August 2008 From Kevin Knebl

Hello again to my friends, family, colleagues, and clients. Many of
you know me personally through work, networking or through one of my
speaking engagements related to sales skills, professional networking
and personal development; and some of you may know me only by email
and telephone. Welcome to everyone that's new to this distribution
list.

There are a lot of very smart and interesting people that I am
fortunate to network with. We share books, movies, music and ideas
that stimulate us. I'm always interested to learn what other people
that I respect are reading, watching and listening to. This is my
monthly email newsletter with books I've recently read, movies seen,
music devoured, ideas and other things that may be of interest to you.
If you find this interesting and would like to pass it on, please
feel free to do so. If you'd like to be removed from this list just
let me know. If someone forwarded this newsletter to you and you
would like to be added to this distribution list or if you'd like to
view previous newsletters, please email me and let me know.

A number of people have asked that I insert an announcement indicating
whether I have any upcoming speaking engagements that are open to the
public. I do have a few public speaking engagements this month in
Colorado. If you have an interest in dates, times and speaking
topics, please let me know.

Can you believe that we're on the backend of the summer already? I
hope that your summer has been a lot of fun. Our kids will be back in
school in two weeks and Karin's life will return to semi-sanity. It's
been a hot one here in Colorado and we sure could use some more rain,
but I don't miss the humidity, mosquitoes or the traffic on the NJ
Turnpike. The last of the snow has recently vanished off Pikes Peak,
but it won't be long before its white up there again. I hope that you
get in a few more barbecues, ball games, vacations, long weekends,
rounds of summer golf and great concerts before the fall is here.
Time flies, huh?

TWO BOOKS TO PUT ON YOUR MUST READ LIST

Little Black Book of Connections: 6.5 Assets for Networking Your Way
to RICH Relationships- Jeffrey Gitomer
Being originally from New Jersey, I really enjoy Jeffrey's style. He
says that "if you can sell in New Jersey, where they eat their young,
you can sell anywhere". Gitomer is the no-spin zone of selling. He
tells it like it is and doesn't apologize for his frankness. One of
the sayings that I've used for years is "timid salespeople have skinny
kids", and Jeff sums that up pretty well. His book, "The Sales Bible"
is a sales classic and over the last few years he's written a number
of great books related to networking, people skills and success.
Jeffrey has a wealth of tips in this book about how to develop and
cultivate a network of connections. At first some of his tips may
sound simplistic, but like many things in life, ideas that people
often poo-poo as basic, are often overlooked or not implemented. To
know and not to do, is not to know.
Little Black Book stresses the importance of giving first, having more
friends and nurturing your connections through the exchange of value.
Many people think that networking is just about building a large
database of names, email addresses and numbers. That's just an
information repository. Gitomer outlines ways to utilize that
information in ways that add value to your connections. He also
explains how to leverage your network in ways that keep you top of
mind regarding your network partners.
Many people are figuring out that in an information rich and social
networking society, who you know is critically important. Bringing
value to the people in your network is just as important and is just
the right thing to do if you're looking for long-term success. Even
if you implement just a percentage of the great ideas in this book,
your life will be richer and your friends and business partners will
thank you for it.
www.gitomer.com

The Magic of Thinking Big- David Schwartz
Schwartz's classic is one of the pillars of success writing. This is
a book that I read at least once per year and refer back to
frequently. It is often referred to as one of the top ten success
books of all time.
David writes about taking up the habit of studying people and getting
a PH.D. in human behavior. In my talks I often elaborate on this
subject as it relates to sales and networking. Many people become
experts in their chosen profession while seeming to forget that
regardless of their occupation, they are going to be interacting with
live human beings (Unless they're interacting with CPA's. Oh, lighten
up, you CPA's. If you got offended by that, you just proved my point.
Where's the love?). By studying and becoming an expert on human
behavior you will become far more successful than the person that is
solely a subject matter expert in their chosen profession. This will
also lead to far more enjoyment in your life by being able to respond
to situations and people versus reacting to them (ala Pavlov).
The index has at least 80 subjects that have specific pages that
address these subjects. As you read through this book, you will come
to know more and more that we become what we think about and that most
people sell themselves far too short and think far too small.
Schwartz outlines ways to eliminate bad thinking patterns and
establish productive habits that will have positive effects in your
personal, financial and relational areas of your life.
Get a highlighter and study. This book can greatly assist you in
changing your life if you choose to do so.
The last two lines of the book sum it up:
"A wise man will be the Master of his Mind. A Fool will be its Slave."

MUST GET MUSIC

Greatest Hits- Seals and Crofts
No, these are not the guys that brought us HR Puffinstuff, Land of the
Lost and Sigmund and the Seamonsters. That was Sid and Marty Krofft.
Could I be dating myself anymore than this?
Seals and Crofts were a great songwriting team that recorded most of
their albums in the 1970's. They had many hits including Hummingbird,
Summerbreeze, Diamond Girl, and Takin' It Easy. They were a guitar
playing duo that had fantastic melodies and harmonies. You will often
hear some of their songs on 70's radio and once you hear them you
recognize their great tunes.
This CD showcases their best-known songs. The songs are light, catchy
and wonderful summer music. I played this CD in my SUV so much that
my kids begged me to stop playing it. I take that as a strong
endorsement. These are timeless songs that take you back to another
time, and if you're too young to remember these songs, get this CD.
Melodies and harmonies are coming back!
http://www.sealsandcrofts.com

A GREAT INSPIRATIONAL VIDEO CLIP
Thanks go to Kim in Divide, Colorado for this tremendous clip.
A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with
me?'. The father who, despite having a heart condition, said 'Yes'.
They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went
on to participate in other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes'
to his son's request of going through the race together. One day, the
son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To
which, his father said 'Yes' too. For those who don't know, Ironman
is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance
events of a 2.4 mile ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, and
ending with a 26.2 mile marathon along the coast of the Big Island of
Hawaii. Father and son went on to complete the race together. Get
your Kleenex…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTUSB6eBoFs&feature=related

WINNER OF THIS MONTH'S HILARIOUS VIDEO CLIP AWARD
Thanks go to my friend, Dawn, in NJ for this hilarious clip.
For those of you that were around during Woodstock or perhaps have
seen the Woodstock movie, you're going to like this one. I have seen
the Woodstock movie so many times that I've lost count a long time
ago. There's just something about that time in history and all the
great musical talent that showed up in 1969 at Yasger's Farm in
upstate NY.
Joe Cocker has always been a tremendously soulful singer (remember
John Belushi's imitations of him?) and well known for not worrying
about what he looks like while he sings or if anyone can understand
his lyrics. This clip has subtitles for those of us that have always
wondered "what the heck is he singing about?" Whoever put this clip
together is a genius.
http://www.plime.com/entertainment/l/69481/1/

AN AWESOME LION CLIP THAT WILL TOUCH YOUR HEART
My friends, Sarah and Dave in Denver, both passed this clip along to me.
This is a great clip that shows that animals are really smart, that
they remember people and that they have strong feelings for their
friends. I've heard some people say that this clip is not really
true, but I don't care. I love this clip and I hope that you do also.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

PROOF THAT PEOPLE SHOULDN'T WORK IN CUBES?
Dennis, thanks for sending this along.
Sometimes people just can't take it anymore. If you've ever worked in
a cube or seen the movie, Office Space, you will get a big kick out of
this clip. Apparently, there are a lot of cube-dwellers that are a
bit stressed. What do you call the people that peek their heads up
above the top of the cube? Cube gophers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4a1z7NLnNk&NR=1

To your success,
Kevin