original review:
http://www.reemer.com/archives/2005/0...

I forget how I first came across this book, but it seemed to be one of those (like Blink, The Tipping Point, The Wisdom of Crowds, etc.) that was getting a lot of press on blogs that I read frequently. Ferrazzi has an interesting blog for Never Eat Alone and Phil Terry of Creative Good suggested I give it a go to help connect with folks at the Gel conference this week.

The book is about how to meet people and develop deeper relationships mor More...

In my efforts to spread the word about OptimWise, my technology services company, I've been attending more local workshops, lectures, and networking events. After hearing a few people recommend this book for networking advice, I decided it'd be worth my time to check out.

It's too early to tell whether this book will improve my networking skills, but I'm definitely optimistic. Ferrazzi packs the book full of advice, tips, and anecdotes from his personal life. To add credibility, he also reference More...

I read about this book some time back and finally taken the time to read it. My goal in reading this was to improve my own networking and relationship building skills while staying true to my own values and principles. Ferrazzi’s approach is aggressive and there are something’s that simply do not work well for me. I gained additional knowledge and ideas from this book and it also reinforced much of what I know. Not a page turner but overall this was worth the read. I appreciated Ferrazi’s rise f More...

I sat through a brilliant networking lecture a few months ago and I kept thinking about how much more good you can do in the world if you have built relationships with people. The lecture really got me thinking about the value of building relationships with others in order to better serve them. I taught a lesson about it at church...and got such a dead response. After the lesson, a friend suggested this book that he had previously read and brought it by for me to read. I spent the next week devo More...

Disciplined dreamers all have one thing in common: a mission. The mission is often risky, unconventional, and most likely tough as hell to achieve. But it is possible. The kind of discipline that turns a dream into a mission, and a mission into a reality, really just comes down to a process of setting goals.

Throughout his career, Bill Clinton’s political aspirations and his ability to reach out to others have gone hand in hand. He made it a nightly habit to record, on index cards, the names and More...

This book is a huge elitist bragging session for Keith Ferrazzi. I picked it up to get some tips on networking for a new business we're starting and it eventually began grating on my nerves. I'm not sure how many times it's necessary to congratulate yourself in your own book about how great you are, but the author went above and beyond that limit. A large network is great but I am not about to start proclaiming that having hundreds of people as contacts is what's going to make me successful. Get More...

I picked this randomly at the library – it is an older book, but I’ve heard a lot of people talk about it. I’m starting the process of changing jobs w/in my company and thought it might be a good book to review the cliché subject of “networking”. The message of the book is good, and I agreed with the authors philosophy, however, the book comes across as the author’s personal gloating session more times than it does a informative lesson. Here’s the lowdown:

Summary/message: In today’s ever-expand More...

Networking has become an essential skill that can benefit a person in almost any environment. Job-seekers can use networking to assist them in getting the job of their dreams. Businesses can use networking to grow their business and increase sales. Networking that takes much more than joining Facebook or LinkedIn (though they both are good networking tools). Ferrazzi goes into great depth explaining the who, where, why and how of networking. He goes from explaining the best way to shake someones More...

In the eyes of Keith Ferrazzi, success – in our careers and in life – is all about relationships. Everything in our universe is related to everything else through a relationship. We must develop, establish and nurture our relationships in life. We live in a fast paced life and a connected age, where the day’s minutes would be hard pressed to be further packed with communication and staying in touch.

Ferrazzi lives and breathes the fast pace of life. Living at the same fast space, he shares here More...

Although it comes as a surprise to people when I say so, I still struggle with Networking (the in-kind face-to-face kind, not the cables or Facebook kind). To do my job, however, I need to master that skill. This book was one of the “learn a superpower” books from a Metafilter thread, and the promise of unraveling networking was too much for me to turn away.

The good news is that the book delivers the goods. Ferrazzi is a master networker, one of those glad-handing ever-present Americans whose gl More...

