2/5/15 Is Not Just A Date In The Future


By Eric Spencer on June 11, 2013

Posted by Eric Spencer | June 11, 20132/5/15 Is Not Just A Date In The FutureIn our high-speed, social media driven existences, we’re almost always interacting with other people.  Maybe it’s formal communication for work, an email or phone call to touch base, or even a quick “txt abt din & jst 2 say <3”.Every day we work at building, developing, and deepening our relationships.  Whether we mean to or not, we make decisions about growing and/or solidifying our relationship ecosystem.  Sometimes we push information into this network; I know of a new opportunity, someone just got a promotion, I have good (or bad) news to share.  Sometimes we need to call upon this network to assist; I need a good car guy, where is the best sushi place in town, I’m going to be in Pittsburgh next week – of the mother of all networking requests – I’m looking for a new gig.  Sometimes, those in our networks call upon us to do the same things for them.We also know people who are insanely good at this.  They are connected to everyone and seem to know “a guy” for just about anything.  Want an introduction to XYZ company?  No problem.  Need a trustworthy plumber?  Piece of cake.  Like to get connected with someone in the burgeoning field of animal RFID tagging?  Yeah, they know them too.  How do these people do it?  How do these “unificators” (as I like to call them) manage to have day jobs, normal lives, sometimes even families as well – AND build these vibrant relationship ecosystems full of connections whom they know (to some degree) and are willing to help?Some folks are just gifted.  Others have a system.  Unfortunately, I’m not one of the gifted ones – but I have do have a system that’s reasonably easy and consistently reaps rewards.  That said, systems alone will not move the needle in this space.  We’re talking about human beings.  People are emotional creatures and like it or not, “feel” things.  If you’re out there in the wild, working your system solely to collect as many folks in your network as possible, your network likely won’t be there for you when you need it.  If you honestly care about growing your network, and helping those folks who are in it – you’re efforts will pay you back in spades.  Ok, that’s enough karmic philosophy for a blog post.  Let’s get to the nitty gritty of the system, shall we?Building networks, like successful selling, or counting cards in Las Vegas, is a numbers game.  If you ring enough doorbells, someone will answer.  Being disciplined enough to stick to a system that actually gets this flywheel spinning is the key.  I’m an analytical type of numbers-oriented person.  I believe that success here lies in some numerical targets for types of communication.  The first thing that needs to be decided is an accountability frequency.  How often are you going to stop and take a look at the scoreboard?  I find the most effective units in this equation are “per day” or “per week”.When we think about human communications, we can parse it into three basic forms: face-to-face, verbal, and written.  These are our buckets.  2/5/15 utilizes these buckets in a very simple, but meaningful way.  It breaks down like this, every day (or week or whatever unit you choose) I hold myself accountable to the following:2 Face-to-Face Meetings5 Phone Calls15 Total Contacts (and this includes the 7 above, so you’re almost halfway there!)This isn’t as hard as it sounds, because every human interaction counts!  If you end up having lunch with your Mom, it counts – 1 Face-to-Face meeting down!  Call your sister on the way home?  No problem – 4 calls to go!  Drop a couple of emails just to say hello?  Only 11 contacts left!It’s really not as hard as it might sound.  When you start tracking these contacts, you’ll likely realize that you’re doing a fair amount of this already.  What I’ve noticed with using this system is that there are many opportunities every day to reinforce these connections.People say to me all the time, “How do you stay in touch with so many people?”  I tell ‘em 2/5/15, and that usually sparks a conversation.  2/5/15 isn’t simply quantitative, however.  Next blog, we’ll delve into the quality of these 2/5/15 interactions and how to maximize the value created through them.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have 7 more contacts to make today. =)Related ArticlesHow to end a networking conversation with styleNetworking advice tends to focus on how to get started, work a room, talk to anyone. 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