Is this a challenge you share?
[My biggest networking challenge is] to continuously reach professionals working in central London as well as maintaining occasional contact with existing contacts
At first glance, it seems like the issue may be not having enough time to do both.
But perhaps it’s lack of time, in combination with trying to find and reach the right people.
Either way, here are two important points to keep in mind:
- What are you networking?
In other words, why do you want to build or maintain your network? For what purpose?
Do you want your network to help you generate new business, give you advice and information, provide guidance and encouragement, or all of the above?
Once you know this, you’ll have a clear sense of what kinds of people to meet, whom to keep in touch with — and why.
- “Networking” is not the same as “keeping in touch”.
Don’t confuse the two!
You keep in touch with people you know for a variety of reasons. And networking may be one such reason.
For instance, you may keep in touch with a business associate from a project you worked on together, just because you like his or her company. And one day, he or she may be able to help with a networking goal you have.
On the other hand, if your only reason to keep in touch with someone is for “networking” purposes, it can get tedious. This is why networking often fails.
You can avoid this problem (and the confusion) by first clarifying why you want to meet or reconnect with someone (i.e. to talk about what?).
Keeping these two points in mind will help make the whole networking process more manageable for you.