In the past few months, I’ve been busy with school work and other obligations so my online presence has visibly decreased.  Although I still tweeted from time to time, I missed blogging and expressing my thoughts.  In addition, seeing my great tweeps @kratzpr, @laurenkgray and @amfunderburk1‘s stead fast growth online and offline just inspired me to pick up my slack and get back to my online festivities.  

Therefore, here is what you’ll expect from me in the next few months:

• Write at least 3/4 posts a month on this blog
• Get back into guest posting on various blogs (I just got a pitch approved on the USA College Blog so stay tuned for that!)
• Participate in at least 1 tweetchat a week.  They’re always great for thought provoking conversations and networking, so it’s a win-win situation
• Comment more on other blogs to generate conversation
• Attend more tweetups, conferences and networking events. (btw i CANNOT WAIT for internet week!!)
• Keep in touch and reach out to past contacts

I believe that this list will continue to grow as I think of more obligations that should be achieved.  Let’s say this is a very late New Year’s Resolution list.  I’m back and baby, it’s going to be intense.

Anyway, enough about me, since my departure, what have you been doing?  Leave a comment as I’d love to know

People make new contacts on a daily basis, so it is likely for us to be forgotten in the pile of business cards collected.  We all know to follow-up with business contacts within 24 hours.  However, it’s the post follow-up that really matters.  It is often difficult to keep those contacts active, as we often forget or don’t make the effort to reach out.  If you do make the effort, what do you say?  How often do you contact them?  Here are some attempts to solve common insecurity of post follow-ups.

Who do I keep in touch with?

Even if you want to keep in touch with everyone you meet, it is physically impossible to do so.  Pick and choose the people who you think is going to impact your future and want to maintain the relationship.  Once decided, make the effort to reach out.

When do I reach out after the follow-up? And how often?

You did the follow-up, he/she replied.  Now what? Check in with them around every month to see how they are doing.  Send them an email and say hi.  With twitter these days, you can easily tweet at them or just @ reply to their tweets.

If I send them an email, what do I say?

Many people have trouble with this.  Other than sending an email simply by saying what’s up, a great way to break the ice is to send them an article that is of their interest.  You can say something like “I saw this article about penguins and it reminded me of our conversation at networking event X”.  Ask them what they’ve been working on and whether they need help on anything.  Be genuine and a resource to them.  People appreciate it when we think of them and show that we actually care.

What if they don’t reply me?

People are busy.  You can’t blame them or get clingy when they do not reply you.  I’ve had people reply me three weeks after I send the post follow-up emails.  Be patient and if they don’t reply you, it does not mean they are ignoring you.  They are simply busy.  Try reaching out again in a month or so.  Persistence is key.

Why am I even doing this?

You want to enhance the relationship with the people you meet.  You want to turn your initiate meeting from an acquaintance into a contact.  Expand your network and you never know when it will come in handy.

A month ago, I had the biggest twitterific dilemma: whether I should change my twitter handle to my real name.  For those who didn’t know, my handle used to be @tyippie and I have been “yipyappin” with this name for almost a year.   So why the dilemma?

I was chatting with a friend that I met on twitter for almost a month.  He told me that he knew tyippie and recognized my profile picture but he had no idea what my name was.  I then of course confronted him and told him my name in big fat capital letters, but it was also a sign for me to reflect on my personal brand.

Will people know that it’s me if I suddenly change my twitter handle?  People know me as tyippie, who’s Tina Yip?  Some think tyippie shows personality, is catchy and stands out, what’s not to like?  On the flip side, some people find tyippie confusing and hard to remember.  Most importantly, others don’t know my name through that handle.

My mentor, @EricLeist, then put me into perspective.  Do I want to be known as tyippie or Tina Yip?  Choose one, be consistent on all social media channels and stick to it.

I have followed @unmarketing for months but I honestly did not know the author’s name until I researched about the book.  But that is appropriate for Scott Stratten as he wanted us to know the “unmarketing” brand and converse with us via the brand.  His brand IS “unmarketing”.

What is my brand?  Tina Yip.  As I continue to build my personal brand, I want to people to know my name, not tyippie.  Hence, after much thought, please welcome @tina_yip!

Tina’s TC tip #1: Define your brand, be consistent and stick to it.