How To Use Your Little Black Book

“It’s all right to hesitate if you then go ahead.” – Bertolt Brecht

Last week, you started your little black book of powerful contacts (Message #265). This week, you are going to use it.Here’s what you’re going to do:

Go through your address book quickly and select one person whom you haven’t been in touch with recently. Send that person an e-mail or a handwritten note.

Hint: If you know the person very well, an e-mail will do. If not, a handwritten note is better. Ironically, the less familiar you are with someone, the more effective the personal note will be.

Also, remember that in Message #195 (“Adding Big Shots to Your Personal Network”), we talked about the idea of writing notes to industry experts whose published articles you may have read and admired. If you haven’t already done so, today is a good time to start.

When you send a note, record what you said in your address book or on a separate ledger. This may become important later.

Set yourself a goal of making one power contact a week. It will take only a few minutes, but the rewards will come — and they will eventually be very big.

[Ed. Note.  Mark Morgan Ford was the creator of Early To Rise. In 2011, Mark retired from ETR and now writes the Palm Beach Letter. His advice, in our opinion, continues to get better and better with every essay, particularly in the controversial ones we have shared today. We encourage you to read everything you can that has been written by Mark.]