5 Tips for Effectively Organizing your Networking Contacts

Last week I attended a networking event. I must admit, I’m not a big fan of these networking things but EVERY time I go, I’m glad I did. Similar to the motherly advice of “you’ve got to kiss a few frogs..." so the saying goes about putting oneself out there for networking opportunities.

So, after a morning of meeting and greeting and exchanging business cards, what do you do?  Here’s a simple formula that can help you to organize and make the most of the new friends you have met.

Take the business cards that you have shoved in your pocket, purse, jacket and/or anywhere else on your person and place them in one pile.
Hopefully you have scrawled little notes directly on the cards so you can remember something about each person you met. If not, try to remember something about them and write it on the card.
Write a personal email, one by one, to each person whose card you have. Here’s a sample:

Hi Linda,

It was so nice meeting you at the Deborah Gallant talk on Tuesday. I'm happy to have a Professional Photographer as a resource for my clients who may be in need. Special thanks for telling Holli and I about the Apple group!

I would love to add you to my monthly "Tips and Tricks" if you are ok with that. Please let me know otherwise I won't do the cardinal sin of adding you without permission.

Take care and hope to see you at a future networking event.
Best wishes,
Cindy

As you hear back from each person, add their email to your contacts list.
Take the card and store it in a business card organizer. My favorite is a regular binder with the plastic pages that are fitted for business cards (or baseball cards). You can organize them by industries but I prefer to put them in chronological order of when I met the people. That’s what works for me. Others may prefer a more sophisticated system but truthfully, just having them in one place is a great first step.

I have had people friend me on LinkedIn after a networking meeting and that’s fine... I’m feeling like a personal email is a tad warmer and leaves a more lasting impression. Any attempt at follow up – whether it be Facebook, linkedin – is great!

Another tip – if anyone mentioned new groups or future meetings, take some time to research them on the web. There are so many free ways to get your name and company out there... might as well expand your horizons a little more.

And there you have it — quick, easy — all you need is a few minutes to do it. And you can.