network maintenance

Three years ago, my entire professional network fit in a single text message thread. Ten people. I knew each one's kids' names, their current projects, the last time we'd spoken. When I decided to grow…

Frequently Asked Questions Why do professional networks disappear? They don't vanish overnight. Networks fade through small gaps—missing one coffee, postponing an email, letting a birthday pass unnoticed. Each gap makes the next contact harder. After six months,…

She had 647 contacts in her phone. Three different contact management apps promised to organize her network. Six months later, she was back to her default contacts app, still forgetting birthdays and losing touch with friends. Most contact management tools…

I stopped emailing my former manager after leaving my last job. Not intentionally—we'd grab coffee every few months, share industry news. Then six months passed. A year. The longer I waited, the more I needed a reason…

I Tried Using a Sales CRM for My Friends. It Felt Gross. A friend uploaded her sister's birthday into a popular CRM. She added notes about her college roommate's new job and her neighbor's…

Why Connections Fade (And Why It's Not Your Fault) My friend Marcus lost touch with his mentor. Not because he didn't value the relationship—the guy helped him land his first real job. But after Marcus…

I stopped emailing my former manager after changing jobs. Six months passed. Then a year. Every time I thought about sending a note, I worried I'd need to explain my absence. I never did contact her. When I…

Your Network Isn't Fading—It's Just Missing a System Last December, A professional opened LinkedIn to message a former client. She noticed they hadn't posted in eight months. Their last conversation was a congratulatory…