ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 2, 1997 TAG: 9702010003
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAROLYN SUSMAN COX NEWS SERVICE
If you're single and looking, listen up: You don't have to settle for just anyone in your life.
Yeah, yeah. You've heard it before. It just didn't mean much when you were sitting home alone on a Saturday night.
But has anyone ever suggested you look for a mate the same way you'd look for a job?
Now someone has. ``Network Your Way to Endless Romance'' ($9.95, Samark Publishing Inc.) takes you through a business-based plan to snag your dream date - or just make new friends.
``You probably will not meet the mate of your dreams in a bar,'' says Jupiter, Fla., author Bob Burg, 38, who lectures on business networking. ``This book is designed to help you find the type of people you would want to meet.''
Burg himself is a never-married bachelor, but stresses that it's by choice. ``I've been in relationships with wonderful women,'' he says.
His no-nonsense plan, developed with co-author and former Playgirl editor Laurie Sue Brockway, is an outgrowth of his first book, ``Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts into Sales'' ($14.95, McGraw-Hill.) He says those principles translate nicely into making a love connection.
Here's how:
1) Have a system. Plan how to find the people you want to meet, how to meet them, and how to win them over. This is the road map to success. If you want to meet a weekend athlete, for example, identify popular snorkeling spots or softball fields.
2) Apply the information. Once you have a plan, learn how to locate the people who can lead to others you want to meet. At a party, look for the people who seem to be always surrounded by other people, not necessarily the life of the party, but someone who's always engaged in conversations. Introduce yourself, make eye contact, ask them questions about themselves. In short, turn them into a ``resource'' for meeting other people.
3) Be persistent. If your plan isn't working right away, that just means the timing wasn't right or the situation wasn't. People who succeed - in business or romance - don't give up.
4) Be a joiner. Join the chamber of commerce or other professional organization. Volunteer for charities. Take part in a political campaign, one of the best places to meet like-minded people.
5) Use referral-based dating. Develop a ``romantic resume,'' detailing who you're looking for and who you are, and pass it on to your closest friends. Let people know you want to meet others, and let them introduce you.
``Don't look at people as married, or the wrong gender,'' Burg advises. ``Establish a friendship and think of it as a business connection. If you don't go out there, it just won't happen for you.''
``Endless Romance'' is available in bookstores. To order, call Burg's office at 1-800-726-3667.
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