The Ripple Effect: Maximizing the Power of Relationships for Life & Business (Second Edition)

(Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Make the most of your relationships!

In this revised and expanded second edition of The Ripple Effect: Maximizing the Power of Relationships for Your Life and Business, author Steve Harper offers even more tips for unlocking the amazing potential of your personal and professional networks.

Provocative and practical, The Ripple Effect is filled with valuable strategies for both veteran and rookie connectors. New chapters spotlight emerging social media technologies and create an emergency networking plan when the economy takes a nose dive.

Learn to get what you really want by first giving of your time, your talent and your expertise. As you'll discover, the ROI of selflessness is truly astounding. The Ripple Effect will teach you how to:

• Create deeper, more meaningful relationships
• Use new social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to extend your connecting efforts online
• Avoid common networking mistakes, both online and in person
• Leverage your network to open new doors and create new opportunities
• Establish connection lifelines that will bail you out when things get really tough

Painting a tantalizing picture of what business -- and life -- can be once you decide to put other people first, The Ripple Effect is an indispensable resource not only for executives, sales managers, customer service representatives and entrepreneurs, but for anyone who wants to leave this world a better place than they found it.

About the Author

Steve Harper (aka "Mr. Ripple") has become one of the most sought after speakers and business strategists on the power of deepening and strengthening the power of connections through a process he calls Rippling. Steve's unique and refreshing approach to how and why individuals, organizations and even society itself can and must reach outside the box to connect, is literally changing lives and impacting corporate bottom line dollars.

A serial entrepreneur, professional speaker, author and leading business strategist, Steve has successfully uncovered the secret to creating powerful long-lasting connections and their impact on one's personal and professional life. Steve has transitioned his years of business experience and unyielding customer focus into a successful consulting practice.

Steve has always maintained a unique focus on developing strong, long-lasting relationships with his clients, prospects and employees. By building a strong network of referrals and repeat customers, Steve has honed his ability to foster client relationships into a leveraged system for achieving solid business success. That system is represented in his book The Ripple Effect and through his speaking engagements, customized training, ongoing coaching and impressive line-up of customizable training programs that he and his team offer today.

Steve enjoys helping companies and business leaders recognize the importance of building strong relationships with their clients, prospects and employees. He speaks professionally to a variety of groups, both corporate and civic, about creating a Ripple-centric strategy and the power it can bring to one's personal and professional life.

Steve lives in Austin, TX with his wife Kathy and their two boys Zachary and Joshua. He maintains that his children are his greatest teachers and his wife his biggest inspiration.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: SWOT Publishing; Second Edition edition (November 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976866501
• ISBN-13: 978-0976866503
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #549,471 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soul Survival Guide, July 29, 2006

By	C. Lyman (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's easy these days to feel adrift in a soulless world, where cynicism and selfishness reign and those who care about something other than quick sells and profit margins are considered weak and naive.

The Ripple Effect is a reminder of what life is really about -- helping each other and leaving a positive legacy. But not only does the book explain why our relationships with others deserve our conscientious attention, he goes on to provide practical tools and concepts to help readers make tangible improvements in their businesses and in their lives.

Part I, "Developing a Relationship Mindset", discusses the "science of ripples" and the innumerable and unpredictable opportunities, both personal and professional, that are possible in any given relationship. It also provides a simple personality model that makes it easy to tune your interactions with others to best maximize their potential.

Part II, "Planning A Relationship Strategy", gets you thinking about how you could explore the relationships you already have and how you could start cultivating more. It goes on to differentiate between good and bad networking and gives experienced advice on networking groups and identifying people whom you should seek out and those you should avoid.

Part III, "Practicing Relationships", defines different levels of relationships and discusses how to deepen them. It details a practical plan for overcoming inertia and starting your own ripples for everyone's benefit. The book wraps up by providing several inspirational stories of rippling and a final dose of encouragement and motivation.

The Ripple Effect will open your eyes to the wonderful possibilities of a life lived in cooperation, not competition, with others, and give you the tools you need to seek success in the world without selling your soul. Though some of the core concepts may seem like common sense, it's helpful to be reminded of them in such clear and pragmatic terms, and inspirational to know that there are a lot of people out there who want to join you in making the world a more fulfilling place to live.

It's an easy, sincere, engaging read, and a nice bookshelf filler -- every time your eyes glance past it you will be reminded of the karmic goodness it has brought, and continues to bring, into your life, and the lives of those around you. As Steve Harper says, "Ripple on!"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Taking Relationships to the Next Level, August 6, 2005

By	Tery D. Folkerts - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Most Relationship building books will tell WHY good relationships are important in business. 'The Ripple Effect: Maximizing the Power of Relationships for Life and Business, is the first to really tell you HOW to build the framework, the habits and the positive thinking that will allow you to master relationship building. Chapter 5, "The ROI of Selflessness" is a must read for all salespeople who want to take success to the next level.

Mr. Harper is also the first since Norman Vincent Peale to not forget about Family and how important it is to nurture the relationships of those most important to us as well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You're already rippling, August 3, 2005

By	Eric Rachal - See all my reviews

I don't get into these kinds of books. The seven, highly effective, customer experience-driven, habits of where's the cheese kinds of books. But this book turned out differently.

The Ripple Effect reminds us about the little things and how they really do matter. And that every seemingly insignificant moment flows into the next, defines our past, and shapes our future. It speaks to things we already know, but forget as we march through our very busy and important lives.

This book could help you sell more, grow your company, build better relationships, reach all of your goals...but it won't. What it can do is show you how little actions in your daily life conspire to either produce or prevent all of these things.

What you chose to do with that insight is up to you. You're already rippling (for better or worse), so you'd be crazy not to give the subject due consideration. Read it.