ShareThisPing
Completed
Created Jan 01, 2010
| Tags
friends, social networking, business
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I am going to spend some time per day "pinging" people. That is just contacting them to open the connection again and keep new connections alive. |
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The idea is to ping at least one person per day and keep track of the feedback. Success is I when my social network starts to be alive again (one ping back per ten pings going out). |
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I'm done at this years end but will try to follow up weekly. |
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I used to have a lot of friends/business partners etc but now days my life is quite empty of people... So just contacting someone I haven't talked to for a while, or keeping track of someones birthday to call back again will be fantastic. |
Comments & Observations
Liza Cunningham Hey there Fredrik, this is a great experiment idea. I will be curious to see how much energy it takes, and if you feel rewarded by simply reaching out to people (such a good thing)
Jan 01, 2010
Fredrik Just a couple of days have passed and already I can see something happening. A job opening came to me that I didn't need but I just forwarded to some people in that line of work. Some of them I haven't talked to in a couple of years so I thought this would be a good icebreaker.... So now I have some lunches and beers booked in a not to distant future.
Jan 04, 2010
Matthew Cornell I love this idea, Fredrik, esp. the idea of using an event to trigger naturally re-connecting. Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, talks about doing this regularly. I've been using Plaxo's automatic birthday reminders as an excuse, but it's even better to use something /useful/, such as the job opening you mention. Another thing I've tried, but dropped off from, is keeping a steady stream of possibly useful information coming in, and passing along articles, ideas, etc. to folks when something stands out. I wrote about it a while ago ("How to help people" - http://matthewcornell.org/blog/2008/01/how-to-help-people.html
Keep us informed!
Jan 12, 2010
Fredrik I now try to write down things to get back to people about whenever I talk to them. It can be anything from birthdays to when they are back from vacation to having sick kids. In that way I find more reasons to contact to just say hi again...
So far I can see a small increase of invites to happenings and my email basket getting more "social calls". So at the moment I will just continue with what I am doing and then the next step will be to start to create events (go for a beer, eat lunch together etc).
Thanks Mathew I will have a look at the link and also have a look at the book. The idea is originally from some self-help book I can't recall the name of right now...
Jan 28, 2010
Fredrik Meeting people is always fun but most meetups in a friendly matter always contain food and bevarage which is not always good. Eating out is expensive not too mention the effect it has on my waistline. So any ideas on alternative activities is appreciated? For the summer I have a bunch but now it is winter so do you know any indoor activities?
Feb 12, 2010
Matthew Cornell I love your progress, Fredrik, and the results you're getting. Nice work. Re: meetups, food, and drink - I know what you mean. I wonder if it's a cultural thing. I don't know where you live, but I don't have many social activity options that are different from standing and talking. I'm not religious so church is out. How about some of the things Liza's trying at Work, Relationship, Fun Balance (http://edison.thinktrylearn.com/experiments/show/109), such as getting outside, visiting gardens, etc? Also, I've stopped drinking alcohol, which required some experimentation and creativity when at events like you describe. The weight watchers people have tricks, such as eating healthy /before/ you go. I also joke about being the designated driver, then have some low-cal drink like water or juice.
Feb 14, 2010
Fredrik I will mark this experiment as successful as my contactnetwork is growing by the day. And in conclusion I have some tips I have found along the way :
* Use a calendar to remind you of things you can contact people about. Have they had a vacation, birthdays of your contact and your contacts family, big events that you know have happened in the contacts life that you know they celebrate (4 weeks on a diet, 5 years since last smoke, finishing the evening studies etc).
* When you know someone a bit more you also know what they like/are looking for. And soon you will start to notice things for them that you can forward. For example empty apartments (there is always someone looking), new job (help someone that you are know is looking by posting a request for them on your social media).
* A short date can be more valuable then a full evening. If all time possible to set aside is for a cup of coffee take it. A 10 minutes talk person to person can be really valuable...
* Mix it up. If you know two persons with a common interest create an event where they will meet. For example you know two people who have dogs, book a dogwalk with them both and you have a perfect icebreaker.
I still have tweaks to do (create more events not involving food and drinks), more notes to handle (a-big-arse-text-file at the moment) etc but overall this has really been a success.
Feb 24, 2010
Liza Cunningham Congrats on your experiment! I am curious to hear how Edison worked for you on this? Did you find the observations helpful? Any reflections on this site as a tool for personal growth?
Feb 24, 2010
Fredrik I thought Edison worked perfect as the observations gets focused on my project it all provides possible new ideas. And of course also keeping something updated in a topic means you have to work the topic to be able to provide something new.
I like the site and that was why I started to try it out with this project and will shortly add some new ones.
Feb 25, 2010
Liza Cunningham Cool, thanks for the feedback. Great to have you as an early adopter!
Feb 25, 2010
Matthew Cornell That's helpful feedback, Fredrik. I second Liza's thanks for jumping in early!
Feb 26, 2010