Synopsis

Bob Burg joins Dr. Misner on the expanded edition of his book The Go-Giver, which has sold half a million copies. The book is perfect for BNI members because its basic premise is that shifting one’s focus from getting to giving is financially profitable.

The Law of Influence states that your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first. The most successful salespeople are other-focused and always look for ways to give value.

There are “Go-Takers” out there who are only out for themselves, and we don’t want to do business with them if we don’t have to. When dealing with Go-Takers, you can remain a Go-Giver and still protect yourself. There’s nothing that says a Go-Giver should be taken advantage of.

If you haven’t read this book yet, head over to Burg.com and get your copy now. If you have read the book, share your insights from reading it.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcript of Episode 435 –

Priscilla:

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan. How are you today?

Ivan:

I am doing great, Priscilla, and I am really excited because I have a long time friend of mine and a friend of the organization. His name is Bob Burg. He is a sought after speaker. He has spoken at a BNI conference. He is the author of a number of books on marketing and influence. His book, The Go-Giver is co-authored with John David Mann. The Go-Giver is probably mentioned more to me than just about any other book as I travel around the world.

A lot of people know The Go-Giver and the reason for it has sold over half a million parties and is translated into 21 languages. Bob has recently done an update to the book, and he had Ariana Huffington do the forward. If you do a search here on the podcast, you will see Bob Burg mentioned more than any other expert on networking. He is a really good friend and a great friend of BNI’s. Bob, welcome to the podcast.

Bob:

Thank you, Dr. Ivan. And my other claim to fame is I am one of the people who has your first book ever written in his library. Highlighted, notated and everything else.

Ivan:

You don’t mean World’s Best Known- you mean Networking for Success?

Bob:

Oh yeah. A very, very, very first one. It was like in a binder type- not a binder, but you know what I mean.

Ivan:

A three ring binder and a spiral binder.

Bob:

It was a spiral binder.

Ivan:

My friend, you and 19 other people have that book, I think.

Bob:

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Ivan:

It sold like 20 copies, I think. It just- but I will tell you my claim to fame on that. It was the first book, to my knowledge, that was written on networking. It was done in 1989. I was never able to find anything else. So I am glad we are still friends after you got that.

Bob:

Actually, it was a great book. Absolutely. I loved it. It is a treasure, of course. I have a Misner section, so it takes its proud place right there.

Ivan:

I need to send you a new one. We can talk about that later. I want to talk about The Go-Giver. It is a great book, Bob. I probably hear more people talk about The Go-Giver than anything else in terms of a book that is networking related. People mention you as I travel around. They mention your book.

We really appreciate you. When people ask,