Today, just about everyone who is not inhabiting a small atoll off Greenland, understands the power of networking, essential to success in business. The next step is to understand how to ratchet up your networking skills a notch, to create your own personal network and support system. This requires planning, prioritizing, energy and organization, but is well worth it, both in terms of the long term success of your career and the enjoyment you will receive from it.

The first step is to take a hard look at how we are networking and make some basic decisons about how to develop a system to make personal contacts and extended networks work better for us.

Most of us are exposed to networking opportunities on a regular basis. We go to industry events, or meet fellow professionals, lawyers, accountants or consultants at seminars and organization meetings. It is always good to tap into existing networks, already up and running, well oiled and powerful, full of movers and shakers. When you meet someone with a common interest or overlapping spheres of influence, someone who can help you in the workplace, the next step is to move that person from a general network to which you are exposed into your own personal network. An exchange of business cards is only the beginning of your potential relationship and the point where your work itself should begin.

To extract and build on the value of that contact, it is important that you be able to recall the details of your meeting and the specifics of the other person's job and your conversation. In order to do this effectively, you will need to develop a system, tailor made to your own needs, which allows you to keep in touch and continue building and enhancing the value of that contact over time, to continue encrusting that relationship with shared interests and common goals.

Perhaps the most famous organizer of relationships in the world is David Rockefeller. Tales of his famous Rolodex have inspired admiration for years. Even diplomats and high level officials of State have asked for a peek at Rockefeller's contacts before taking a trip abroad and meeting VIPs in a foreign country. Detailed in Ronna Lichetenberg's book, "It's Not Business, It's Personal", David Rockefeller, former Chairman and CEO of Chase Manhattan Bank, many years ago began keeping a file on people he met, with constantly updated notations on index cards, which now number over 150,000. "Every time he meets someone new - in business, at a social event, anywhere, he goes home and writes her name on an index card, and on that card he makes notes: where he met the person, what the context was, what they talked about, who introduced them. Thereafter, everytime he sees that person again, he updates her card. Where did they meet this time? Who else was there?"

If there is any mention of that person in the newspaper -- a new job -- a move-- it is duly noted on the card. Before any social event, Rockefeller reads over the card so he can be sure to inquire about the new job, or recall the last time they saw each other.

It is this extraordinary attention to detail which allows Rockefeller to make others feel good about themselves by recalling personal information about their life. And the fact that he takes such pains to do so, does, in fact, speak volumes about his strong desire to maintain good relationships with people, even though he has such vast acquaintanceships throughout the world. If he can do it, surely we can, too.

What is important is creating a system, not which system you use. You may wish to keep your relationships organized on your Palm Pilot or your computer. You may have an assistant to help you. You may have your own personal method. Experience suggests, however, that we cannot trust such details to memory, we must commit them to computer or paper or file cards, and we must organize them, and be consistent, gathering them in a single place. Forget little scraps of paper floating off our desks or crumpled cocktail napkins soon to find their way to the trash. Personal contacts, which will form an important part of the foundation of your career success, must not be part of clutter and disorganization but part of a well thought out and organized system with a clearly defined goal.

You may decide to organize your contacts by industry, then cross reference them into specific sub-sets. For example, If you have a friend who's an editor, she may know a good multi-media designer or be able to connect you with a deep well of good writers. But she may also be able to help you with business contacts, or she may work on the same charity you do and be plugged into some people who can either help with fund raising or whose companies will contribute to favorite charities. All these different aspects of your contact's relationships should be recorded and cross referenced. And you, in turn, must be willing to pay back and offer your time and talent in return, because that's an integral part of the relationship, that it is a two way street which works both ways.

Once you have all your contact information recorded and organized, where it's at your finger tips and easily accessible, you then should develop a system to keep the lines of communication open and, in time, to make sharing information a habit. Set up a schedule which suits you, whether it's an hour a day, several hours a week or half a day a month, to review your contacts in some systematic way and reach out to them. Communication is what greases the wheels and keeps the relationship working.

If you have cross referenced a contact's interests, or the organizations you both belong to, you can send them a clipping or email a Web reference or reminder about a meeting, or a speaker you both heard or hope to hear , a new article or book on a topic of common interest. More important than what you send, is the fact that you are remembering them and sending the implied message that they are important to you and you are working on maintaining and continuing to develop your relationship.

Today, in an intensely competitive global environment, it is important to capture any edge one can. Not only must our business skills constantly be honed, but our relationships must continue to expand and be nourished in order to maximize our odds of achieving success. Remember, starting is half the battle; even David Rockefeller had to start with his first index card and grow his file from there.