And Other Secrets to Success - One Relationship at a Time

If you are willing to put yourself out there, like this guy wants you to, I can see it working quite well. I think the real secret to success is work, regardless of how you go about it. I did find lots of his tips helpful, especially the chapter on health, wealth, and children.
The one annoying thing about Keith is that he regards himself in such high esteem. In one instance he calls himself a super-connector. I think we can come to that conclusion ourselves without being told!

I would recommend this book to every young person starting out. All the successful people I know seem to understand many of his secrets intuitively. I can't imagine everyone doing everything the Author does. I wonder how he finds time to sleep.

There are a lot of networking books to choose from. Out of the three I read biased on the store reviews, I like this one the best.

I don't want to be like the any of these authors, they have too many loose contacts, but there is a lot of learn from them.

What I like about Keith's book is he considers networking and making friends one in the same, or close to it. That for a great life, business and pleasure do mix. He lays this out in such an honest way that I can see it really does work for him.

I tell you what, he convinced me to try working on making friends. And I can report it's working, in a honest way.

Thanks Keith.

After reading this book I couldn't decide if Keith Ferrazzi was a networking genius or just another party animal. I finally realized that either way, this book is a winner and no business person who is serious about networking and growing a business should be without it.

Ferrazzi is a firm believer in the "it's not what you know but who you know" adage. Except he goes about telling you how to get to know the "who" in "who you know." He masterfully leverages technology to reach out and touch his contacts in a systematic, yet unobtrusive way that strengthens and reinforces those relationships over time.

He also takes maximum advantage of social gatherings to update his Rolodex. He'll throw a party for the movers and shakers in his field for just about any reason. In fact, his events are so legendary he's all but guaranteed a stellar turnout every time. I never realized that partying every weekend could be so lucrative.

Some may find such assertive behavior a bit unsettling, but from my perspective, timidity in business is the kiss of death. If you're an introvert, you're better off being an accountant, locked away in your 4' x 4' closet with your abacus and slide rule. Not that I have anything against accountants, I don't, but don't knock the bold and the brave just because you're insecure.

This book is a plan of action. Make no mistake about it. If you want to expand your contacts, increase your influence, and create bigger business opportunities for yourself, then do yourself a favor and buy this book.

Joe Waynick, Author
"Internet Bookselling Made Easy!" series
[...]

Practical and inspirational tips written in 33 chapters! The personal stories to emphasize his points/lessons in each chapters kept me reading!

I'm glad my school is requiring this book as a material for a beginning business class!

Practical and inspirational tips written in 33 chapters! The personal stories to emphasize his points/lessons in each chapters kept me reading!

I'm glad my school is requiring this book as a material for a beginning business class!

This is a fantastic book on giving in the context of relationships. It takes the "yuck" out of "networking", and inspires you to find ways to add value to every person you meet. For an introvert like me, this book will become a sort of manual I will regularly refer to and reread.

I have to agree with the other reviews that indicate that the author does nothing except name drop throughout the entire book. Who cares how many superficial "relationships" that the author thinks he has cultivated? Not surprised he was so interested in getting to Hollywood. Absolutely, the worst business networking book I've ever read. In any case, I've learned to read the reviews posted before I make my purchases.

The book is great, material is very dense but entirely useful. Although author spent a lot of time on his own examples which may be pretty out there for introverts. I was able to pick up a few things.

After significant media PR, I went out and bought this book. Like that great movie your friends (the media) say that you have to see, this one is a pass. After you cut through the fluff, there are two important concepts to be taken away from this book: 1) always be networking and 2) the most effective way to network is to think about how many ways you can give value, provide leads, or be of service to those in your professional network - this goodwill granted will come back to you in spades.

In Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time, Keith Ferrazzi teaches people how to build lifelong relationships that will bring them success and get them ahead in the world of business. This book is aimed toward college students and graduates who are looking to further, or maybe even start, a career in business. Besides writing this book, Ferrazzi gets his point across to people through lectures at colleges and grad schools. It is a valuable book because there are methods to learn in it that are not taught in a standard classroom. His book is divided into four main sections each aimed toward teaching the reader different skill sets: The Mind-Set, The Skill Set, Turning Connections into Compatriots, and Trading Up and Giving Back. Ferrazzi supports all of his arguments very well by using real life examples from his own experience and by adding stories about famous people at the end of some of the chapters to further confirm his advice.
In the Mind-Set portion of his book he teaches readers how to become a member of the “club” and then he discusses his “Networking Action Plan”: a way to write down and accomplish specific goals. Ferrazzi did a good job of relating to the average person by telling his back story. He grew up in a working class family and first observed the higher classes while he was a caddy at a country club. He connected with the common people reading his book. Ironically enough, this is a book about connecting with people which he is so clearly good at. Ferrazzi’s explanation of his observations during this time is very descriptive, showing the readers what they should be doing. His discussion of his “Networking Action Plan” was also very helpful as well. He outlines a specific way to write your plan in order to make it simple to connect and succeed. Ferrazzi is clear and concise and does not leave the reader with any questions about what to do.
The Skill-Set section mainly discusses how to connect with people, what to do when connected, and how to follow-up. According to Ferrazzi, the key to success in anything is to follow-up, an action that many people may overlook without Ferrazzi’s information. Ferrazzi has tons of contacts in his network that he would not have known without following up. They range from John Pepper, a CEO that Ferrazzi had researched and found out he had also gone to Yale and had known a mutual friend, to Arnold Palmer, the well known golfer. Ferrazzi doesn’t just say to make connections with people; he is incredibly helpful and specifically lists people that can be connectors: relatives, current colleagues, neighbors, people in your religious congregation, and many more.
Turning Connections into Compatriots is about what to do when following-up with people results in them being in your network. Ferrazzi talks a great deal about dinner parties and their importance to him. He lists number of guests to invite, where they should be seated, and how to have a beautiful setting. Ferrazzi gives tips on how to host the best dinner party and to gain the friendship, and hopefully business, of everyone invited.
In the final section, Trading Up and Giving Back, Ferrazzi explains the importance of being interesting and memorable. He teaches readers to build their brand by one of his sayings: “be distinct or extinct” (226). Basically, Ferrazzi says there are tons of people in the world who want to become CEO’s and in order to succeed, you need to be different. As the title of his book says, never eat alone. Be out of the ordinary and persistent in connecting to the people you need to, and want to, connect to.
Ferrazzi is a credible and resourceful source for any person looking to expand their network. He provides insight into how to get this done and his life is proof that it is possible. He is very successful with these methods. Ferrazzi was CMO at Deloitte Consulting and CEO at YaYa Media and he is now founder and CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight. The network of people that he has connected to, span across the country and they are the reason for his success. Without other peoples help, we are nothing. This book is very engaging and enjoyable, I personally found myself losing track of time reading it. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to expand their network or even anyone remotely interested in the unknown aspects of the business world.

Keith Ferazzi completely transformed my view of business. I shared this book with a friend, and he immediately began building his own network and is now well on his way in the Google interviewing process. This book encourages and inspires, and recommends changes that improve your life NOW.

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 an authentic approach to networking and building life's relationships, one at a time.

The essence of Ferrazzi's success is not just networking. It is a 3-fold approach:
(1) network to build trust first
(2) help people before asking for favors
(3) do it all with sincerity

Okay that's all great but does that mean we do that at every single meal? Hmmm. Not so practical. Or even scaleable. Or even desirable!

Now I did like this a lot: The author's sincere interest in helping others before thinking of his own success, and in fact, that may be the secret to his success. To be truly interested in making yourself useful to others first, even if there is no return for your favors immediately, is his philosophy.

Ferrazzi's approach to networking in "Never Eat Alone" is original and effective but very hard to get on board with in the level of intensity that he preaches.

Much of the challenge with networking is the misconceptions - it is exactly everything you want it to be. It is as real or as fake, as fun or as boring, as effective or as big a waste of time as you make it out to be - but do not blame networking and building relationships when you have poor results. It is the approach and intent that needs to be revisited and perhaps that can be the best takeaway, but still, giving it just a very high 3 stars.

This is a lengthy, but quite interesting, presentation of how immaginative some people can be at self promotion and it totally removes the embarrassment that is typically connected by the promoter to him or her self. This lets the self marketing move forward by leaps and bounds.