Blogging 101 is a 10 part series where I share my tips and tricks for creating and growing a blog from scratch. This is the ninth installment in the series, and you can find more information on the topics of this series here.
If you have been following this series since the beginning, you now know how to start a blog, how to create great content and how to use social media to get your message out to your audience! Now, its time to discuss networking! Networking with your peers as well as networking with possible sponsors, customers or clients. You may have started a blog as a means to promote a business, or just to express yourself and have fun. You may have some specific financial goals you are looking to hit or perhaps just want the validation of knowing your content is reaching a certain of number of people. The best tool you have to make these things happen, is networking!
When it comes to networking with your peers (perhaps other bloggers or business owners) the sky is the limit to the amount of networking you can do. It never hurts to have friends within your field and you can’t have too many. However, when networking with your peers, I think it’s also important to have a general idea or plan for what you would like to get out of specific relationships. Let’s say you know you want to grow your audience and you think Blogger X may have a similar audience to yours and you want to do a linkup or a guest post involving that blogger and their site. You may be able to simply send them an email or engage them on social media and see if they would be interested, or if they aren’t quite as receptive as you would hope, you may need to network your way into their sphere. Now, this sort of thing is a challenge for me, as it may be for you, but we all know or have heard about people who start from the ground up and eventually work their way into the circles of those they admire or would like to work with. I know for women, this can be a difficult skill to develop because we tend to question ourselves too much, but just use that image in your mind of that person you who or storied you have heard about others and start making connections with people one at a time. Maybe you need to make a list, like a 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon style chart of who you are trying to reach and different people you may be able to talk to that could introduce you to another person or put in a good word until one day you are in direct contact with Blogger X. Remember, networking isn’t about making friends (although you certainly can along the way) it’s about making contacts and connections with people who can help you get to where you want to go.
Now, on the alternate of this, when it comes to networking with potential sponsors or clients, you may want to tread a little lighter. In this situation, you need to know who you want to work with and why. Why, not only for yourself, but why would you working with Brand X or Company X would be beneficial to them just as much as it would you. I suggest making a list and really refining down to the companies you want to work with so that when you are networking you are building a direct bridge to the brand or company you would like to make contact with. Again, some companies may be more receptive and open to such interactions, and sometimes you need to dig to find out who can help you get in front of (or get an email to) the right person to make a connection and relationship with that company or brand. Another reason you don’t want to be networking all over the place when it comes to potential clients or sponsors, is because people within industries talk, and you don’t want to be seen as the blogger or business owner who will approach anyone with an idea. When you approach brands or companies with opportunities to create relationships, they want to feel like they are the only one or at least one of the select few you want to work with because what you have to offer is perfect for them alone, not 100 other companies.
As much as possible, no matter if you are looking for connections with peers or potential sponsors, give yourself real concrete expectations that you can execute against. Be as deliberate as possible with your choices, which means you need to put a lot of thought behind even the smallest actions. And above all, never stop networking! You never know the opportunities you may find through networking, so don’t stop just because you hit a goal, always have another goal in mind!