{"id":1643,"date":"2013-09-10T05:23:24","date_gmt":"2013-09-10T09:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/?p=1643"},"modified":"2013-08-31T14:14:23","modified_gmt":"2013-08-31T18:14:23","slug":"5-tips-for-connecting-with-your-personal-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/5-tips-for-connecting-with-your-personal-network\/","title":{"rendered":"5 tips for connecting with your personal network"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"top<\/a>Some time ago I began asking my clients and workshop attendees to offer feedback and share which tips they found most effective. \u00a0\u00a0Below are the top five tips. \u00a0May they also help you reach out, contact and leverage the power of your personal network.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Find the diamonds, rubies and emeralds among your old contacts<\/b>. Annually go through your contact database. \u00a0Call people you haven\u2019t spoken to in 3 to 8 years.\u00a0 Update your data: \u00a0verify phone numbers, addresses, email addresses and organizations.\u00a0 Discover what\u2019s new with your contacts. If a number is disconnected or the person has moved on, place those people on your research list. \u00a0You might be surprised at how many people say, \u201cI am so glad you called.\u201d \u00a0For each contact reached be sure to note and schedule your next contact.\u00a0 One contact and one follow-up per week helps you stay in contact with 100 people a year.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0Organize your contacts into categories. <\/b>\u00a0Use your Contact Management System (CMS) and sort all of your contacts into five or six categories. \u00a0My recommended categories are: \u00a01) those who can hire you; 2) those who can influence someone who can hire you; 3) those who can recommend you to someone who can hire you; 4) centers of influence with whom you have a strong relationship and who have an interest in your success; 5) to be determined (TBD) – these are people you just met or have not contacted in some time and therefore you are unsure of the most appropriate category; and 6) others contacts – family members or close friends who belong in your contacts, yet do not fit in one of the first 5 categories.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Pick up the phone.\u00a0 <\/b>\u00a0Allot one hour per day for phone calls. \u00a0Call those people in categories 1-3.\u00a0 Be frank. \u00a0Explain you are engaged in exploring opportunities and seeking your next position and ask two questions:\u00a0 Is there any assistance you can provide them at this time and what names can they give you of people who may need your assistance?\u00a0 When possible arrange a face-to-face meeting within 3 weeks and secure the names of three referrals.\u00a0\u00a0 This is tough to do.\u00a0 I know.\u00a0 Face your fear of rejection and pick up the phone.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0Build your contact list. \u00a0\u00a0<\/b>What service can you provide to a group or association that will quickly build your contact list? \u00a0Who could use your assistance on a project (large or small) for free? \u00a0Offer to help and do it for free. \u00a0A former client called four contacts from his “who can influence someone who can hire you” category and offered to review 2-3 contracts for free and provide written recommendations. \u00a0Within six weeks, he had three interviews with hiring managers that liked his findings report and added 30 new, solid contacts to his list.<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0Leverage the power of direct mail.\u00a0 <\/b>Mail requires thought, planning and an investment. \u00a0Sending direct mail to your top contacts pays dividends.\u00a0 Unless you have invested in an email system with analytics and tracking features you may never know whether your email was delivered, opened or read. \u00a0\u00a0However, direct mail that includes a strong call to action, such as, \u201cWill you meet me for lunch downtown at your favorite deli at 12 noon, Tuesday, Oct 5 for a sandwich and conversation?\u201d pays off amazing well and has a cumulative impact over time.<\/p>\n

What is your favorite tip?\u00a0 Do you have an adaptation or a success story?<\/p>\n

Please share how you used one of these tips to manage your personal marketing and reach your contacts.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some time ago I began asking my clients and workshop attendees to offer feedback and share which tips they found most effective. \u00a0\u00a0Below are the top five tips. \u00a0May they also help you reach out, contact and leverage the power of your personal network. 1. \u00a0Find the diamonds, rubies and emeralds among your old contacts. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,29,7],"tags":[11,5,141,48],"class_list":["post-1643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-action-tips","category-career-management","category-job-search-focus","tag-build-a-network","tag-focus","tag-networking","tag-powerful-questions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}