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People aren’t scary. You’re only scared of them. Just approach and say something like, “Hi, have you been to the pool yet?” Anything that starts a conversation. (“They don’t have a pool here” is a great reply.)

I’m in hotels a lot and have stealthily crashed every size and shape of convention, show, and party imaginable. Sometimes because I was curious, sometimes to buy a gift, and sometimes I just wanted an apple.

I’m loose. I don’t care what people think. My internal compass guides me, not what they think. I know—and teach daily—that true success is a journey guided by an individual sense of right and wrong. There’s no other way to be successful because nobody else can do it for you.

Can I help someone be better according to his own measure? Is what I’m helping him do better for those around him? Is he better off by having known me? Is my word my bond?

Those are the four points on my compass. Adopt them without excuses, exceptions, or explanations. You’ll interview well. Others will sense you’re genuine. They’ll want your help naturally because they know you’ll figure out a way when nobody else can.

You’ll learn why a call is often a calling. You’ll find something you can do so well that the world will beat a path to your door.

I share this with you so that you can have the internal peace and zest that I have.

Instant interviewing is really just projecting who you are through showing what you can do. Crashing a party because you’re the guest of honor. Smashing a mold that wasn’t yours in the first place.

Crash and smash before it’s too late.

Do 55: Granting Celebrities an Interview

How’d you like to work for a movie star? A TV personality? A real estate mogul?

You’re ready, and so are they. It’s a kick!

I know many of these folks, since I’ve lived and practiced law in the Beverly Hills-Hollywood area for many years. More shop at Target and Ross than all the upscale stores combined.

The big secret is they’re just like any other working warrior.

It’s just that we’re not. We go gaga and they go anywhere else.

When they’re anywhere else with nobody else, they become the most receptive offerors of all. Businesspeople trying to meet a payroll in an uncertain marketplace.

Connecting with famous people is really easy if you study them first.

Ironically, they tend to be introverted and insecure, wary of strangers. These things are understandable. Fame is earned by drive. Drive is fueled by fear (usually of failure or loss. Do 1.). Privacy becomes a way of life because celebrity attracts false friends.

They aren’t a laugh happier and they don’t live a day longer.

The story of Elvis is repeated in the life of almost every superstar. They hate being so public. It’s called solitary confinement in the worst prison imaginable. Life in the fishbowl is equivalent to waterboarding.

For this reason, you never want to contact them directly. That’s why paparazzi are so dreaded. They shoot more than photos. They shoot water guns at the waterboarded. Contact them directly, and you’ll get instantly uninterviewed.

As always, you’re most effective in person, so pick a local celeb. Let’s say it’s an actor who stars in romance flicks.

Google the name and click on the web sites. This will instantly give you biographical information, movies made, TV specials done, fan club contacts, and ways to e-mail or write the star.

Then loiter at the supermarket checkstand or even a newsstand. You can take 10 minutes before anyone cares. Reading magazines standing up is a national pastime. In markets, you can sit on a box and take notes too. You can get a pen from the checkers if you’re not out on your I.I. rounds. Paper is all around. If not, find an unused register and press the printer button. (I once did it, anyway.)

Of course, you can just buy the mag. But why? We’re not talking about a trig textbook here. Just take a few notes about juicy items concerning the celeb.

The objective is to get hot gossip, good or bad, so you can use it as a hook to communicate with him.

Assume