Networking Tools: Business cards and filing contacts

Business cards are a very important tool, particularly now with the regular use of e-mail. It makes your life easier to always have business cards with you. You will meet people, and if you are prepared with business cards, it helps to make connections with them. This does not mean you cannot find their names by looking them up on the Internet, but it saves you a lot of time. For conferences, business cards are extremely helpful, if not essential.

If you find you are wearing a couple of hats, you can note both of the responsibilities on the card, so that the same card can be used for two different contexts. They can be designed so that there is a line separating the organization information either vertically or horizontally. Use your card as a key networking tool.

The Internet is another invaluable resource. Some list-serves are free and others charge a fee. A large number of organizations focus on particular topics and put out weekly, even daily information about legislation, funding, and other relevant subjects. At times subscribers to list-serves can exchange information within certain parameters.

There is a list-serve called charitychannel.org, which is analogous to an octopus because even though Charity Channel is the main part, or the head of the organization, there are legs to it. For example, you can choose which “legs” to sign up for, like grant writing, or resource raising, and so the discussions and the material that you receive will relate only to that particular subject.

There is another free list-serve called jointogether.org that is primarily targeted toward trying to reduce substance abuse and gun violence in schools. However, that list-serve, just by the nature of the way it is developed, is very big. Many times you’ll see mention of topics indirectly related, such as after-school programs and funding resources available for children’s programs. Their thinking is that if kids are in after school programs, they are not at home alone doing drugs. Therefore, list-serves can be very broad, or they can be targeted.

Follow up right away, or within a few days after a conference, since immediacy is really important in networking. E-mail those people with whom you want to network. If you can do some work on the airplane going home from a conference, that is always helpful, whether it is organizing cards, recording impressions, or making plans and strategy. Remember, the purpose of information is that it is going to help you either develop a relationship with a person, to find out more about what they do, or obtain a specific piece of information from them.

Storing Information

You will meet a lot of people at conferences. To help remember them, it is good to jot something on the back of the business card to remind me of what our conversation was about or something they said that will jog my memory later on. Then file that away in your palm (handheld computer) or Rolodex under a topic, because as files grow, you will not necessarily remember the person’s name unless you have had a reason to continue the relationship with them. You can do the card work on the airplane going home while the meeting is fresh in your mind and your know with whom your going to network.

Sometimes you can find a volunteer, someone in your organization or someone who is associated and passionate about what you do, but who really is not an appropriate board member, who is flexible with their time and has a computer. Think about the resources that you have and the people who might be able to help you; there may be someone who could glean through and file those cards.

Instead of throwing out cards that initially you think you will not need, you might put them in an envelope and mark the envelope with the conference name and dates. In four months, five months, six months, when something triggers a need to find that information, you can easy pull those business cards. Things can change in six months. Sometimes circumstances change, and now that person that you did not think you would ever contact is maybe just the one who could help you. But be discerning about what you want to do, and be on target.

Many times people bring papers to conferences and make them available to you. They may be very interesting but not be relevant to you. Do not clog up your briefcase with this material, or your file cabinet at home or whatever system you use. Work intentionally. Papers are great, but in terms of networking, the paper is only as good as the information that is on the paper helps you get to the university—or get to the person—or get to the research institute that sponsored it.

Save conference information. It is a good reference source that has all the participants’ names, the books they have written, the universities with which they are associated, or the programs that they run and the boards of which they are members.

You can file conference information in folders so that if you are working on a project and need specific information from a conference, you can pull out a paper and find the contact person. For business cards your just use a palm. When your networking contacts need information, you can literally beam that information to them.

Some people are oriented as a file folder person, preferring to file hard copies in folders. You also can make files on your computer. For example, your might take your e-mails of list-serves and file them under topics. Outlook Express can be used for example, but whatever e-mail program you use should allow you to file and organize those pieces of information you get, such as from Charity Channel.

Again, be very discerning. If you get a long piece of information and you only want a part of it, do “cut and paste.” Cut what you want, send yourself an e-mail, and then file it. You can do that as I go through e-mail.