Advice on E-Networking from Nancy White

As you may know, I'm a fan of the "onlinefacilitation" Yahoo! Group thats run by my friend and fellow Seattlelite Nancy White.

Recently a member started a new discussion asking for input on the question "How do you do e-Networking?. The member is preparing for a presentation on the subject.

Nancy replied with what I thought was great advice. I like the idea of having 3 tiers and visualizing your network. The text below came form this post.

First, from a software standpoint, check out Cynthia Typaldo's WebCommunities emailing list. She has be posting A LOT on this recently

then... my brainstormlets

  • Three levels. Core, inner and outer. Have a strategy to keep a line of sight to each of these parts of my network.
  • Core: IM, EMail, phone. Know what they are interested in. If you see something related, send them the link. Be a source - electronic communication makes that easy.
  • INner: regular letting them know what I'm doing (e newsletters, postings on my website), invites to events you are at, visits when you are passing through
  • Outer - use social networking web tools (Ryze, LinkedIn, etc), publish, speak at events, respond to weblog postings when there is a comment feature. Be visible with thoughtful content. Answer random emails.

Regular review:

  • think about the three levels of your network. Draw a picture. Visualize it. Where is it strong? Where are their gaps, what are the interesting outer fringes. Make a plan to explore the fringes or fill the gaps. The visualization is important to me. Can use tools or a pen and paper. Huminity, mindmanager, the brain, etc.

Thanks to Nancy for permission to use her words...