I’ve been reading the book Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi, and let me tell you, it’s as if the book was written to accompany the launch of Highrise. It’s remarkable.

Keith is a world-class networker, and he’s written this book all about it. The more I read this book, the more I think of inspiring uses for Highrise.

Before I meet with any new people I’ve been thinking of introducing myself to, I research who they are and what their business is. I find out what’s important to them: their hobbies, challenges, goals—inside their business and out. Before the meeting, I generally prepare … a one-page synopsis on the person I’m about to meet. The only criterion for what should be included is that I want to know what this person is like as a human being, what he or she feels strongly about, and what his or her proudest achievements are.

Great use for the bio or notes you can add to your contacts in Highrise. Later, regarding meeting folks at conventions:

I generally knew who was coming… My office compiled simple bios of the VIPs who were coming in case I ended up meeting them or sitting next to them. My assistant prepared a few one-pages on the one or two individuals I especially wanted to meet. ... This is all part of what I call just doing your homework.

Again, fits in perfectly with the Highrise philosophy. Mr. Ferrazzi goes on to talk about deciding upon a goal, and then making “lists” of the people you need to talk to to help you accomplish that goal. It makes a lot of sense, and would probably be a good fit for Cases in Highrise, since you can also add a “bio” and notes to the case itself. He goes on to talk about putting these to use to help with a product launch:

To create excitement around our product, I wrote down a list of people I called “influentials” – the early adopters, journalists, and industry analysts that help spread the initial buzz about a product or service. Next, I made a list of potential customers, potential acquirers, and people who might be interested in funding us down the road. ... When you make such lists, it’s important you name the actual decision makers, and not just an organization. The point here is to have a readily accessible and specific list of names.

Finally, he actually talks about printing up some of these lists, and making sure he has them with him at all times. He’ll pull out the list in a cab, between meetings, and review details about the folks he’ll be talking to, or even just bumping into.

All in all, this is a great book, especially if you’re not quite an expert networker yet – which I’m not. And I’ve found that virtually everything in the book is applicable to Highrise.

Thanks for the recommendation – I’ll add this to my wish list

SB

I had the same thoughts while reading Never Eat Alone (which I LOVED by the way and was very different from what I expected). The whole time I was reading it I kept thinking has this guy discovered highrise yet? It definitely inspired me to take better notes about people and conversations and add them to highrise immediatly.

• Reoccurring events for birthdays
• Mobile access (which is probably coming soon)

Now Highrise + Plaxo is a good companion for Never Eat Alone. That’s how I use it. Just wish the Plaxo integration was fixed.

Anyway, you can read my review of Keith’s book at:
http://www.volcanicmarketing.com/blog/2006/04/22/never-eat-alone/

It also has a link to a video of Keith presenting his ideas at a Microsoft Small Business Summit last year. I think you’ll enjoy watching that video.

Anyway, I’d also love to get to know ya. Let me know if I can be any help at any point in the future. Thanks for spreading the word.

~ mel

Melvin Ram
CEO, Volcanic Internet Marketing
Direct: 916 743 9369
Email: melvin@volcanicmarketing.com
Web: www.volcanicmarketing.com

What an interesting way to get people interested in reading! Book trailers are like movie trailers, but for books! You can find them all over the internet now, but here is a site that’s featuring them on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/booktrailers

Hello there,

I’m quite new to highrise but not with the Book ;-) ... just had some questions about the book > Highrise combination.

Ray:
Again, fits in perfectly with the Highrise philosophy. Mr. Ferrazzi goes on to talk about deciding upon a goal, and then making “lists” of the people you need to talk to to help you accomplish that goal. It makes a lot of sense, and would probably be a good fit for Cases in Highrise, since you can also add a “bio” and notes to the case itself. He goes on to talk about putting these to use to help with a product launch:

Ehmmm I still don’t get cases actually… could give me an expample of how you would use this?? Making a list in highrise?...

Melin:
Now Highrise + Plaxo is a good companion for Never Eat Alone. That’s how I use it. Just wish the Plaxo integration was fixed.

But how? I mean you use Plaxo with Highrise but are you using it to be up-to-date with a specific contact(connector)? ... so you always now what to talk about??

I think it would just be a great function to add RSS feeds to a client…

And actually how are you using the TAGS? do you have like a tactic for it??? still dont think like I should do with Highrise…

Thanks all!!