Effective Networking Management System
Copyright © Scott Bradley
Do you feel overwhelmed when it comes to keeping up with your network?
Between your Facebook, Myspace, and YouTube profiles...is it just too overwhelming keeping track of everyone you know?
Are you still using an old address book...finding that you have to change it every year because people keep changing their info on you?
If you answered yes to any of these questions you are probably not alone!
Keeping in touch with your network as it continues to grow is crucial to your long-term success as you move through life. If you make a contact, hit it off great in the beginning but don't contact them ever again, it may be difficult to pick up where you left off.
Most of the old methods of keeping in touch with your network are just not as efficient these days due to the massive inflow of information we all have to deal with on a day to day basis.
With the web 2.0 boom, networking with someone has become automatic and commonplace...and because of it...the network you build can grow at a rapid pace.
Moreover, due to the web 2.0 nature of the social networking sites like facebook, myspace and youtube...although there are many more...keeping in touch with your friends that you make on there is getting more and more difficult as they grow their networks as well.
So you are probably thinking...Ok Scott...What is the solution?
Well before I share with you what things I am doing to change the way I manage my network, I would like to make clear that when networking, it is always important to continue building that relationship with your network of contacts.
Whether you decide to call your entire network one day every month, send each individual person an e-mail, or send them funny jokes now and then...you are building that relationship.
Although this theory is one that can definitely work...What is going to happen when you have a network of 100 people who you are really close to but you don't have time to call each one of them, or send each one of them a personal e-mail? What are you going to do then?
Well...I started facing this dilemma about 2 months ago. I felt like my mind was racing...trying to keep track of who I knew...how I knew them...and what they did. Me being one who enjoys the relationship building aspect of networking, was starting to feel overwhelmed with all of the information I had to manage in my head, through my social networking profiles and other communities.
With this being the case, I began to creatively think of a way I could manage my network where it all could be in one place...and where it would give me the freedom to send personal e-mails to them and keep them up to date with what was going on with my life.
To solve the problem I decided to create my own personal mailing list using the autoresponder service Get Response as well as using the website builder service Website Wizard. If you haven’t created a personal mailing list for your network…I would highly encourage you to start! It is never too late, and you have so much to gain!
What the autoresponder allows you to do is put a form on the bottom of a website and collect a persons information and then when you do, you can e-mail that person whenever you want in a broadcast fashion...With all the e-mails customized to the person’s name. As a customer of the service you are able to have your own back office and can see anyone of your contacts all at once. With this being the case you never have to input another e-mail or person in your list again! They do it themselves!
The page I have built to start building my Exclusive Mailing List can be seen by going here... http://www.ScottsMailingList.com
What I am planning on using the list for is to keep in touch with everyone who wants to hear from me. I am planning on sending 2 e-mails out a week to everyone on the list so they are continually building that relationship with me, and contacting me to let me know how they are doing. These e-mails will be beneficial to my network, and hopefully will add some variety amid their day to day activities!
The type of content I am planning to send out is on the website, so check it out and subscribe if you feel moved to.
The power in creating a website and list like this is that it gives everyone on the list a personal connection with me, and also gives them the freedom to remove themselves from the list if they never want to hear from me any longer.
Also, the power in creating a list like this is having the freedom to be able to send an e-mail out to the list asking something around the lines of...Would you happen to know anyone who ___________(fill in the blank)...I am looking for someone in _________(that field) because I am working on a project...and within minutes you can be creating new relationships with anyone in your desired field just through your personal networked contacts! If you have been doing a good job keeping in touch with them by sending beneficial content their way I can almost guarantee you that they will be willing to help you out...like any networking scenario.
If you didn’t have this system…You would have to call each person up one by one...which would take a lot of time...so this list will also leverage your time as well!
I don't know about you but I am super excited to see where this goes. I am going to start sending content out to my exclusive list during the first week of September so definitely get on the list so you don’t miss out on any content!
If you would like to learn how to build your list like I am doing I would be happy to put something together to help you, but the only way for me to know if you want to do it would be for you to contact me! So let me know! If I get a lot of responses I will make a post about the steps you need to take to build the system I have set up. I am looking forward to your replies!
I hope you found this post beneficial, and will be building your mailing lists as soon as you can! You’ve got nothing to lose and all to gain!
Have a great day and an awesome week!
Best,
Scott Bradley
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I Have Moved My Blog To Wordpress.
I will no longer be posting to this blog.
Click http://www.NetworkingEffectively.com to visit the new blog
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3 comments:
Thanks Scott, very helpful!
The idea of a mailing list the can be segmented into smaller groups to email such as "Marketing Contacts" or "Advisors" is definitely a smart one.
Smart companies already do this and we can learn from this and adapt it to personal use. I think you are on to a brilliant method to survive lots of contacts.
Right now I have a limited number of 'quality contacts' that I email monthly using Gmail - I type in the firt few letters and it finishes the address - I do a blind carbon copy. I need to test out your mailing list idea.
I also keep people updated via my blog and those who really support me read it often enough (it shows when I talk to them).
Great post.
Great post Scott. I also had the same dilemna as you about 10 years ago when I started to build my professional network. I started using Yahoo and then my list got too large. So, I went with Constant Contact, which has been an excellent tool. What ended up happening is that I created a bi-weekly newsletter, "Network Your Way to Success". I have since scaled it back to once a month after I started my blog. I agree that it is a great way to keep in touch.
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