What do you do if you're a content marketer and want to improve your networking skills?

Before diving into networking endeavors, it's essential to delineate your objectives clearly. Do you aspire to find mentors, forge partnerships, secure clients, or connect with peers? Are you seeking to acquire new skills, garner feedback, or stay abreast of industry trends? Perhaps you aim to bolster your visibility, authority, or outreach within your field. By establishing specific and attainable goals, you can channel your networking endeavors effectively and gauge your advancement along the way. Moreover, having well-defined objectives enables you to articulate your value proposition cogently and tailor your messages to resonate with your intended audience.

Focus: Channel your efforts towards relevant connections and opportunities. Measure: Track progress and see if your networking is moving you closer to your goals. Communicate: Craft compelling messages that resonate with your target audience.

In my opinion, as a content marketer seeking to enhance networking skills, I would prioritize attending industry events, conferences, and meetups to connect with peers and potential collaborators. Actively engaging on professional social media platforms like LinkedIn can also expand my network. Seeking mentorship or joining relevant groups can provide valuable insights and connections. Cultivating genuine relationships by offering assistance and expertise, as well as reciprocating support, can establish a strong network. Regularly reaching out to individuals for informational interviews or casual meetups can also help expand connections and foster meaningful relationships within the industry.

Before you start networking online or in-person via social media, events and other means, you want to make sure you've set a clear goal in place. What do you want to bring about through the networking to your business? Is the purpose and goal to increase your brand awareness and get in front of a new audience? Is it to build referral partnerships or collaborative ones? Or is to increase your lead generation? Or maybe you're trying to find a mentor? Whatever your reason is for the networking, be clear around WHY you're doing it. The WHY will guide your actions and strategy when you start communicating with and messaging individuals who align with this purpose.

📝 Begin by defining specific objectives or outcomes you want to achieve through networking. For example, you may want to expand your professional network, build relationships with potential collaborators or influencers, gain insights into industry trends, or generate leads for content marketing opportunities. Clarifying your goals will help you prioritise your networking efforts and tailor your approach accordingly. 🔎 Identify your target audience within the networking community. Understanding your target audience will help you focus your networking efforts on connecting with individuals who can contribute to your content marketing goals.

Once your networking goals are defined, the next step is to locate and thoroughly research the individuals you wish to connect with. Leveraging various tools and platforms, you can identify and filter prospects based on criteria such as their niche, industry, location, role, interests, and content. For instance, platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Quora, Medium, or podcasts serve as excellent resources for discovering and following content marketers who hold relevance and influence within your domain.

Specificity: Define your goals and identify relevant individuals ("prospects") to connect with. Multi-platform approach: Utilize various online platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) to find relevant people based on various filters (niche, role, etc.). In-depth understanding: Research prospects' content, interests, and style to uncover their "pain points" and opportunities for adding value.

Interest based groups on LinkedIn and Facebook along with Quora and Reddit, provide great sandpits to play in and explore what interests people. Examining what resonates within interest based communities is a great way to better understand your prospects. Engaging in posts, asking questions and hosting polls also gives insights into prospects so you can then create more relavant content and gain more understanding of those you are trying to gain a connection with.

While Gen-AI is super useful to churn out 100s of comments, a lot of people today can tell that you have used ChatGPT within a minute! For example, it always starts with something along the lines of "In today's dynamic world" or "In the realm of". Engagement is only valuable when we take the time to understand the post and have an opinion on it. If you are trying to connect with real people, take the time to read what they post, and take 5 minutes to come up with your original take on the topic!

Early on I realised that focussing on what I can offer rather than what I can get makes networking and engaging with people professionally a bajillion times easier and more pleasure-centred. Curiosity is your friend here. What questions can you ask people about themselves and their work? What questions do you wish people asked you, what kind of comments do you wish you got on your posts? Can you give out that same energy, that responsiveness and thoughtful interest and praise? I build my network with the perspective that I'm looking to make some cool and interesting buddies. It makes the whole experience more light hearted and fun, and, perhaps because of that, a lot more successful too.

Once you've identified and researched your prospects, the next step is to engage with them authentically and consistently. Begin by actively interacting with their content on social media, blogs, or podcasts through actions like liking, commenting, sharing, or mentioning. Additionally, consider joining or creating online communities, groups, or forums where they participate, and contribute meaningfully to discussions, Q&A sessions, or events. Another approach is to initiate contact via email or direct message, introducing yourself and expressing genuine admiration for their work.

