How do you keep in touch?
August 5, 2010 3:06 PM Subscribe
What are your favourite ways of keeping in touch for networking?
Maybe you were in a conference or had a good interview, or you'd like to keep up to date with past employers; in any case they don't work with you now, but they might do (again) in the future. I work in a creative industry and am wondering how to do this appropriately. I'm thinking about setting up a website from which I could send out an email newsletter to interested parties. Would be interested to know other people's experiences in this, how much you show in your updates (are your clients/employers happy with your sharing?), how regular are they, whether they've been successful or helpful in finding new jobs, commissions, collaborations and also the way in which you address an audience of varying levels of seniority (especially given that in my case I'd be suitable for mostly junior positions).
I'd also like to hear about other ways people have tried to stay in touch with interesting people. Do you use linkedin? Do you meet semi-strangers for lunch in a casual-but-not-that-casual attempt to shoot the industry breeze? Also I cannot find a single decent askmefi post on networking that isn't about computers, can this be possible?! or are my search skills failing me?
Finally, to end on a rhetorical note - isn't the hivemind is by definition a networking ninja?
Maybe you were in a conference or had a good interview, or you'd like to keep up to date with past employers; in any case they don't work with you now, but they might do (again) in the future. I work in a creative industry and am wondering how to do this appropriately. I'm thinking about setting up a website from which I could send out an email newsletter to interested parties. Would be interested to know other people's experiences in this, how much you show in your updates (are your clients/employers happy with your sharing?), how regular are they, whether they've been successful or helpful in finding new jobs, commissions, collaborations and also the way in which you address an audience of varying levels of seniority (especially given that in my case I'd be suitable for mostly junior positions).
I'd also like to hear about other ways people have tried to stay in touch with interesting people. Do you use linkedin? Do you meet semi-strangers for lunch in a casual-but-not-that-casual attempt to shoot the industry breeze? Also I cannot find a single decent askmefi post on networking that isn't about computers, can this be possible?! or are my search skills failing me?
Finally, to end on a rhetorical note - isn't the hivemind is by definition a networking ninja?
LinkedIn is just made for this. Facebook can be great, but it's more wild and unpredictable -- you have to maintain decorum in your profile and feed.
Beyond that, when it comes to people who aren't on those sites, just be good about exchanging and keeping track of email addresses. A personal, individual catching-up email would probably be better received than some kind of idiosyncratic "email newsletter."
Anyway, having "a website from which I could send out an email newsletter to interested parties" sounds strangely anachronistic, as if you didn't know about Web 2.0 (which clearly isn't the case since you mentioned LinkedIn, etc.). It's sort of like using an abacus: charmingly inefficient and likely to make people say, "Um, have you thought about using a ... calculator?"
Also I cannot find a single decent askmefi post on networking that isn't about computers, can this be possible?! or are my search skills failing me?
That's odd -- I found several of them. (I perused the "networking" tag.)
posted by Jaltcoh at 3:49 PM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Beyond that, when it comes to people who aren't on those sites, just be good about exchanging and keeping track of email addresses. A personal, individual catching-up email would probably be better received than some kind of idiosyncratic "email newsletter."
Anyway, having "a website from which I could send out an email newsletter to interested parties" sounds strangely anachronistic, as if you didn't know about Web 2.0 (which clearly isn't the case since you mentioned LinkedIn, etc.). It's sort of like using an abacus: charmingly inefficient and likely to make people say, "Um, have you thought about using a ... calculator?"
Also I cannot find a single decent askmefi post on networking that isn't about computers, can this be possible?! or are my search skills failing me?
That's odd -- I found several of them. (I perused the "networking" tag.)
posted by Jaltcoh at 3:49 PM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for the links Jaltcoh, was being a bit slack with my perusal..
I haven't looked into linkedin much because I work in very visual industry and I think most designers would want to have more control over their portfolio - either as another opportunity to show their creativity or to strip it back down to the bare essentials. I've not seen people put portfolios on their linkedin profile, whereas a lot of people I know have their own websites. Similar issues apply with facebook and twitter.
posted by doobiedoo at 4:23 PM on August 5, 2010
I haven't looked into linkedin much because I work in very visual industry and I think most designers would want to have more control over their portfolio - either as another opportunity to show their creativity or to strip it back down to the bare essentials. I've not seen people put portfolios on their linkedin profile, whereas a lot of people I know have their own websites. Similar issues apply with facebook and twitter.
posted by doobiedoo at 4:23 PM on August 5, 2010
No problem... Even if you want people to see your online portfolio, LinkedIn would still be a good tool, since you link to a personal website from your LinkedIn profile. That website might be the fullest online expression of your work, but how do people get to it in the first place? By being in your online network.
posted by Jaltcoh at 4:47 PM on August 5, 2010
posted by Jaltcoh at 4:47 PM on August 5, 2010
I've wondered about this, too. I have a lot of connections where I've worked with someone once, for a few months or few weeks, years ago. Obviously that's useful for future networking potential, but I don't really know how to do it appropriately.
