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I was recently looking through my contacts for a specific reason and found many opportunities in other areas, and I also learned more about the status of my network on several levels. Our networks are becoming increasingly important for our professional success, present and future, and they are in a sense ‘living’ so we should tend to them regularly to keep them alive and thriving. I thought about the benefits of tending to my network periodically, say quarterly, and here are my suggestions for the process.

1. Make a list of opportunity areas. Start by identifying all of the areas which you’re looking for opportunities or need growth in. For example, it could be prospecting for your own business or for your clients or colleagues. By now, you know it’s all about karma, so try to think of some ways you could help others. Also think about events that are coming up that you might meet someone at, topics you’d like to learn more about, and areas in which you’d like to improve your network.
2. Make a list of contact lists. If you’re like me, your contacts don’t just exist in one application. Think about places like your personal email application, CRM, LinkedIn, email marketing application, and social media contacts. After you do this you’ll realize these lists are likely fragmented and you’ll need to spend time updating information as you go through the lists. Also, you should look into ways of syncing the information–for example, should you export LinkedIn contacts to update your personal email application? Something to think about as you go through your contacts. If you send a electronic holiday cards like we do, now might be a good time to mark people you’d like to send them to.
3. Look through your contacts. Grab a cup of coffee and take at least an hour to look through all of your contacts. You may be tempted to use search features to narrow down the results for pressing opportunities, but resist this temptation and you’ll soon see the benefits. Hopefully, by browsing, you’ll see things you wouldn’t with a targeted search. Note all contacts relevant to your opportunities, and new ideas may also strike you. Be social and reach out to those who have moved, you’ll likely be surprised at the number of updates. You know we’re big fans of face to face contact–why not plan to spend one day a week or month meeting up with a colleague ‘just because’?
4. Spread a little good karma. Colleague/friend Holly Barnes recently shared a link about how connecting people in your network is a great practice. To me, the article explains a quite lengthy process that I’m not sure I’d have time for on a regular basis, but you get the idea that good karma is something you can never give (and get) enough of. Think of colleagues looking for a job, those that have recently moved, etc.
5. Rinse and repeat. Hopefully you’ve found some great opportunities and learned more than you expected. Growing your network will multiply these benefits, so hopefully this realization will result in more regular growing and tending to your network. It might be a good idea to set calendar reminders to help. It’s also a good time to review your network–is it weak in certain areas? If so, target them and set goals to improve your network in a geographic area, topic, expertise level, etc.

In these days of information overload, we tend to rely on searches for everything, and forget that browsing can result in serendipities that are made more powerful by today’s tools and the simple act of building a good quality network. The image for this post is from another colleague/friend Jenny Reiswig who ‘seeks out serendipity’ in her photography by visiting interesting places like Twentynine Palms. Perhaps it is a very loosely connected metaphor (the photos are gorgeous, I couldn’t resist), but do the work and you never know what you might find.
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At least four times this week I’ve been asked by someone for help and I’ve politely declined. It’s true that I have a large network and knowledge that comes from years of experience in the industry, and do help people quite a bit. However, I see many people who don’t realize how much they can achieve on their own these days, and think that in some cases it’s better in the long run to show them how and why they should take more initiative. Here’s a short list of the benefits of ‘helping yourself,’ with examples of the many ways we are all more empowered now.

Notoriety. Often people ask ‘can you post this news on your LinkedIn group,’ not realizing that they can post it themselves. What’s the benefit for them to post it? If the news is interesting and relevant to the group, they’ll get some ‘good karma’ from group members for pointing out something useful, and expand their reach. Regardless of your motives, being more well known is a benefit (with the exception of those in the witness protecion program ;).

Opportunity. Together with Notoriety, much opportunity comes when you help yourself. Take the example of posting items to LinkedIn groups–let’s say you post an article about stem cells. You’re automatically letting people know that you’re interested in stem cells. Perhaps someone in the field will look at your profile and offer to connect. The possibilities for receiving highly relevant opportunities are endless when you help yourself in this way.

Knowledge. I am often asked to meet people who want me to tell them what I know about San Diego Biotech. Yes, I do ‘get around’ and may have knowledge, some anecdotal, that others don’t, but I am a function of what I read and do. We set up the San Diego Biotechnology Network website with news and information that helps anyone come up to speed quickly. In fact, I know of three reports that just came out over the past few weeks about California Biotech. Other resources are Xconomy, RSS feeds, Twitter… You may say that you don’t understand these new tools, I would argue that they will become as important as radio, TV, and the internet, so buck up and learn them ;) Today, you really have the opportunity to become an expert in a wide variety of fields, for free.

Control. Sometimes people want to post irrelevant items to the LinkedIn groups I manage. Because they are irrelevant, members get irritated and feel as though they’re being spammed, and I have to delete the posting and potentially remove the member. When this happens, I tell the person that it is much more effective to start their own interest group, something we covered more generally earlier. By starting a group, rather than always trying to find one that fits, you have much more control. The topic needs to be chosen carefully, but we all have valuable offerings for others. (Note: this may seem to conflict with what I said in the ‘Opportunity’ section–however, I always tell people if they question whether a posting is appropriate, they can always ask me.)

Almost on cue, Amy Winehouse’s ‘Help Yourself‘ started playing in the background as I wrote this post…corroborating an earlier post. I hope that these examples inspire you to think about more ways you can help yourself and ultimately achieve more of your goals. Also, if I tell you to ‘help yourself,’ that you’ll understand why.

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While preparing a ‘Social Media 101′ presentation, I started to think about an analogy for growing a network to planting a seed, and it fit really well. A well cultivated social media network can be like a crop of plants that ‘do the work’ for the farmer. Remember, however, that the success relies on the farmer’s knowledge and hard work. If properly cultivated, however, social media networks can be a very powerful way to engage your customers and worth more than any type of broadcast advertising you can pay for. Personally growing social networks has taught us some things that may help you, so here are our guidelines for success.

