How to Plug 99% of the Leaks in Your Professional (and Personal) Network

How to Plug 99% of the Leaks in Your Professional (and Personal) Network This is a guest post from Tom Clifford. Read more about Tom below, at the end of his post. Tom has been a long-time friend and heavy user of JibberJobber, having logged into his account more than 850 times. I sincerely appreciated this unsolicited post you know I hardly, rarely do guest posts, but I was so flattered that Tom wrote this here ya go! Let’s do something really crazy. Let’s not keep track of anyone you meet. For added measure, let’s ignore who you know, how you know them, what you did for them and so on. What do you think will happen over time? Like a bucket with a hole in it, details about each person will drain out of your memory. Of course, there’s a simple solution to this: Find a way to plug the leak. Plug the leak, and you won’t have to worry about remembering everything. But how do you plug the leak? By having a “net” for your network. Why bother having a “net” for your network? Having a “net” when you’re networking helps you “catch” (or remember) the people you meet over time. Remembering so many people over so many years just isn’t possible for the brain to do, right? What happens when you don’t have a “net”? If you don’t have a “net” that “catches” this valuable information, someday you’ll wake up and find your networking efforts in shambles. To help pull the pieces of your networking puzzle together, you need a simple, yet powerful, networking system. What’s a networking system? A networking system is a way to give structure, organization and meaning to all the people you meet throughout your career. Having a networking system is more than just collecting names, phone numbers and email addresses. It’s a system to help you move your career forward by making it easy for you to manage your relationshipsâ€"while still being flexible to your needs. What does an effective networking system look like? Here are a few key ingredients that make a (nearly perfect) networking system: Keeps track of critical ideas people shared with you Knows the people your network referred you to Tracks documents you sent to each person Creates and stores your various elevator pitches Sets personal goals and tracks the progress of key relationships Sorts and prints information numerous ways You get the idea. You need a system for organizing, managing and keeping track of your network for the long haul. Unhappy with the networking systems that existed, Jason Alba created his own “net” and networking system. He called it “JibberJobber.” JibberJobber? Yup. JibberJobber. JibberJobber is a web-based “personal relationship manager.” JibberJobber is a complete networking management system to help you keep track of everyone you meet. Think of JibberJobber as your “one-stop relationship manager.” It not only holds all the information related to your connections, but it is also a system featuring unique tools that you can easily customize to deepen certain relationships critical to your own career path. Cool, huh? Can your networking system do that? Sure, there are a gazillion programs that allow you to enter the names, addresses, emails and phone numbers of people you meet. But remember: JibberJobber is NOT a contact management tool. JibberJobber is a relationship management tool. It ties all of your relationships together unlike any other system. If your current networking system has leaks in it, JibberJobber can plug those leaks right up. With JibberJobber, you won’t miss a beat from any of your networking activities. Does your system plug your networking leaks? Plug your networking leaks. Plugging any potential leaks in your networking efforts is a breeze with JibberJobber. You probably won’t use all the tools in JibberJobber each time you meet someone, but here are a few things you can do with it: Upload the documents you gave your contactsâ€"resumes, articles, etc. Keep track of expenses. Did you incur any expenses meeting someone? If so, you can keep track of it in one place. Add a networking event. Write and revise your 30-Second Pitch. Write several versions of it while you’re at it! Enter your answers to questions people frequently ask you (that way, you can always review the answers before an important sales call, etc.). Scan the Article Library for new or interesting articles related to various aspects of career development. Add a book and a short personal review to the Book Library. Use the Tree View to see relationships between people. Not bad for free, right? (Heck, that’s just the beginning of what’s possible.) Don’t want to bother learning a completely new system? Learning and using JibberJobber is a breeze. All you have to do to get going is import your address book into JibberJobber. Once your contacts are loaded, start playing around with it for a while. You can always keep using your current contact management system until you become more familiar with JibberJobber’s features. [note from Jason: also, jump on a user webinar, which I do about twice a month] Can anyone benefit from JibberJobber? Yes, anyone can benefit from using JibberJobber. It’s a great tool for everybody who’s serious about managing their careers and their relationships. Job seekers love JibberJobber because it was initially designed with them in mind, but really, everyone can benefit from using it. Sounds like JibberJobber will cost a pretty penny. What’s the catch? Well, there’s no catch. JibberJobber won’t cost you a penny. You can get up and running for free with the basic version. If you like the free version, you can upgrade to the premium levels at any time. Managing relationships is one of the key secrets to your success. Remembering who said what, where, when and why is impossible. It’s important to have a “net” to keep track of people you meet over your career. A networking system is your “net” to tie all your relationships together in one place. JibberJobber is your relationship tool to manage all your relationships. JibberJobber can plug any potential leaks in your current networking system. JibberJobber is a snap to learnâ€"and it’s free. Want to learn more? To learn more about JibberJobber, head on over to the website and check out the cool videos. Thomas Clifford is an award-winning business communicator and blogger. Tom’s  copywriting focuses on jargon-free marketing articles, homepages, landing/sales pages,  e-books and B2B case studies. Before copywriting, Tom spent 25 years producing over 500 marketing and branding  films (and interviewing more than 1,500 people) as a documentary producer. You can follow Tom on Twitter at @ThomasClifford. His blog, “Humanizing Business  Communications,” is packed with new media business communication tips and writing strategies. His e-book “5 (Ridiculously Simple) Ways to Write Faster, Better, Easier” is