Contacts and Networking for Success

Released on: October 21, 2011, 3:37 pm
Author: Vicky Richardson
Industry: Small Business

The basis of any successful networking effort is a good contact list. That is a list of people that can help you in your business and career. Most successful women get that way because they have such a list. That means you need to make creating one a priority in your life.

The first and most important step in creating a contact list is to make the contacts. This is done everywhere at the office, during your work day, on sales calls you make, at meetings of the National Association of Professional Women, at functions including PTO meetings, church. Every time you run into somebody that could help your career or business: write down their name and contact information. Then put it into a list that's easy to read.

Make Your List
The best way to do this is to do it on your computer. Use the program that you prefer and keep it current. Some people like e-mail programs like Outlook while others will use a simple word document. If you get business cards, scan them into your computer and keep them on file. You can also store them in a Rolodex.

Make sure you back up your contact list so you can access it if your computer isn't available. Try a backup program such as Dropbox or Deja Dup for this. You can also create free documents through Google Docs.

Each Entry on Your List Should Contain the following information:

•  Person's name properly spelled
•  The organization that they work for
•  Their title
•  An e-mail address
•  A Phone Number

That's all you will probably need. Keep it simple and you should be able to contact them when needed. Keep in touch and get updated information if they change phones or jobs.

Be very careful about how you use your list, don't send advertisements to the people on it and don't contact them every time you're looking for donations for your favorite charity. That will simply annoy the people on the list and turn them against you. Instead only contact them when it is important or you have something that can help them. For example if you're looking for a job.

Also keep contacts meaningful, if you're looking for a job only send your resume to people in your industry. If you're making sales contacts only contact those you know work in purchasing or might buy from you. A contact list is one of your most important keys to success so do not abuse it.

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Contact: Vicky Richardson
Website: http://womenempowered.typepad.com/blog/
email: onlinemerchant@gmail.com
Phn: 487-956-3333

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