Not everyone in your contact list is created equal. Some people help you meet interesting people, others are great professional contacts during a job search, while others offer you great advice and act more like mentors. By designating different categories of contacts, you can better organize them to help you keep track of whom to contact when and why. Here are different roles people can have in your network:
Promoters: These people let you know about opportunities. They’re the ones who call and say, “Did you hear that Widgets is hiring?”
Hubs: These contacts connect you with other people you may want to meet, or they suggest new networking events for you to attend.
Mentors: The people who guide your career, show you new things, or are brave enough to give you some direct yet necessary feedback are your mentors. If you have a wise voice in your life or even a coach, that person is a mentor.
Role models: People who have achieved what you aspire to are your role models. They’re the people you respect and value as being a part of your network. Role models may have a similar job to the one you’re looking for, or they may just be excellent at what they do.
If you’re using a CRM system to organize your contacts, consider tagging (categorizing or bucketing) each contact with one or two roles. What’s great about tagging is that when you need someone to ask advice of, simply search for your mentors and see who you want to meet. If you’re looking for an introduction into a company, search for your hubs.