This week, I’m going to introduce the fifth step to building your professional community. If you missed the first steps, visit my posts: Step 1: Determine What You Want to Know; Step 2: Identify Contacts; Step 3: Prepare What You Want To Say; and Step 4: Make Contact – Again and Again!
Step 5: Maintain the Relationship
The basic way to maintain a relationship (and you know this) is to be kind and regular about your contacts. This is often where people drop the ball on effective community building because it takes some thinking on how to maintain a relationship with someone whom you don’t see regularly. Here are some ideas:
- Send a thank you note: basic etiquette, but often not done. A real-live note is sometimes particularly appreciated because no one gets real mail anymore.
- Send updates: Within some timeframe based on your conversation, follow up to update them on your progress. Let them know you valued their advice and have had some success because of it. This so appreciated by your professional contacts because they have invested their time into your development and like to hear they have helped. It is a basic human need we all have.
- Go above and beyond: For example, after the second follow-up, send them an article that you read that you think they may be interested in based on your conversation. Maybe there is a website that you think will appeal to them, or a blog. It shows you listened to what mattered to them and that it will be a productive professional relationship.
- Seek them out at a conference: Go to their talks, meet them face-to-face—this is really an easy hit and very basic.
- Well, you get the idea....Find methods to keep in touch with them! To give you fodder for follow-up, note and remember things they tell you when you speak with them about their professional interest. Is it contrived? Indeed it is ... but it is also a kind and thorough practice of being a good community builder.
So, here’s to power and agency in your professional life—now go make contact!
