8 Simple Steps to Personal Networking

createbridges
Erich's Email Network

Here are some simple steps you can take to start easy, and create a habit of expanding the value of your network by bridging gaps.

  1. Make a list of everyone you have exchanged email with in the past month [gmail search]
  2. Add to your list some personal notes: what they do for a living, their likes, hobbies, etc.
  3. Re-read through your list so it is fresh in your mind
  4. Start at the top of your list, and think of one other person that person could benefit from knowing
  5. If there is no immediate need for the two to know each other, find some bit of information particular to the two of them based on their job, interests, hobbies etc.
  6. Send the info to both of them at the same time, and ask a question you want to know the answer to.  Don’t forget to tell them why you’re asking both of them. Dear Scuba experts, my brother-in-law is looking for a new XYZ, what is your experience with this model… If you can’t think of a question you genuinely want to know, just send the info and the reason why you think they’d both find it useful.
  7. Under each person in your notes, record you have connected the two of them, when it was, and what the topic was.
  8. Done with your list?  Great!  Add another month’s email to your list, and repeat.

Continue reading “8 Simple Steps to Personal Networking”

Visualizing Your Professional Networks

Erich's LinkedIn
17,000+ on LinkedIn

I spend much of my waking time thinking about how relationships between individuals in groups effect the behavior of the individuals and of the group itself. One tool I recently put together looks at professional relationships from LinkedIn.com.

Attached is a representation of the relationships between the 17,000 people my work contacts know. This is how we know us.

If you want to know what your network looks like, drop me a line.