Do you ever take an inventory of your network?

In today's connected world where just about anyone can LinkIn with you, Friend you, Follow you or ask you to join their network, we can easily become overwhelmed with connections.

On the surface, this can make us feel enormously popular and important. "Look at these people that want to be connected to me! I must be the shiznit!"

Not really, it just means your profile was easy to find, or the technology that the other person is using made it easy to suggest they connect with you. Sorry, did that burst your bubble?

Seriously, connecting is super easy these days. Most of us are overwhelmed by how many different ways people can connect to us. Unfortunately, all these connections don't make growing the key relationships with the people we really need in our lives and careers any easier. That is unless you take the time to make them so.  But first, you need to know which connections are the important ones (assets)  versus the less important ones (liabilities).

So here's a quick and dirty way to cut through the noise that all this connecting creates for us.

Really look at the people in your network. I mean look at each and every person you've connected to. Do you really know them? Do you want to know them better? Are they someone who brings value to your life or career?  Could they bring value if you took the time to really get to know them?  Was their reach out to connect with you genuine or did they send out dozens of these kinds of requests to you and dozens of other people at the same time (so unshiznitty)?

These are all great questions to ask yourself as you begin to really examine your network and its true value to you.  You see, the simple act of doing this helps you focus on who you need to be building a relationship with and who is just taking up space in your "Electronic Rolodex" of connections.  By periodically culling through your connections you can begin to determine who is really an asset to you and who is more of a connection liability.

RIPPLE ACTION:

Take a few minutes at the start of each week to look at a handful of your connections.  Identify who your assets are and commit to connecting and building an even stronger relationship with them. Take one action to improve that relationship in some way.

As for the connections that fall into the liability category...simply remove them from your network. Unfriend, unlinking, un-whatever. Don't worry, they'll never even know you're gone trust me!

Still, struggling?  Check out Promptivate.com.  Promptivate helps you identify, organize and prioritize your connections so those important people in your network never again fall off your radar.  And those unimportant connections...well they just magically go away. Now that's the shiznit!

It's a good time to take inventory, my friend. So what are you waiting for?

Ripple On!!!