From the desk of Razvan Rogoz
Dear friend,
Needless to say, even if this book is 74 years old, the principles found inside of its pages are timeless. Proof of this fact can be found in the 860 review on Amazon.com with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars.
It is in top 5000 on Amazon.com, with a rank of 2107. While most advice is common sense, you don’t need the newest research to be successful in life. Most of the time, simple actions like smiling or showing empathy can get you the business deal, seduce someone or simply turn your life into a more positive scenario.
This book is a rather easy lecture. So the best way to comprehend it is to buy the audio-book. I have listened it on my BlackBerry 9300 3G in about 4 days while eating, working out or just between my main tasks.
It can be bought for only $7.49 on Audible and played on most devices (It’s in a M4A format. This is a format usually used by Apple on the iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTunes) and this $7.49 investment will translate into thousands or even millions of dollars in your lifetime (if you use the principles properly).
Here is the purchase link: http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_2?asin=B002V5BV96&qid=1313149545&sr=1-2 (this is a non affiliate link).
How Dale Carnegie’s Book “How To Win Friends And Influence People” Applies To My Own Life
I considered myself an empathetic being for most of my life. However, when you get in business, you may fall in a dangerous trap – acting like a businessman. Using words like “synergy” or “win-win situation”. You start acting in a role and you forget one critical aspect – businesses are made out of people. People are made out of desires and fears.
A Fortune 500 CEO is not that different from you and me. So you must remember that you are still human and not fall into the “business-like” attitude.
In Dale Carnegie’s book, you will learn first of all, how to sell. And the most important advice in selling is “listen more, talk less”. Almost half of the book is about this principle alone. Listen to the other person, show empathy, talk about what he’s interested and stop trying to appear bigger than the other person, because your partner will try to do about the same thing.
There are also some principles taught in copywriting. One of them is not to go against people’s beliefs. Instead, start with the initial belief and move him towards a new one with facts, logic and emotion. It doesn’t matter if he’s wrong or right. It’s a good advice not to go against his initial belief.
Another good tip from the book is trying to see things from the other’s person perspective. Show that you understand him, show empathy, talk about his interests and life, show that “you give a damn” and then make your request. People are usually interested in only one topic – themselves. They are interested in their problems or accomplishments. They are interested in their hobbies or goals. They don’t really care about your POV unless it’s somehow related to theirs.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I don’t know. I share the same traits. But after reading this book, I can say that I know more about selling that Jordan Belfort taught in his Straight Line Persuasion sales classes*.
Where could you apply the principles taught by Dale Carnegie? Maybe create a tighter bond with your loved ones? Make your employees work harder? Get that account that’s eluding you?
You know best. And if you want, please share it with me in the comment box below. I’d love to exchange ideas and start a discussion.
And if you don’t have Dale’s book, here’s the purchase link again. For $7.49, it’s a steal:
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_2?asin=B002V5BV96&qid=1313149545&sr=1-2
To your financial and personal success,
Razvan
* I am a big fan of Jordan Belfort. I have read his book “The Wolf Of Wallstreet” and I am aware of his sales system called Straight Line Persuasion. While SLP is a very good (and expensive system), you are better off learning the basics first. It’s the tip of the spear, and now I know why I haven’t received so much value from a $2000 course – I didn’t had the basics down.
More about Jordan Belfort and his SLP can be found on his website at: http://www.jordanbelfort.com/.