February 10, 2010
Pattaya, Thailand

A few months ago I wrote a short series about better networking. The theme was simple: “who you know” absolutely, positively counts, and getting ahead often requires investing in relationships.

I thought the topic was so important that I wrote a free 20-page special report on the subject. I call the concept “Network Infiltration,” and discussed how to infiltrate any network, personal or professional, by following some core principles: finding the open door, differentiating yourself from the crowd, and consistently adding value.

Download the Network Infiltration Report HERE

I’ve used these principles over and over again throughout the world, particularly when traveling to an unfamiliar country. Using these established tactics, I’m generally able to go from unwashed newbie to mingling with the country’s elite in a short period of time.

This quantum leap has less to do with me, and much more to do with following the core principles.

To be clear, I often trade money for time, paying for the privilege to cut in line… but I consider the money spent to be a valuable investment, one that pays for itself many times over.

A business I’m involved with in Asia provides a great example.  While I’m still sworn to confidentiality for now, I can tell you that it is something truly innovative, and the project has attracted some really phenomenal partners… industry titans in entertainment, finance, design, and technology.

Because what we we’re doing is so new, however, there is a great deal of risk associated with the deal– particularly geopolitical risk of the government shutting us down.

Most people are surprised that I’m actually quite risk averse. I prefer to be involved in deals with easy, ‘low hanging fruit’ that don’t require me to assume much financial risk, and projects in which I can see a clear, achievable end state.

In this case, we decided to drastically reduce our risk in the deal by inviting the government on board at the absolute highest level.  My partners and I have all followed the core principles of network infiltration for years, and in a short time we were able to penetrate the inner circles of government and demonstrate significant value in our partnership.

How did we do it? By leaving a lot of money on the table at law offices and investment banks with influential locals who knew even more influential locals.

As a result of our efforts, the deal was greenlighted with the government’s full blessing.  This made raising money for the project much, much easier. Investors knew that with a government endorsement, the deal appeared much less risky.  Consequently, we were able to negotiate more favorable terms with investors.

This literally saved our partners millions of dollars; compared to what was spent in getting to senior government officials, the return on investment was extraordinary.

It’s not always about dollars and cents either. I’m a member of a private club that I’ve discussed before called Atlas 400– it’s designed to bring together like-minded individuals who build lasting relationships and enjoy unique experiences together.

The club recently got together over the weekend in Miami… you guessed it– to attend the Superbowl. As you probably saw on the news, it wasn’t just any ordinary Superbowl, it was THE Superbowl… TV ratings hit an all-time high, finally unseating the 1983 MASH finale as the most-watched television event in history.

Tickets were impossible to find, yet club members were able to score front row seats.  Great seats for a fantastic game, VIP-only celebrity events, fantastic meals at Miami’s best restaurants, and of course, great networking and business conversations are par for the course in The Atlas 400.

The Atlas 400 is definitely not for everyone, but if you’re looking for the kind of  “open door” that I talk about in the Network Infiltration report, this very unique social club might just be perfect for you.

A while ago I interviewed the club president, Sean Goldsmith. To listen to that interview and learn more about the club go here:

http://www.sovereignman.com/information-request/

At the end of the day all we have are our skills and our relationships.  One of my big priorities is to invest in each of these each day by asking myself a couple of questions:

What can I do today to support the important relationships in my life?

What skill can I work on today?

What new relationship would I like to develop?

I sincerely believe skills and relationships require constant cultivation.  What skills are you developing?   What relationships are you expanding? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

I spend a great deal of my time on the road, traveling around the world in search of opportunity. I put boots on the ground while I’m on the hunt and end up screening a tremendous amount of both business and investment ideas.

Some of these ideas make the cut, and we take the concept further. Others don’t.

Regardless, the time that I spend on the ground getting to know the cityscape and the local players becomes quite valuable to me personally… and over time, I have assembled a list of what I consider to be the finest places in the world to reside based on what I have seen with my own eyes.

I’ll be sharing that list with you soon, but in the meantime, I thought I would focus my attention briefly on China.  Having spent the majority of the last two months here, I can honestly say that it is worthy of everyone’s consideration.

Sure everyone knows the mainstream story– full of opportunity, the fastest growing number of millionaires, and a varied, beautiful landscape… but you can find beauty and opportunity in a lot of places. There are five key reasons that set China apart:

1) It’s cheap– for now. The Chinese government keeps the value of its currency, the renminbi, artificially low… so China is very cheap to dollar and non-dollar spenders alike.

World class hotels (I’m talking about the Shangri-La) are $125/night, hiring a car **with driver** runs as little as $500/month, and going out on the town is a fraction of what you would pay in the west.

