerous stories of people well qualified for jobs that they did not acquire because the other John Doe was well endowed with connections he/she had create with the organization or corporation he was applying for. This, even though Mr. or Miss Doe was not as qualified as the other applicants he or she is competing with. Jeffery Gitomer, well known for his line of business books he has published as well as his popular seminars and events he speaks at across the nation, sums up this situation the best, “All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends. All things being not so quite equal, still people want to do business with their friends” (pg 3).

With that being said, I chose to read the text, Little Black Book of Connections for Networking Your Way to Rich Relationships. I truly feel that in this day and age, it is extremely important to establish as many connections you can that can put you in a position to scale the ladder of success. Personally, I’ve always felt that I naturally have good networking skills, however, after reading this book, there are some concepts that gave me a better understanding about establishing connections. Some of these concepts I’ll share in the report will include: getting people to know who you are before you know them, gaining people’s attraction, and the power of giving value first. Furthermore, I will discuss my likes and disagreements with the author of the book and finalize my report with a recommendation. But first, I’ll begin with what I have gained from this book

One of my personal favorite quotes by Jeffery Gitomer is, “It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.” After reading that line I took some time to think about it and agree full heartedly with what he said, because having people know who you are opens the door. This brings me to elaborate why I chose to come to Hawaii. Knowing that there are not any professional sports on the island, I knew playing a sport for the University of Hawaii would increase my time in the limelight on the island, thus furthering my networking and establishing myself out in the market without a lot of competition. In sense, it is like having free publicity to market for myself in the real world. However, not everyone is endowed with this opportunity and from the book I learned there are other ways to getting known. The first is writing; writing not only leads to connections and attraction, writing leads to wealth. The second is creating an E-zine, this is an easy way to stay connected with people easily through e-mail. Jeffery Gitomer states, “Over the next millennium, the single most valuable asset you and your company will possess is your e-mail mailing list. Build it, and guard it with your life” (pg 119). The last is speaking, just as writing leads to articles and novels writing improves one’s ability to speak. Speaking is an important ability to have because it allows you to present yourself to the world, being unable to get your thoughts out from your brain in a cohesive manner will not help you to reach the world efficiently, consequently, you have wasted an opportunity.

Another section I found enlightening was about the laws and secrets of attraction. At first, when you think about it, it doesn’t seem attraction and networking would be excellent counterparts of each other. However, after reading the book, it helped me understand that by the more people are attracted to you, the more likely they will want to be around you, therefore work with you. Some key points I have found relevant in the book to attaining attraction are as follows:

• Gather your value and valuable information, and commit to it in writing

• List places where you could appear in person, and in print, that would impact existing customers and future prospects.

• Expose yourself on all fronts.

• Once your exposure begins, your attraction seeds are planted. Your response is based on how well you