Multi-channel approach: Engaging across different platforms (social media, blogs, communities) shows effort and understanding of their online presence. Valuable interaction: Likes, comments, and questions demonstrate genuine interest, not just a sales pitch. Building trust: Offering help, advice, and compliments foster a positive connection before introducing your offering. Respectful communication: Avoiding spammy tactics and focusing on genuine conversations builds trust and rapport.

Focus on quality over quantity: Building a few strong connections is more valuable than collecting a stack of business cards. Be genuine and authentic: People connect with those they feel comfortable with. Offer value: Look for ways to help others, not just take from them. Be patient: Building strong relationships takes time and effort.

This is where a lot of people fail: the follow-up. Why? They don't do it! This is an essential step when you're networking. Follow-up with the person you were communicating with. If it was at an event, reach out to them via email or social media. Start building that relationship. Rome wasn't built in a day, as they say. You need to take time and nurture this relationship before you go in for an ask. And if you promised them something, make sure you follow-through on it as you're building trust and credibility with this person.

C'est la répétitivité qui change la donne. Si vous discutez avec quelqu'un une fois par mois ou tous les jours, les liens ne vont pas se créer de la même façon. Si vos interactions sont pertinentes, elles seront gardées en mémoire. Plus vous vous engagez (un like ne prend pas le même temps qu'un commentaire), plus vous aurez des résultats.

Networking is a continuous and evolving process, extending beyond a singular event. It demands ongoing attention through consistent follow-up and follow-through actions. It is essential to sustain and nurture connections by remaining in regular contact, offering updates, sharing valuable resources, providing constructive feedback, or seeking referrals when appropriate. Equally important is to uphold your promises, commitments, or collaborative ventures. For instance, if you committed to crafting a guest post, ensure its timely delivery with a focus on quality. If someone has recommended you, express gratitude and keep them informed about the results.

Networking serves as a valuable learning opportunity, offering insights gleaned from the experiences, perspectives, and best practices of fellow content marketers. Additionally, it provides a platform for self-reflection, enabling you to assess your networking performance and its outcomes. Tracking your networking activities, outcomes, and feedback is essential, as it allows you to identify your strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. Questions to ponder include: How effective are your networking strategies and tactics? How adeptly do you communicate your value proposition and objectives? How do you navigate rejections, objections, or conflicts that may arise?

My top networking tip is to engage with individuals who are willing to share their failures. While it's inspiring to hear success stories from others, they may not provide you with many actionable insights. Instead, seek out those who are open about their mistakes, how they overcame them, and what advice they would offer. By sharing your own struggles with them as well, you can foster meaningful conversations and gain valuable guidance.

I started out on TikTok as a creator in hopes of learning more about the platform, and now it's a massive part of my networking opportunities! I developed my skills faster because I looked at social media as a way to learn and improve, instead of a means to an ends. Since the social media landscape evolves so fast, it's important to stay involved and always be learning.

When you network, think about how you can help that individual first. Whether it's through advice, mentorship, collaboration, referrals, etc. You want to make sure that you're making the start of the relationship about them and value you can add to their business and life, and not the other way around. Yes, there is reciprocity, and it'll come, but make the focus on them, not you.

• Uma das estratégias mais eficazes é participar de eventos do nicho que está buscando aumentar o networking, além de aprender você terá a chance de interagir com colegas da industria e compartilhar suas ideias. • Use e abuse das redes sociais: Compartilhe suas conquistas, trabalhos e gere discussões construtivas. Conectar com outros profissionais pode abrir boas portas • A dica mais importante: O networking constante, se você acha que só em eventos corporativos acontecem networking você está completamente errado. Esteja aberto a conversar com qualquer pessoa a qualquer momento e mostre um genuíno interesse no que ela tem a dizer.

Networking is important in business, but it’s not about getting your message known, it’s about building meaningful relationships. Do more listening than talking - who are you meeting, how can you help them and what do they need help with? Make notes - remember their names and a few fun facts about them that they’ve shared. Can you think of anything that would help them from what you’ve learned from meeting them? Follow up - follow up after the event to embed the connection and share a resource or contact that may be of use to them.

Many content marketers attend content marketing events. While that's fine for professional development, it won't help you network with those who could become clients. To expand your network, attend events that your clients and prospects would likely be at. This might include their industry conferences, trade shows, or online groups. Networking isn't just about finding like-minded communities. It's also about reaching into communities where you can add value.

Start with folks you're most comfortable with. For example, if you want to network in your greater industry, begin with your own organization to feel more comfortable. Does your company offer employee resource groups? Join an activity, committee, or club to gain confidence. You can even start by interacting in Slack communities! While it may feel insignificant, this can go a long way! A lot of us have dusty networking (and just plain IRL communication skills) because we work remotely. Starting slow and building up your skills will help you branch out to larger networking opportunities!