It was probably the most uncomfortable I've ever felt sending an email.

Shouldn't have been. But it was.

I was six months in to a role in a new firm I'd been headhunted to help set up. The restrictive covenants from my previous employer had expired and I could now get back in touch with my old clients and actively pursue working with them.

But getting back in touch wasn't as easy as it sounds. It had been FAR longer than 6 months since I'd spoken to most of the people I was about to email. A couple of years in some cases.

Consulting is a project based business and each project is pretty intense. So it's difficult to peel your attention away from your current focus to do something to maintain your relationships with your other contacts.

As a result, many consultants – me included – let relationships wither and die.

Then when we need those people, instead of having an ongoing relationship, an easy way of connecting and a few deposits made in the goodwill bank; we have to call them out of nowhere and beg a favour.

Hence my churning stomach as my mouse hovered over the send button.

I really didn't want to come across as desperate or needy. Or just a “taker” who only contacted them when I wanted something. But in truth, that's exactly what I was.

An hour a week is all it takes to keep in touch with your top dozen ex-clients. Or with email marketing you can reach many many more.

Keep in touch, keep adding value and building trust and the next time you finish a project and need a new one, you'll have the right relationships to get one quickly. It took me years to learn that overcoming my laziness and finding ways to connect and be helpful would save me a ton of pain and discomfort downstream.

There are more ways of keeping in touch than ever before. Apart from phone, email and good old fashioned snail mail, you've got a bunch of social media you can connect and chat on.

The only thing holding you back is your discipline in putting aside an hour a week.

By the way, my desperate email trying to resurrect relationships did in fact lead to one new client. It'd have been way more if I'd kept in touch. But at least it shows that you shouldn't be afraid to reconnect, even if you haven't done the right thing and kept in touch.

Who can you get back in touch with today? What relationships can you rekindle that would be a real asset to you?

And how can you make nurturing a habit so you don't fall out of touch in the first place?

Think about those questions for your own business.