GUEST POST: 3 Tips to Help You Stay in Touch with Your Network (Without Spending More Time Than You’d Like on Social Media)
It’s time for another guest post. If you ever find yourself jumping on social media with the intention of doing a little professional networking, and then completely lose track of time and purpose, I hope these tips help. I’ll let Bill take it away.
By Bill Peatman at Prialto
I learned the importance of staying in touch with my network the hard way.
During the last recession, I was out of work for the first time in years.
I saw an ad for a great opportunity on LinkedIn, and a former coworker worked at the company.
So, I called him to ask for a referral.
"Dude, I've reached out to you like five times, you haven’t responded, and now you call me to ask for a job?"
He hung up.
Oops.
So what had happened? Was I just being rude?
Not intentionally. But I’d cut back on social media because I wasted so much time there. Often, I’d start scrolling, then look at the time and an hour would be gone. I’d spent time, but hadn’t done much. I had to figure out a better way.
Social media can be a blessing and a curse. It's a great way to keep in touch with people professionally, but it can also be a time sink. Here are a few ways I've learned to stay connected to my network without spending a ton of time mindlessly scrolling.
1 - Systematize, and personalize, your reach outs
We’ve got a lot on our mind already, and the social media platforms know it. One way social platforms encourage engagement is to try to make it as easy as possible. Just check your LinkedIn feed and you’ll see canned responses, at the ready, to congratulate people on promotions, work anniversaries, birthdays, etc.
You may have looked at these and thought “ug, how insincere”. I know I did. In fact, I used to click on "Congrats on the new role" and "happy birthday" and say nothing more. But when I was on the receiving end of those messages, I realized how hollow they felt to me, especially from friends or from people I had felt close to when we worked together.
But that doesn’t mean they aren’t a good starting point! You can use these reminders to your advantage. Allow those messages to guide WHO you reach out to (systems!) and then add a quick personal note (personalization!). Personalizing doesn't take much more time than clicking on the canned message, and the impact can be disproportionately large.
Consider these two responses to a job announcement from a former coworker.
"Congratulations.”
"Hey Bob, congratulations. Man, I enjoyed working with you. Your new company is lucky to have you."
Or a birthday.
"Happy birthday."
"Happy birthday Bob. It's great to see you pop up on my feed, and it makes me smile about our time working together. I hope you and Mary can celebrate in style."
Which would you remember? I know I always remember and respond to personal comments. And I've found when I take a few more seconds to write something meaningful, I get a personal response and a stronger tie. It also just feels better.
I guarantee you that if I had made as simple a gesture as these with my former coworker over the years, my failed call would have gone much better.
2 - Schedule it
I work in marketing, and social media is often part of my job. Even when using social networks for work, I used to get lost in time and find myself watching Ted Talks and cat videos. Remember, the goal of these networks is to addict you. But resistance is not futile!
So now, I schedule 15-30 minutes for social media at the end of the day and power through my posts and responses.
The rest of the time I:
Turn off notifications on my phone and computer, so I'm not interrupted (read: tempted)
Close the social media tabs on my browser for the same reason
Set the alarm for a 30-minute countdown, so I remember to stop
3 - Curate your feeds (aka unfollow and unfriend)
If you're like me, you have all kinds of contacts that are not relevant to your life or work now. Maybe they are influencers in an industry you no longer work in. Or they might be people you followed because they followed you.
So, you end up scrolling through all kinds of notifications just to delete or ignore them. Those seconds can add up to minutes fast! When your feed gets crowded with irrelevant posts, it is harder and takes longer to find the relevant ones.
It's a lot like your email inbox when you wind up with dozens of newsletters every day that you signed up for but don't read anymore. A little time spent unsubscribing can save a lot of time over the long run.
Sure, it can seem a little weird to "unfriend" people, but if you're not friends, no harm, no foul. To do this efficiently:
Unfollow people as you receive notifications
Open your contacts and unfollow as many as you can during your scheduled social media time (see last tip)
If you think the contacts may be relevant in the future, just turn off notifications related to them for now