The king of connection’s networking tips

In the next day…

Sign up to three newsletters written by thinkers from different corners of your industry. This ensures that you’ll have up-to-date intelligence flowing in.

Commit to becoming world class at gathering intel on people you might work with, even in ‘casual’ situations when you’re not explicitly hiring someone.

In the next week…

Map out who you trust on different topics. Sort connections into domain experts; people who you know well; and people who may not have specific expertise but are smart in general.

Make a list of the two to three top career issues that sometimes keep you up at night. Seek advice on those issues from each group of people on the list above.

Have a handful of evergreen questions and keep them in your back pocket to raise in conversation. (Eg, ‘What’s a trend in your industry that wouldn’t be obvious to outsiders?’)

Post one article each week on a blog, Twitter, to your Linkedin connections or Facebook friends.

In the next month…

Schedule three lunch dates – one with a person a few rungs ahead of you in your career; one with an old friend you haven’t seen in a while; one with a person from an adjacent industry whose career you admire. Do this even if you aren’t currently facing a pressing career question or challenge – engaged conversation can sometimes lead to serendipitous intelligence.

Become a go-to person for other people in your network on certain topics. Make known to your connections your interests and skills by posting and sending emails, or setting up discussion groups. When people come to you for intelligence, you’re in a good position to simultaneously acquire intelligence from them.

Extracted from The Startup of You: Adapt, Take Risks, Grow Your Network, and Transform Your Life by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha (£10.99, Cornerstone); order at books.telegraph.co.uk