3 networking tricks that'll make you unforgettable

When it comes to networking, I feel like there are 4 levels to it.

There's the first level where someone goes to an event and walks out empty-handed with no new connections/opportunities or business cards in their pocket.

There's the second level where someone will walk out of the event with cards, connections, and opportunities but gets too lazy to follow up.

There's the third level where someone walks out of the event with cards, connections, opportunities - and actually follows up with them.

Then there are the people who are on the 4th level. These people are the ones who walk out of a networking event with connections, cards, and opportunities - plus they follow up. But, at the same time, for some reason, they're just absolutely unforgettable.

That's exactly what I'm going to be showing you in this article. How to achieve level 4 networking status that'll help you become unforgettable.

This article will be especially useful for you if you're:

• Trying to impress someone in order to get a job and you need some strategies to help you stand out
• Looking to become a networking ninja and overall better networker
• Looking to make sales and filling your pipeline with potential prospects

Let's get into it:

Trick #1: Business cards suck

This is going to be a little controversial and you might have mixed opinions about this but hear me out.

Does the following situation sound like something you've been in before?

• You're on your way home after attending an amazing conference and your pockets are stuffed with tons of business cards - you're excited because you know these cards are leaking with potential opportunities
• You get home -it's already 10:15 pm- you've got work tomorrow so you get everything ready and you head to bed promising yourself that you'll follow up with everyone tomorrow when you have your energy back
• Tomorrow rolls around and you get caught up with life so you never follow up
• At this point, the cards from the conference are growing cobwebs as they sit on your shelf collecting dust

Yeah, I've definitely been there.

Business cards have sort of become a pet peeve of mine.

Think about it for a second, they require you to do MORE work. You've got to collect the cards, make sure you don't forget them in your pants or else they may end up in the washing machine (I'm guilty of this), then you've got to manually read them all and insert the contact into your LinkedIn.

We're already living busy lives with tons of distractions everywhere - business cards are just adding to that.

So, with that being said, here's my alternative to business cards.

When you're at an event, and you meet someone cool, instead of handing them your business card (hoping that they'll follow up), or collecting their business card (risking the chance you might forget about their card) simply open LinkedIn on your phone, ask if they have a LinkedIn account, and once they say yes simply hand them your phone so they can insert themselves as a connection on your LinkedIn account.

This is much more effective because:

1. When you get home and open LinkedIn you'll see an accepted connection request notification from the person - which serves as a sweet reminder for you to follow up
2. You won't forget to add them to your LinkedIn contact because that's already been done which means less work for you when you get home
3. It's less friction. Let's say you wanted to message them and you only collected their business card: you'd have to add them on LinkedIn, send a request, once they accept your request (let's be honest, it might take them a day or two) you can then finally message them. But, if you've already connected with them at the event and, let's say they've accepted your request right after, you'd basically be coming home to a connection accepted notification, which means, you can message them right away

Trick #2: A follow-up method that'll blow people away

I randomly bumped into a friend whom I haven't seen in a while at a panel in downtown Toronto.

We caught up, exchanged laughs, and then headed our separate ways.

What he did the next day absolutely blew me away.

I got a Facebook message from him, and me not thinking much of it, I opened it and saw that he sent me a video. Okay? At the time I thought this was some sort of pyramid scheme I was being pulled into.

I decided to click the video and I was surprised to find that it was a selfie video recording of himself saying how great it was to see me last night at the event. He then went on to explain how he enjoyed certain details of our conversation that, if I'm being completely honest, I totally forgot about.

I was absolutely blown away at the thought and effort he put behind a simple follow up. I mean, he could have easily just sent me a message saying "hey, great seeing you last night, okay bye". But he didn't, he made an entire video.

And the thing is, it was just a simple video that he recorded off the selfie camera on his phone. And, let's be honest, it's probably so much easier and quicker to record a quick 30-second selfie video off your phone than it is to type a whole paragraph.

Think about it, a simple selfie video follow up is...

• Easier to create than writing out chunks of paragraphs and sentences
• More personable and memorable to the other person receiving it
• Shows a more genuine side of you than a simple text ever could

So, what's the take away for you?

Instead of going the traditional route of a simple LinkedIn message or an email to follow up - take a couple of seconds to record an off the cuff selfie video of yourself telling the other person how great it was meeting them.

But wait, what if you're not comfortable with video?

Easy - send them a voice note instead.

It works just as fine!

Trick #3: Networking overkill

Okay, what I'm about to suggest might be overkill.

But, I promise if you follow through with that I'm about to show you then you'll become the world's best networker, period.

So, when I was job hunting I knew that relationship building was everything. That meant, I would constantly be jumping on phone calls with people left and right in order to start off a connection and hopefully, well, get a job.

To help keep me organized during this chaos I would keep a personal tracker with me that included a list of people I reached out to, point notes on what we talked about, and when to follow up afterward.

My tracker would look something like this (I made up the information for example's sake):

As you can see, I'd note down the last time we chatted, any life events or notes I should keep in mind, and when to follow up.

It's almost like my own personal CRM software, except it's for networking.

Here's what using this tracker generally looked like after a conversation with someone...

• I'd just finish the call with them
• Update the tracker, specifically noting down any life events that have happened so I can bring it up in future conversations. I'd also note down anything they struggled with so I'll know how to help them in the future
• Once I was done updating the tracker, I'd verbally tell my phone to remind me to follow up with (person's name) 1 month from now (since I have a Google Pixel phone it has Google assistant in it) - it's almost like my own personal assistant.

That's it, pretty simple, right?

Setting a reminder is absolutely key here. It's so easy to forget to follow up with someone because, well, life happens. But imagine you wake up one day and you see a reminder on your calendar to ask Carl (someone you met a month ago at a conference) about his kid's birthday - which happened just yesterday.

Imagine how Carl would feel if you followed up with him about that?

After implementing my mini CRM system I've noticed that, especially with the follow-ups, people were generally impressed by how much I remembered about their lives. They'd always tell me, "wow, Alif, you remembered that?".

Plus, this system helped me to keep myself on top of potential employer's minds for any random moment where they hear about a job opening opportunity they think I'd be a good fit for.

And there you have it, 3 networking tips that'll make you unforgettable.

Happy networking!