Offer Value
One of the core principles of effective networking is to first make the effort to be helpful and add value to your contacts before expecting anything in return. When your network gets stronger, you get stronger. Blogging is a great way to deliver valuable content to your network. Writing content that’s of interest to your audience, such as “how-tos” or summarizing research you’ve conducted, is a great way to be helpful. For example, if you’re an expert in sales, you could share your knowledge of various sales tactics. If you’re an expert on the healthcare industry, you could share research you’ve conducted on the industry.
Build Your Reputation
People like to have professional relationships with others they respect, admire, and/or see as potentially being valuable to their career or business. Blogging is a great way to display your expertise. Write about topics to impress your network in a non-imposing way. Writing your perspectives and providing analysis will help you to be recognized as an expert. Write about your recent learnings and accomplishments. When people understand the value that you have, they be more inclined to stay in touch with you or connect you to others in their network.
Be Authentic
While there’s no perfect substitute for in-person interaction, blogging is a great way to build rapport. When you write in an authentic voice, your character shines through. Doing so can provide a great supplement for people to get to know you better and build rapport. Tell stories and share your opinion to show your character and help people get to know you.
Cast a Wide Net
People are often inclined to share great content with their peers and via their social channels. By reaching a wide audience, you increase the chances of people reaching out to you directly. In-person events and meetings can be time consuming; blogging allows you to network in a more time-effective way. In addition, when you’re reaching out to or meeting new people, if someone has read your posts, they may feel more inclined to respond and meet with you. To increase your visibility, simply write awesome content that people enjoy and get value from.
Stay in Touch
Sharing blog posts on social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, is a great way to stay on top of the mind of your connections. Everyone’s busy, and many busy people know a lot of people. If you don’t stay in touch with busy people, it can be easy for them to forget about you. Simply seeing your blog post on their LinkedIn feed can be enough for you to stay in touch with people. It’s also much less time consuming than meeting everyone you know for coffee once a week.
Promote your Network
Promoting people in your network is a great way to be helpful. If a contact has big news, cover it on your blog. An interview with the person may also be of value to your audience. Offering your network a guest post on your blog would be especially helpful if your audience is large and relevant to your contacts. Linking back to a contact’s blog or website when contextual to a post you’re publishing is a small but still nice way to promote your network. When your network gets stronger, you get stronger.
Key Takeaways:
Writing content that’s valuable to your audience and displays your expertise is an effective way to build your professional network. Blogging is a great way to stay in touch, update, and build rapport with your network.
