FSS Spotlight: Staying In Touch With Your Network

In the years since the publication of my networking book, Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty, I've often been asked about the best ways to stay in touch with people in your network (as in family, friends, business contacts and associates). Here's a top 10 list:

1. Use your calendar creatively. Sure, send birthday and anniversary cards, but recognize your network's other special days. Send St. Patrick's Day cards to your Irish clients. How about Hanukah, Chinese New Year and Kwanzaa? Be creative. When was the last time someone stopped you and said, "Gosh, that was a gorgeous Christmas card?" Consider sending Thanksgiving or New Year's cards instead. Never underestimate the power of a simple thank-you note, remembering a date or a place that's important to a member of your network, or a note of congratulations. Mom was right: little things mean everything.
    
2.  Watch for important community events. Use your awareness of your network's group affiliations to connect. Let's say your network includes this year's chair of the local Red Cross drive. Attend the annual meeting, or send in your donation - without being asked - in his or her name. By the way, whenever you donate to an organization or political campaign, there's an old bit of street wisdom that goes: The more hands it passes through, the more people that know about it.
    
3. Observe organizational/personal/company changes. Local newspapers, magazines and on-line publications all have business columns that feature significant new hires and promotions. When one of your network members lands on that list, you can be sure most stockbrokers in town will send a card, so hand-write yours or make a phone call. I have personally sent more than 15,000 congratulatory messages in my lifetime.
    
4. Get wired. E-mail is one of the most powerful tools for staying in touch, no matter what your age. It's so easy to share information or pass along a motivational quote. But be careful not to overuse email. And don't forget the awesome power of the Internet to research your network contacts to learn as much about them as possible.
    
5. Clip and ship. You can stay in touch with your network just by reading newspapers and magazines. All you have to do is be sufficiently aware of your network members' interests to occasionally clip an article or a quote that might interest them. Don't forget to forward pertinent Internet stories (just spare the jokes).
    
6. Spin to win. For the first 25 years I was in business, I'd spend a morning each week spinning my Rolodex, calling my contacts to see what was new. Of course, now I use a contact management system. It doesn't matter what tool you use, make it a habit.
    
7. Use your pit stops constructively. There are active members of your network whom you won't see from one year to the next. Never neglect them when you're in their area. Even if it's just a layover at the airport and you can't visit with them personally or take them to lunch/dinner, be considerate and call.
    
8. Anyone can call them when they're up. Remember to call them when they're down. One of your network members has lost her job. Now is the time to offer her any help you can in making a new connection. Sending flowers to someone in the hospital is appropriate. Sending a hot meal to a coworker who just lost a family member is an especially thoughtful show of consideration. Two minutes a day reading the obits will tell you more of what you need to know than a lifetime poring over the box scores.
    
9. Report any major changes in your situation. You've been promoted or changed companies. Tell your old network about your new network. It gives you an opportunity to stay in touch. It gives them an opportunity to expand their networks.
    
10. Be there. Sure you can skip the wedding and send a toaster, but don't. Always try to attend weddings, funerals, confirmations, graduations, school plays, bar and bat mitzvahs, recitals or the big award. People always remember who was there and who wasn't. My mother died in 1955 and I still remember the people who attended her funeral. As the world changes, one thing will remain constant: the relationships you develop over a lifetime.

By Harvey Mackay

Mackay's Moral: The more you exercise your networking muscles, the stronger they get - and the easier networking becomes.