In my last post, I covered what networking is – and isn’t – and how you should behave in your first meeting. Your behaviour at this initial meeting can have a major impact on how others perceive you – and the connections they forge with you. What’s often more important, however, is how you go about maintaining contact and keep the connections alive. Making the effort to keep in touch will endear you to a connection far more than making the effort to have a one-off conversation at an event.
Be social
Social media is pervasive in 2016 – at a minimum, most professionals are on LinkedIn, while the more tech/social-savvy might also dip their toes in Twitter or Instagram. Point being, there are no excuses to not being connected with people you meet at events, even if at a very high level. (Side note – you can connect with me on any of the platforms listed on my contact page).
#FF – be where your connections are
Connecting with people on these platforms is a good way to get to know them as rounded individuals – what’s their background, their experience, what makes them tick? This sort of information is invaluable when it comes to knowing how you can foster deep and meaningful connections. Initiatives like #FF (#FollowFriday) are a good way to find out what your connections are interested in; who they draw inspiration from (while some may say it’s falling out of favour, I believe there’s still a place for the tag).
Initiatives like #FF (#FollowFriday) are a good way to find out what your connections are interested in
Make it a conversation
Now that you know what the other person’s about, you’re done, right? Not really. Simply being an observer might give you insights into the other person’s personality, but ultimately adds nothing to the underlying goal of fostering connections. This is where the good ol’ art of conversation comes in – try to engage with your connections where they (and you) are active – reply to their tweets, comment on group discussions or posts they put up (like this one – comment below!), or otherwise. The old adage “out of sight, out of mind” still rings true – which is where your (in)activity will be the make-or-break in this situation.
The old adage “out of sight, out of mind” still rings true
One of the best ways to keep in contact with your connections on LinkedIn is literally served up to you when you load the website/app up – notifications of birthdays, new jobs or job anniversaries give you the perfect opportunity to start up a conversation in context.
You have mail
Everyone loves mail. While we’re all drowning under the (unsolicited) emails we get and trying to reach the mythical Inbox Zero (which may not actually achieve much), a thoughtful message from someone we haven’t heard from in a while may be the best thing to happen that day. Now imagine if you were that reason for that minor bright light – the goodwill you’ve just generated is massive.
Sending an email (or any type of non-IM-based message for that matter) tells your connections that you’re thinking of them – and have made the effort to send them something which takes longer than 30 seconds to think up and send out. A non-intrusive (and more thoughtful) way of starting this conversation would be sharing an article you found online – “I found this online and thought you’d be interested”. As I wrote in the first part of this series, people like to be made to feel important – and showing that they’re worth your energy is an excellent way of doing that.
Long-form methods of communication are an excellent way to rekindle a relationship and get new conversations happening (as I’ll be talking about in the next installment, you never know what’ll come of them!).
Would you like to grab a coffee?
While being connected online is convenient, nothing beats a physical catchup. Being inherently visual (and social) beings, we as humans are wired to meet people – this engenders goodwill, fosters closeness and deepens bonds. Even infrequent meetings with your contacts – close or otherwise – serves to give you prime “share of mind” – keeping you firmly in their thoughts as they go about their lives. While it is impractical to suggest that you should be meeting all your connections, all the time, it is important to make the effort to arrange semi-regular meetings. To that end, coffees are an excellent, low-risk/low-buyin method of catching up with people (they’re not the currency of the corporate world without reason) – although there are more rules around etiquette than you think.
Almost there….
This was the second part of my series “Effective networking isn’t using people” – part three will be released shortly, focusing on how to leverage your connections. Subscribe below to know when it’s out!