One of the hardest parts of networking is the consistency that's required. If you're anything like me you have to contend with natural busy cycles. There are times when you're so busy you struggle to find time to eat and breathe, and other times when things are a little slower and you can afford to be out networking a little more.

In this post I hope to share with you some simple strategies you can use even through those insanely busy times to maintain your networking visibility. What you're trying to avoid in these periods is people saying: "I haven't seen ______ in forever, it's like they fell off the face of the earth." It hurts your credibility if you have these frequent long periods of absence.

1) Leverage Social Networking Sites

As a business networker the bare minimum you should be doing in the online world is using LinkedIn. Facebook and Twitter are optional, but LinkedIn is a requirement. With all of these sites, including LinkedIn you have the ability to update your status. Simply doing this can go a long ways towards keeping people from thinking that you've been sucked into a black hole. Put a recurring event on your calendar to do a quick update on LinkedIn and any other social networking sites where you maintain a profile. If you do this every 1-2 weeks you'll never have a message up there that seems to stale. Plus it's easy to just say that you're "crazy busy working on ......., hoping to come up for air soon."

2) Be Physically Visible Once a Month

There's really no excuse not to get out for at least one event in a month. Go to a lunch event, or sneak away from the office early one evening and get to a happy hour or mixer. Try to do two things when you pick your monthly event. First, go where you'll know a number of people (they're the ones who will vouch for your actual existence). Second, choose an event that is well attended. Big industry mixers are a great bet.

Even better than one event a month is two events a month. This will help you maintain your visibility and your diversity. So in addition to your big industry event you might want to add a Chamber of Commerce event or another well attended general event where you're likely to see a wide range of professionals and friends.

3) Reach Out to a Well Connected Friend

Make it a point to occasionally touch base with one of your most networked buddies. Staying top of mind with them will go a long way in making sure that nobody thinks you've made a run for the border.

That's it! This should seem VERY doable. That's the point. Establishing a minimum networking plan like this will keep you connected and out of trouble in case you suddenly have an urgent need that you know your network can help with. You don't want to come out of 6 months of invisibility only to try and ask your network for some favors. That's just not the way to do it.

Happy Networking!

-Scott Ingram
Network In Austin