By:Jason Jacobsohn
Managing your network can be one of the most challenging aspects of networking. If you have the drive and put in the appropriate amount of time, it can be very rewarding both personally and professionally.
Because it can be difficult to keep in touch with your network on a regular basis, you need to be creative and keep in front of your contacts. Some relationships will be easier to maintain than others.
You need to figure out how much effort you want to put forth with certain people versus your entire network.
Keep Good Notes About People
One of the first things you need to do when you meet people is to take good notes after your conversations. On the back of a business card, write down important information about people’s careers and their personal lives.
Information to remember could include job description, past employers, college attended, city of birth and birthday. The more you remember, the more you have to record about a person. This can help you stay in touch with an individual.
After you take notes on a business card, you should immediately transfer this information into a contact management system such as Palm, Act or Goldmine. Whatever system you decide to use, it’s important for you to be able to search electronically for information in this database.
Also, when you have subsequent conversations with people and you learn new things, record this information into your contact database. Some of this information will be helpful to pull up for future conversations. It will show the other person that you were listening.
Whenever you find out someone’s birthday, immediately put it on your calendar. When the birthday comes around, you can contact the person to wish him or her a happy birthday. This is a very good use of your notes and an easy way to keep in touch.
Create an E-Mail Group, Newsletter
After a while, your network will start to grow. It will be difficult to keep in touch with each person individually on a regular basis. Therefore, you could create an e-mail group or newsletter in which you send out to your network on a regular basis.
As you meet people, you can add them to your list. This is an easy way to keep in touch. Of course, make sure to let your new contacts know about this and get their permission to add them to your list. The last thing you want to do is hurt your reputation in networking circles.
Whatever you decide to e-mail to people, make sure that it is of value. Otherwise, your network will not appreciate the e-mails. Find a common interest or topic that not only demonstrates your expertise but also provides interesting information to people.
A great benefit of sending these e-mails to your network is that you will begin to brand yourself as an expert in whatever topic you decide to share. With this in mind, choose a topic that you have a passion for and can comfortably share information about. Otherwise, sending these e-mails will not be as fun for you.
Send Relevant Articles, Resources, Referrals
One of the advantages of taking good notes about others is that you will be able to pass information onto people when you come across various resources. It’s a good habit to always be thinking of ways to connect with others. Pay attention to articles, resources and referrals.
People will appreciate that you were thinking of them. Don’t feel that you will be bothering them. Most people don’t go this extra mile to connect with people. You’ll be setting yourself apart.
While it’s often easy to share this information by e-mail, it’s sometimes important to reach out via phone (especially if you’re trying to connect people together). Whatever method of contact you choose, make sure it’s appropriate and effective for what you are trying to share.
Over time, it will become second nature for you to share articles or resources with others. You may even start to enjoy it because it will bring you satisfaction to know that you provided something of value to someone else.
Invite People to Events
Another great way to keep in touch with people is to invite them to events that you will be attending. It doesn’t matter so much what type of event so long as it may have some interest to someone else.
Events to invite people to can include professional development events, networking events, charitable events, social events, cultural events and birthdays. Be creative in choosing which events will provide some value to certain people in your network.
You don’t necessarily need to reach out to your entire network to let them know what events you are attending. Rather, use this as an opportunity to reach out to select individuals who you think would enjoy the event. By choosing people this way, it will personalize the invitation and show that you were thinking about them.
Final Thought
With persistence and passion, you can find ways to keep in touch with your network. Don’t
