Writing networking follow-ups with AI is a Skill job: you set it up in one sitting, about thirty minutes, and then each note takes about three minutes. You save one set of instructions that knows your voice and your rules, type your three-line memory of the meeting, and the AI drafts the note. You read it, fix anything that is not true, and send it yourself.
The job exists because most follow-ups never get written. The coffee goes well, you both mean it when you say "let's stay in touch," and then the week fills up. By the time you sit down to write, the details are gone and the note feels awkward, so it slips again. A saved skill makes the note quick enough to send the same afternoon, while you still remember what you talked about.
- Shape
- Skill
- Sitting
- one sitting
The shape: Skill
This job is a Skill because it repeats, and every instance is short and personal. There is no campaign to plan and nothing to connect. There is a trigger, a meeting that just ended, and a short piece of writing that should follow it within a day or two.
A skill here means a saved set of instructions the AI follows every time. In Claude that is a Project with instructions; in ChatGPT it is a custom GPT or a saved project. It can also be a block of text in your notes app that you paste at the top of a fresh chat. The container does not matter much. What matters is that you write the rules once, so the tone, the length and the things to avoid stay the same from the first coffee to the fiftieth.
The skill shape also fits the way memory works after a meeting. You do not need a full recap. You need three lines typed in the parking lot: who, what you talked about, and what happens next. The skill turns those three lines into a finished note, and that is the whole trade.
What you give the AI
The skill needs two kinds of input: standing rules you give once, and the three lines you give after each meeting.
Give these once, when you set up the skill:
- Three follow-up emails or messages you have already sent after a good conversation, with names removed, so the AI hears how you write to someone you just met.
- One sentence on what your business does and for whom, in the words you use when someone asks at an event.
- Your sign-off, exactly as you write it, plus the contact line you want at the bottom, if any.
- The places you meet people, such as a chamber breakfast, a weekly founders' event, a conference, or a coffee someone set up for you, so the AI can name the setting naturally.
- Your no-go list: no pitch, no attachment you did not promise, no "just checking in," no calendar link unless you asked for a second meeting, and no exclamation marks if that is not how you talk.
- The channels you follow up on, such as email, LinkedIn messages, or text, since each has a different natural length.
Give these each time, right after the meeting:
- Who: their first name, what they do, and where you met.
- What you talked about: one or two specific things, in your own shorthand.
- What happens next: the promise either of you made, such as an intro, a link, a second call, or nothing at all.
- The channel you will send it on.
Three lines is enough, like this:
Dana, runs a bookkeeping firm, chamber breakfast.
Talked about her move to a bigger office and hiring her first junior.
Said we would intro her to a commercial broker we know. Email.What comes back
Each time, you get one short note of three to five sentences, in your voice, sized for the channel you named. If you promised an introduction, you can also ask for the short check-in to the third person, so the intro stays double opt-in.
Paste this into the instructions of a Claude Project or custom GPT, or keep it in a note and paste it at the top of a new chat:
You draft short follow-up notes after networking meetings for my business.
The owner reads, edits and sends every note. You never send anything.
About the business: [one sentence on what we do and for whom]
Sign-off: [exact sign-off and contact line]
Where we usually meet people: [chamber, founders' event, conferences, coffees]
Examples of how we write to someone we just met:
[paste three past follow-ups, names removed]
Every request will include: who (name, what they do, where we met),
what we talked about, what happens next, and the channel.
Rules:
- Three to five sentences. A LinkedIn message or text is under 60 words.
- Open with their name and where we met, in plain words.
- Use the specific detail from "what we talked about" in the second sentence,
in the words given. Do not add to it.
- If there is a next step, state it plainly and say who does it and roughly when.
- If there is no next step, end with one sentence that leaves the door open.
Do not invent a reason to meet again.
- No pitch, no service list, and no calendar link unless the request asks for one.
Mention an attachment only when the next step is sending one.
- Never invent a detail, a compliment, a mutual connection or a promise.
If something is missing, ask for it instead of writing the note.
