Reconnect
Quickly re-engage with people after first meeting them. You do not want to wait until you are in a stressful time to build your network.
“The mistake that we often make is that when we have a need then we start to reach out to people that perhaps we haven’t spoken to in months,†says Anita Davis-DeFoe, Ph.D., president and CEO of Afia Planning and Development Corp. and a certified career and workforce development consultant. “It makes it very awkward.â€
As time progresses, maintain contact periodically–this could be every month by e-mail, quarterly, or once a year, depending on the strength of the connection. You can send a newsletter to update your best contacts on what you’ve been working on and ask them the same.
This story orginally appeared in the August 2009 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.