The text, received from a friend who works at a $50B company, made my day. It also led to an offer for an interview by his manager. While I turned down the opportunity for the interview, the impact of my writing in terms of networking became clearer than ever.
Business professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders frequently read and write and seek out others who do the same. Your writing will earn you respect among your peers and will help you expand and engage your network. With every valuable piece of content you provide, you’re building a small amount of equity with each reader. When you build up enough, which could be after just one article, this equity can influence a decision. Whether to add you as a connection on LinkedIn, email you through a contact form on your website or share your article with others on social media, these decisions will help further build your network.
On January 1, I began my mission to publish an article every single day of 2015. After three weeks, it’s clear to see the positive impact on something as basic as my LinkedIn profile. Outside of pageviews and comments, I also have had four phone interviews from people who contacted me due to my new content. I’m not recommending you publish every day, but by starting to produce engaging and valuable content on a consistent basis, you can take your network, which will help gain you access to new opportunities, ideas, and possibly business, to new heights.
There is more to online writing than to post and share. Sure, this works, but just because I’d eat a hamburger with ketchup and mustard doesn’t mean that a double quarter-pounder with a fried egg and avocado on top wouldn’t have a greater effect on me – one that I would want to share with others. In addition to sharing your content on social media, here are 6 Great Ways to Build Your Network with Writing Content:
- Guest Posts and Contributions
- Personal Website Blog
- Offer Guest Contributor Opportunities
- Curate Content
- Commenting and Sharing Others Work
- Interview Those You Admire
Bonus Tip: Add your latest article/blog post to your email signature. Just make sure to update it with each new piece you publish.
Selfish Bonus Tip: Email me if interested in getting involved with my series, or if you need a little boost getting your content off of the ground.
Related Good Reads:
- 5 Reasons You Should Invest Your Time in Networking
- Top 9 Benefits of Networking
- The 20 Biggest Benefits of Blogging
Interested in Why I’m Publishing 365 Times in 2015? Read the first post of 2015 here! Want to be a part of the series? Share topic ideas or volunteer for an interview in the comments below.
Michael Luchies is the Founder of TrepRep, Director of Content Programming for Pursuit, Interview Editor for Under30CEO, Entrepreneurship Lecturer at Illinois State University, TEW 2 contributor, and writer of all things entrepreneurship. Connect with Michael on Google+, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.