When I was in my mid-twenties, I made the decision to pro-actively build my professional network with the belief that my goals and accomplishments, no matter what I decided to pursue, would require a combination of know-how and even more importantly, know-who.
To start the building process, I went to dozens and dozens of networking events every year, sent letters to people I wanted to meet, volunteered at membership organizations and even started a few of my own networking groups.
I have always found it important to connect with people first on a personal level, and over time, as we got to know and trust each other, the opportunity and the desire to help to each other, flows naturally.
During the dot-com 1.0 boom, I was the founder of a startup that had the goal of making networking more efficient. We couldn't find a way to survive so we had to shut down our dream. With the downturn, came the proliferation of social networking websites: Friendster, Ryze, Plaxo, Facebook and LinkedIn, just to name a few.
So I joined most of them and had Outlook widgetized to the hilt, and with my personal and professional network in the hundreds, my contacts grew to the thousands...and I became absolutely overwhelmed. I realized that as my contacts grew, my ability to connect diminished.
My reaction hasn't been to turn it all off and disconnect, however I have started to go a little "old school" and I am finding a renewed ability to stay focused on what is most important, develop and maintain my most meaningful relationships and stay in regular contact with my most relevant contacts.
Network with Me
In my effort to keep it simple, I suggest sending me an email and sharing with me with you think we should connect. If it makes sense, and are persistent, we will likely set up a time to talk and if I geographic locations synchronize, maybe we'll get a chance to grab a meeting at the local café.
If you want to start with a more passive approach, feel free to sign up for my email newsletter.
If you want to make sure I have your most current contact information in my contact database, you can do so here.
My Current Networking and Communication Tools
I use Gmail and Gmail Contacts for my email and address book.
I use iContact for my email newsletters.
I do my darndest to keep my Gmail Contacts and iContact Subscribers sync'd but it has proven to be a constant and never-ending process so apologies in advance for those of you that receive extra emails from me. Please delete and forgive.
I use Facebook strictly for family and friends. I enjoy quick updates and new pictures from my inner-circle but beyond that, I find it to be a huge time bandit. So in general, my "filter" for accepting a friend request is whether I would be interested in pictures from your recent vacation and the likelihood that I will know the people in your pictures!
At one time I had 500+ connections on LinkedIn, and like Facebook found it overwhelming and more often than not, would receive introduction requests from people I really didn't know too well for people that I didn't know that well, either. I have decided at this time to keep my connections to no more than 100. If it makes sense, I am certainly open to accepting a connection so you can review my connections for a potential introduction. If that isn't the case, please don't be offended if I don't accept your request to connect. My "filter" is whether or not I know you well enough to request an introduction from you and make an introduction for you. If I do, then connecting on LinkedIn probably makes sense.
I am certainly open to learning something new so if you have any suggestions or ideas, please send them my way!