Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to remember who you know. We all know
Speaker 1: we should build a network, but maintaining that network is
Speaker 1: just as important, if not more important, and part of
Speaker 1: that is remembering who exactly is in your network. This
Speaker 1: requires a more systematic approach than most people are used
Speaker 1: to taking. We've all heard phrases like it's not what
Speaker 1: you know, it's who you know. And if you have
Speaker 1: been in any sort of business for more than a day,
Speaker 1: you are well aware that networking matters. And yet many
Speaker 1: of us collected business cards in the old days and
Speaker 1: now collect contact and our phones and then do basically
Speaker 1: nothing with these connections until we desperately need them. There
Speaker 1: are rumors of layoffs and all of a sudden, who
Speaker 1: do I know? There is a difference between having a
Speaker 1: connection and knowing that a connection is warm and available
Speaker 1: if you need it. Why is people get in the
Speaker 1: habit of reaching out to folks regularly and setting up
Speaker 1: coffees and sending people useful information and buying their products
Speaker 1: or making donations to fundraisers they are running and whatever
Speaker 1: else that's all great, but a crucial first step before
Speaker 1: you even get there is remembering who you know. I've
Speaker 1: been having to do this recently as I am working
Speaker 1: on a book proposal. Oh yes, that reporter for that
Speaker 1: publication interviewed me eighteen months ago, Or oh yes, I
Speaker 1: wrote about that blogger she said she'd be happy to
Speaker 1: write about my work someday. You think it would be
Speaker 1: wise to remember these things, and you would be right,
Speaker 1: But life gets busy. My brain gets crowded with figuring
Speaker 1: out who has responded to my children's birthday party invites,
Speaker 1: and whether we need to figure out a carpool for
Speaker 1: next Tuesday swim practice. Fortunately, creating the proposal is forcing
Speaker 1: me to think this through more systematically, as I answer
Speaker 1: the question of how I would let the world know
Speaker 1: about this book i'd like to write. Of course, not
Speaker 1: everyone is in the business of writing book proposals, so
Speaker 1: those who aren't need a different approach. Fortunately, this can
Speaker 1: be done in a little bit of time over a
Speaker 1: few weeks. So put some network researching time on your
Speaker 1: calendar for thirty minutes some day this week, sit down
Speaker 1: and start making a list of who you know. You
Speaker 1: might start with people you are actively working with now.
Speaker 1: Then make a list to people you have worked with recently.
Speaker 1: Go back to people who are important to you in
Speaker 1: the past but that you haven't seen in a while.
Speaker 1: Think about folks from your personal life who you find interesting.
Speaker 1: Make special notes next to people you like personally who
Speaker 1: also work with you professionally. These people can often become
Speaker 1: the best connections. You might need to make this list
Speaker 1: in different categories. Maybe it's people you know through a
Speaker 1: particular professional organization. Then make a list of people you
Speaker 1: know from a past employer or a client. Make a
Speaker 1: list of people you met at different networking events. You
Speaker 1: can even go through your old emails and see who
Speaker 1: has written you on various occasions. Weak ties are often
Speaker 1: hard to recall in the moment. Go through your calendar
Speaker 1: and see who you have met with over the past
Speaker 1: few years. You are going to have to keep coming
Speaker 1: back to this project. The first thirty minutes'll give you
Speaker 1: one list, but as your brain keeps going on this,
Speaker 1: you will come up with others. I know some folks
Speaker 1: use comprehensive contact management systems, but a lot of people don't,
Speaker 1: or at least they haven't for their entire working lives.
Speaker 1: Plus the process of coming up with folks and remembering
Speaker 1: is helpful too. As you think about these questions, you'll
Speaker 1: remember who you really enjoyed being around. You'll look and
Speaker 1: see what they are up to, and you might reach out,
Speaker 1: or you might come up with other reasons to be
Speaker 1: closely involved with people you start remembering. Maybe you decide
Speaker 1: to form an accountability group, or you check to see
Speaker 1: if people are going to the same conference that you're
Speaker 1: thinking of going to next spring. Eventually you will come
Speaker 1: up with ways to get back in touch with people,
Speaker 1: but that is hard to do when you don't remember
Speaker 1: who you know. So spend some time asking yourself this question,
Speaker 1: who do I know? Might be pleasantly surprised at how
Speaker 1: vast your network truly is. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our times. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've
Speaker 1: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows,