About twice a year, I wish I were Sean Combs.

I’m always running when this happens.

At big-name-big-city races, Combs and other celebrities typically run with an entourage. The people who hold their GUs and Gatorade bottles and hang onto extra layers of clothes when they don’t need them. I’d so love someone to hand me CarbBOOM and pass my phone over when I get the urge to tweet “fueling up for that last push” at mile 12 of a half-marathon.

Most of the time, though, I’d rather have peeps than a posse.

The difference? The posse are role players. Peeps care about you.

Here’s how to have peeps.

Do you:

• Talk to the toll taker on the highway?
• Wave to the road crew dude holding the “go slow” sign?
• Ask “how are you today” when you place an order at the takeout counter?
• Say thank you when the usher scans your ticket?
• Chat with the security guard who’s signing you in?

You make friends by being friendly. And having people who have your back is all about caring about them too.

I heard Gary Vaynerchuk talk recently about what he terms the “thank you economy,” and one of the points he made is that word of mouth is the equity that all businesses are built upon.

In other words, peeps are the secret to success.

Photo by QFamily (Flickr).