In terms of the world’s nice ‘cheap’ countries, China is definitely one of the nicest… and the best part about it is that nearly everything is brand new, from the hotels to the airports to the gyms to the restaurants, right down to the park benches.

This ‘newness’ is a result of China only recently having become wealthy. The country is now on a feverish spending spree, investing heavily in its domestic economy– and that means a lot of construction, a lot of development, and a lot of shiny new stuff.

The low prices in China will NOT last forever. You can be sure that the Chinese will eventually let the renminbi appreciate. I wouldn’t be surprised if the currency rose from 6.8/$ to 6.2/$ by the end of 2010. Needless to say, this will make everything in China much more expensive.

If you’re interested in speculating on the currency appreciation, you can even come to China and open a renminbi bank account; any foreigner can open an account here… it takes about five minutes and only about $50 to start.

2) In China, you can cut in line without having to ‘put your time in.’ For example, rather than spend the first several years of their careers getting someone coffee, many recent college graduates took a leap and moved to China seeking fortune and adventure.

They found out very quickly that there are several areas of critical need, including finance, marketing, management, and customer service, and that anyone with competency in these areas can rise quickly.

As a local official from China’s southern city of Kunming recently said in an interview with the Straits Times, “we lack experts in many top positions who can take our industries and companies to the next level, to go international.”

The financial industry here has even more telling statistics– a recent survey of fund managers in China showed that, of the 376 respondents, 22% had less than one year of work experience, and only three have worked in the industry for over 10-years.

3) Yes, the economy in China is booming. I don’t necessarily buy the government’s official statistics, but things here are definitely buzzing. If you are looking for a job, chances are you will find something in China.

More importantly, though, if you are not looking for a job and just want to get away from the doom and gloom of negative news on mainstream media (war, unemployment, deficits, etc.), China will feel like a beacon of optimism.

Frankly, it’s much less depressing to be here than in a lot of places in the west.

4) ANYTHING you want can happen in China.  Chinese people are an industrious lot, and they respond very favorably to money.

There is no order that is too tall or too complex– do you want someone to deliver your groceries? build you a rocket ship? customize a special casing for your laptop? reproduce an out-of-print book? design official-looking novelty documents?

It can all happen in China; the only limitation is creativity.

5) Living in China is a differentiator… it sets you apart from others. For years, people will gather around to hear you tell stories about the curious things you saw in China, from the Shaolin Temple in Henan Province to the bustling business in Shanghai’s Pudong financial district.

This distinction that you draw between yourself and others can be critical to expanding your personal network. As we discussed in our free Network Infiltration report, differentiation is a core element to getting noticed and being accepted into powerful, exclusive networks.

Spending a lot of time overseas in a place like China certainly qualifies.

Overall, I firmly believe that China should be on everybody’s radar, even if just for a brief visit. To be clear, the country is far from perfect.  But in my opinion, for a foreigner, the advantages far outweigh the inconveniences.

As promised, I published my “Network Infiltration Black Paper” late Friday afternoon; I had spent all week working on this free report designed to teach anyone how to build contacts, gain influence, and infiltrate any exclusive network.

Unfortunately, I found out on Monday that, after I released the paper, the volume of people simultaneously trying to download it temporarily crashed my Ireland-based web server over the weekend.

Problem solved. If you didn’t get a chance to download it and read it over the weekend because of the website issue, click here to get your personal copy (or go to http://sovereignman.com/Network%20Infiltration.pdf)

No matter what constraints may govern your personal situation, I believe you will find the information valuable, whether you are an employee working your way up the corporate ladder, an entrepreneur seeking new funding, a lonely single searching for a companion, an investor looking for a great opportunity, or a new expatriate trying to meet local insiders.

In the world where ‘who you know’ is more important than ‘what you know,’ you’re either someone with great contacts, or you’re someone who wonders how the other guy has such great contacts.

To be clear, while the Network Infiltration Black Paper won’t cost you a single penny, the extraordinary benefits contained in the book are absolutely NOT free.  You have to be willing to work at it. You have to be willing to take action.

As Polish writer Witold Gombrowicz once pondered, “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act. Action will delineate and define you.”

This Black Paper will help you do that– I kept it fairly short at only 15 pages, so it is concise and actionable.  As I have written before, I think this theme of building contacts and infiltrating networks is very important for anyone looking to internationalize themselves, or simply become more successful at home.

I plan on sticking with this theme for the next few days to further illustrate some of the concepts I wrote about in the paper– finding the open door, differentiation, adding value, etc.  Give it a read, and if you have any questions or feedback, you can post a comment or send an email to infiltration@sovereignman.com.

So far I’ve received some great questions, and as I mentioned on Friday, I would like to hold a free, interactive conference call next week where I can answer your questions live and explain these concepts further.

Let me know if you are interested in attending the conference call by sending me your questions and feedback in advance.