These are just examples of one person's notes to give you some ideas about how you might collect and organize your own.

Connecting to expand reach

I met with an attorney specializing in, among other things, estate planning for families with special needs kids. He explained about how he uncovered his niche, and how he sees the market being underserved in this regard. I asked if he networked with other estate planning attorneys who did not specialize in his are of focus (I had two in mind to introduce him to) and he said of course he does. I asked about two of the ones I knew and network with, he said they were excellent (I believe his words were "among the best, and he knows, likes, and trusts them") so he already knew them. As he was helping kids in high-school that may not have been college-bound, I asked if he knew of people who worked with college-bound students. He could offer them a way to help those they cannot service, and thereby increase their reach. He had not considered this, so I committed to making that introduction.

Exploring expanding thinking

I met with a software developer to get a better understanding of the new product he was bringing to market. As he described the benefits it provided, I jotted down the business categories I imagined would be interested in those benefits, as well as business categories who had clients who might also benefit from using the new software. At the end of the presentation I asked if he had reached out to any of either category to enlist them in his beta test, and some of my suggestions were ones he had not yet considered, or considered but abandoned because he lacked the contacts. I committed to reaching out and making introductions to both groups for him (and have been doing it over the past couple of weeks, first by scheduling 1-2-1 meetings with those others so I could gauge their interest, and make the proper introductions).

Making connection, enhancing ongoing relationship

While meeting with a gentleman with a background in the health care industry I discovered that his wife is an IT professional in the security realm. This turned out to be a curious symmetry to my own situation, as I work in IT and my wife works in healthcare. I've committed to exploring further with him what his career goals are and seeing what doors I can open for him.

Making a new friend - reasons to keep meeting

I met with a residential realtor who has a background in banking and commercial real estate. Our conversation uncovered an interest in blogging about a topic that someone else I knew also shared an interest in, so I made a note to introduce them to each other. We also discovered a mutual interest in various books about business and began to share reading lists.

AT NO POINT WAS I SELLING MY SERVICES TO ANY OF THESE PEOPLE. While that may happen in the future, or I might become a client for them, the purpose was to get to know more about them, discover interesting opportunities, and make introductions.

[Editor’s note: Jeff is exceptional in his KLT (Know, Like and Trust) factor. In some circles this is called Social Capital. Whatever it’s called, showing your value in being who you are is the best positioning one could ask for to be found - whether that’s for a job, a gig, a freelance project or anything. See Founding blog post for more on how this works.]