For some people, this is a tough one. You must enjoy people if you are to develop an effective network of contacts. If you do not, and you simply view them as a means to your professional ends, you will always be limited in your effectiveness. People generally know when they are being used.

I’m treading on dangerous ground with this one. Everyone sees the world from his own perspective. You might be saying, “I have a personality.” However, technologists are particularly guilty of a personality that includes two contact-killing traits: introversion and arrogance.

The analytical nature of technology both draws and cultivates on a somewhat introspective mindset. This is particularly true for those in the programmer/analyst crowd.

Many technologists are perfectly happy at their terminal, designing and building their latest creation. Long periods of concentrated effort are required to be effective. For this reason, they come across as aloof.

If you are introverted, you will have to make an effort to ensure that you network adequately. It will be a stretch, but the payoff will be well worth it.

More dangerous, however, is an attitude of arrogance. This is less prevalent during economic downturns, but it is often so bad that it has become the source of cartoons, jokes, and incredibly, an entire character on Saturday Night Live.

Several years ago, the popular comedy program Saturday Night Live built an entire parody around a computer professional named Nick Burns. The “computer guy” skits might be over the top, but rarely does parody exist without reason. The perception among many nontechnical people is that “computer guys” or “gals” have a superiority complex and treat nontechnical users with the same disdain that Nick Burns, the Saturday Night Live computer guy, does.

If you are to effectively build a useful professional network, do not become or appear as a “Nick Burns.”

Develop interests and points of conversation that are outside the realm of technology.

It is not that I don’t enjoy technology. I would not have spent the time and effort developing those skills if I didn’t. I’m the first to admit that I am a geek and proud of it. However, I recommend that your conversations take a far less binary tone when in mixed company.

In addition, if you are on the technical fringe, you must develop interests outside of science fiction and obscure collections.

It is not that I mind the obscure or the eccentric. In fact, these can be great personality enhancers if you have some other common interests, too. People will find you interesting and will be likely to remember you if you can mix general interests with those that are more obscure.

I have tried to make it a habit of introducing myself to those I do not know, even prior to a formal introduction. I don’t want awkward moments of silence or wondering whom an individual is while I wait for a host or common friend to make the introduction.

This practice has made it easier for me to strike up conversations in various public places. If I catch someone’s eye, rather than perform the standard practice of quickly looking away and then struggling not to meet that person’s eyes again, I’ll simply say, “Hello, I’m Matt.”

Such introductions generally lead to conversations. Conversations ultimately lead to the topic of profession and interest. And the conversations can progress from there.

To some, this exchange is natural. These people are natural people persons. I am sure this is how I come across. However, I want to emphasize that this is also a learned and developed skill. If you practice it enough times, it will feel less contrived and more natural.

Just the other day, I was waiting for coffee and started a conversation with another patron. This man, as it turns out, runs a small insurance company. As we discussed our two areas of expertise, we were able to find a natural connection. We traded cards, and although we have conducted no formal business together, we are trading promising correspondence.

I am confident that he or one of his clients will need technology help in the future. But even if that’s not the case, the two of us have developed a professional friendship, passing relevant information back and forth over e-mail.

Keeping business cards in a shoe box is generally ineffective when it comes to tracking your professional contacts and correspondence. Fortunately, you have other alternatives.

The first is to create a tracking database. I developed exactly such a database when I had my consulting company. It tracks vital company information and virtually every correspondence that I, or one of my consultants, have had with a company. In addition, it tracks billable hours spent on project work.

Microsoft Outlook is my primary means of contact management these days. Because much of my correspondence is e-mail, it is the primary source of information. It also synchronizes with my Palm handheld so that I have my contacts with me at all times.

Both Act and GoldMine create products that are specific to tracking and corresponding with clients. Each can be modified to capture the information I cover in the discussion that follows. If you are already using a contact manager and are comfortable with it, simply incorporate the pieces of information that follow. The program or method that you use is less important than your ability to get to the information that you need.