- For an introduction, name the third person only if the request says it is fine.
Otherwise write the follow-up without naming them, then draft a short note asking the third person whether they want the intro.
- Match the tone of the examples. No exclamation marks unless the examples use them.Then, right after each meeting, send your three lines plus the channel, like the Dana example above.
The draft comes back in a few seconds. Read it once, change anything that is not true, and send it from your own account.
How to judge it
A good follow-up reads like the next line of the conversation you just had. You can reject a bad one in under a minute by looking for these:
- It could go to anyone. If you could swap the name and send it to the next person you meet, the specific detail is missing or buried. Move it up or add it.
- It invents something. The AI mentions a shared interest, a compliment, or a mutual contact you never gave it. Delete it. A follow-up with a wrong detail tells the person you were not listening.
- It pitches. Any line that lists your services, offers a discount, or asks them to book a call you never discussed turns the note into cold outreach. Cut it.
- It promises more than you did. "We would love to partner on this" when you only said you would send a link is a new commitment you now have to keep. Bring it back to what you actually said.
- It runs long. A follow-up past five sentences starts to feel like homework for the reader. Shorter is warmer.
- It sounds like your website. If the note uses your marketing language instead of how you talk over coffee, your examples are too few or too formal. Swap in warmer ones and update the skill.
When the same problem shows up twice, fix the instructions, not just the note. Each correction makes every later draft better, which is the point of saving it as a skill.
What stays with you
Three parts of this job no AI does, and it would be dishonest to suggest otherwise.
The first is the memory. The AI was not at the coffee. It only knows what you type, so the three lines are the whole job on your side. Type them before you start the car or open your next email, because an hour later they will be thinner.
The second is the promise. If you said you would make an introduction, send a link, or check something, the note only works if you do it. Ask the third person before you introduce them, confirm the link still works, and keep the next step to something you will actually do this week. The skill can draft the words around a promise, but it cannot keep it for you.
The third is the send, and the judgment about whether to send at all. Some conversations are a pleasant twenty minutes and nothing more, and a short "good to meet you" is all they need. Some people said they prefer a text, or no follow-up at all. You decide which is which, you read the draft, and the note goes out from your account after that last read.
An editorial example
This example is invented to show the flow, not drawn from any customer.
Say you run a small landscape design studio and you go to a monthly business breakfast. In one morning you have three real conversations: a bookkeeper who is moving offices, a property manager who mentioned a courtyard nobody uses, and a photographer who is new in town.
You set up the skill the week before with three follow-ups you had sent after past events, your sign-off, and your no-go list.
In the parking lot you type three lines for each person. For the property manager:
Ray, manages two small office buildings, breakfast at the chamber.
Courtyard behind the north building sits empty, tenants never use it.
Said we would send photos of a similar courtyard project. Email.The draft thanks Ray for the conversation, names the empty courtyard, says the photos are attached, and signs off. You attach the photos, cut one adjective, and send it.
The bookkeeper gets a three-sentence note with no next step, because there was none. The photographer gets a short LinkedIn message and a check-in asking whether she would like an intro to a local realtor you know, who you will ask first. Three notes, about ten minutes in total, each tied to one real conversation.
Email, LinkedIn or text
The channel is a real choice, and the skill handles each one if you tell it which.
| Situation | Best channel | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You swapped business cards | It is the address they handed you, and it holds an attachment or a link. | |
| You connected on LinkedIn at the event | LinkedIn message | It lands where they already saw your name, so keep it short. |
| They gave you their number and said to text | Text | Fast and personal; two or three sentences at most. |
| You promised an introduction | Introductions need both names and a clear subject line. |
If you are not sure, use email. It is the easiest channel for the other person to come back to later.
If the coffee turned into a quote, the quote follow-up page covers the next note. For the people who became customers, thank-you notes uses the same skill setup. And if you want another job for the same spare credits, the full DIY marketing list has every one.
Of every job on this list, social media is the one that comes back every week, and Boomp is software that does that one for you. See ten posts made from your website, free
