45.

Build a Granular Database

The foundation of all your networking efforts will be the creation of a granular database. This is a term I borrowed from digital media, a field in which I worked as a consultant for about nine years. (Note: When you're a freelancer and you have clients—people with whom you work on a contract basis—you call yourself a “consultant.”)

Your granular database should be both electronic and portable, residing in whatever device you carry around at all times—your smart phone, iPad, or laptop. You never know when and where you'll need to connect with someone, and you'll want your database accessible.

A traditional contacts database—it was called a “Rolodex” back in the day—contained the names of one's contacts, along with their phone numbers and addresses. A granular database includes these, and so much more:

• Places they've lived.
• Places they've worked, including their job titles.
• Names of their significant others, children, and pets.
• Important dates in their life (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.).
• Their hobbies and interests.
• Their personality traits and quirks, pet peeves, and behaviors—what I call sweet spots. These may include tidbits like, “loves Scotch,” “very sarcastic,” “practical joker,” “hates Libertarians,” “Anglophile,” etc.

You want to begin looking at the people you know as potential sources of work—either direct (they might hire you) or indirect (they could refer you). You are building a detailed profile on everyone you know, beginning with those most likely to hire or refer you.

Why? There's an old saying, “It's not what you know, it's who you know.” Actually, it's “It's not what you know, it's who you know and how often you appear on their radar.” We've established that people in our technology-saturated world are busy. You and your need to find work are not in the forefront of their minds. The granular database is a tool you can update and use for the rest of your working life to keep track of the people you know. It is the foundation for organized and systematic networking. You will eventually have thousands of people with whom you will need to stay in touch, and your granular database is what will allow you to do that.