Abandon the networking-for-networking's-sake mentality in favor of a more powerful and effective approach to creating and enhancing connections. STOP NETWORKING. Seriously, stop doing it. Now. It is time to ditch the old networking-for networking's-sake mentality in favor of a more powerful and effective approach to creating and enhancing connections. In Superconnector, Scott Gerber and Ryan Paugh reveal a new category of professionals born out of the social media era: highly valuable community-builders who make things happen through their keen understanding and utilization of social capital. Superconnectors understand the power of relationship-building, problem-solve by connecting the dots at high levels, and purposefully cause different worlds and communities to interact with the intention of creating mutual value. How can you become a Superconnector? Gerber and Paugh share instructive anecdotes from a who's who roster of high achievers, revealing how to systematically manage a professional community and maximize its value. Of utmost importance is practicing Habitual Generosity, acting on the knowledge that your greatest returns come when you least expect them, and that by putting others' needs first the good karma will flow back to you tenfold. Gerber and Paugh also explore winning strategies such as The Art of Selectivity, a well-honed ability to define which relationships matter most for you and decide how you will maintain them over time. Full of helpful advice on how to communicate with anyone about anything, Google-proof your reputation, and much more, Superconnector is a must-read for those seeking personal and business success.

Are you wondering what the next killer app will be? Do you want to know how you can maintain and add to your value during these rapidly changing times? Are you wondering how the word love can even be used in the context of business? Instead of wondering, read this book and find out how to become a lovecat—a nice, smart person who succeeds in business and in life. How do you become a lovecat? By sharing your intangibles. By that I mean: Your knowledge: everything that comes from all the books that I’ll encourage you to devour. Your network: the collection of friends and contacts you now have, which I’ll teach you how to grow and nurture. Your compassion: that human warmth you already possess—in these pages I’ll convince you that you can show it freely at the office. What happens when you do all this? * You become a rich source of information to all around you. * You are seen as a person with valuable insight. * You are perceived as generous to a fault, producing surprise and delight. * You double your business intelligence in one year. * You triple your network of personal relationships in two years. * You quadruple the number of colleagues in your life who love you like family. In short, you become one of those amazing, outstanding people to whom everyone turns, who leads rather than follows, who never runs out of ideas, contacts, or friendship. Here’s the real scoop: Nice guys don’t finish last. They rule!

The practical guide to discovering the rules of our superconnected world through the science and sociology of networks. In Superconnect, Richard Koch and Greg Lockwood show that success is less about who you are than how you connect—a chance meeting with an old colleague leads to a swanky new job; two businessmen collaborate online and cofound a successful start-up; a friend introduces a promising entrepreneur to a millionaire looking to invest. But why do these lucky breaks always happen to other people? Personal and professional networks shape everything we do, but simply knowing that they exist won’t help you harness your connections for maximum success. With an eye toward business applications, Superconnect outlines the new rules of our densely linked society. At the core of the analysis are three simple network components—strong relationships, weak relationships, and hubs—that interact in surprising, counterintuitive ways. Understanding how these components mesh, and connecting unrelated people, is the way to achieve in today’s hyper-connected world.