free to new  subscribers. How to Plug 99% of the Leaks in Your Professional (and Personal) Network This is a guest post from Tom Clifford. Read more about Tom below, at the end of his post. Tom has been a long-time friend and heavy user of JibberJobber, having logged into his account more than 850 times. I sincerely appreciated this unsolicited post you know I hardly, rarely do guest posts, but I was so flattered that Tom wrote this here ya go! Let’s do something really crazy. Let’s not keep track of anyone you meet. For added measure, let’s ignore who you know, how you know them, what you did for them and so on. What do you think will happen over time? Like a bucket with a hole in it, details about each person will drain out of your memory. Of course, there’s a simple solution to this: Find a way to plug the leak. Plug the leak, and you won’t have to worry about remembering everything. But how do you plug the leak? By having a “net” for your network. Why bother having a “net” for your network? Having a “net” when you’re networking helps you “catch” (or remember) the people you meet over time. Remembering so many people over so many years just isn’t possible for the brain to do, right? What happens when you don’t have a “net”? If you don’t have a “net” that “catches” this valuable information, someday you’ll wake up and find your networking efforts in shambles. To help pull the pieces of your networking puzzle together, you need a simple, yet powerful, networking system. What’s a networking system? A networking system is a way to give structure, organization and meaning to all the people you meet throughout your career. Having a networking system is more than just collecting names, phone numbers and email addresses. It’s a system to help you move your career forward by making it easy for you to manage your relationshipsâ€"while still being flexible to your needs. What does an effective networking system look like? Here are a few key ingredients that make a (nearly perfect) networking system: Keeps track of critical ideas people shared with you Knows the people your network referred you to Tracks documents you sent to each person Creates and stores your various elevator pitches Sets personal goals and tracks the progress of key relationships Sorts and prints information numerous ways You get the idea. You need a system for organizing, managing and keeping track of your network for the long haul. Unhappy with the networking systems that existed, Jason Alba created his own “net” and networking system. He called it “JibberJobber.” JibberJobber? Yup. JibberJobber. JibberJobber is a web-based “personal relationship manager.” JibberJobber is a complete networking management system to help you keep track of everyone you meet. Think of JibberJobber as your “one-stop relationship manager.” It not only holds all the information related to your connections, but it is also a system featuring unique tools that you can easily customize to deepen certain relationships critical to your own career path. Cool, huh? Can your networking system do that? Sure, there are a gazillion programs that allow you to enter the names, addresses, emails and phone numbers of people you meet. But remember: JibberJobber is NOT a contact management tool. JibberJobber is a relationship management tool. It ties all of your relationships together unlike any other system. If your current networking system has leaks in it, JibberJobber can plug those leaks right up. With JibberJobber, you won’t miss a beat from any of your networking activities. Does your system plug your networking leaks? Plug your networking leaks. Plugging any potential leaks in your networking efforts is a breeze with JibberJobber. You probably won’t use all the tools in JibberJobber each time you meet someone, but here are a few things you can do with it: Upload the documents you gave your contactsâ€"resumes, articles, etc. Keep track of expenses. Did you incur any expenses meeting someone? If so, you can keep track of it in one place. Add a networking event. Write and revise your 30-Second Pitch. Write several versions of it while you’re at it! Enter your answers to questions people frequently ask you (that way, you can always review the answers before an important sales call, etc.). Scan the Article Library for new or interesting articles related to various aspects of career development. Add a book and a short personal review to the Book Library. Use the Tree View to see relationships between people. Not bad for free, right? (Heck, that’s just the beginning of what’s possible.) Don’t want to bother learning a completely new system? Learning and using JibberJobber is a breeze. All you have to do to get going is import your address book into JibberJobber. Once your contacts are loaded, start playing around with it for a while. You can always keep using your current contact management system until you become more familiar with JibberJobber’s features. [note from Jason: also, jump on a user webinar, which I do about twice a month] Can anyone benefit from JibberJobber? Yes, anyone can benefit from using JibberJobber. It’s a great tool for everybody who’s serious about managing their careers and their relationships. Job seekers love JibberJobber because it was initially designed with them in mind, but really, everyone can benefit from using it. Sounds like JibberJobber will cost a pretty penny. What’s the catch? Well, there’s no catch. JibberJobber won’t cost you a penny. You can get up and running for free with the basic version. If you like the free version, you can upgrade to the premium levels at any time. Managing relationships is one of the key secrets to your success. Remembering who said what, where, when and why is impossible. It’s important to have a “net” to keep track of people you meet over your career. A networking system is your “net” to tie all your relationships together in one place. JibberJobber is your relationship tool to manage all your relationships. JibberJobber can plug any potential leaks in your current networking system. JibberJobber is a snap to learnâ€"and it’s free. Want to learn more? To learn more about JibberJobber, head on over to the website and check out the cool videos. Thomas Clifford is an award-winning business communicator and blogger. Tom’s  copywriting focuses on jargon-free marketing articles, homepages, landing/sales pages,  e-books and B2B case studies. Before copywriting, Tom spent 25 years producing over 500 marketing and branding  films (and interviewing more than 1,500 people) as a documentary producer. You can follow Tom on Twitter at @ThomasClifford. His blog, “Humanizing Business  Communications,” is packed with new media business communication tips and writing strategies. His e-book “5 (Ridiculously Simple) Ways to Write Faster, Better, Easier” is free to new  subscribers.