On Networking

If you’ve done your research on freelance writing, one concept that you’ve certainly see come up more than once is networking. Networking is crucial for small business owners, and especially for freelancers, because a viable channel of finding work is the ability to make professional connections with others. So, how do you make these connections? And what are some ways that have worked for established freelancers? There is a grammatical error in the first sentence.

Social media changed networking for small-town freelance writer Karen Wehrstein because of how far away her clients now can be. Social media has allowed her to work with websites outside of her small town, forging relationships with American and English websites. It opens the door for you to meet and discover new people that can help move your career forward, as well as finding more local networking groups than you might know of just by word of mouth. A quick Google search of networking groups in your area opens up a world of possibilities: and some of them are free.

However, it’s important not to get caught up in the business card transactions of networking. Lauren Duca, a freelance writer who went viral after a searing op-ed on Donald Trump, discusses how networking is more than throwing business cards and email addresses at contacts, but it’s about creating relationships and bonds with others while showing them that you’re capable of the hard work that goes into the process. Like my thoughts on creating a brand, adding a personal touch to networking is important, even when you’re networking over the Internet. There are two important factors to making these personal connections: be professional, and be yourself. While you want to be remembered for your ability to handle yourself with decorum, everyone is going to be doing that. Unfortunately, dressing nice and having a good handshake are not secrets of the universe that you’ve stumbled upon. Everyone has those skills.

But guess what? Everyone isn’t you. As long as you’re unashamedly yourself, and handle yourself with self-respect and poise, what they’ll love about you is what makes you unique. If you work hard to emphasize the good things? That’s what they’ll remember.