The Reluctant Entrepreneur: Turning Dreams into Profits

THE RELUCTANT ENTREPRENEUR’S GUIDE TO MAKING FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES

If you could be on a first-name basis with anyone in your trade or your industry, who would it be? Whose power or position would you most like to gain access to? Who among all the people you know of could have the most positive impact on your future?

Imagine what it would be like to have an address book full of people like this—people you could turn to for help or advice whenever you need it.

Well, the time has come to start building that network.

A publisher whose career has been (to use a useful cliché) meteoric told me she reads the trade journals. And when she sees a story bylined by a powerful person she’d like to have in her network, she writes a personal note complimenting him on his article.

“It’s amazing how often you’ll get a reply,” she notes. “And how open they are to starting a correspondence.”

What better way is there to start relationships with experts in your field than by complimenting them on their industry knowledge?

Here’s how you do it … 

Make a list of all the people who could give your career a real boost. Your list could include people who run successful businesses similar to yours. It could also include people in completely unrelated fields who have qualities or skills you’d like to have yourself.

Start with the person at the top of your list. Think about something he has done that you admire. It might be a product he recently developed. It might be the standard of customer service he set ...