Book Marketing For Authors Blog 91- The Benefits of Good Networking

The Benefits of Good Networking

 

Okay, quick story. And I’m sure some of you can relate to this story. A long time ago, I saw a fellow co-worker unfairly targeted by his supervisor because he wouldn’t keep his mouth shut in meetings. This co-worker was a high-quality guy, and when he saw something that didn’t make sense, he said so. His boss didn’t like that, so his boss created a bogus paper trail and eventually pushed him out of his job. Thankfully, my buddy had a network and landed on his feet in another place with a promotion and pay raise.

I’m sure a lot of you self-publishing indie authors out there have a similar story. And you, too, know the benefits of a good network both in your day job and as an authorpreneur. Never burn bridges, right? And always build relationships and networks.

A network may not be able to save your job, but it could save your career. A network may not make you a bestselling authorpreneur. But it sure can point you in the right direction to obtaining the knowledge, skills, and connections. Hopefully, with those advantages, we can become a financially independent author who blazes his or her own path in this world.

Being an author can be seclusive by nature. Many authors are introverts. And believe it or not, I’ve met some authors who came right out and told me that they don’t like people, so they thought they’d just lock themselves in their home and write books.

Well, guess what? That never works. No person is an island. Everybody needs help and human contact. Synergy is a real thing, my friend. Nobody makes it all on their own. There is a lot of power in working with others. Besides, it’s lonely working all alone. The journey is always better with others. So, why wouldn’t we network?

Now, don’t try telling me you don’t want to network because you’re shy or people are jerks. That’s malarkey, as I remember what my 8th-grade teacher/nun used to tell me when I used to try to give her a bogus excuse.

Blaming our lack of networking on being shy, or on other people’s bad behaviors are not good enough reasons to keep ourselves from all the benefits of networking.

Listen, networking gives us an endless stream of referrals. Who wouldn’t want that? I mean, come on, people… we all know the power of word-of-mouth, right? Why wouldn’t we want that powerful word-of-mouth thing working for us instead of against us?

In addition, believe it or not, we’re more likely to get a job from a friend of a friend rather than our friend. You see, our friend is just one person. The chances of him having a position to give us are pretty low. However, our friend probably knows a lot of people. And if we consider all the people he knows, and then the good word our friend will put in for us, our chances of getting a job drastically go up.

But, if we’re not networking, then getting a new or better job from a friend of a friend probably won’t happen for us.

To tell you the truth, I meet people all the time. And I always take the time to put my best foot forward. I do that because, first of all, it makes my journey through this world a more joyful journey. We’ve all heard that old saying that it’s not the destiny, but the journey that counts, right? Well, guess what, that old maxim is still just as valid today as it has always been.

Also, at some point in my journey, some of those people I’m networking with are going to help me. Maybe they won’t help me today or tomorrow when I really need it. But at some point on my journey, people will help me.

Perhaps, a lot of the people we meet won’t help us. But, some of the people we meet will. And even if it is only 1 out of every 10 people we network with that helps us, guess what? That one person is still a fast-track to the money. That one person will provide us with opportunities we would not have had on our own.

Thus, we must network. There is no negotiating this. Be kind. As a matter of fact, be kinder than we need to be, and always network.

In addition, networking will help us build not just relationships but also friendships. Through these friendships, we’ll have someone to talk to, someone to lean on, and someone to get advice from. Trust me, in this authorpreneurship business, we could use all the good advice and friends we can get.

Furthermore, these friendships built through networking will help us increase our confidence. And this is vital. If we don’t believe in ourselves, then the outside world won’t either. And our friends from that network can help us muster up the courage and confidence to believe in ourselves when taking on that great big world.

Finally, good networking will help us accelerate the growth of our authorpreneurship business. And who doesn’t want that, right?

Watch the free video lesson on this chapter!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVhdUr9JVzY&list=PL_-39bUXJitwL8cHUpiZ5mO0-JJuaPOVl&index=92