If you read my posts on why career changers don’t get interviews or why your job interview don’t lead anywhere, you can see how important networking is to fix or avoid these problems altogether. But unless you automate your networking, it will be difficult to do enough of it. You’ll have to remind yourself to do it and then motivate yourself to take the next step each and every rime. However, technology can help ease your networking burden. Here are five technology tools that are free to use, that do not require programming or special skills and that can help automate your networking right away. I am not a paid affiliate of any of these tools.
Email signature
You probably already have an email signature template at your job. But your personal email needs one as well. At a minimum you should have your full name, phone number and email address. You can also turn every email into a networking push by adding your LinkedIn URL or website, encouraging people to learn more about your background. If you blog, you can add your latest title with a hyperlink to the post. If you have an event, you can hyperlink to the registration details. I create my email signature templates right within my email provider (e.g., Outlook, Gmail). Or you can use a custom tool, such as WiseStamp, to create more elaborate options. (I discovered WiseStamp when someone emailed me a signature with hyperlinked buttons, graphics, even a photo, which she had created using WiseStamp.)
Scheduling tool
You mean to network but it takes several back and forth emails just to get a time on the calendar. If you use an online scheduling tool you can cut down on the time and aggravation (which encourages you to initiate more networking and encourages recipients to say Yes). Doodle and TimeTrade are two that I have used both to initiate appointments and to respond to invitations. Both have free options.
Alert system
A great way to network naturally is to reach out when there is news – someone gets a promotion and you congratulate them, a company is mentioned in the news and you acknowledge this to your friend who works there. Facebook and LinkedIn both provide updates around professional moves like promotions or personal news like birthdays and anniversaries. You can also use Google Alerts (which combs the Internet for content containing a specific keyword) to follow companies or specific people for breaking news. Newsle is another example of an alert service that links to your social media or address book contacts and then sends you a summary email with links for when they are mentioned online. Both Google Alerts and Newsle are free.
Social media dashboard
Another great way to network naturally is to share news when you think of it but spread out the timing of when you share it. If you use a social media dashboard to track and post to your different social media profiles, you can schedule your shares in advance. This ensures that you don’t need to visit each social network each and every time you want to share, and you avoid the temptation of just checking out a few cat videos while I’m there….I use Buffer and HootSuite, both of which have free options. I post my content but also interesting articles I see in areas relating to my expertise. For a career changer who wants people to see a whole new angle to their expertise, curating regular content relating to their new target area is a great way to send that message out regularly but unassumedly.
CRM system
A CRM, or customer relationship management, system is more than just how you will track your contacts’ informatiion. If you are going to network properly, you will need to follow up over time and therefore you will need to track when you first met, subsequent meetings, and any follow-up action items promised. If you’re simply using your phone or an online address book, you won’t be able to easily make notes and highlight action items. A CRM system allows you to tag contacts by different categories (e.g., people you need to call v. people you are already in talks with). It enables you to include comments and notes about the person and your interactions. I use an Excel spreadsheet as my home-grown CRM tool. I have a column for how I met someone, when I first contacted them, what the next follow-up action should be, and ad hoc notes I want to capture about the person. I find that Excel enables me to track just what I want in a searchable way. Other examples of CRM systems are SuccessHawk for job seekers or PipeDrive for entrepreneurs (both of which are paid solutions, not free).
What tools do you use to network more regularly and effectively?
Caroline Ceniza-Levine is co-founder of SixFigureStart® career coaching. She has worked with executives from American Express, Citigroup, Condé Nast, Gilt, Goldman Sachs, Google, McKinsey, and other leading firms. She’s also a stand-up comic, so she’s not your typical coach. Connect with Caroline on Google+.
