Foreword

I LOVE THIS book. If you’re in the bookstore and leafing through the pages, stop right now, walk to the counter, and buy it. If you’ve already bought it and you’re deciding whether to read it, what on earth are you waiting for?

What will this book do for you?

Make you popular. True story. Walk into any high school and you’ll quickly get a read on the popularity landscape. Kids hang out with other kids on the same level. Preps, punks, goths, freaks, and geeks go about their way in their small cliques. Social jocks and cheerleaders buzz about campus with heaps of admirers. The intellects quietly study together. The too-cool-for-school kids talk trash, trends, and swap iTunes beats. Nonconformists lurk around corners. Band, drama, and choir kids make music and more together.

Who are you going to make music with—beautiful business music? The sound of ka-ching, ka-ching that sings the song of inspired clients and money in the bank.

Growing your business, first and foremost, starts with rock solid relationships. The reason you aren’t attracting new clients is because they don’t know who you are. And you’re not yet in their social circle. Expand your circle of influence and you’ll instantly be the new cool kid on the block.

Since there’s only one of you and thousands of potential business relationships, you might as well take the easy road. Expose the very best of who you are and all that you have to offer.

Open yourself up to a bigger, broader world of new clients drawn to your expertise and appeal.

But wait. Your business isn’t going to thrive (or even limp along) by happenstance. Get into the groove. Add new clients to the books. Attract them to you like bees to honey.

How? By understanding the intersection of psychology and practicality revealed in the pages of this book. In fact, this book is the key that will open any door, window, gate, or other metaphorical barrier that gives you access to influential people in your field and a steady stream of inspiring, ideal clients.

Relationships build over time. Consider someone you have hired. When you first met, your relationship didn’t go from 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds. You courted, flirted, and got to know each other. Growing more and more familiar until you reached a level of trust and comfort.

Maybe you heard nice things about this professional from someone sitting at your table. Maybe the chemistry was crackling at your first meeting, and they even called back the very next day! Oh, the magical days of a budding a new relationship.

What are you doing today to meet and court new clients?

New clients don’t throw themselves into chilly, untested, sight-unseen waters. Nor do they jump into personal or business relationships without a little getting to know one another. They tiptoe at first. Stand safely at the back of the room. Silently, taking it all in. When they finally feel comfortable, they may open up a little and ask a few questions, revealing more each time. Eventually they trust themselves (and you) enough to invest a little heart, a little soul, and hopefully some hard-earned cash.

Waiting, hoping for this to happen is a recipe for disaster. “Well, maybe everything will just change today and the phone will start ringing.” Won’t happen. Not today. Not tomorrow. And certainly not the next day.

But you can make it happen. Even so, building relationships (aka networking) is not something you can force. It’s a way of being. The actions that you take, to meet new people and deepen your relationships, stem from this way of being. The result is a life filled with meaningful relationships and a business filled with ideal clients, clients that energize and inspire you and, most important, allow you to do your best work.

Don’t let yourself get caught up in a marketing hamster wheel. In fact, Dr. Larina Kase is going to help you off it and ensure you never get back on. You don’t need to learn super-secret business tips or execute intense marketing strategies. Instead, read this book, and learn how to deliberately develop deep, personal and professional relationships. One step after another launches a new way for clients to know, love, and hire you.

Only on late-night infomercials are results guaranteed. You, Larina, and I know that the future is uncertain. But we can, if we’re serious about our future, create the circumstances that will allow us to navigate to the kind of results that please us. No. Strike that—that make us jump for joy. This book is your map.

Start by embracing the absolutely unequivocal fact that Larina is a loving teacher with an open heart and brilliant mind, offering you, in the pages of this book, a path forward toward a future of your choosing.

I love you very much—not in a weird way, but for standing in the service of others as you stand in the service of your destiny.

Think big—no, bigger than that!

Michael Port

Bucks County, PA

New York Times bestselling author of four books