Anywhere you can meet people, you can establish new links in your network. You should follow up on these contacts and try to keep in touch with the ones that you feel have potential. There are several ways to practice network maintenance.
One way to keep up with the latest news is to invite a contact to have an informal lunch with you or to meet you for pre-dinner drinks. People love to sit and talk after a hard day at workΓÇöand they enjoy getting away from the grind and having someone to talk to at lunch. Make yourself available to develop the relationship. Occasionally pick up the check. Talking to a banker, or other capital source, over lunch about enjoyable topics will be remembered when you later ask him to line you up with some investors for your next invention. Keep in mind that the way your contacts talk about you to others, when you are not there, is an important aspect of networking.
Another way to do network maintenance is to go out of your way to do some unexpected favors for your network contacts. One of the best ways to do this is to pass along some piece of useful, compelling or ego-gratifying information. If you notice an article or news item that may be of interest to anyone in your network, pass it on. Your phone call will not only be enjoyable, but may possibly be an important high-point in their day and will help keep the relationship active and positive. When you let people know that you're thinking of them, it can go a long way toward getting them to act on your behalf at other times.
If one of your contacts shows a real interest in your work and achievements, try to keep him (or her) informed with an occasional progress report on your life and times. They will appreciate the note, and it is a good way to introduce them to a new idea or plan you are developing, before you ask them for advice or help.
Another good way to keep your network alive is to entertain at your home or office. Have a party a couple of times a year and invite a lot of your contacts, and people you would like to have as contacts. Introducing your contacts to one another can strengthen your network by making it interlinked. This way you can have fun and advance your goals at the same time.
NOTE: Introducing your contacts to each other will cause you to become a member of their interlinked contact networks and can usually strengthen your relationship to those people. Sometimes your contacts may hit it off with each other so well that they produce a friendship or partnership better than you have with either of the parties. Don't let this upset you or interfere with your relationship with either of them. Some people feel that their network is theirs alone and their contacts shouldn't mix and interact. This attitude is egocentric and destructive to creating long lasting networking relationships. Remember, people will only be part of your network as long as it is a mutually rewarding experience. Letting your ego, or fear of loss of control, try to constrict a naturally evolving network can make you the odd-man-out.
