Chapter 60
Staying Visible
To maximize your networking efforts, you'll have to stay top of mind for your contacts. You may recall that one of the two key objectives for networking, as discussed in Chapter 5, is to ensure that when your contacts have a need, they will think to call or recommend you first.
Once networking momentum is developed, it's easy to get a false sense of security and drop off the scene. This is dangerous because it will give your competition the opportunity to swoop in and take your place.
To stay at the forefront of your contacts' minds, either you need to interact with them or somehow they need to think about you when you're not there. You can't be everywhere and talking with everyone so finding strategies to keep you fresh in their thoughts is imperative to leverage your networking efforts.
The interaction part of the equation is easy. It's just time-consuming. It means staying visible by attending appropriate events and engaging in one-on-one networking activities. Every time you connect with a person, you re-establish yourself as a part of each other's network.
Keeping people thinking about you requires more creativity. When you can't be present, you still want the buzz about you to be there. This buzz, much like your reputation, is incredibly powerful when it is positive. Negative buzz can be equally powerful, but is detrimental.
There are several ways to raise your profile. Online networking is a huge source for visibility and has really leveled the ...
