Do you have piles and piles of business cards? Are you feeling guilty that you haven’t called any of the people you met at that meeting last fall?
We all start out with the intention at business events of connecting with those we meet for potential beneficial relationships. We go into the meeting with the thought of collecting everyone’s card, but with no real plan of what to do with them once we have them.
Open yourself up to the opportunity of your next networking event by:
- Locating the pile of cards from your last networking session and going through them. Save the ones that you followed up on and enter them into a contact-management system.
- Pick one or two people that you will commit to calling in the next three days. Throw out the rest.
- Next schedule some project time to de-clutter your card collection.
- During project time collect all the current cards that are living in your purse, planner, desk drawer, desk top, file cabinet, phone book, wallet, business card organizer or other locations. Go through the cards and toss those that you don’t remember or those that don’t serve you now. Select five or less cards for people that you met in the last six months that you intend to contact within a week of your project time and schedule that time in your planner. Enter the contact information for those you have a relationship with into your contact-management system. Toss the rest.
Release yourself from the business card clutter so you can move yourself and your business forward at the next networking opportunity.
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