The Networking Survival Guide: Get the Success You Want By Tapping Into the People You Know [Paperback]

Diane Darling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 2003

In today's dwindling job markets, people who rely on want ads and headhunters succeed about 5 percent of the time. But those who have mastered the art of networking find new positions nearly 66 percent of the time. Writing for job seekers and career builders alike, networking superstar Diane Darling shows how to cultivate a rich network of professional contacts and use it to find success.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Everyone knows personal contacts are the best way to find a job. But with unemployment at a five-year high, almost everyone needs to bolster his or her networking know-how." - The Wall Street Journal, 12-04-2001

From the Back Cover

"Any way you look at it, other people are your greatest resource. Diane Darling's in-depth, easy-to-follow instructions will fill your life with opportunities to meet these people and reap the rewards."--Nicholas Boothman, author of How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less and How to Connect in Business in 90 Seconds or Less

Grow your business, raise needed funds, or find a better job—all by tapping into the people you already know!

The Networking Survival guide is here to help you build your networking skills, gain confidence in your networking abilities, and make good things happen in your business, career, and life. Whether you're planning a career change, raising funds for a new business venture, adding to your client base, or simply expanding your business contacts, you'll learn how to make networking your most direct path to success.

Nationally recognized networking maestro Diane Darling answers all of your questions, walks you step by step through each phase of the networking process, and helps you find the style and approach that's right for you. You'll find plenty of practical tips on how to overcome shyness and proven "scripts" that help you network successfully over the phone, online, on the job, at business events, and on social occasions. You'll learn how to:

• Set your networking goals
• Form a strategic plan to reach your goals
• Identify and develop potential contacts
• Follow up on leads and turn them into opportunities
• Make good things happen to your career
• Become a resource for fellow networkers

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (April 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071409998
• ISBN-13: 978-0071409995
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #806,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As principal consultant for Effective Networking, Inc., she founded the company on the premise that everyone can learn to network, they just need to find their own style.

Combining interactive training, strategic planning and an exploration of the natural fears of networking, Darling demystifies the process by providing techniques that can be immediately implemented.

She has received rave reviews for her seminars and speeches and is increasingly sought after as an expert resource on the subject of networking.

McGraw-Hill commissioned her to write the definitive book on networking called The Networking Survival Guide which was published in April 2003 and went into a 2nd printing just 90 days after the book hit the shelves. The book has been translated into Korean and Taiwanese. In 2005, McGraw-Hill published her 2nd book, Networking for Career Success which has since been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Portuguese, and Thai.

She has appeared on NBC Nightly News, in The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Boston Globe. She is a member of the CEO Club. Darling is also a blogger and random columnist for a variety of publications. She's a former columnist for the Boston Business Journal. She recently taught in the MBA program at Boston University.

She has lived in the Philippines, Thailand, Colorado, Indiana, Alabama and now in Boston, MA. Her travels include all seven continents and approximately 60 countries.

Her hobbies include watching football, reading, and attempting to play tennis. In order to overcome her fear of public speaking, she took acting and standup comedy classes.

Diane's email is: Diane at EffectiveNetworking dot com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Advice for a Novice Networker, August 25, 2003

By 

Derek Tomlinson (Natick, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Networking Survival Guide: Get the Success You Want By Tapping Into the People You Know (Paperback)

I received this book as a gift since my friend knows that I'm continuing to refine my professional "soft" skills. Networking has always been one area that I've been terrified of. I've never been able to strategically meet new people and build upon the relationships that I had. Diane's book breaks down networking to the bare essentials and makes it very easy to understand. The important thing is that this book makes it easy to make small successes every day and soon enough, you're a networking maniac!

I've been successful using her advice in a very short time. Ultimately, you have to make the change and be more positive about meeting people and enhancing your professional and personal relationships but Diane's book is a great coach! I would recommend this book highly to anyone looking to build this very important skill.

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Complete How -To on Effective Networking, July 8, 2003

By 

Carl C. Harvey (wayland, ma USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Networking Survival Guide: Get the Success You Want By Tapping Into the People You Know (Paperback)

In the nineties, business people discovered the importance of relationships: it was easier, safer and more reliable to deal with people you knew and trusted. The evolution of this ninety's insight is the explosion we see today of networking groups. Businesses and business people alike understand the importance and potential of networking. Unfortunately for most of them, it is potential unrealized. For the truth is most business people don't know how to effectively network. They view networking as nothing more than showing up to an event, shaking some hands, handing out business card and waiting for the business to flow. It rarely does.

Networking, however, works and can be a fecund source of new business and new opportunities- if one knows how to do it effectively. In "The Networking Survival Guide" Diana Darling teaches you how to do just that. In 237 pages, Ms Darling covers not just the ABC's of effective networking but the complete alphabet on effective networking. What is networking? How do I get started and where do I go? How do I prepare to network and what tools do I need? How do I start, stop and transition a networking conversation? What are some of the best practices when I'm face to face and when I'm not? How do I follow-up on my networking opportunities? What do I do if I'm uncomfortable about networking? In a style that is easy, engaging and economical , Ms Darling addresses all of these questions and more. In doing so, she provides not just the know-how, but the how-to. You can open her book up to any page and gain value, a rare accomplishment even for a self-help book.
If you want to learn how to network, or if you are already networking and want to do it better, pick up this book. You won't be disappointed.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Schmooze You Lose, September 7, 2005

By 

Henry Devries "client seduction guru" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Networking Survival Guide: Get the Success You Want By Tapping Into the People You Know (Paperback)

Great networking opportunities are constantly around us, but never confuse networking with schmoozing. That's one of the great lessons of Diane Darling's "The Networking Survival Guide: Get the Success You Want by Tapping Into the People You Know." As someone who coaches independent professionals on how to find new clients, I found the book to be excellent. Schmoozing has the connotation that you are getting something from someone with no benefit to the other person, says Darling. So you schmooze, you lose. Instead, to woo and win new clients, you need to be willing to give before you get in networking situations.