What are the three Rs of networking and how do they work?

Follow the three Rs of networking—radar, recall and reward. You have to put yourself out on your new contact’s radar within a week of connecting. So within a week you send an e-mail and say, “It was so nice to see you at….” Next is recall. Remember what they said to you. You should never be so focused on what you have to say that you forget to listen. At some point, they are going to say something personal and you need to remember it. Next comes reward. You have to give them something, nothing to do with your business, just a nice gesture. So if you write, “I remember you talked of your love of sushi restaurants. I am attaching a link to a cool Web site that features all sushi restaurants opening up in your area.” By doing this, at the very least you will get a response, and at the very most, you win yourself a brand-new network connection. Always follow the three Rs. More