These days we're invited to join LinkedIN or other business networks. For reasons I've often discussed, it's generally wise to accept those invitations. I use a database called cardscan.net. I put my contacts in there, scan business cards I'm given, and the system sends automatic update forms to my network. My friends and business acquaintances update their contact information online, and I'm notified of changes. This triggers me to make friendship or sales and marketing calls. The letter below was an attempt at client engagement, and it worked beautifully.
September 10, 20—
Dana Kysar
Attorney at Law
Kysar & Company
1393 Cherry Creek Drive North
Denver, Colorado 80119
Dear Dana,
You read it everywhere.
These days, a lot of career advancement takes place via the Internet. If you're not online, you're left out. These days you can make a career move without ever leaving your keyboard! I'm exaggerating, of course: face-to-face interviews still determine the outcome—but nearly everything else can be done online.
At CareerLab, we're leading the field in the use of information technology--especially the Internet—to help our clients reach the stratosphere with their careers.
As you may know, we've created an award-winning 650-page Internet Website with incredibly useful resources no one dreamed of a year ago. Very popular, it's receiving 160,000 hits per week. In the next few months we'll be rolling out many new services for you and our other alumni who are already successful, desiring more success.
As a first step, our Lincolnshire International Offices—all 24 of them—have launched a national electronic database for senior executives and top professionals. As a friend and alumnus of CareerLab, you may access this database right now. You may search the database to find contacts all across the country—people really willing to talk to you confidentially about any career issues you face—and you may add your own name so that others can find you. If you remember the difficulty of cold calling and networking, you'll certainly appreciate this innovation.
(Please turn the page . . .)
CareerLab Alumni Registry
September 4, 20—
Page Two
There are two ways to proceed:
- You may add your name and contact information yourself.
To do so, go to our home page http://www.careerlab.com. Select "For Your Career," from the menu. Then select "Special Services for CareerLab Clients and Alumni Only." (This is the database.) That will bring up an identification screen. Your code is alumni, and your password is net4all. That will get you into the system. From there, you may add your own contact information and search the database. - If you prefer, we will submit your name and contact information for you. Simply FAX, mail, or e-mail this information to us—and we'll do the rest.
- Name
- Title
- Company
- Address
- City, State Zip Code
- Work Tel:
- Home Tel:
- Cell:
We're excited about this new benefit to you and to other CareerLab Alumni. We're confident it will help you advance your already highly-successful career.
Always wishing you the best,
William S. Frank
PRESIDENT
P.S.—If you would like a demo of this system, or if you would like to see our Website firsthand, give me a call. I'd be thrilled to show-and-tell. Very soon it won't be enough to have a simple resume. You'll be expected to have a portfolio online, a personal Web page that could include such things as your resume, publications, letters of reference, product brochures—you name it. We're launching that soon.