One of the best pieces of advice my father gave me when I graduated college (which I did not follow unfortunately) was to keep a diary or log of everyone I meet.
He suggested index cards - this was well before the computer, mind you - with each person's name and contact information, what he/she did for a living, how we met, and other commonalities (e.g. avid jogger or movie junkie).
He said that I should review my index cards every six months and update each person's information. The goal was to keep in touch with as many people as possible, since you never know who will be in a position to help you one day.
He was totally right.
Keeping track of people is much easier than it was 30 years ago. But you still need to create a system, update it, and use it.
The specifics of your system (Facebook and LinkedIn can work) are not as critical as understanding these general points:
- Your ability to succeed in your chose endeavor will often depend on your relationships with other people.
- Every person you've ever met has the potential to help you at some point in your life.
- Once you meet someone, or at least share a mutual friend or acquaintance with someone, it's a whole lot easier when you need that person's assistance.
- You need a system for finding people who can help you. To make the most effective use of this system, you need to treat it as a business tool: update it, refer to it, and build on it.
Read more on business networking, or check out the work-in-progress book 'Street Smarts 101: Lessons Textbooks Miss.'
To learn more about networking, check out the widely acclaimed book The Skinny On Networking.
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