Review: Never Eat Alone

Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi was first published in 2005. I read it to discuss with my NAPO-LA book group, and found its advice about networking to be straightforward and applicable to any business or personal situation. The author is kind of a connections addict. He loves making connections and networking with people and has found it to be one of the most influential strategies for advancing in business and life. I liked the book's tone and organization, though it's hard to adjust to the bald fact that it's pretty much always who you know rather than what you know. Ferrazzi wants to empower you to learn how to get to know the people who can help you on your path through life.

I got the most out of the chapter on conferences. Ferrazzi argues that conferences are less about the content of the sessions or workshops or keynotes and much more valuable for getting face time with and getting to know people. Conferences do offer concentrated people-meeting arena, and it pays to go in having done some research on the other attendees and making a point of meeting and talking with those who you find fascinating or relevant to your fields of interest.

There were a lot of good take-aways from the book, and even though it was published before the Facebook/Twitter/social networking explosion, the principles still apply. Following up, being interesting, taking an interest in other people, being willing to ask for help as well as give help are all timeless concepts and well worth reminding ourselves about.

Lelah With An H on social media

It's been a while since I posted my profiles to the various social media outlets that I belong to. Let's get connected on the ones you use, too!

Facebook: Lelah Baker-Rabe, Professional Organizer
Twitter: @lelahwithanh
LinkedIn
Goodreads
My website: www.lelahwithanh.com
YouTube: lelahwithanh's channel

Are you suffering from social media overload?

Call Lelah at 818.269.6671

or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

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A year ago: Carry-on, organizer.

Last year in June I shared all the various ways you can keep in touch with me online. I also wrote about my transition from a checked-bag-person to a carry-on-bag-person. I'm still exclusively carry-on, and the two trips I have planned this summer will be a great test to that. Heads-up readers, in July I'll be away for three whole weeks! I'm going to try to have some content scheduled, but for the most part I will be well and truly on vacation. And I'm only packing a carry-on. For three weeks. I'm pretty excited about the prospect, actually. I will be able to do laundry at almost every destination, so that helps a lot, but I'm also managing three fairly distinct climates, so that will be interesting. I'm thinking layering. Anyway.

This is a Zuca carry-on suitcase that I've been coveting for years. Photo from zuca.com

I love these next two posts. One is about seeing our living spaces with fresh eyes and figuring out how we can pare down. That feeling of possibility and freshness that you get when you first move in somewhere and it's completely empty is a feeling that I like to recapture every now and again in my own spaces. Try it out! The next post encourages you to get help when tackling difficult organizing tasks, particularly garages, clothes closets and going through a deceased person's stuff.

Lastly, here's a review of the book Organizing Outside the Box by Hellen Buttigieg and Sari Brandes.

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.

Social networking frenzy

Having worked in the Internet industry and as a side effect being somewhat web-savvy, I find it helpful to stay current with trends, especially as an entrepreneur with a marketing budget of roughly $0. You may or may not find uses for the following sites and services, but here's how to find me on them in case you'd like to connect. Connecting, after all, is the point of social networking, to find a commonality with someone else through a shared niche love of a random Mexican restaurant in Hollywood or Julia Quinn novels. Sometimes these connections result in more than a passing bit of information on a news or RSS feed and can lead to business referrals, opportunities for new experiences and sometimes even friendships.

So, here's me as seen through various portals - connect me up!

The usual suspects:
Twitter: @lelahwithanh
Facebook: Lelah Baker-Rabe, Professional Organizer
LinkedIn: Lelah Baker-Rabe
Yelp: Lelah Baker-Rabe, Professional Organizer
YouTube: My channel
Google: My profile
Google Reader: My shared items

Business networking:
MeetUp
Biznik

For fun:
Goodreads
Flickr
Yelp: My personal profile
NaNoWriMo

Creative Commons image posted to Flickr by SocialGrow
Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com