One Hit Wonder: Where Networking Ends and Failure Begins

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One Hit Wonder:  Are you one of these networking failures? one hit wonder

Try this scenario:

Whoa! You just hit the jackpot.

The conference you just attended yielded a lot of great new leads.

The first thing you do when you get back to the office?  Jump onto LinkedIn and start sending connection requests to them, of course.

Unfortunately, that’s where most people’s interactions die a lonely death, and you become a one-hit wonder.

Networking means more than just exchanging contact information.

It’s about sharing ideas. Asking for advice. Posing questions for community problem solving.  Building common experiences.

But if you simply just enter in the person’s info on LinkedIn then toss their card into the recycle bin before calling it good, you’ve just thrown out a huge opportunity.

LinkedIn and other networking sites, or platforms, are not just simply data storage areas in the cloud. They are powerful connectors, if you do it right.

Try to think about ways you can continue the conversation to avoid becoming a one-hit wonder.

  • Follow up on the conference and reference one thing from your conversation at the conference.
  • Check in once a quarter or year.
  • Share an interesting article that is relevant to their interests or your common ones.
  • Mention an article in which their company is featured.
  • Ask their opinion on something.
  • Congratulate them on a workplace anniversary or job change. Keep up on what’s happening with your connections through the Network Updates Digest emails feature versus scrolling endlessly through your feed.
  • Quote them if they have something they’ve blogged about.
  • Ask them to coffee or lunch, if they are local.
  • If you are traveling to their city, see if they want to meet up.
  • If you share a common organization, ping them to see if they are attending the annual conference.
  • Comment on their posts.
  • Forward them business opportunities.
  • Refer like-minded people as potential connections.
  • Ask them how you might help them.
  • Send them a message that conversationally asks what’s new on their end.

There are a million different ways to keep in touch. But again, simply adding a connection and then letting that relationship wither away is the fastest track to becoming a one-hit wonder. And no one wants to be that.