Keith Ferrazzi

There is only one way to get anybody to do anything do you know what it is? This is far from a trivial question. Business is, after all, the ability to motivate a group of individuals to move an idea from concept to reality; to take a theory and make it a practice; to gain the buy-in of your employees and colleagues; to encourage others to execute your plans

The Madam of Moxie

If it takes more than ten seconds to pitch your content, a television producer will assume you won’t be able to get your point of view across to an impatient audience. And a reporter might try to hustle you off the phone. Learn to be brief — in both your written and phone pitches. Brevity is cherished in the media.

wise words of Mark McCormack in his book What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School: “Creativity in business is often nothing more than making connections that everyone else has almost thought of. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, just attach it to a new wagon.

People who instinctively establish a strong network of relationships have always created great businesses.

We have a tendency to romanticize independence. Most business literature still views autonomy as a virtue, as though communication, teamwork, and cooperation were lesser values.

you’ll need to be prepared to deliver a high-value proposition. You’ve got very little time to articulate why that person should not try to get off the phone as quickly as possible. Remember, it’s all about them. What can you do for them?

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. • Once you have gained some early recognition, you need to nurture a developing relationship with a phone call or e-mail at least once a month. • If you want to transform a contact into a friend, you need a minimum of two face-to-face meetings out of the office. • Maintaining a secondary relationship requires two to three pings a year. • Social media pings (status updates, retweets, comments, etc.) are terrific for ongoing relationship maintenance, especially for the fringe of your network, but they don’t replace the need for one-to-one pinging with the people in your highest-priority network, those people connected to your current goals.

When you mention someone both of you have in common, all of a sudden the person you’re calling has an obligation not only to you but also to the friend or associate you just mentioned.

Authenticity — the unvarnished presentation of truth

Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone. — MARGARET WHEATLEY

Success in any field, but especially in business is about working with people, not against them.

Wherever you are in life right now, and whatever you know, is a result of the ideas, experiences, and people you have interacted with in your life,

real networking was about finding ways to make other people more successful.

Sticking to the people we know is a tempting behavior. But unlike some forms of dating. A networker isn't looking to achieve only a single successful union. Creating an enriching circle of trusted relationships requires one to be out there, in the mix, all the time.