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A lesson from fanmail

Guest post by: Keith Ferrazzi

Article Overview: I get all types of messages from people who've read and enjoyed NEVER EAT ALONE.

A lesson from fanmail

I get all types of messages from people who've read and enjoyed NEVER EAT ALONE.

The worst ones are those that say "I liked your book, and I like networking, too. Can I have 15 minutes and a cup of coffee?" My gut reaction is that they obviously haven't read my book, because in NEVER EAT ALONE, I specifically mentioned the problems with these worthless e-mails. They haven't provided any reason for us to meet. There's no mention of anything we have in common and no mention of why the meeting would be valuable to me.

Then there are messages on the other end of the spectrum, like this one....

-----Original Message-----

From: Leslie
To: Keith
Subject: Fan mail

Dear Keith -

I picked up Never Eat Alone at an LAX bookshop and was captivated. Your advice is fantastic, well written and universally applicable. However, my favorite part of the book is the more philosophical aspect about people and relationships and how they enrich our lives.

Many of your specific recommendations sounded so much like my friend and managing partner Stuart that I started talking to him about the book and bought him a copy. Somehow before he opened it I guess I had told him enough that he wondered if it should be required reading for all our partners. Stuart read the book that night and the next day bought 25 copies for our partners. Stuart has gone on to forward me the dozens of emails he's received back from our partners about the book.

In all this email traffic I discovered that one of my partners and a good friend, Steve, knows you and I gather told you the same story about the 25 copies. So now I am wondering if it would be possible for me to meet you. Coffee or a few minutes at your office would be great, or I could also go for a run if that's better for your schedule. I'd like to thank you personally for your fantastic book, which has had a huge influence on me, and perhaps do some brainstorming about how to further promote the book. You can reach me on my cell or at the email address shown below.

Congrats again on the book and have a great weekend.

Leslie

Leslie gets it. Her "currency" abounds: sincere appreciation and flattery, already having helped me spread the NEVER EAT ALONE message, offer to further improve book sales...Then making herself available at my total convenience. And offering to go for a run, which will make the meeting more valuable and fun than just sitting down to talk -- even if the meeting itself happened to bomb.

Now, which messages would you pay attention to? The ones that ask for something without offering anything? Or the ones that appeal to your emotions, suggest business opportunities, offer to introduce you to someone who could be important to your success and happiness, or otherwise sincerely try to make you successful?

Better question: Which messages are you writing?

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Article Tags: 15 minutes, bookshop, brainstorming, cup of coffee, dozens, fan mail, few minutes, friend steve, good friend, gut reaction, original message, relationships, spectrum, traffic



Related Forum Posts
Re: The best course for starting an online business - Hi Keven, I would be more than happy to share it, but I'm really confused what to share, where to start. OK, here is the greatest lesson I learned from that course. It is realted with the starting an internet business. - If you want to start your online buisness, the first thing you should do is to find you [u:1vh6vyeb]own [/u:1vh6vyeb]niche (we have talked about this in forum on another threads). What most people trying to do is to find the hottest product on the net and try to market it to make money online. It is a WRONG concept. Or most newbies join money making programs and try to teach others how to make money too. And this makes the problem (because they don't even know how to make money themselves). It is a lesson which taught a lot in my online marketing business. This first lesson is simple, but great. Orxan
Re: The secret to happiness - Hey GT You have a great attitude. I was a 4 pack a day smoker and I stopped about 8 years ago. Nobody thought it possible that Barry Sarner could ever stop smoking. It turned out to be the biggest lesson I ever learned in MY LIFE. The lesson: How could you fail at anything if you just refuse to give up? I slipped and slided for 8 months but even when I messed up, and I did alot, I never threw myself under the bus. I just started all over again the next day. I CHOSE to start again the next day . . . I CHOSE You must work on it every day of your life. Just know that you have the choice to start from scratch the next day. . . . . AND THAT IS OK TO DO. NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE UP
Re: Reliable Web Hosting Providers - Ha ha.. there's a lesson - check your own links. I forgot my site is a .ca rather than a .com. I made the edit.
Re: WHAT BRINGS TEARS TO YOUR EYES ???? - Those are the toughest lessons to absorb. They stay with you for a long time. Any lesson learned that you could share?
Re: Search Engine Friendly Coding - Excellent advice. I think with most newbies when starting out, they don't even know that there is such a thing as SEO. So unless they have someone experienced who can guide them it is going to be a hard lesson to learn. MichelleJ


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