Never Eat Alone : And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time

The bestselling business classic on the power of relationships, updated with in-depth advice for making connections in the digital world

''Don''t walk . . . RUN to your closest bookstore. The most extraordinary and valuable book I''ve come across in a long, long time'' Tom Peters

Do you want to get ahead in life? Climb the ladder to success?

Master networker Keith Ferrazzi says the secret is in reaching out to others. As he discovered early in life, what distinguishes highly successful people is the way they use the power of relationships - so that everyone wins.

Never Eat Alone: Expanded and Updated lays out the steps and mindset Ferrazzi uses to connect with thousands of colleagues, friends, and associates: people he has helped and who have helped him. This form of connecting to the world is based on generosity; Ferrazzi distinguishes gen­uine relationship-building from crude glad-handing.

These practical, proven principles include: don''t keep score (make sure other people get what they want, too); ''ping'' constantly (reach out to your contacts all the time - not just when you need something); never eat alone (''invisibility'' is a fate worse than failure); and become the ''king of content'' (use social media to make meaningful connections).

In this classic, global bestseller you''ll discover the timeless strategies used by the world''s most connected people, from Bill Clinton to the Dalai Lama. And you''ll learn how to transform your own network, career and life.

''A step-by-step way to build relationships with anyone. The tone is engaging and the advice practical'' New York Times

''Cleverly mixes anecdotes with cogent advice and suggests concrete steps readers can take toward improvement'' USA Today

Keith Ferrazzi is the founder and CEO of the training and con­sulting company Ferrazzi Greenlight and a contributor to Inc., the Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review. Earlier in his career, he was the CMO of Deloitte Consulting and of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and the CEO of YaYa Media. He lives in Los Angeles.

Tahl Raz has written for Inc., the Jerusalem Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and GQ. Raz lives in New York City.

A cover article in Inc. magazine on YaYa CEO Keith Ferrazzi's secrets to networking generated the largest response the magazine has received in the past ten years. Now Ferrazzi, working with Inc. writer Tahl Raz, explains the guiding principles he has mastered over a lifetime of reaching out to explain what it takes to build the kind of lasting, mutually beneficial relationships that lead to professional and personal success.

For Ferrazzi, the son of a small-town steelworker and a cleaning lady, the ability to connect with others paved the way to a scholarship at Yale, a Harvard MBA, and a prestigious posting to management consulting giant Deloitte Consulting. He discovered early on in life that the key to what makes successful people different from everyone else is the way they use the power of relationships. The sharing of knowledge, resources, time, and energy with people they know and trust is the foundation of their success. In NEVER EAT ALONE, Ferrazzi distinguishes such genuine relationship-building from the crude, desperate glad-handing usually associated with the word "networking." He distills the ways he uses to reach out to others into practical proven principles, such as:

· Look for mentors: Link up with people who can help guide your career and can introduce you to the people you need to know. Then become a mentor yourself.

· Be interesting: Develop the style, knowledge, and expertise that will draw others to you.

· Build it before you need it: Create lists of people you know—and those you want to know—and maintain ongoing contacts with them throughout your life and career—not just when you need a favor.

· Never eat alone: Avoid the fate of "invisibility"—use potential social settings to constantly reach out to colleagues and future contacts.

Ferrazzi's form of connecting is based on a spirit of generosity. He cautions readers not to keep score. Helping colleagues connect with other friends creates the kind of goodwill that inevitably pays its own dividends. Full of specific advice on handling rejection, getting past gatekeepers, and more, NEVER EAT ALONE is destined to be the How to Win Friends and Influence People of the new millennium.