From ActiveNetworkers
What does it mean to be a connection? There are no standards. For some people it means that we blow air kisses, for others it's a blood oath. I established my PersonalNetworkingContract to share my thoughts and expectations. It's my pledge of support for my network. I require that all my LinkedIn connections agree to support me in kind. (No, you don't have to sign anything and it's not legally binding!) Feel free to use or adapt this to your own purposes and email me with any suggestions.
Update - 2/21/09. Wonderful LinkedIn has capped the number of connections, which I'm well over. Managing my contact relationship through LinkedIn is no longer possible, necessitating changes to this Contract.
-- MarcFreedman, Your LinkDaddy
Personal Networking Contract
You are one of my business contacts. You may have asked me to send you a LinkedIn invitation, accepted one I sent you, are a part of one of my Blue, DallasBlue, or MyLink events, networks, or services, or sent me a business email.
I am honored to be a part of your network. That carries a responsibility that I take seriously. I pledge to help, support, and inform you so that we both may grow and succeed in our personal and business endeavors. The following outlines some specific aspects of my commitment.
CURRENT. I will provide current information on my email address(es), other forms of contact as appropriate, and my availability either directly or through our mutual online network. I will make sure that my primary email address on LinkedIn is current.
TIMELY. I will endeavor to process your emails and online network requests on a timely basis, provided they are direct personal requests. Please understand however that like you I receive an unholy number of emails and sometimes have prioritize them and so may not be able to respond as quickly as I’d. Also just like you I may be unavailable due to intense personal or business demands, travel, and even vacation, at least I used to know what that was.
CONTACTS. I will use the online network where we are connected for requests or contacts over that network. I will not ask you for email addresses of individuals unless you and I have a close relationship and there is an emergency.
BUSINESS UPDATES. If I contact you about a specifically for a non-networking company or product, I will provide and use a separate commercial mailing list that you can opt out of. In fact you are more than welcome to sign up now at http://dallasblue.com/lists.htm !
NETWORKING UPDATES. Staying in touch with your contacts is a fundamental part of networking. How can I help you, or vice versa, if I don't know what's new and what you currently seek or provide? Indeed LinkedIn, my primary network, provides and enables such updates in several places (when you change your profile, create a LinkedIn question, refer a member, post a job, etc.)
I will send you updates generally no more than once every one to three months. These updates will be a personal communication from me that may cover news of a personal, professional, and business nature. I invite you to similarly update me.
USE EMAIL. I will not use default forms for updates as they do not respect you and your time. They provide virtually no information and force you to start up your browser and then search for what is new on my profile. Instead I will provide the new information for the updates in the update email subject and body itself.
I trust you feel similarly in return as a part of my network. If you do not agree with this social contract, do not feel that you can commit the same to me, or do not accept my ongoing contact, please break our network connection immediately.
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