Create a personal "power grid" of influence to spark professional and personal success "Other people have the answers, deals, money, access, power, and influence you need to get what you want in this world. To achieve any goal, you need other people to help you do it." -- JUDY ROBINETT As anyone in business knows, strategic planning is critical to achieving long-term success. In How to Be a Power Connector, super-networker Judy Robinett argues that strategic relationship planning should be your top priority. When you combine your specific skills and talents with a clear, workable path for creating and managing your relationships, nothing will stop you from meeting your goals. With high-value connections, you'll tap into a dynamic "power grid" of influence guaranteed to accelerate your personal and professional success. Robinett uses her decades of experience connecting the world's highest achievers with one another to help you build high-value relationships. She reveals all the secrets of her trade, including proven ways to: Find and enter the best network "ecosystem" to meet your goals Reach even the most unreachable people quickly and effectively Get anyone's contact information within 30 seconds Create a "3-D connection" that adds value to multiple people at the same time Access key infl uencers through industry and community events Subtly seed conversation with information about interests and needs Use social media to your best advantage Robinett has based her methods on solid research proving that social groups begin to break up when they become larger than 150 people, and that 50 members is the optimal size for group communication. As such, she has developed what she calls the "5+50+100" method: contact your top 5 connections daily, your Key 50 weekly, and your Vital 100 monthly. this is your power grid, and it will work wonders for your career. Nothing will stop you when you learn How to Be a Power Connector. PRAISE FOR HOW TO BE A POWER CONNECTOR: "Unlike many books in this genre, this one is written by a woman who has lived it.. . . Judy Robinett offers guidance on how to form authentic relationships that bring mutual benefits." -- ADAM GRANT, Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take "How to Be a Power Connector is like an MBA in networking: an advanced course in finding and developing quality relationships with the people who can make the biggest difference in your professional success." -- IVAN MISNER, founder and chairman of BNI "Talk about power! Follow Judy Robinett's logical, straightforward, and helpfully detailed advice, and you can be a 'Power Connector' yourself! Great ideas, well presented, with no ‘wasted space’ in her argument!" -- DON PEPPERS, coauthor of Extreme Trust: Honesty as a Competitive Advantage "Absolutely brilliant. A step-by-step guide to building a network that will be both invaluable to you and just as valuable to those whose lives you will now have the opportunity to touch. I can't imagine a more powerful book for one who truly desires to be a Power Connector." -- BOB BURG, coauthor of The Go-Giver and author of Adversaries into Allies "In the C-Suite or in your personal life everything comes down to the quality of your relationships. Judy's book helps you attract and maintain the relationships that will get you what you want most. Be a super connector now!" -- JEFFREY HAYZLETT, TV host and bestselling author of Running the Gauntlet

From the Master of Horror comes the first gripping book in the twelve book New York Times bestselling Saga of Darren Shan. Start the tale from the beginning in the book that inspired the feature film The Vampire's Assistant and petrified devoted fans worldwide. A young boy named Darren Shan and his best friend, Steve, get tickets to the Cirque Du Freak, a wonderfully gothic freak show featuring weird, frightening half human/half animals who interact terrifyingly with the audience. In the midst of the excitement, true terror raises its head when Steve recognizes that one of the performers-- Mr. Crepsley-- is a vampire! Stever remains after the show finishes to confront the vampire-- but his motives are surprising! In the shadows of a crumbling theater, a horrified Darren eavesdrops on his friend and the vampire, and is witness to a monstrous, disturbing plea. As if by destiny, Darren is pulled to Mr. Crepsley and what follows is his horrifying descent into the dark and bloody world of vampires. This is the beginning of Darren's story.

Young serial entrepreneur Scott Gerber is not the product of a wealthy family or storied entrepreneurial heritage. Nor is he the outcome of a traditional business school education or a corporate executive turned entrepreneur. Rather, he is a hard-working, self-taught 26-year-old hustler, rainmaker, and bootstrapper who has survived and thrived despite never having held the proverbial "real” job. In Never Get a "Real" Job: How to Dump Your Boss, Build a Business, and Not Go Broke, Gerber challenges the social conventions behind the "real" job and empowers young people to take control of their lives and dump their nine-to-fives—or their quest to attain them. Drawing upon case studies, experiences, and observations, Scott dissects failures, shares hard-learned lessons, and presents practical, affordable, and systematic action steps to building, managing, and marketing a successful business on a shoestring budget. The proven, no-b.s. methodology presented in Never Get a "Real" Job teaches unemployed and underemployed Gen-Yers, aspiring small business owners, students, and recent college graduates how to quit 9-to-5s, become their own bosses, and achieve financial independence.

What does it mean to live in a superconnected society? Superconnected: The Internet, Digital Media, and Techno-Social Life, Second Edition brings together the latest research from many relevant fields to examine how contemporary social life is mediated by various digital technologies: the internet, social media, and mobile devices. The book explores such topics as how digital technology led to the modern information age, information sharing and surveillance, how digital media shape socialization and development of the self, digital divides that separate groups in society, and the impact of digital media across social institutions. The author’s clear, nontechnical discussions and interdisciplinary synthesis make Superconnected an essential text for any course that examines how social life is affected when information and communication technology enter the picture. Dr. Mary Chayko is a sociologist, Teaching Professor of Communication and Information, and Director of Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Studies at the School of Communication and Information (SC&I) at Rutgers University. For more on the author and for instructor resources, visit her book blog at http://superconnectedblog.com.