How to maintain your professional network
By Zoe Anderson
You’re busy all the time. Between your career goals, life, friends and family, you don’t even have the opportunity to reward yourself for all of your hard work with a pedicure or a glass of wine. How do other women do it? It seems like so many succeed without ever needing to take time out for a breather. The answer is: having a strong professional network to lean on. Keeping in touch with important, influential individuals means you won’t have to work so hard to know of upcoming opportunities to advance your career.
Be easy to find
If you aren’t easy to find, people aren’t going to find you. No one wants to go out of their way scouring the earth for you, but there are plenty of people who would like to build connections with you, provided that you’re in their line of sight. Keep contact with former co-workers and connect with as many key players as possible.
Value quality over quantity
Agonizing over your relationship with a file clerk is going to be a drain on your energy, unless you really enjoy that person’s friendship. A large number of networking acquaintances doesn’t necessarily improve your prospects – it’s more about how said acquaintances can help you. Prioritize your business relationships with influential people, and don’t worry so much about those who won’t be able to provide you with much assistance.
Regularly update on social media
You need to keep yourself fresh in everyone’s minds. If you have a LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook that you use specifically for professional purposes, don’t just scroll through everyone’s updates and log out. You need to take time to interact with people. Retweet, like, share, and make plenty of your own relevant posts. You want people to feel like they know you, and like you have a reliable rapport. When an opportunity comes up and they have some information to spread, you’ll already be on their minds!
Make yourself an authority
There is no better way to gain clout than to build a reputation as an industry leader and voice of authority. Always stay abreast of industry changes and trends. Read about new technology and innovations. Create a blog with helpful resources such as infographics, FAQs, and archived interviews that your colleagues can reference. Regularly updating your content not only strengthens your authority in your field, it can also boost your SEO presence, which allows the right people to find you. If you’re present enough online, opportunities may present themselves to you without you having to go out and find them.
Speak highly of others
Speaking highly of others is a cornerstone of mutually beneficial relationships. If you know someone who needs work done, or a specific kind of consultation, you should be thinking about which person in your professional circles you can refer them to. Sending customers and clients in the direction will help people perceive you as a great knowledge resource to tap, whilst simultaneously creating a high level of respect for your opinions and views. They’ll be more likely to remember you when the time comes if you’ve done something to improve their livelihood. Consider who is worthy of your honest personal recommendation, and always take multiple business cards to hand out from those you believe are worthy.
Make plans
It always helps to put a face to a name. The internet has taken over a lot of business affairs, and because of this, we mostly know people by their profile pictures and the content they post. Try to arrange to do something in person with your network, bimonthly at the very least. Seminars, meetings, or company parties are helpful ways to strengthen your networks and put a name to a face. You may find events you can sit in on, or even a corporate softball game you can attend. This gives you the opportunity not only to help keep you top of mind, but also to make some great first impressions.
Most of these things are easily achievable. They don’t require a ton of effort on your part if you can create an environment that’s beneficial for everyone. Since you can do most of these things from home in your free time, this means you’ll still be able to order some takeout, watch Netflix, and catch a little bit of a break from your exhausting life.
