Stop! Are you throwing away clutter…or cash?

July 29th, 2011 |

The other day, I was cleaning out my desk and was shocked to find about a hundred or so business cards rubber banded together. Each with little notes attached telling what event they were from and how I connected. Confession: I have kept these for so long that I forgot what I was ever going to do with them.

Until today!

I decided to take 5 cards a day, go online, pull up the website of each contact and learn a little about the person on the card. Then I took it one step further: I pulled them up on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn, to see what they were posting and why they were engaging with me.

A bit stalker-ish, you say? Let’s call it investing in a potential collaboration, or client. After I finished my research, I knew whose card I could throw away because we were not a match – not everyone is my ideal client, nor do I want to connect with everyone, and decided to focus on the rest.

All I had to do is pick up the phone and say something like, “Hey, Robert, I met you at Alex’s event… you probably don’t remember me… I’m the one that spilled the bottle of water on myself… yeah, that one… I was going through my notes from that event and had you highlighted as someone I wanted to get to know better. Do you have a minute?” If they don’t have a minute, make an appointment with them before you hang up the call.

If you have done your your research, and concluded that his person is someone you would like to connect with, by all means it is of complete integrity to use that “I know you, we’ve met” line. So make that call. Open the lines of communication – you never know what’s waiting on the other side: It might be the perfect sales call, the next client, the best strategic alliance to refer you new business, or you can simply cultivate a relationship that may turn into a joint venture.

Get creative in generating leads, connecting with the right people, forming the perfect partnerships for yourself, and finding the perfect clients. Dig through your piles – your next treasure might just be literally under your nose.

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