Posted on November 20, 2012 by Cynthia Gunsinger

You need to network.

This is something you hear time and again – and that means actually going to an event. So you go and network and survive the two hours of hand-shaking and head-nodding. You collect business cards like it’s your job! Then you go home and wonder what to do with all of these cards. You ask yourself if you made any good connections or was it a colossal waste of time?

It has helped this reluctant networker (I hate going to networking events! I feel clunky and hot and overwhelmed, and I am not even a shy person!) to approach the events with a clear objective and a focus on asking my new contacts questions about themselves and their business, rather than try to use the time explaining coaching. There’s time for that later…after I’ve made a face-to-face connection and eaten too many bad hors d’oeurves. The follow-up is the thing that really hits home.

The Follow-Up:

• Rummage through wadded-up napkins and random toothpicks and sort through the stack of business cards in pockets. Discard any duplicates.
• Enter contact information and notes (when you remember to take notes) into a contact database. Separate lists by events and then have a master list. Duplicates get purged when you run into a lot of the same people!
• Send a personalized email saying how great it was to meet them, if enjoyed hearing about their work, and if you feel their services are credible, that you will certainly keep them in mind for yourself or anyone who might needs their services. Hot tip: Visit their website first and sign up for their newsletter, if you are interested, try to comment on their site in your email so they know you’re actually interested in what they do.
• Briefly explain what you do and how you can be of service to them personally or to their business. Invite them to my visit your site for free resources that they might find useful.
• Find them on social media, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and request to be connected.
• Congratulate yourself for actually doing The Follow-Up!

But what about the  One-Week Later Follow-Up? Here’s where it goes off the rails for me. After the initial pleasantries, perhaps a response to my email, now what? Do I send another email to EVERY new contact? How do you determine who to pursue?

No, really – I want to know! What do YOU do?