I thought the book would be a long and boring business cookbook. But I was wrong. I started the book and simply could not stop. It does teach me a lot about cultivating personal network.

The best lesson I learnt from this book is "Equity brings about equity in building relationship". Normally, people treat their personal connections as personal equity and they use the equity only when necessary. This attitude is completely refuted by Keith. In Keith's viewpoint, connections mean to be interacti More...

2.5 stars. What I liked: The book has some helpful pointers for those who are shy or who are not inclined to engage with strangers. I would recommend it for new professionals. I think it is also helpful that the author emphasizes that it isn't easy, or natural, even for extroverts to put themselves out there all the time. I also appreciated that he shared some of his rejections, showing that even the best networkers strike out sometimes.

What I didn't like: Sometimes the author is too braggy , wh More...

Much of what the book talked about was what I already knew. I didn't like how he talked about mostly cliche advice like "Find your passion and things like money will naturally follow”. Also, it seemed that Ferrazzi was trying to use the book as some kind of a biography to brag about his accomplishments. He seems really proud and full of himself, with a huge ego. He may be qualified to be like that because I do think what he achieved is impressive, and I have nothing against being proud of onesel More...

The title of this book is what captured my attention. The passion with which it was written captured my enthusiasm. The author, Keith Ferrazzi, is a marketing expert and networking fanatic. If you only do half of the things that he does in this book, you will dramatically increase your networking skills.

The underlying message, and a repetitive theme of this book, is that networking is not about getting; it's about giving - giving people what they need to succeed. In doing so, he believes that y More...

In a very personable and conversational format, Keith Ferrazzi walks the reader through some of the tidbits of wisdom he has gained along the way in the business world (although in other venues as well). At the heart of all of this is an emphasis on relationships, whether acquaintances or intimate friends.

One of the things often missing in the secular leadership genre is the emphasis on personal relationships; there might be a lot of discussion on the leader and his competence; at other times t More...

Очень странная книга...

Начну с того, что пока дошли руки её прочитать - слышал о книге очень противоречивые отзывы. И подметил некую тенденцию в этих самых отзывах :)

Если книгу читал ярко выраженный экстраверт - он отзывался о ней с восхищением, и давал самые высокие оценки: "Очень полезная книга для жизни! С её помощью можно задружиться с кем угодно, стать популярным человеком!" (и т.д. и т.п.)

Если читателем был интраверт, то книжку он критиковал жёстко и бескомпромиссно: "Это всё тупая и пов More...

Growing up, I believed in the cliche that I could accomplish anything if I simply set my mind to it. However, after confronting numerous challenges, struggling to figure out why things haven't gone a certain way, and after reading this invaluable book, I have a new reality.

Anyone can do anything and accomplish anything with the right mindset, a positive attitute and the right driving force -- people.

Ultimately, this book is a solid reminder of the importance and value of any relationship. In ad More...

Keith Ferrazi is a force of nature. I know a few people like him - really smart, absolutely driven. I've realized over time that I am never going to be that person. I enjoy my work but I also enjoy my quiet time.

So, when I read a book like this, I ask the question - how much of this is Keith and how much can be applied to me? On one level, much of what he says can be said. Networking (and this is really a book about networking) means giving first, focusing on the person in front of you, followin More...

Great book. Easy read. Talks about the power of relationships and gives meaningful and practical advice to help people to network more successfully in life and in business (although he admits he's no good at picking up women). He gives tales of his own life as a rags to riches story. Rather inspiring. Also gives profiles of important historical figures and their relationship strategies including Bill Clinton, the Dalai Lama, Eleanor Roosevelt, and even Benjamin Franklin. There's a lot of info in More...

It started out really good. Mr. Ferrazzi talked about the importance of treating others well and not just networking because of what you can get out of it. If you have read the secret it is the same idea. Then it turned into the story of why Kieth Ferrazzi totally rocks and is so successful. He went from talking about why you should treat people well and not look for the big sale to how to meet people who will land you the big sale. I would say he talks the talk but does not walk the walk. I cou More...

