I had the pleasure of meeting a very successful and influential person on Thursday the 7th of October at Rocky Mountain Pizza close to the Georgia Tech campus. Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com and serial entrepreneur was sitting at the bar sipping on Grey Goose Vodka. Mr. Hsieh was dressed in jeans and  a white tee shirt. It was not what you would normally expect from someone who had accomplished all that he has in his short life. He was sitting alone enjoying his Grey Goose without a body guard, publicist, or entourage. I introduced myself and we spent a few minutes talking about life, Zappos, and our mutual respect for Seth Godin, who was also in Atlanta that night for a Friday morning speech. I enjoyed our short time together but it was not until this afternoon that I understood why. Mr. Hsieh was in Atlanta as part of his Happiness Tour. He bought a luxury bus and was traveling from town to town sharing his vision of what true success means. After touring his bus, I thought seriously about joining the movement and riding the bus to the next stop in Miami. There was also a little too loud band and a snow machine created a ski slope which was available for the attendees to slide down. The first official slider was the Honorable Kwanza Hall, Atlanta City Councilman, and I believe future mayor of Atlanta.

I am in Orange Beach, Alabama beginning the process of writing an update to my 2004 book, The Heart of Networking. My initial purchase of 5,000 copies have been sold or given away to clients and friends. I am going to add a few chapters on social networking which was not as important in 2004 as it is today. I am not going to write a detailed explanation of every one of the social networking tools since there are already many books on each of them. I am going to write about my usage of social networking platforms.

A great networker is always a passionate person. You can teach a person to do anything they are willing to work at learning. You can teach people how to type, learn a new software code, even fly an airplane. Passion can not be taught. Passion is what the politicians call the “fire in the belly”. When you find your passion in life, you will become successful. That success will not be determined by how often you see your name in the newspaper or by the size of your savings account. That success will be determined by the joy you have each and every day you live on planet Earth. Find your passion and true happiness will follow.

Welcome to my new and improved website created by my friends Tom and Alexa Ellis at AquaBlueWeb. I appreciate their hard work, dedication, and personal commitment to their every client. Please go to their website to see how they can help your business grow on line.