I Have Two Friends, And They Have Two Friends...

One of my closest friends is truly a gifted networker. If we go to an event together, and there are 50 people there, she'll have introduced herself to all 50 by the end of the evening. And not only that, she'll have remembered all their names, where they work, how many kids they have, their shoe sizes...

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a bit on that last one. But the point is, she puts herself out there and, as a result, she knows a LOT of people. In fact, I can't remember the last time we went somewhere together that she didn't run into someone she knew.

I, on the other hand, stink at networking. I'm extremely shy with people I don't know and I'm always worried that I'll be bothering someone if I just walk up to him/her and start talking. So I tend to stay in the background and wait until someone else approaches me.

This may be fine socially, but it's not a very good strategy for someone who's dependent on building up a diverse client base to ensure a steady stream of income. So I'm making a concerted effort to improve my networking skills. I'm currently up to 50 connections on LinkedIn. (You can see my public profile here.) I even got the courage up to ask a couple of my favourite clients to write recommendations for me, which they very generously did.

And now I'm actually starting to use the service as a way to find new markets for my writing services. For example, I'd love to write about subjects that really interest me, like wildlife preservation and other environmental topics. So I've used the search feature to find people who work for related companies and nonprofits and have sent them letters of introduction to see if they have any need for freelancers. (You have no idea how hard it was to click Send on that first e-mail—see “afraid of bothering people,” above.)

But, surprisingly, pretty much everyone I've contacted has gotten back to me—and quite happily, it seems—to let me know what their situations are. In some cases, they don't have a need for any freelance writers at the moment, but they're keeping my name on file. In others, they've passed my information on to someone else at their organization. I don't know if any of these will end up leading to paying jobs but, since I only started doing this a couple of weeks ago, I'm psyched at just hearing back at all!

I don't think this means that I'll ever end up like my friend who's such a natural at this. But that's okay. As I've said before about any adventure, taking baby steps is perfectly fine. And I've just taken one. (Just don't get me started on Facebook...:)

How about you? Do you love to get out there and meet people and get chattin'? Or are you more of a flying-under-the-radar type of person like me? Do share!