So you would like to start a contact management system? Here are 5 first steps which will have you up and running in a jiffy:

Make separate contact management files for business and for your personal life. You may start by wanting much more than the other, but everyone ends up with a mix. Since you need to share the system you use at work with others, it is best to keep private entries in a separate file.

Think of categories so that you can build entries in a systematic and complete way. Consumers, sellers, and regulators are the most important categories in a professional contact management system. Friends, relatives, people to call in emergencies are most important for a personal contact management system.

A choice between a standard system off the shelf and one which you can customize is not as easy as may appear at first sight. You can start with a ready made one, especially if it is free, but you are certain to have individual and specific contact management needs in due course.

The balance between entering all possible information about a person, and just a name and a telephone number, is the toughest part of contact management. You cannot enter full diaries about everyone you know and meet, yet scanty information may leave you pouring over all entries to find sets of people in a new city, or on some other parameter.

Never compromise on hardware. A contact management system which cannot grow to meet expanding needs, or one which you cannot use anywhere, loses much of its utility.

Most people have to switch between contact management systems because their first choices are not suitable after they realize the full potential of the concept. Why not copy someone who has been in to contact management for some time?