I am "friends" with many of these folks via facebook, but I find that as time passes and I haven't seen or spoken to them in real life, casual communication via comments or wall posts or whatever seems less and less meaningful. So it's not really that simple.
LinkedIn might be a more appropriate forum for this sort of thing, but I find that it isn't used much in my field.
The good news is that I've had luck lately with finding an excuse to renew contact with some of said individuals, and people seem to universally respond well to an occasional email, "Hi [Connection], I just heard through the grapevine that you are working on [Project] with [Mutual Friend/Coworker/Supervisor/Whoever]. Just thought I'd let you know I'm finished up on [Other Gig] and available to work. Let me know if you need anything and feel free to pass my name along." Modified as necessary to not sound completely contrived. And obviously NEVER as a mass email!
I feel it's important to remind myself that there's nothing shameful about bald-faced networking. This is an industry where everyone is constantly looking for their next job, and the preferred way of getting said jobs is word of mouth.
posted by Sara C. at 5:13 PM on August 5, 2010
I am "friends" with many of these folks via facebook, but I find that as time passes and I haven't seen or spoken to them in real life, casual communication via comments or wall posts or whatever seems less and less meaningful. So it's not really that simple.
LinkedIn might be a more appropriate forum for this sort of thing, but I find that it isn't used much in my field.
The good news is that I've had luck lately with finding an excuse to renew contact with some of said individuals, and people seem to universally respond well to an occasional email, "Hi [Connection], I just heard through the grapevine that you are working on [Project] with [Mutual Friend/Coworker/Supervisor/Whoever]. Just thought I'd let you know I'm finished up on [Other Gig] and available to work. Let me know if you need anything and feel free to pass my name along." Modified as necessary to not sound completely contrived. And obviously NEVER as a mass email!
I feel it's important to remind myself that there's nothing shameful about bald-faced networking. This is an industry where everyone is constantly looking for their next job, and the preferred way of getting said jobs is word of mouth.
posted by Sara C. at 5:13 PM on August 5, 2010
doobiedoo: "I haven't looked into linkedin much because I work in very visual industry and I think most designers would want to have more control over their portfolio - either as another opportunity to show their creativity or to strip it back down to the bare essentials. I've not seen people put portfolios on their linkedin profile, whereas a lot of people I know have their own websites. Similar issues apply with facebook and twitter."
You are not understanding how networking works. There is no portfolio on LinkedIn; it's not about the work - that's what your website is for - it's about the connections. It's an excellent way to maintain interaction with people whom you have even casual connections.
Similarly, Twitter and Facebook (less so Facebook) are good ways to regularly get yourself in front of people you'd like to remain in touch with. Your industry is really not a special snowflake in this regard, and I say that as someone who is broadly in your industry.
So in summary: yes you need a website and yes you could have a newsletter on it, but the people you want to reach are not going to choose to get nicely dressed spam from you. Join LinkedIn, join Twitter, and find the people you want to connect with there. That is, in a very real sense, what it's there for.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:20 PM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
You are not understanding how networking works. There is no portfolio on LinkedIn; it's not about the work - that's what your website is for - it's about the connections. It's an excellent way to maintain interaction with people whom you have even casual connections.
Similarly, Twitter and Facebook (less so Facebook) are good ways to regularly get yourself in front of people you'd like to remain in touch with. Your industry is really not a special snowflake in this regard, and I say that as someone who is broadly in your industry.
So in summary: yes you need a website and yes you could have a newsletter on it, but the people you want to reach are not going to choose to get nicely dressed spam from you. Join LinkedIn, join Twitter, and find the people you want to connect with there. That is, in a very real sense, what it's there for.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:20 PM on August 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
FYI, Behance just announced an application running inside LinkedIn for displaying your portfolio. (On my screen, scroll down to 'Add an Application' on the lower right, then hit Creative Portfolio Display. 'Course you have to have your stuff on Behance...)
posted by Bron at 5:50 PM on August 5, 2010
posted by Bron at 5:50 PM on August 5, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
I also use these to link people to my own blog when I post something that might be of interest. I have about eight URLs in my email signature, as a low-pressure way of asking people to check out my stuff if they're interested.
I think a personal "email newsletter" would be frowned upon today. That is one thing social networking is for- a way to get yourself out there without directly invading people's inboxes.
posted by drjimmy11 at 3:29 PM on August 5, 2010