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One of the biggest heistations people have when they start a new business is approaching friends and family members about it. Nobody wants to work with family and friends because they're too judgmental, they're trying to protect you from yourself, you've burned bridges with them, or any number of other excuses that we regularly bring up. Indeed, I have found that we have these excuses better rehearsed than we do our presentations on the products and services we offer, which may explain why we don't do well in approaching our friends and family.
I used to buy into the concept of not prospecting family and friends, but I recently sat down and really thought about, and what marketing is supposed to be about, and realized that people who don't approach friends and family members really are wasting one of their most potent resources when it comes to launching and growing a business.
What I have found from my own experience is that I was hesitant to contact people I'd been in touch with about other deals, and people who I only called when I was selling something, and that made me think that it wasn't that friends and family are not great resources, it's that I had done nothing to nurture those relationships over the years, so that they had essentially become worse than strangers. At least strangers don't feel neglected when you only call them to sell something.
I got an early Christmas present this year, and it came in the form of Bob Berg's lastest release, "Endless Referrals, Third Edition". Bob apparently read a press release about my WhoIRecommend.com directory, and liked the concept enough to acknowledge me for thinking of it. He sent me his book as a gift, and I sat down on Christmas Eve and read it cover to cover. It was incredible.
Bob has provided the absolute nuts and bolts and taken the mystery out of the "how to" of networking. This book is the ultimate blue print, road map, or in this day and age, the ultimate GPS system for going to where networking can take you.
I love the focus on practical things you can do to implement the theory that so many other authors have laid out. Bob is an excellent teacher in this regard, and from the brief interaction I've had with him so far he practices what he preaches, which is very refreshing!
Get it and don't put it down until you're done reading it. Get the CD version too. It will make good company on the commute to and from work!
I know this doesn't sound like a book on networking, but it's probably one of the best resources I've seen. The book has actually been around for over 12 years, and I've probably given away at least 50 copies of it as gifts.
George Fraser helps us understand the importance of community and how African Americans have not been able to truly experience networking within their own community. I truly enjoy George's teachings, and indeed I have learned a lot both historically, and from a skill development standpoint.
While this book was written with the African American community in mind, the historical content and substantive teachings are valuable to anyone. I would encourage you to get it, read it, and refer to it regularly.