Today I so instinctively take the easy way to finding information and contacts. I go to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Job Boards, Business Directories, Google Search, and forget that the best network I have is the one made up of the people I already know.
The online resources are so powerful, so compelling, and so easy that I forget that the people I already know are my best network.
Contacting people I already know is so much more effective than contacting people who are new and taken from the online world. I have an established relationship. The people I already know will more likely trust me. They are more likely to be helpful. The bond is already established.
If you are looking to expand your contacts, start by making a list of people you have known over the years and ask yourself where you can find these people. For me, this task is easy, because I have been a consistent recorder of contacts for 30 years. At first, I used a Roll-a-Dex® for the hiring companies and a 5 X 8 file-card system for job seekers. When I first set up a computer-based contact system, I stumbled over the concept that I could simply combine the Roll-a-Dex® for hiring companies and the file-card system for job seekers into one database. Sorting clients alphabetically and sorting job seekers by geography and job level and then alphabetically would be such a breeze in a database.
There are many ways to track my contacts. There are online sites that are free, online sites that I can buy, local contact management systems for my computer, file sharing that allows me to tote my address lists wherever I go. The most important thing to remember is that my most valuable contacts are the people I have known all along: My Know Network.
“The World’s Noblest Headhunter”