Write On’s Guided Goals
Want to expand your network, generate leads and gain new business? Ready to super-charge your networking in June? Try this networking blitz. The goal is to shake things up, reconnect with old friends and peers, meet new people, and then see what comes from it.
Although I’ve given you five days of options, don’t feel like you need to do everything. Just pick two or three things to do regularly each week in June, and choose the day that works best for each task. Even if you just do some of these, it’s sure to make a difference.
- Post. Share an update on LinkedIn. It could be your own image and link, letting people know what you have been up to, or a link to a resource your network might find valuable. Be sure to add a comment to anything you post, in order to personalize it. The idea is to show up in the news feed of others, and remind them of you and your business.
- Message. Ever wonder what happened to someone you used to mentor or your former colleagues? Find out. Send a Facebook or LinkedIn message to three people you haven’t heard from in a while. These should be simple, “Hi. How are you?” notes, and see where the conversation leads.
- Comment. Go through your LinkedIn feed and comment on the posts and milestones of friends. This is, again, a way to show up in the news feed, and the perfect opportunity to reconnect.
- Meet. Do a different IRL (in real life) outreach each week throughout the month. Meet an old colleague for lunch, go to a networking evert, have dinner out with a friend, attend an event where you know no one … except for perhaps a friend who agreed to do this experiment with you. You will not meet new people unless you put yourself in a position to do so.
- Plan. Think of this as a day off networking for good behavior. Take the time to go through your friends’ list on Facebook and LinkedIn, and target who to reach out to the following week. When you do the prep-work, it will make options 1 through 4 oh so much easier.
Make a commitment to a semi-vigorous networking schedule, and follow through. You never know when and where new business may appear.
Debra Eckerling is the founder of WriteOnOnline.com, a website and community for writers, and author of Write On Blogging: 51 Tips to Create, Write & Promote Your Blog. A Project Catalyst, Debra works with individuals and small businesses to strategize, set goals, and manage their projects.
