Customer Reviews

Guerrilla Networking: A Proven Battle Plan to Attract the Very People You Want to Meet (Guerilla Marketing Press)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Pros: Tells the hard truth about Networking. Extremely enthusiastic. Has actual examples. Easy to read.

Cons: Book may be too simple for those that grasped its main point. Enthusiasm can get overdone. Repetitive.

Summary: A good book for people stuck in the mire of old-fashioned networking and in need of a way out. Not as useful if you already "get" it

This is an odd book - it's got the feel of a seminar in book form, and is a mix of small bite-sized tips and personal testimonies. Either apart would not have made a complete book, so I think the inclusion of the different sections was necessary, and the two parts work well.

The theme of this book is stunningly simple, and one some people have realized on their own - traditional Networking doesn't work, your goal should to be someone people want to meet and do things on your own. In other words, be worth meeting.

To hammer home that point there are fifty tips to help you become the "Guerrilla Networker" - the person who gets interesting, gets involved, and gets noticed. The usefulness of these varies highly depending on your own personal experience and knowledge. Some are simple and repetitive, some are actually quite insightful, and most are based on breaking out of the old hand-out-cards-try-and-meet-people networking stereotype.

Along with these fifty tips are a variety of short life stories collected from people the authors know - people that are Guerrilla Networkers. These vary widely - and usefully - so there's probably a few people in there you'd like to emulate or meet. Some of this section feels a bit like self-promotion (though as that's part of Guerrilla Networking, I'm not going to fault the folks)

Finally at the end, there are some exercises. These are quite good and make some excellent points about Networking and self-improvement.

Throughout the book there's a lot of enthusiasm, several uses of capitalization, the entire effect of is to be a mixture of fun and inspiring and annoying and overblown. It is relentlessly positive, and it gets under your skin - in a good way.

This book is essentially for people stuck in the old-school networking rut or a general networking rut. If your networking is going nowhere, if you hand out cards and hope, this may be a good purchase just to shock you out of your rut (in a friendly way). On the other hand if the lessons of the book sound like something you already know - then the book is at best a purchase just to make sure you get inspired and think outside the box. I can't recommend it to a person who realizes networking is about being networkable unless they haven't figured out how to apply the realization.

I suppose I should start off by saying I actually agree with the overall premise of this book - be a truly amazing person & others will want to know you. Agreed. The issue I have with this book is the overly simplistic path to this goal prescribed by the authors which often veers off into just plain ridiculous. One example is a passage in which the authors provide advice on meeting someone considered to be difficult to connect with, using Keanu Reeves as an example. Not a problem folks, all you need to do is become "a millionaire who can finance one of his pet projects" so that you can "hire him as an actor". Yes those are word for word quotes from this book. What's truly disturbing though, is the cultish, scammy disclaimer (repeated throughout the book) of "Easy? No. But doable, YES!" So no matter how outlandish the advice, the authors maintain this rah rah/nothing's impossible mantra that's meant to deflect any rational thought as nothing more than non-believers without vision and drive. So for all of you who yearn to realize your childhood dreams of becoming a fireman/astronaut/ballerina, you now have a book to cheer you on! Nothing's impossible....

Anything with 'Guerrilla' in the title makes me want to know more, so I had to see what this book was all about. I contributed to Levinson's (and Perry's) upcoming book, the next installment of 'Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters' so I knew I was going to enjoy this one too.

Like the other 'Guerrilla' books, it gives straightforward, no-nonsense advice on pinpointing your target contacts and dangling carrots to draw them in. I particularly like the success-stories and views from industry experts.

The most important thing of all is that to make the most of this book, you have to work at it and apply the advice. It isn't a book to read and then put down. This is why it is so powerful!

My results after 6 months of first reading this book was a network four times the original size, and the quality of the contacts was far greater - in many cases C-level.

OK, I'll admit it. I know Monroe, so I felt sort of obligated to buy his and Jay's book. However, I have to say that I was really pleasantly surprised and impressed with the content. It's a great read, and it's packed with really useful, practical and sometimes unconvetional networking tips and tactics. The book is divided into four sections: First is an overview of the Guerrilla Networking concept, followed by 50 specific networking strategies. Part three features real-life success stories, while the last section (my favorite) outlines a step-by-step plan to create your very own Guerrilla Networking strategy. This book is too good to stick on the shelf - This one will stay on the desk so I can refer back to it often.

Okay, so there's a lot of good information in the book for becoming the sought after rather than seeking after the famous, wealthy, and influential for help. I got it mainly because I thought that it could help me with my network marketing business. My upline/sponsor sent out an email saying he had co-authored it and highly recommended it. So, no loss. It's worth the money for those willing to really work.

First, let me say that the thesis of Guerrilla Networking (stop trying to meet people, become somebody that others want to meet) is a novel approach. However, with that being said, the amount of useful information in this tome is severely limited. Out of its 280ish pages, only about 40 of them are really very good. Part 1 of the book describes what Guerrilla Networking is and how it differs from and complements traditional networking (1 of the 2 good parts). Part 2 lists 50 Guerrilla Networking tips. One tip is to publish a book. Not exactly earth shattering. Part 3 has other individuals tell their Guerrilla Networking stories...unfortunately most of these are simply statements about what Guerrilla Networking did for them, but not usually how they did it. Part 4 gives a 9-page set of instructions. As I said, the concept is interesting and useful, but the book itself is mostly filled with fluff. Somewhat recommended, but don't expect a ton of useful material.

Length:: 2:12 Mins

A very inspiring book... Everything that it suggests is so simple and evident and yet it will blow your mind. I realised I was a guerrilla networker without knowing it, as I was doing many things that the book recommends. It gave me confidence that I was on the right track and turned my intuitive approach into a systematic method for success.

This was an inspirational book with suggestions for non-conventional networking techniques including how to attract people you are interested in to find "you".

I felt that 30-40% of this book contained suggestions that were specific to the entertainment industry; however, the rest of the book was excellent and worth reading for just about anyone.

I finished the book in one day, and it was a pleasant read because it was divided into very short 1-4 page sections.

One of the authors recommendations is to act as a "network hub" to help others connect with people they want to meet. I have no expectations of being on television or in the movies, I may be able to use my network to help others achieve their dreams with the authors suggestions (and build my network at the same time).

A must buy for anyone serious about getting the things in life they want. Within a week of reading this book I have been quoted on thestreet.com because I changed my mindset on networking after reading the book! I am looking forward to using this as a go-to reference book for being cool!