The Value Drip

After the initial follow-up, the goal shifts from landing the contact to maintaining it. Two cadences run in parallel.

The opening sprint: thank-you in 48 hours, value-add (article, intro) within ten days, a specific ask only after both have landed. Compress it and you look eager; stretch it and the memory fades.

The long-term drip: roughly one meaningful touch per month — a relevant article, a congratulation, a forwarded opportunity. Enough to stay on their radar, sparse enough not to become a nuisance. Once a relationship exists, the wrong cadence can kill it as surely as neglect: too frequent and you nag, too rare and you fade.