Social Networking Contact Plan: This Week’s Mindmap

Posted on May 7, 2009 by Dana VanDen Heuvel

Those that know me know all too well that I always have at least a dozen projects going on at once. In fact, as I look at my Google Docs project list, it seems to grow every day. I need to get with David Allen or something to sort this all out. Anyway, one of the benefits of having energy and spreading it around is that I create all of these tools and ‘self help kits’ along the way that I keep in my Levenger notebook and review every day to ensure that I’m still on track with, well, everything that’s going on!

For a recent event that I did on LinkedIn and Facebook, I formalized my social networking connection process, that, admittadly, I follow only most of the time, but it’s still better than having no plan for networking whatsoever, into a concise mind map. For those of us who are pretty staunch introverts, planning our network encounters is just good practice.

Back in 2004 when I started mindmapping, I had actually created an elaborate mindmap of my entire network, at that time largely spread across California and Wisconsin. That mindmap has become unusable (unless you were to print it out in poster size) but the mind map below I think you’ll find quite useful. Here’s how I use it:

1. Every week or two, I print out a fresh copy and between the emails marked follow up, the business cards I’ve collected and the ‘next target sector’ on my marketing plan, I write down who I need to network with and a bit of info about how I’m going to do so.

2. I then work through the map over the next week or two to ensure that I’ve ‘touched’ the right people in order to help those I’ve committed to, move a project forward or make inroads into a prospective client.

3. I keep the maps in an ‘archive notebook’ to look back on in the event that I get too far out of touch with someone.

I’m not saying that this map or that this system will work for everyone, but it’s what works, mostly, for me and a few others that I’ve spoken with. You can download a PDF of the map here and if you’re a MindJet MindManager user, you can get the source file here.

social%20networking%20contact%20map handout Social Networking Contact Plan: This Weeks Mindmap
From MarketingSavant Mind Maps

If you like this map, you might also like the rest of the Mindmaps that we produce as well! Check out the MarketingSavant Mindmaps here.

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  • Tami M Pederson

    Thanks Dana for the great tool. Helps keep me organized and focused.

  • Mark Hackl

    Thanks Dana.

  • Carl Fisher

    Question on usage.

    There are 14 categories of contacts each with 3 lines by it. Do you attempt to make 42 (3 times 14) contacts per week? Seems like a lot to me but I’m new to networking? What is a reasonable number of contacts to make each week or month?

  • http://www.marketingsavant.com Dana VanDen Heuvel

    Carl,

    Thanks for dropping by!

    You make a good point and ask as good question. I personally don’t make 42 contacts per week, but if you make “a few a day” and work through the map over 2 weeks, it’s pretty reasonable. Some weeks you might only make a few contacts in a week, but at least you’re keeping track of who you need to be in touch with, at whatever rate is comfortable for you.