Prompt 5: Networking

Last week we talked about community and genre, but this week I want to talk about what is perhaps the single most important tool in your professional arsenal – networking. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “It's not what you know but who you know that makes the difference,” in some form or another. I could tell you story after story after story about how networking has impacted my life, but I don’t want to bore you. Instead I want you to think about the two key ways that I believe networking provides advantages to you – information and opportunities.

When I was an active journalist and freelance writer my network played an important part of my daily work. It was important for me to cultivate relationships with key people in my regular beats. Sometimes those key people were important leaders (the mayor or town supervisor, for example) but often times it was more important that I maintain good relationships with administrators or secretaries. As a reporter it was also very helpful to know people who keep their ears open. For example, my brother-in-law Patrick is a friendly guy. He will talk with anyone, anytime, anywhere. He knows a lot of people and he knows a lot about what is happening in his town as well as surrounding towns. If you want to know the inside scoop on something go talk to Patrick and if he can’t tell you then he can point you to a person who can. My neighbor is another person. I honestly don’t know why we take our local newspaper (misplaced sentimental loyalty?) because Jimmy always knows all the real news – and a lot sooner and with a lot more detail and history. If you want to join a particular community and you want to write in/for/about that community then you need to begin developing a network. Not only to provide important facts and information, but also to help you understand how information is exchanged within the community. As a writer I have always found that I cannot know everything about everything, but if I know a lot of different people who are experts in specific things then I will be just fine.

Your personal networks do more than provide information. They can also provide opportunities. I cannot tell you how many jobs (full-time and freelance) I have gotten throughout my career simply because of my personal network, but it is a lot. Sometimes it meant a friend contacting me about an opening they know about and sometimes it is an employer contacting me because of a personal recommendation. I have found that we really do live in a small world. I really do believe in the concept Six Degrees of Separation.

So how do you build a network? You have to join a community and as we talked about last week that may be a lengthy and challenging process. Some communities are more eager and open to welcoming you than others, but usually you will have to prove yourself in some way and usually you will have to give something to the community as well as the specific individuals in your personal network. This is usually some kind of goods, services, and/or information. You need to be sincere and you need to share/give of yourself. This is a quick article about making connections.

Your next assignment will require networking so this week I want you to think about the network(s) necessary to help you complete your project. The email assignment is about contacting someone to help you explore your topic and understand the needs it will address as well as what others know about the issue.