FIRST...

Make sure you have -- and USE -- these inexpensive but very helpful networking tools...

Tool 1

A Palm Pilot, Filofax, or other type of personal data assistant (PDA) or agenda, with a calendar function. Make sure it is up-to-date. When you attend a networking or social event, people will often inform you of or invite you to other events. If you have your calendar with you, you will instantly be able to see whether you will be free to go to that event and schedule it in.

Tool 2

An ample supply of business cards, printed professionally and distributed wisely. Your business card should contain as many alternate ways of getting in touch with you as possible, and should convey a professional image. Don't generate them on your computer, using the paper with perforations that enable you to detach the cards from one another like coupons. The tiny paper tags left on the edges look extremely cheap and unpolished, and screams, "HELLO! I slapped this together on my computer last night because I didn't care enough to set aside what little time and money it would have taken to get my cards professionally done!" If you don't take care to polish your professional image, it gives others no reason to believe that you would take any greater care with the translations you do.

DON'T go to a networking or social event and simply start handing out your card, CV, brochure, etc. to complete strangers without volunteering an introduction.

In fact, NEVER volunteer your materials unless the other person asks for it. This shows to other people that you're not there to "schmooze," that you are sincere, and that you are truly interested in getting to know them and what they have to say. If somebody came up to you and handed you their card, brochure, or CV without even saying a word to you -- and don't laugh, because this happens more often than you would think -- wouldn't you be offended?

Whenever strangers do this to me, guess where their material goes: in the nearest...

...wastebasket. In front of the person who did this hit-and-run, if they haven't already disappeared, wraithlike, in the crowd.

Make sure to carry an ample supply of cards with you at all times. Murphy's Law dictates that the moment that you run out of cards will be the same moment a potential client comes up to you to inquire about your services. If this happens to you (and it sometimes will, even in spite of your best intentions), simply ask for the other person's card and follow up with them as soon as possible.

A practice that I find very helpful is to maintain a binder of all the business cards that I have received. The binder should contain alphabetically arranged tabs and clear plastic pockets for the cards. When I receive a business card, I write the date of the event on the back of the card, as well as two or three factoids about the person (e.g., "Is a Siamese cat breeder" or "Vice President of Egg Scramblers." It doesn't matter whether these factoids are about their personal or professional lives; what matters is that you know them).

Then, I stick them into the binder. A week later, I write them a small email, or a note on top-quality stationery, simply telling them how much I enjoyed meeting them, and say something, however small, that keys the other person in that you've been paying attention and took the time to find out about them. (This is where the factoids come in.) Say nothing about offering your services to them, finding work, securing an interview with them, or anything of the sort, but do enclose your card "with your compliments."

You would not believe how much business can be gotten through this simple, easy correspondence method. It takes less than five minutes to dash off a note, and costs only a postage stamp, yet it's more effective than marketing campaigns costing hundreds or thousands of dollars.