Quotes from Keith Ferrazzi

Credibility is the first thing you want to establish in any interaction, and, ultimately, no one will buy from you unless you establish trust. Having a mutual friend or even acquaintance will immediately make you stand out from the other anonymous individuals vying for a piece of someone's time.

When you mention someone both of you have in common, all of a sudden the person you're calling has an obligation not only to you but also to the friend or associate you just mentioned.

you'll need to be prepared to deliver a high-value proposition. You've got very little time to articulate why that person should not try to get off the phone as quickly as possible. Remember, it's all about them. What can you do for them?

There's a scarcity of the authentic in our culture. "So many people are liars:

If it takes more than ten seconds to pitch your content, a television producer will assume you won't be able to get your point of view across to an impatient audience. And a reporter might try to hustle you off the phone. Learn to be brief—in both your written and phone pitches. Brevity is cherished in the media.

Bottom line: It's better to give before you receive. And never keep score. If your interactions are ruled by generosity, your rewards will follow suit.

Tom Peters instructs in his customary bravado to "create your own microequivalent of the Nike swoosh.

wise words of Mark McCormack in his book What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School: "Creativity in business is often nothing more than making connections that everyone else has almost thought of. You don't have to reinvent the wheel, just attach it to a new wagon.

I learned that real networking was about finding ways to make other people more successful. It was about working hard to give more than you get.

You want to impart both a sense of urgency and a sense of convenience. Instead of closing with "We should get together sometime soon," I like to finalize with something like "I'm going to be in town next week. How about lunch on Tuesday? I know this is going to be important for both of us, so I'll make time no matter what.

Take as little time as possible in your cold call to ensure that the next time you speak to them it's in their office, or better yet, over some linguine and wine.

Connecting your story with a known entity—be it a politician, celebrity, or famous businessperson—acts as a de facto slant. Bottom line: The media want recognizable faces in their pages.

And the law of probability ensures that the more new people you know, the more opportunities will come your way and the more help you'll get at critical junctures in your career.

1) create a company-approved project that will force you to learn new skills and introduce you to new people within your company; (2) take on leadership positions in the hobbies and outside organizations that interest you; (3) join your local alumni club and spend time with people who are doing the jobs you'd like to be doing; (4) enroll in a class at a community college on a subject that relates to either the job you're doing now or a job you see yourself doing in the future.

Here's another one of Ferrazzi's shameless attempts at self-promotion.

We are the people we interact with. Our paychecks, our moods, the health of our hearts, and the size of our bellies—all of these things are determined by whom we choose to interact with and how.

As long as you're going to think anyway, think big. —Donald Trump

was reminded of what Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: "Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him." Everyone had something to teach him. This focus on people was the reason so

Do you understand that it's your team's accomplishments, and what they do because of you, not for you, that will generate your mark as a leader?

Jonah Berger, who conducted an exhaustive study of "most e-mailed" links on the New York Times website and wrote a book about the results, Contagious:

3. Don't come to the party empty-handed. Who are the stars of today's digital world? Those writers, bloggers, and gurus who do the best job of providing information, creative content, links, or even just empathy to a community of like-minded individuals. Many of them do it all for free, and their reward is a devout following of people who, in return, offer as much as they receive. It's a loop. In connecting, online and off, you're only as good as what you give away.

Jonah Berger, who conducted an exhaustive study of "most e-mailed" links on the New York Times website and wrote a book about the results, Contagious: Why Things Catch On.

To become a brand, you've got to become relentlessly focused on what you do that adds value. And I promise you can add value to whatever job you're doing now. Can you do what you do faster and more efficiently? If so, why not document what it would take to do so and offer it to your boss as something all employees might do? Do you initiate new projects on your own and in your spare time? Do you search out ways to save or make your company more money?

LinkedIn will immediately show you who you have in common.