Commit time to process. Commit a set amount of time each week to re-connect and maintain contact with people identified above. This is not about making a phone call, shooting off an e-mail or sending out a letter to let these individuals know about your business. It is process of re-establishing and maintaining relationships with these individuals.

Look for ways that you can assist and support them. Before you make a request for help from person you are connecting with, think about ways you can be of assistance to them. When you contact someone from your list, especially if it is someone you have not had contact with on an ongoing basis, tell them you want to update them on what you are doing and that you want to find out about what they are doing. Ask them what they need and how you might be of assistance. If appropriate based on your previous relationship, re-connect on a personal level as well as a business level. Ask how kids are and what they’re doing now.

Stay in touch. Networking is about relationships and relationships require ongoing contact and communication. The most effective way to maintain contact is to follow-up with referrals, information, or ideas that you can assist them with. It is not about calling once a month or once a quarter to see if they have any business or any referrals for you.

Don’t neglect those lower on your list. Don’t overlook those individuals who did not make top of your list, especially if they are people whom you have or had a strong connection with. These people may be able to assist you (and you may be able to assist them) in ways you never even dreamed of.

Incorporate everyone into your “Rolodex”. In this age of computerized address books and PDAs it is easy to maintain an up-to-date address book and carry it with you everywhere you go. You never know when you might be able to provide a referral for one of members of your network and it is powerful to be able to provide their name and contact information right on spot. Add them to mailing list for your newsletter, Holiday Cards, and any other mailings you might do. It’s just one more way to maintain ongoing contact.

Focusing on people you already know to jumpstart your network can be not only profitable but also very enjoyable as you reconnect with old friends and re-establish neglected relationships.

© 2003 Strategies-by-DESIGN. May be reprinted with credits and contact information.

The panels that should be questioned are those that are assembled by surveys that rely on large volumes of general public whose motivation for participating is only reward they will receive, they will often have no knowledge, understanding or interest as to 'who', 'why' or 'what' of research that is being carried out.

Research companies that attract either part-time or full time PSP's rarely make any reference about importance of research they conduct but instead concentrate on offers of easy money and extra income.

Some survey methods will be more vulnerable than others, most vulnerable perhaps being online surveys itself. Company's that use PSP research data have to ask themselves how many surveys would it take for each PSP to realise that more surveys they take more cash or other incentives they receive. Will they after completing three or four surveys even think about question or just click on any random response?

Although telephone surveys and focus groups will be less prone to problem of people responding in a random or unconsidered manner with each telephone survey they take, and focus group they attend, they are becoming less like a member of general public and more like a professional respondent.

A survey can have many purposes and not all surveys are conducted with a view to being impartial and fair. Like a tobacco company that funds research into effects of nicotine, findings can be manipulated to reinforce a particular line of argument. Panels and PSP's have their place but if a company is relying on good and accurate market research data – beware survey panel!