Peter_Shankman"Hey buddy, can you spare a few thousand airline miles?"

On Dec. 2, 2013 bona fide nice guy Peter Shankman told the world he would use his considerable frequent flyer miles to send 4 blog readers home for the holidays again this season. It kicked off a mini-movement. Frequent flyer miles and tickets were pooled from other donors, JetBlue jumped in with 10 additional tickets, and numerous donors provided other travel support for the lucky recipients. A flurry of press coverage fueled the fire, and on Dec. 10 more than 25 people received the chance to fly home for the holidays

I want you to know this, because I want you to know how earnestly Peter Shankman walks the walk from today's Bold Talk. Watch it!

Nice Guys DO Finish First

Best-selling author, entrepreneur, and global corporate speaker Peter Shankman has one simply philosophy that rules his life: “Be nice to people.” In his latest book “Nice Companies Finish First: Why Cutthroat Management is Out and Collaboration Is In,” Peter explains how companies that focus on customer service, employee retention, and simply “being nice,” actually generate up to 30% more revenue, profits and sales than companies following the “kill your young” mentalities of last century.

Peter’s humorous speech, “Nice Finishes First,” explores the many ways creating a “nice” company is more profitable – not only for the company, but for employees, shareholders, and customers as a whole. He offers several real-life examples showing how slight top-down changes produce real revenue growth, and cites actions you can implement in your company right now to start seeing immediate growth.

PR Week Magazine has described Peter as “redefining the art of networking," and Investor’s Business Daily has called him “crazy, but effective.” Peter Shankman is a spectacular example of what happens when you merge the power of pure creativity with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) along with a dose of adventure, and make it work to your advantage.

An author, entrepreneur, speaker, and worldwide connector, Peter is globally recognized for radically new ways of thinking about marketing, customer service, advertising, PR, and social media. Peter is currently the co-founder of Shankman | Honig, a global consultancy that empowers companies to better utilize their customer service to increase revenues and decrease marketing costs. 

Sketch Notes:

Peter Shankman Bold Talk Graphic Recording

Graphic recording by Kingman Ink.

Peter Shankman is Principal, Shankman|Honig. You can follow him on Twitter at @PeterShankman.

INBOUND 2013, attended by over 5,500 inbound marketers, entrepreneurs, and executives, included an INBOUND: Bold Talks experimental storytelling stage. We will publish each talk right here in the Opinion section until all 36 are online.

Be sure to subscribe for more Bold Talks and other exclusive stories and thought leadership!

Originally published Jan 21, 2014 4:00:00 PM, updated January 18 2023