If you‘re going to be an effective networker, it’s not enough to just meet the people you’d like to have in your network. You need to build and nurture your relationships with those people. But as obvious as that may seem, as Kelly Hoey discussed in Episode #100, failing to follow up is the #1 mistake that people make in their networking efforts. 
 
Figuring out how to follow up, beyond the “nice to have met you” email, can be a challenge. Here are some suggestions on how to follow up in a meaningful way with a new network contact.

• Invite them to join your LinkedIn network, with a personal message highlighting an area of mutual interest you’d like to stay in contact about.
• Send them a note following up on a topic you discussed. It can be on a personal or professional subject - a recommendation for a new restaurant in their neighborhood or an industry conference they might be interested in.
• Forward a website, blog, podcast, or YouTube video of interest. Again, it can relate to professional or personal interests.
• Offer to introduce them to someone you think they should meet.
• Invite them to join you at an event – an industry networking event, or a speaker you think they’d be interested in.
• Invite them to breakfast, coffee or lunch, with a suggestion of a specific topic you’d like to discuss.
• Invite them to collaborate with you on a project. It could be an article, an event, or a charity undertaking.
• Ask for their advice – a good recruiter, how to deal with a challenging co-worker, a good workshop on improving your presentation skills. Then follow up and let them know how their advice turned out.
• Encourage them to join an organization (professional, civic, or recreational) you belong to, and then plan on attending together.
• Organize and invite them, along with others, to a “roundtable” on a topic they would be interested in - a hot topic in your industry, dealing with the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated industry, making the most of business travel. It doesn’t need to be more elaborate than finding a coffee shop with a group table.
• Start and invite them to join a group that meets regularly on an issue of mutual interest– women in the toy industry, parents of preschool children, independent film fans. Again, it doesn’t need to be elaborate – just make sure you take responsibility for making those meetings happen on a regular basis.
• Text them congratulating them on their favorite team's win or commiserating on its loss.
• Offer to help with a problem they are facing, whether personal or professional – give an informational interview to their child considering law school or coach them on how they might handle a difficult personnel problem.
• Arrange a lunch or dinner and suggest each invitee invite someone else the group might like to meet.

What are your favorite ideas for following up with a new connection? Please share them with me at holtz@tomyyounger.me