Book Review: Subject - Business Networking Skills

Title: Networking - 150 Ways to Promote Yourself
Author: Bette Daoust Ph.D
Publisher Blueprint Books
ISBN: 1883955483

I can still hear my father saying to me, "Son, if you want to succeed in this world, just remember one thing. It's not what you know but who you know that counts." Like most young people, I was naive and certainly idealistic and didn't put much weight into what my father had to say. Little did I realize at the time how right my father was. In an idealistic world, how you look and how you act is not important. You are who you are and everyone should accept you as you are. However, in the real world, how you look and how you act is everything. The reality is that most people make a decision within 20 seconds of meeting you: whether they like you, or not; if they want to get to know you better, or not; and if they want to do business with you, or not. (Is it fair? No. Is it right? No. Is it the real world? You bet!)

Networking - the art of building relationships - should be offered as a full-time course at all business colleges and universities. Author Bette Daoust contends that "networking does not provide you with a get rich quick scheme for acquiring new business. It does, however, provide some guidance as to where best to spend your time." As a part-time college professor and full-time training and performance consultant, I couldn't agree more with the author. Networking is everything. Success in business is about building relationships. Someone you know, knows someone, who knows someone that you'd like to know. (It's kind of like six degrees of separation.)

Daoust's book, Networking - 150 Ways to Promote Yourself, is a must-read for anyone contemplating starting up their own small business, or is in the business of selling a product or service. You'll find the tips helpful, and the self-paced exercises sprinkled throughout the book, a real bargain. The checklists, like the one that appears on page 17, will help you get focused on what's important to you and assist you in formulating a much-needed action plan. (Fail to plan - plan to fail.)

I like Daoust's writing style. I found the book easy to read. There is something for everyone in it. Even people who have been in business for a number of years will benefit from reading it and checking out the Resource Guide beginning on page 195.You can never have too many contacts or too many ways to let people and organizations know what you can do for them.

You've got to get in the game to stay in the game. What you know will keep you there, but who you know will get you there. Daoust's book might just be the catalyst for success that you've been looking for.

This book review by Brian Smith has been reprinted with permission by Readerviews. Visit www.readerviews.com for a list of other books you might enjoy reading.