Welcome back to On the Schmooze. Thank you so much for joining me. Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Belinda Rosenblum, this week you’ll be hearing from me, your host.

Every other week I’ll be offering my take on some aspect of networking and relationship-building. These shorter podcast episodes will include practical networking tips and techniques you can put into practice right away. My hope is those insights from me, and my guests will help you achieve the leadership position you’re seeking, build and sustain your professional network, and find the work/life balance that works best for you.

This week I’ll be sharing excerpts from my book – specific tips for following up and staying in touch.

Exchanging business cards does not indicate that you are establishing a relationship. Evidence of that is when you actually make plans to reconnect. So stop obsessing over collecting as many business cards as possible, because all you end up with then is a stack of business cards on your desk. Focus instead on having conversations where you leave the person wanting to talk further.

Of course, actually following up is key to building relationships. When I present my Art of the Schmooze session, I ask participants to raise their hand if they are good at follow-up. Every time only a few tentative hands go up. This is why it’s important to have strategic goals and a networking plan, so you’ll know before you even leave for the event why you’re going and who you hope to meet.

Listen, subscribe and read shownotes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com – episode 48.