By: Dr. Donald E. Wetmore
So you want to significantly increase your personal productivity and success
in all areas of your life? You can go it alone or enjoy the help of others.
Networking is a major Time Management tool helping us to learn from others,
getting introductions more easily, and saving precious resources of time and
money in the process. I have accumulated five "Neat Networking" suggestions
that might help.
- Make the list. There is power in writing things down rather than trying
to remember everyone you know. I use a software contacts program to help.
Who do you include? Everyone. Everyone you know, everyone you have met.
Don't just copy the white pages from your local telephone directory.
"Contact" means you have had "contact". Add everyone to the database. Leave
no one out. Include name, address, and contacting information. The average
person can easily come up with an initial list of over 1,000 contacts.
Sounds unlikely? Start with your family, then your neighbors, and
co-workers. How about the co-workers from your last job(s)? Your high school
and college graduating classes and the teachers you had. You belong to a
professional association, a club, a church? The bank teller, your dentist,
your bookie, they all go on the list.
- Categorize the list. This is when a contacts software program is really
useful. Identify those who are friends, those who are acquaintances,
customers, suppliers, politicians, professionals, or those who enjoy golf or
tennis. The more categories you can place people in, the quicker you can
access the right contacts. Through my database, there is not a problem I
cannot get answered for myself and those whom I want to help.
- Feed the list. Once you create the list you have to continue to feed it.
Update, correct, and add more and more people as you meet them. We probably
meet dozens of new people every week. My database has grown to over 4,000
now. I spend about an hour every Friday to feed my list. It's a chore. It's
not convenient but it's worth it.
- To have a friend, be a friend. Here's how you make all this data work for
you. Networking is not a selfish technique. If you want this tool to work,
you have to be like a good Congressman. You do things for people. You help
them first. I'm always clipping articles I come across and sending them to
people I know. I send a lot of birthday cards. I call the majority of the
people in my database at least once a year to talk about them, how they are
doing, what they may need that I can provide for them. Then when it comes
around "election time", when I need something, I feel no hesitation to ask
for a return favor.
- Use it. Whenever I start anything, a new marketing program, a career
move, buying a house or a car, I think of my network first and talk to those
in my database who may be able to give me some answers. I have saved tons of
time and money and advanced my success in so many ways by tapping into my
Network database first.
Be sure to get your free copy of "The Top Five Time Management Mistakes". To
gets yours, email your request for "mistakes" to ctsem@msn.com.
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Dr. Donald E. Wetmore-Professional Speaker
Productivity Institute-Time Management Seminars
60 Huntington St. P.O. Box 2126 Shelton, CT 06484
(800) 969-3773 (203) 929-9902
Email: ctsem@msn.com
Visit our Supersite: http://www.balancetime.com
Professional Member-National Speakers Association
Copyright 1999 You may re-print the above information in its entirety in
your publication, newsletter, or on your webpage. For permission, please
email your request for "reprint" to ctsem@msn.com