Classic book about networking. Author's own career is inspiring, and lets you understand by example the value of reaching out to other people, and making connecting and helping the center of your career. To me the real value of this book is seeing the true joy and fulfillment that the author obviously achieves by putting other people and community at the center of his career and life, and the way this people-centered approach builds on itself. It's good to know that there are people out there wh More...

He had excellent networking ideas - such as always have a business lunch/coffee/dinner planned, so if one opportunity doesn't pan out, another door is open. Another idea was that instead of sending people holiday greetings, send birthday cards to keep in touch. A third idea was that when you go to another city, look up and contact people you may know who live there. While some networking techniques were unique, others were impractical....such as inviting business people to your house for dinner. More...

My boy Trent over at The Simple Dollar is wicked obsessed with this book, and I can see why. Keith Ferrazzi is an exciting, high-energy writer, and his ideas about marketing, networking, and mutual benefit are fascinating and easy to apply.

"Real power," says Ferrazzi, "comes from being indispensable." With that as his philosophy, Ferrazzi has built himself perhaps the strongest network in North America. His philosophy is that every person you meet is someone you can potentially help out, who can More...

I'm not sure why I read this book. I don't have much of a desire to expand my network. Ferrazzi acts as though there is nothing greater than a large network. Frankly, I don't have the same type of ambition.
This book suffers from what many books of this sort do - a subject that could just as easily be covered in a ten-page article. In fact, once the "build your network" lecture is over, the book devolves into self-help filler about succeeding in one's career. Blah.
Ferrazzi spends a great deal of More...

While driving around upstate New York I decided this was what I needed: another big business book.

If you're hitting up a few professional conferences or conventions, I'd say that there is some material here worth noting. Generally, it's most of the same advice you can find in any networking book, pamphlet, internet, or wise older man. That being said, I think it's never a bad idea to outline "the obvious".

While I have read a lot of material on the importance of being social, I have to say that o More...

I picked this up because of some of the great reviews I've seen and because it's about networking which is an area I can improve in.

Overall it was really good and I picked up a couple ideas of ways I can improve. The main thing I got out of the book was that relationships are really more important than we realize. In the individualistic, digitally entertained version of America we live in, this is an important point to bring up.

The writing is lacking in a couple of ways. Some of the chapters, es More...

Excellent book! Goes in depth about networking and how the exchange works. The book is interspersed with examples of famous people and how they built networks to achieve their goals and to become respected in their professions or communities. The only real issue I have with Ferrazi is that he is self-aggrandizing. Overlooking that aspect, he gives very practical advice, including how to throw a dinner party, what to do at conferences, how to stay in touch with new contacts, etc.

An acquaintance o More...

The book is a biography of sorts. Keith outlines issues and relates them to personal stories.

Some key points I noted as particularly interesting;


"Can you do what you do faster and more efficiently? If so, why not document what it would take to do so and offer it to your boss as something all employees might do? Do you initiate new projects on your own and in your spare time? Do you search out ways to save or make your company more money? "


"Newt Gingrich, the famous Republican;
A lion, he says, More...

If you told me five years ago that I would read this book, I would've said, "No way." I guess the times (and I) are changing. I haven't read many business books. "Never Eat Alone" is sort of a business book and sort of a self-help tome. In the end, I found Ferrazzi's advice and tone somewhat infectious. There are some limitations to his method/advice (basically of always building relationships (business and otherwise) by helping others) -- notably time, money, credentials, and personality. If yo More...

First and foremost, if you're reading this book you should read Nassim Taleb's "Fooled by randomness", or at least the Wikipedia article on "Survivor's bias", just to have the general rule not to trust too much this kind of book.

Otherwise, most of this is common sense and very good for anyone in sales and marketing (who will also won't have a problem with the (remarkably low, but still present) sliminess). For a technical person this is not so useful and needs strong filtering.

Otherwise, for the More...