Most everyone knows how important it is to have contacts in business – but did you know keeping up with your contacts is just as important when you work from home, or are starting a home business? Just who are your contacts though, and how do you keep track of them? This blog post will answer those questions.
Who are my contacts?
Anyone that you’ve done business with is considered a contact. That includes people you worked for at brick and mortar companies as well as online. Even people you’ve contacted about work that may not have hired you for one reason or another are considered contacts.
Why are contacts important?
Contacts are important for many reasons. They can help you get jobs or work. My contacts have told me about other sources of information about companies that are hiring. For example, one person I knew from another company I worked at told me a about a website that someone that she knew ran, called Work at Home Adventures. I started reading that website and saw that the owner of the website provided a lot of useful information for people who worked from home, or were looking for work at home jobs. After I read it for a while, I contacted her with a an idea I had for a post I wanted to write. That first blog post was written over 5 years ago, and to this day I still write posts for it. Another contact told me about a few people he knew that were looking for freelance writers. Though I have yet to get any freelance work through them, I will keep in touch with this contact and let him know about my progress.
How do I keep track of my contacts?
There are a number of different ways you can keep track of your contacts. If you’re given a business card, there are smartphone apps you can use to “scan” business cards into your phone. One of my favorite apps for this is Evernote. I take any business cards I get and scan them right into the app by using the camera and choosing “Business Card” After I’ve scanned the business card into Evernote, I get rid of it. For online contacts, you can save the information into the address book of the email provider you use most often. For me that’s Gmail – Gmail actually makes it pretty easy to add contacts, especially if they also have a Gmail address. You can go to https://support.google.com/mail/answer/8933?hl=en to find out more.
That’s the information I wanted to share with you about why contacts are important, who your contacts are and how to keep track of them. If you have any other comments, I’d love to hear them! Please feel free to comment below.
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