The strongest subject lines for networking situations contain specific keywords. I put the keywords in two buckets:

1. People
2. Places

For “People,” here’s what I mean. If you share a common friend/colleague, use the common person’s name in the subject line. The email recipient will see the name right away and trust your message.

Boring: Hoping to connect about new projects
Eye-catching: Hoping to connect about new projects, friend of Sara Keene

With “Places,” you have another opportunity to use specific language to stand out. If you met someone at a career fair, for instance, and want to follow up, remind the person your name and where you spoke.

Boring: Follow up
Eye-catching: Follow up, Darren Clark from Acme Career Fair

People and places can make the difference between an email that’s ignored or read. Simple as that.

Read more of my networking blog posts here.

Featured photo: Garfield Anderssen (Flickr)