Last year I received several emails from former colleagues.
Some were previous co-workers from my newspaper days and managing editors from marketing collaborations. Others were copyeditors who had moved into senior marketing roles or launched into entrepreneurship. They all wanted to catch up.
The messages were unexpected and refreshing.
These emails made me I realized that although all writing projects have an end, the people I worked with remembered me past the final deadlines and chose to reach out for advice or to dig into another project together.
As I move deeper into 2019, I’m too am going to take a more active role in nurturing past and current relationships with my colleagues to lay the groundwork for future collaborations, and honestly, much-needed insider support.
The world of freelancing, marketing and publishing is tough. The ongoing deadlines, agile approaches and constant need to come up with article pitches can be exhausting, so it’s great to have a few friends in-the-know to bounce ideas off of and or share silly GIFS with.
Today I’m sharing a few simple ways you can rekindle your professional relationships with favorite colleagues from the past.
Connect on social media.
If you’ve always conversed via email or a platform, reach out on LinkedIn or Twitter and start up a conversation based on a recent post. You’re likely to find some common ground once again and have enjoyable interactions related to the work you’re both currently tackling.
Follow-up on a project.
Did you work on a long-term campaign or launch a new website together? Get back in touch and ask how things are going months or a year after the project wrapped up. Have goals been met? Is a ‘Part 2’ in the works?
Send an article pitch.
Everyone loves hearing new, refreshing ideas. If you have a topic in mind that you’d love to write about and can think of someone from your past who might be able to help you bring that story to light, contact them. Your proactive approach may align with their need for content and help them fill a publishing gap.
How do you re-engage with a colleague from your past? Feel free to share your tips and tricks in the comments below.
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