Here’s the very BASIC tool I used to grow my professional network from 23 ➡️ over 150 people I could pick up the phone to

Here’s the challenge. 

You were told by career coaches and mentors that networking is the best way to find your next perfect role. So you networked! 

You made connections with CMO’s, senior leaders in big global brands, your peers who have incredible experience - you became a networking machine! 

Problem is, now you have a whole network of people you need to keep in touch with. Congratulations! You have just discovered the flip side of networking that most people never talk about:

How do you nurture and maintain a network of people AFTER the initial connection so that they become people you can pick up the phone to and ask for help?

There is no point in having a big network of professional connections… if none of them would help you if you needed it. 

And when you want people to help you find your next perfect role, you really need them to pick up the phone and be available.

For most people in this situation, they spend 30 hours networking to maintain only 1 or 2 contacts. This is a waste of time. There is no point in networking if you have no plan for nurturing and maintaining that network.

What the Solution is NOT

Now the solution to nurturing and maintaining your network is NOT to start emailing and messaging your contacts every week asking ‘how are you?’.

When you are a busy person, there is nothing worse than a ‘how are you?’ email that has no purpose. Do not do this! 

Here’s what you should do

1. Make a list of all the people you have networked with - I suggest doing this on Trello so you can add information to their name card or you could use Excel 
2. Next to their name add a list of all the competitors to the company they currently work for
3. Set up a Google Alert for every single one of these competitors with the frequency of alerts to ‘as-it-happens’
4. When you get a Google Alert for their competitors, be the first person in their network to alert them to what their competitor are up to
5. Repeat Step 4 as many times as needed for them to view you as a massive Value-Adder in their network 

Google Alerts one of my favourite tool on the internet. And I think they are heavily under-utilised. The process above is simple to set up and essentially the front end is automated - you just have to monitor it and send emails as needed.

Why this works

Networking isn’t about just meeting someone once and expecting them to help you. It is about meeting someone and then building a very genuine relationship of mutual value-adding. 

And if you are the person to initiate the first connection, you should be the first one giving massive value back. This simple process allows you to do this quickly and easily and avoids the awkward ‘how are you?’ emails. 

With Google Alerts you can send the ‘how are you?’ email but give it a purpose. 

Now it becomes ‘How are you?’ - did you see what your competitor is up to?... with a link to the article.

Trust me, this is a much more impressive email to get AND if I'm receiving it from you, straight away you are becoming a person who in my mind is a person I want to keep close in my network.