Mind Management Angela May

Networking in the traditional sense means shaking a lot of hands and trading a lot of business cards. But what if you're trying to build your network in a field in which you have ZERO aquaintances? What if you live on the other side of the world? What if you're painfully shy, and the thought of just walking up to someone and shaking hands is paralyzing?

NO. I can say that unequivocally. To succeed you will STILL have to work on building a real-life network. But, if you have the disadvantages mentioned at the start, this is a great way to get STARTED. It's a great way to get a picture of the web you're trying to weave yourself into.

Yes, books. If you have no idea where to start... READ A BOOK!

Did you guys know that they have these things called "libraries" full of books you can go and read FOR FREE? :p I k now it seems obvious, but it was a bit of a revelation for me when I started to use the library for real personal research and networking, rather than just casual reading.

Go to your local library and punch in a few keywords that you're interested in. The books that come up might not be winners, but the great thing about libraries is that the books are sorted by subject.

Take down the reference numbers and browse the shelf. Pick 2 or 3 gems and start reading! Sure, there are bookstores, too, but I prefer to start with libraries because the risk is very low... if a book sucks, I can return it.

If you find a book that you really like, pay very close attention to the REFERENCES or FURTHER READING sections. If you can - go find those books! It's very informative to read the books that inspired a book that you like.

Quite often you'll find the same books referenced over and over. The books will also mention other topics and people that are important to the subject - take note: these are your new keywords. In this way, you're entering an ever-expanding web of books and names that are related.

No matter what you are trying to do, someone, somewhere has done it before or has done something kind of similar. I guarantee it, and it's not a bad thing! True, the library isn't going to stock books on EVERYTHING, but if you're creative enough in your thinking you can find something tangentially related that may lead you in the right direction. Also, reading books on neighboring topics can be very enlightening - they are coming at your problem from a different perspective, so you might learn something you'd NEVER read in an "on topic" book (which tend to say the same things over and over.)

I could have started with blogs, but I really wanted to emphasize the fundamental importance of reading broadly on your topic of interest. Books are written differently than blogs. They are a cohesive journey, frozen in time.

Blogs, are an evolution of books. They are alive. They can be found more easily. They come pre-made with their own web of links for you to follow. Not only that, but the authors are accessible... you can drop a comment or an email, follow their twitter and really get to know them!

Similarly to books, start with some generic search terms and find blogs within your area of focus. If you can't get dead-on, you can at least get close. Subscribe to them, and watch for when they mention other blogs - follow those too. After awhile you'll get a sense (from how often they mention each other) of who knows whom.

You know I couldn't write a post like this without "social networking" coming up, but I'm going to start a bit older-school: with forums.

Forums exist in every niche topic and they're a great way to get to know others with the same interests. You can get advice, critique, links to interesting material, and you can learn a lot just by getting to know the 'hot button' issues of the niche and who the most trusted members are. Hang around (lurk) for awhile, then introduce yourself and start adding value to the conversation however you can.

[The best advice I ever got about forums is to lurk first until you get a handle on what the culture is like. Instead of starting a "hi, I'm new" thread, wait until there's a thread you can add your 2-cents to, and end that first post with "by the way, hi I'm new."]

Social networking is a bit of a different beast. Facebook is more for your personal network. For building a passion-related network you should look into Twitter. Many (but not all) passions have a large clique of personalities on twitter who chat, all day, on your topic of interest. By starting to follow a few people you can begin to tell who the big players are, who is friends with whom, and what the different people involved are interested in.

You can also get a sense of what they are like based on their "off topic" tweets. Answer their questions now and then and you might have a rappor that can be built on in later in-person meetings if you get the opportunity.

I have a secret for you: Methods 1 and 2 actually lead very well to method 3! Once you have a better idea of what the niche is all about, you can start your own platform. By building your skills in public, you'll attract a network to you!

Start a simple blog or tumblr, or look into community 'gallery' sites (flickr for photographers, deviantart for other types of art) where it's easy for people to find you, friend you, and react to your work. When you're just starting out, these can be great places to build a network of peers. By pumping out content (and thusly, keywords), you'll attract like-minded people TO you instead of going out and finding them. (Of course, you should work on outreach as well.)

When you start reading about and following people online, you hear about opportunities you might never learned about otherwise.

EVENTUALLY, you'll run into SOMEONE in the network who isn't very far away at all - maybe even in the same town! Reach out to them, find a local club and make some introductions. The world works in strange ways, you'll be surprised sometimes by who knows whom. One good friend who has some solid connections can help you crack the ice and build a real-life network among the people you've been following.

Because you know them online, and are well-read, you'll know what you're talking about when you say you admire their work.

Of COURSE it's still intimidating, but like anything else, you'll get better with practice.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of building a network around your dreams... and I've just told you that getting started is as simple as going to the library and finding a book! What are you waiting for?