In Secrets of the Rich #8, Getting Connected, we looked at why a social network is so important and steps to creating a social network. In this article we will look at how to maintain your social network to keep it strong and up to date.
The first thing you want to do is to put all of your contacts into a place where you can easily reference them and stay connected with them.
The best place to start is your e-mail contact list. Since the primary information you will gather from business cards will include an e-mail address, this is a great place to begin. One of the nice things about modern e-mail contact cards is their ability to add additional information and notes about the person. For instance, you can add information about their spouse, anniversary, birthday, likes, dislikes and personal and professional goals and so on. Because this information is readily available in your smartphone, you have quick access to nearly everything you will need to know about the person. As you gain additional information, be sure to update the notes in your e-mail contact list.
After you get all of your contacts in your email, start connecting with them on Linked In. Professional contacts expect you to connect with them on Linked In. You can use Linked In to send messages here as well as send general updates on what you are up to. Additionally you can create as well as join professional groups in linked in. These help you to communicate with people en-mass to help keep them up to date on things that may be of interest to them.
If your contacts use twitter, then twitter can be a great place to send and receive quick updates about them. These updates will be always be brief but can give you great snippets of information about your contact.
The next thing you want is a professional looking Facebook account. This account should be used to connect to your contacts on a personal / professional level. Keep the site upbeat and personal yet also with a professional edge. Even Donald Trump and Bill Gates have lives, and people will feel a deeper connection to you if you let them into that part of your life. If you can make this your primary Facebook account that is great. If you have a business, be sure to setup a business page to go along with your personal page. If family stuff will get in the way of presenting the image you want to confer, then creating a second account for the purpose of dealing with your contacts. I personally prefer to have a single Facebook account to do everything. I know in some cases, people’s family lives are too messy and in those situations, I recommend setting up a second account that you can use to present your best self to your contacts. After this is setup and cleaned up, be sure to start friending your closer contacts. Be cautious here because some contacts won’t want to be friended here, but other ones, whom you have a closer connection with, are totally happy to connect with you on Facebook.
Now that you have enough information collected, you should start connecting with them on a regular basis. I recommend interacting with each contact a minimum of once a week. If possible, interact with them more often.
When you talk and message your contacts, remember to always be positive and upbeat. If people are having issues, be understanding and help them to find solutions if you can or at least be the positive support person that everyone needs. I am not saying be the personal councilor to the world, but be the person that everyone can rely on to help, and if you can’t help, direct them to someone who can in a positive upbeat way.
Have a stack of birthday cards and holiday cards pre-signed. As a holiday or birthday approaches, send a card to the relevant contacts. If you can, add a short message to personalize the card. You may want to consider sending something small like a Starbucks card. This will make a big impact to the person who receives it!
Create personal groups of your contacts by interest and profession in e-mail, Facebook and Linked In. As you find things that are relevant to those groups, send them a message with the information or a link to the information. Be sure not to send more than a couple messages to any given person each day unless you are having a conversation with them. You don’t want to seem like a spammer!
Be conversational with people. If one of your contacts starts a conversation, you are creating a closer tie to that person, and perhaps even gaining a friend. Always listen, and draw people out. When you can, offer advice or point someone to the proper resource who can help.
Finally, when you can, stay connected to your contacts by interacting with them in real life! Use the various personal and professional groups that you are a member of to interact with people and if you can, interact with them outside of these group meetings. Sometimes you can do this by seeing if people are interested in going out for drinks after a meeting or doing something that you both enjoy outside of the meeting. One way I have heard that works well for some is to hold a Christmas party for all of your contacts. Either way, use in person social situations so that you can tighten the bonds between you and your contacts. All the social media in the world will never come close to creating the quality bonds that human interaction can!
To find out more about me, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/HowToHaveABetterLife