You’re just back from the Women's Leadership Exchange® conference. You were diligent about making connections and you have a mountain of business cards to prove it. Now what? To make your networking efforts pay off, here are three proven tips.

1. Prioritize - Regardless of your system, the first thing you need to do is sort your contacts according to their potential importance to your network.

The “A” list consists of contacts with whom you definitely want to develop relationships and maintain regular contact, whose cards you want to keep near at hand. The “B” list includes contacts whose cards you might want to keep for possible reference, but that don’t meet the A-list criteria. The “C” list is everybody else, people or industries you don't want or expect to contact.

2. Organize - Any two-way relationship, whether personal or business, is based on a familiarity with each party’s interests, skills, preferences, ambitions, and desires. It is also based on making contact often enough to avoid being forgotten or ignored. Once you've sorted everything into three piles, you can start to organize your A-list database by alphabetizing your cards; grouping them by region, industry, or profession; cross-referencing them, or applying any other criteria that fit your professional needs.

3. Follow Up – Using your filing system to make and maintain contact is vital. That’s why designing one that suits your work habits is essential. Write out a schedule and set goals for making contacts. You could set aside 30 minutes each day to look through your file and choose someone to call. Or, you could leave the time factor open and set a goal to call 5, 10, or 20 contacts, new and old, every week.

Networking is hard work, so be sure to capitalize on your efforts with a solid follow-up plan. Don’t end up with a drawer full of business cards and no contacts!