N is for Networking

Even before I had graduated from college, the importance of networking was something that was being talked about all throughout the Mass Communications department. It wasn't as widespread as the importance of networking is for a freelance writer, but the importance was already there. At that time, Facebook wasn't open to the public and Twitter hadn't been created. Blogs weren't as popular as they are now. Internet networking was only beginning. I can remember sitting with one of my classmates and we talked about networking. She explained to somebody how it would be like getting to know a janitor. That janitor might be married to a newspaper editor. Because the janitor knows you and might read your writings as a janitor in the Mass Communications building, she may tell her husband about your writing if he needed somebody to hire for his newspaper. This was all a made up situation, but it got the point across. It is an easy way to describe networking.

Basically, it goes back to "I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy." However, instead of you needing to hire that guy, that guy might need to hire you. Of course, you might need the guy, too, but that's another story.

As a freelance writer, it is important for me to network not only because I need people to read and like my writings so I get paid, but also to learn about new places to write. I need to know about new opportunities. I do research writing jobs online, but I can't take up all my time doing that. When other writers happen to see what I write, they sometimes tell me about other outlets and I can take a look and apply if I feel I could write for that outlet.

I've had a few gigs come and go this way. It's usually because the writing gigs start out good but go downhill quickly. This was the case with ghostwriting. They were all things that I could write, and then when I wrote exactly what people wanted, they still complained. How many different ways can the benefits of chocolate be written for the same person? How can there be many benefits of fried chicken?

I didn't want to write promotional items for things I didn't believe. Writing about saunas and health benefits were okay because it was true. However, I wasn't going to sell myself out writing about fad diets.

I have to network. Not only do I network on the Internet, but I network in real life as well. I don't think about it when I do it now, either. It has become a part of my life. I get to know a person. I get to know what he or she does. It helps that even though I am an introvert, I like to know people and I like to know about people. It's just that once I know about them, I'm pretty good. I'll just want to get out every now and then. I'll want to talk to people that I know and I'll want to relax and talk about things that are happening.

I enjoy writing,so when they mention anything that might have to do with writing or something I've written, it's easy to say, "Oh, I wrote about that," or "I can write about that if you want."

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