I customized Microsoft Outlook quite a bit. I utilize categories extensively to track my contacts, and I’ve altered many of the views to show my contacts, tasks, and appointments in particularly useful ways.

Regardless of the method used, I perform key contact enhancers. I make sure, when I speak with people and get cards, that I write a few short notes about the conversation:

I then enter this information into the notes for Outlook. The notes serve a dual purpose. They serve to remind me of the conversation. In today’s world, we have a lot of things to remember. I would love to say that I remember each person I meet. However, sometimes I meet someone and we do not speak again for six months or even a year. The notes jog my memory so that I can recall our conversation.

The notes serve another important purpose. People are flattered when you remember them. Rather than call someone and say, “I have your name here, but I can’t remember anything we talked about,” you can recall particular elements of the conversation.

You might call and say, “Hello, Jim, it’s Matt Moran. We met at Starbucks last year and talked about your insurance company. You had just installed a new conference room. How is that working out?”

Jim is much more likely to remember you, too, with that approach. In addition, your interest in his company and a specific project will have a tremendous impact on him.

I always enter a next contact date. I can use this to bring up a list of records to contact for the next week. Sometimes these are in the form of a short e-mail. Other times, they are in the form of a phone call. After I make the connection—and based on the feedback, if any—I enter the next contact date.

Other key pieces of information to note with regard to your contacts are as follows:

I am sure, as you develop your contacts, that you will determine the information you find important. It is all about making an effective connection. You will find those areas that are effective for you. Mold your contact management and tracking to address those areas.

All of the information in the preceding list is to convey the message that you remember that person. Few things are as critical to an individual as personal recognition. If you are able to recall a conversation or an individual’s interest or family information, you will make an impact.

Some might ask if this is contrived or artificial. I don’t believe so. You have the opportunity to meet hundreds of people over the course of a year. It would be irresponsible of you to simply log them into memory and then hope you remember them. That you would take the time to write down notes to help you remember someone shows interest in cultivating some type of relationship.

In fact, when I take someone’s card, I tell him that I’m going to write some notes about our conversation. I say, “I’m going to write on the back of your card so that I can be sure to remember our conversation.”

No one has ever complained about that.

Typically, I contact people within a few days to a week, just to thank them for the meeting and short conversation. Believe me, doing this will separate you from others they have met.

This is particularly important if the conversation did not produce an immediate opportunity. It is easy to get back in touch with someone who has something you desire. It takes a bit more effort to get back in touch with someone just to say hello.

Ultimately, most people are opportunists. However, you must carry the perspective that you care about the people you meet beyond what they can “get you” in the short term. The long-term benefit of building such relationships is both professionally and personally satisfying.

You should care! If not, you will soon be discovered and categorized as a “user” or a “player”—someone who networks and cultivates relationships just for what he can get out of it.

The idea behind effective networking is to build contacts with which you can share opportunities. Sharing is the key concept here. If you create a network of contacts hoping that they will think of you for every opportunity, although you never share opportunity with them, you are mistaken.

There is a synergy and general feeling of community that will lend a genuine empathy to your dealings. Make no mistake; a me-only perspective will impact the effectiveness of your professional networking. This is clearly most effective as a two-way street.

Also, when people begin to view you as a person who knows people and can make those connections vital to professional development, they will contact you. This has the added benefit of keeping you in the communication cycle. You will be more aware of what types of opportunities are being developed, furthering your value as a professional contact.

I used to tell my employees that I wanted our company contacted if a client needed a window washer or his carpets cleaned. It wasn’t because we provided that service, but because I wanted to be viewed as the company that provided solutions and knew others in different lines of work, with the same attitude. We would facilitate relationships, increasing our value.

I cannot count the number of times I’ve been contacted by someone in my contact list to find assistance for projects outside of my purview. They simply believe that I will know someone. And when I do not, I scan my list of contacts to find someone I believe will know the right contact.

In the end, I am typically able to assist the person who contacted me.

Professional networking is the lifeblood of career development. Again, develop your professional network. This skill will become one of the most valuable tools you employ over the course of your career. Work at it constantly until it becomes natural.