How does a busy person make sure they are networking and meeting folks?
My system:
Software
– Email people when you think of them
– existing contacts or strangers (“I admire your work”)
– Introduce people whenever it might be relevant as a way of saying hi
– Reply to inbound cold calls
— request the pitch by email, offer feedback/help but not a meeting
— meet them if they are good
– Multiply by asking people for intros to who they know or like (in return for the intros you make)
– Have a twitter (daily), website (annually updated?) and blog (at least monthly?)
– Send all your contacts newsletter emails with occasional, sincerely “what’s up with me” emails
In-person
– I meet non-urgent people at least 1/day
– I try to always have 1 event less than a month away that I am attending or hosting to suggest for meetings that dont need to be f2f for an hour
– I am part of a couple of clubs like FoundersRound.org that meet regularly and I know all 200-300 people a bit
– NEW I am hosting and attending conferences like inboxawesome.org and Menorca Tech Talks Plus, I recently started blocking 6 hours per week for alone time with my computer during business hours