Build your first spheres
What spheres are for, a few good ones to start with, and how to set the rhythm for staying in touch with each.
Spheres are how you tell Relatable who matters and how often you want to be in touch with them.
Why it matters
Not every relationship needs the same attention. You want to hear from your closest friends every few weeks, and a former client maybe twice a year. Without some structure, everyone blurs together and nobody gets the attention they're actually due. Spheres are that structure: you decide who's in each one, and what "in touch" should mean for that group.
How it works
A sphere is a named group of contacts, like "Close Friends" or "Investors". The cadence you attach to it, weekly, monthly, quarterly, is the real point: it's what turns a static list into an actual stay-in-touch rhythm. Relatable watches when you last emailed or heard from each person in a sphere, and once the cadence has passed, that person shows up on your dashboard as someone worth reaching out to. A contact can belong to as many spheres as makes sense. Someone can be in "Family" and "Book Club" at the same time.
How to use it
- On the web or in the mobile app, create a sphere and give it a name.
- Add people to it, from your uncategorized contacts or anywhere else in Relatable.
- Set a cadence, or leave it off if you'd rather review that sphere yourself.
- Repeat for a few more spheres.
A few to start with, if you're not sure where to begin: Close Friends, Family, Clients, Prospective Clients, and Network for everyone else worth keeping warm. Three to five is plenty for your first pass.
Good to know
- A sphere without a cadence still organizes your contacts; it just won't generate reach-out suggestions on its own.
- You can change a sphere's cadence any time as the relationship changes.
- Spheres aren't the only way to organize contacts. Topics, companies, and locations exist for tagging by subject, employer, or place.
Ask Whiz
- "Create a sphere called Close Friends with a monthly cadence"
- "What spheres do I have, and which ones don't have a cadence set?"