Online Networking

Whether you’re networking via e-mail, social networks, blogs, or message boards, here are fifteen tactics to ensure that your online efforts create some real-life results.

E-MAIL NETWORKING (or How to Avoid the Delete Button)

Know your audience.
Are they e-mail or phone people? You never want to force an e-mail person into a phone relationship (or vice versa).

If you wouldn’t do it in person, you don’t want to do it online.
Skipping over polite chitchat and heading right into a sales pitch on the first e-mail, or failing to reply to personally addressed e-mails, will seem just as rude online as offline. Often people treat e-mail as a shield from behind which you can say something negative you wouldn’t say while looking a person straight in the eye. But it’s actually a worse way to vent those frustrations, as the inability to sense tone can make the accusations seem even harsher.

Do the one-minute search test before you hit the send button.
If you’re approaching a new contact via e-mail, take one minute to search her name on the Web. If there’s a wealth of information out there, and it’s easily discoverable within sixty seconds, then it’s likely the person will assume you already have that base knowledge.

Choose your subject line carefully.
Just as you can’t win a point in tennis if you can’t get the ball into play, you can’t network effectively if your e-mails don’t get past spam filters and the receiver’s delete button. Put succinct details about some connection (however slight) you might have, or clearly state your specific request.

Let your fingers do the walking over someone else’s keyboard.
Think about all the networking e-mails you receive, and make note of which ones you answer and why—and which ones you let slip through the cracks. Use this as a reference point for your own sending.

YOUR ONLINE PORTFOLIO (or Will the Real “You” Please Stand Out?)

Avoid online identity theft.
We’re not talking about the online theft of your bank account, but rather someone innocently co-opting your online image. It happens, especially if you have a somewhat common name. The best way to stand out from the crowd is to populate the Web with content by or about you. You also might consider using a nickname professionally or your middle initial. Both will help distinguish you from any online “twins.”