Networking is all about building relationships. It is the whole reason why I started hosting Mappy Hours. Networking is you finding out more about another person and they get the chance to learn more about you. From my experience, the best networking comes when you just say I’d love to learn more about you.
Let me first start by saying that I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with whatever approach you use as you create your career in data analysis. I have a huge following on LinkedIn which I’ve found really helpful as I have built a business. However, when you reach out to people and ask for a favor you really should have a relationship with them — even if it is just an online one.
One thing that I am asked often because of my role within the geospatial community is to connect individuals to other people. I very much value my network and my connections and I am often hesitant to connect and ask someone to take their time as I often have a very little context for the ask being made of me. Often these come in a format that puts a lot of labor and effort on me–as the person doing the connecting. In general, I am prone to inertia so I generally won’t take the time to dig in and do the labor for you.
I want to share with you a tool that I’ve learned that can really help with building connections in the GIS and Data Analysis Profession and that’s called the forwardable email. This is not something that I have developed.
Enter the Forwardable Email
The basics behind a forwardable email is that you write an email that you send to someone (perhaps after a networking event) asking if they would mind sending it on to members of their network. You (as the asker) are doing the labor for me and I have a better idea of what the ask is before I send it onto my network.
So, here’s how you do it, you send me an email saying something like:
Hi Bob!
It was so great to meet you at the latest Mappy hour. I really enjoyed our conversation about GIS for Social Change. I really admire the work that you are doing with GIS and Community Organizing. As we discussed, that’s something that I am very interested in and really want to connect with more people to understand how we can leverage GIS to move the world forward. I was wondering if you would be able to connect me with a few people in your network? To make your life easier, I’ve included a forwardable email below, and I would be very grateful if you forwarded it on.
I am so thankful for you, Bob!
Juliana
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Hello, I’m Juliana McMillan-Wilhoit. I run a consulting firm called Tabulae Spatial Services, where I work, to help mission-driven organizations leverage data to make more informed decisions. I recently met Bob at a networking event. And we discussed my passion for using data analytics for social change. I would love to be able to talk with you more about how you are leveraging analytics for change in your organization. My schedule is fairly open, feel free to propose a few times, or if it’s easier, feel free to schedule a coffee chat using this link. And as a thank you for taking the time for talking with me, please let me know if you have a favorite local coffee shop that I can buy you a gift card to.
You can see my LinkedIn Profile here: www.linkedin.com/in/julianamapper. You can email me at email@gmail.com
And that’s it– a forwardable email.
Here are a few things to include:
- Saying who you are and what, what you do. This is your personal value proposition (something we cover in-depth in our portfolio workshop).
- What’s the ask? Are you asking someone for a job? Are you asking for a networking opportunity to find out more about a field? Are you looking for guidance on your career?
- Contact information. What’s your email? How can they schedule with you? When are you available? I am a huge fan of having a calendar link as it makes scheduling so much easier. However, don’t force them to use it because you’re coming to them so if they have a calendar link use theirs by making it easy for you to be someone with who they can schedule a time and treat these connections with respect.
I can’t wait to see how you use forwardable emails!