1. Know your seed. We all know that plants grow in certain conditions, and this is the first consideration to be made. Choice of the soil, sunlight, and season are all important and based on the type of seed you’re planting. For social networks, you must consider what types people you’d like to help you grow your network. What do they like, need, and how can you reach them? Knowing your ‘seed’ means doing market research, which may include interviews/polls and some legwork to understand how your potential participants are currently interacting online. Also, make sure that you’re not growing the same crop as your neighbor–a ‘me too’ network is not likely to have as much success.
2. Plan your crop. Based on the seed, you must come up with an overall plan to grow it. For social networks, this means finding a theme which will resonate with the people you are trying to engage. For example, with the San Diego Biotechnology Network (SDBN), our theme is increasing communication among local scientists. Our members care about the cause, and they get something out of participating (e.g. networking), so they are happy to be a part. You should consider that whatever your personal/business passion or goals are, the theme of your network must be something that will resonate with others. For example, if you sell protein purification products, chances are you’ll have a hard time using them as a theme to motivate (few products have a following like the iPhone). However, you may be able to choose something broader, such as ‘advancing protein purification methods,’ as a theme. Also, make sure that your theme aligns with your objectives–a farmer grows a crop that will help him feed his family, you need to do the same. Otherwise, you’ll find that you don’t have time to maintain it. A good network benefits everyone, and if you make your identity and objectives clear, you have a good chance of succeeding.
3. Find the right plot and soil. Also based on your research of the ‘seed’ you must pick a venue for growing your network based on their interests and habits. Are your participants young? Facebook is probably a good bet. Professionals? Use LinkedIn. Also consider that seeds may not germinate if the conditions are unfavorable or they don’t have the energy to break out of their shell. In a similar way, creating a network which requires too much effort to join (e.g., requiring a login) may not work well. Also consider that you must have a significant number of participants before a network is useful (the so-called network effect), so using a venue that already exists has its benefits. We started the SDBN on LinkedIn, but realized that Facebook may be accessible to some of our members, so we also have a page there. Thus, we ‘transplanted’ part of our network there (I could make these analogies all day ;).
4. Fertilize. Like plants, your network participants must be given what they need to grow. Based on your research, this can be content, discussions, or anything else that will engage them and help them to connect with each other. A great book on this is Seth Godin’s Tribes which talks about several groups which have been brought together towards a common interest, or even company/product line (Apple), and how these groups were ‘fed.’ As with the theme of the network, you may need to think outside of your companies’ products in order to engender loyalty. We have a 90/10 rule that we abide by, which follows. If you provide your participants with useful resources not related to your products 90% of the time, they’ll gladly put up with a ‘plug’ for your products 10% of the time (similar to the way we include a call to action at the bottom of many of our blog posts here, but most of the post is designed to help you). Also, your products help your customers, and they will want to hear about them and give feedback to help you improve them as well. We’re all interested in getting better tools, so if you frame your ‘plugs’ correctly, you should be fine.
5. Cultivate. Farmers need to make sure their crops are thriving, and make changes if they are not. In a similar way, you must monitor your network and its growth so that it thrives. If it is not growing, ask members what you can provide to motivate them to participate. Got someone spamming the group? Weed them out. You don’t have to look far to see social networks that have been abandoned because they have not been cultivated and have not grown. If done properly, however, your seedlings will mature and spread their seeds (are you tired of this metaphor yet?).

Want to get started? Contact us for a free consultation, we’ll use our experience and existing life science networks to help you come up with a winning plan, er….crop.

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Yes, I am a networking and social media zealot. You name it, I’m doing it, or it’s on my list of things to do. I estimate that through LinkedIn, Twitter, and the SDBN, my personal social media reach is around 5,000, meaning that I can apprise that many biotechnology professionals of a relevant message quickly. While this network is very valuable to me, and the number is obviously significant, we all need to keep in mind that our networks are made of real people that we should connect with, not items that we should simply collect, assigning too much significance to the numbers.

Your network is made of people who are likely doing interesting things every day, why not connect with them as often as possible? You never know when a new opportunity will result for both of you. In addition, you’ll stay on top of what is happening in your industry, which benefits you in many ways. While it’s true that your knowledge will be directly proportional to the size of your network, the quality of your contacts should be foremost. Building a relevant, quality network will help you to stay connected, as you’ll find that you have more common interests and opportunities for growth.

How do you build a quality network? There are shortcuts, which I discussed in an earlier post, which may result in a large network, but it will likely not be of high quality. Always be on the lookout for those with common interests and interesting things to say. In addition, consistently provide value to your network, and you’ll attract and keep even people you don’t know well in your extended network. Examples? Post interesting, non self-serving news to LinkedIn. Help out someone who needs an introduction to someone else in your network. In short, pay it forward, as we talked about in our Social Media for Scientists presentation to the SDBN.

As an analogy, view your network as butterfly garden rather than a butterfly collection. Treat your network as a garden in which you must attract people, keep them engaged, and enjoy, not as a box of pinned, lifeless items which you pull out and admire. Connect, don’t just collect!

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, you’ll find that the ‘good karma’ you’ll get from connecting will pay you back for your time. Do whatever you have time for–even if it’s just sending a few emails a week. You’ll find that spending time in your ‘garden’ will be beneficial in many ways.

Need help with social media and networking? Check out our Biotechnology Marketing 101 blog series and/or contact Comprendia, we can help you with coaching and strategies that will help you to maximize your efforts and reach your personal or business goals.