take the time to make it personal

Over the past four days I have had the specific opportunity to meet a variety of new people who may or may not again come across my professional radar. That’s a really long sentence to describe networking but I could tell your brain needed the workout; no extra charge.

When I decide these folks I have met are database worthy (and if one is not database worthy, he or she is still likely an excellent person mind you), I do two things:

1. I enter them in my database (duh!)
2. I send them a handwritten note

I have thereby doubled my workload. Now I have to do twice as much as I would if I just entered them into my database. And let me tell you, creating hand written notes with my writing sometimes requires a retake or three. That’s a lot of extra time or about 90 minutes yesterday.

And it was the most worthwhile 90 minutes I could ever spend. Recognizing people, acknowledging success, thanking them is memorable. All the Facebooks and Twitters of the world can never have the same personal impact.

Personalization takes time, writing by hand takes even more time and a computer program works faster and more efficiently…but not as effectively.