Contactually is a personal CRM system you can use during your job search. It is based on the idea that each of your contacts can fall into a bucket or category. Each bucket can be set to a certain frequency for follow up.
By integrating with most major e-mail and social media providers, the system automatically tracks your communications with your most important contacts and reminds you to follow up with them when your relationships are in danger of going cold.
Here’s an example of how Contactually can work: You meet Greg at a local networking event for project managers, and he becomes somewhat of a mentor to you. After inviting him to connect with you on LinkedIn, Contactually imports the new connection and lists Greg as a new contact.
From there you can assign him to a bucket, such as “Mentors,” and make a note on his people record that you met him at a networking event. In the notes section, you can also add details of your conversation, like “He likes to rock climb.”
Here’s where the real power of Contactually comes in. Because you probably want to stay in touch with Greg regularly, by putting him in the Mentors bucket, you’ll be reminded if you haven’t stayed in touch.
Later, when this reminder shows up in the Contactually dashboard (you also get an e-mail letting you know what networking activities you should do that day), you’ll open up Greg’s contact record and see your last e-mail interactions, his most recent social media updates, and the note about him liking rock climbing to help jog your memory of your first conversation.
Before getting back in touch with someone, it’s always a good idea to re-acquaint yourself with what’s new in that person’s life. You can always check someone’s three most recent tweets, their most recent Facebook posts, and any updates to their LinkedIn profile first. Often, this new information can provide you with the perfect excuse to get back in touch.