I recently bought the book, “Guerrilla Networking”, on a whim from the American Amazon.com. International shipping to Japan is always a pain but in this case it was worth it.
Quick back story – I’ve been trying to improve my skills in various areas of business. Of course game development and programming but I’m also working on improving ancillary skills as well like communication, networking, business/contract laws, and Japanese language ability. To that end, I’ve been reading more books than I have since perhaps high school.
Guerrilla Networking’s message can be summed up in one sentence. When it comes to achieving success as quickly as possible the proposed strategy is to “become the type of person other people want to meet.” According to the authors the field you are in doesn’t matter, the same rules apply. For example, if you want to become the most successful bee keeper with the most business you should spend most of your time making awesome honey that is promoted and sells well. If you did that, surely people would want to meet you which could only bring more success.
This stuff isn’t rocket science, far from it, but I will admit it made me look at improving my career in some new ways. Some of my recent experiences combined with some of the common sense in this book have opened my eyes to other ways to succeed beyond just being good at your job. That said, being good at your job is still priority number one of course.
For example, I had never sat down and critically though about what makes people popular and why some people are more famous than others. I grew up as a geek – I still am and I don’t think that’s a bad thing – but I always assumed that “those popular people just have something I don’t have.” Well, I realize now that type of thinking is bullshit. It’s not just this book that suddenly made that dawn on me but rather it reinforced some of the ways you can build recognition, fame and popularity through your actions.
Although it takes sacrifices I firmly believe anyone can build success for themselves if they are willing to think critically about the situation they are in and how to improve it. “Guerrilla Networking” helped me in a small way further realize what is possible and to question my own limits I put on my own abilities. And for that reason, I recommend reading it if you have any interest in this topic. It’s an easy read that can easily be read through in a day.
that is a powerful message there mark. dang i gotta email you im thinking.
Send me an e-mail any time – I’d be happy to talk about it. You know how to reach me!