Suggestions for Contact Management/Networking

[jbischke]

In the last year I've expanded my personal/professional networking dramatically. In the next year I'm planning to take this to the next level. I'm wondering what suggestions you all might have for this. Here are some ideas that I'm mulling around. Would love to hear thoughts.

I'm planning to hire an admin assistant for the two companies that I run. When I meet a new person my plan is to do the following:

#1 - Get contact information and jot down some notes on the person. For example, things like their birthday, names of their spouse and kids, interests, upcoming sig events, etc.

#2 - Pass this information along to my assistant to do the following:
-Make sure this information is added to my Blackberry and Highrise (the shared contact mgmt system we use)
-Invite the person to relevant social networks (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook, aSmallWorld, Zaadz, etc.)
-Create a notecard with the person's picture and key details about them (Bill Clinton used to do this and I love the idea)

#3 - Create "ping" lists. These would be lists of people that I want to ping on a regular basis (e.g., some every 3 months, some every 6 months, some every year, etc.). Not quite sure how to implement this so I'd love suggestions.

#4 - Create an efficient system for reaching people on their birthdays. I think e-mailing or calling people on their birthday is a great way to show them you care. Calling especially! Again, not sure how best to do this...

I'd love other suggestions here. Who here has built an amazing network and what systems did you use to help you along the way? Would love to hear!

[Nathan]

Some great ideas here!
Another one that I think is beneficial is to fire off an email the same day of recieving their business card/contact details. Just mention in brief that you were glad to meet with them and look foward to any future opportunities or something along those lines.

I think this quick response definately makes a good impression!

[da1prophet]

ACT used to be the gold standard for contact management software, but the most recent versions have become **way** too bloated. I just signed up for a new web based service that shows a lot of promise. It's still in beta (but isn't everything?) but for now its free so I saw no harm in giving it a shot

Big Contacts - Free, Full Featured, Web Based, Ajax Contact Manager