We hear about networking all the time, but what is it—and why is it valuable to independent writers and editors? Why do it? How can you do it well? And what shouldn’t you do?

Done right, networking can create credibility and visibility, provide leads to new projects and clients, and bolster your independent business in many other ways.

Networking is simply interacting with colleagues to exchange information, resources, and support. What everyone doesn’t understand is that networking is a two-way process; it goes beyond joining a professional organization or asking questions in a discussion forum. To be effective, networking has to be both two-sided and—a lot like marketing—constant.

In the process of networking with colleagues or prospective clients, you can ask questions and ask for help, but you also have to give something back. If you always take and never give, you aren’t networking; you’re being a leech.

A common misconception of networking is that it means talking up ourselves, but this is not how it works (or not only how it works). Your networking efforts will be far more successful if you take a 180 degree turn and spend your time learning about other people and their services. It can’t be said too often that networking is a two-way process, and it starts with the other person. You want to be seen as someone who knows how to listen and learn from colleagues, and then as someone who can offer advice, resources, and other aspects of helping each other do our work better. You don’t want to be seen as someone who sucks information out of colleagues and never gives anything back in return.

If it’s hard to envision how networking works, two synonyms that might help would be “interacting” and “a two-way process.” Again, the ideal is for you to answer colleagues’ questions as well as ask your own, provide tips, and resources that colleagues will find helpful, and hold or host useful conversations that center on more than what only you want or need.

 

Networking in the current era

For many colleagues, networking means meeting and interacting in person, usually at local meetings of professional organizations and annual conferences of those organizations. With social distancing now in effect and other restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re seeing some changes in the networking world, although the basic principles remain the same. For the next few months (or longer), networking is going to be more and more “virtual,” with meetings and conferences already having been canceled throughout the spring and into the summer. We’re already seeing events being held electronically, whether through something like Zoom or Skype (where you can see each other) or by teleconference.

If you plan to participate in virtual networking events, remember to present yourself professionally. Just because most of us are working from home for now, we shouldn’t let go of our professionalism. Wear something (at least from the waist up!) that looks like what you would wear to the office or a conference. Make sure your setting—background, noise, interruptions, etc.—is appropriate. Ask questions, and also try to provide relevant experiences or answers to colleagues’ questions.

Some organizations are already breaking up their big events, such as annual meetings, into smaller pieces and offering sessions as webinars, and many are offering those resources at lower costs than full conference registration or even for free. Many colleagues will save money on everything from conference registration to travel to accommodations to meals, which might mean being able to invest in more (online) training or more events next year, once—we hope—our professional lives return to something approaching normal.

The impact on organizations of losing a lot of money from having to cancel those conferences remains to be seen. Some might have to cut back on services or staffing to survive. Virtual networking will be more valuable than ever, yet harder to do on a large-scale basis.  In turn, networking etiquette is likely to be more important than usual but could be harder to maintain as larger numbers of people seek ways to connect and learn from each other.

However you aim to network, remember that you have something to offer even if you’re new to writing or editing, or to being an independent writer or editor. We’re all here to learn from and support each other. Here’s to keeping those connections growing.

Here are some additional resources:

• for a colleague’s perspective on what not to do
• for more of my perspectives about networking
• for even a little bit more of my perspective.

 

 

Ruth Thaler-Carter has been a full-time freelance writer, editor, proofreader, and desktop publisher for more than 30 years. She has been published locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally in, and does writing, editing and proofreading for, publications, associations, nonprofits, websites, service firms, and businesses. She sold her first freelance articles when she was still in high school. Renowned as a skilled networker, Ruth is active in about a dozen professional associations, serving as a newsletter editor, webmaster, publication author, speaker/presenter, blogger, program host or planner, and chapter leader. In 2006, Ruth launched the Communication Central “Be a Better Freelancer” annual conference to help aspiring and established freelancers find greater success and connections with colleagues. Ruth is the owner and editor-in-chief of the An American Editor blog and received the Philip M. Stern Award of Washington (DC) Independent Writers for service to freelancers; the Writers and Books Big Pencil Award for teaching adults and contributions to the literary community; EFfie awards for writing, editing, and newsletters; and the APEX award for feature writing. She was also an IABC/DC Communicator of the Year.

Just weeks after the 14th annual Be a Better Freelancer conference that was co-hosted by NAIWE for the first time, I’ve been reflecting on networking.

I’ve been called the Queen of Networking, and I attribute it to my active membership in at least a dozen professional associations and many years of contributing to communities of colleagues, including creating and hosting the Be a Better Freelancer conference. Throughout all this time, I’ve often been asked why I bother to be such an active networker.

It’s a good question, because networking takes time, effort, and a commitment to service, and the payoffs aren’t always immediately obvious. Payoffs being important, of course, because there’s certainly a level of self-interest in networking, no matter how much it involves giving back to colleagues, communities, or professions.

 

Why do it

We network for the selfish reason of building our businesses and contacts, but ideally to be of service to colleagues and communities as well. Networking creates visibility and credibility if we do it right, and that should lead to new clients and projects.

 

Arguments against

Networking can create issues, especially for die-hard introverts. It can be hard work, it requires constant effort, and as noted above, the payoffs aren’t always immediately obvious.

If you aren’t comfortable with communicating frequently—even constantly—with peers and other colleagues, that’s fine: You can be an effective networker even if you only interact with one group or make posts once a month. If you’re shy and introverted, you can network electronically rather than attend meetings or conferences in person.

Figure out what is comfortable in terms of frequency or types of information to share, and resist pressure to do more than you can handle.

 

How to do it

The essence of networking is that it’s a two-way process, as well as a constant one.

Start on the right foot by introducing yourself to the group(s) you’ve chosen to join: Let colleagues know something about your training, skills, experience, preferred types of projects and clients, etc. Before asking for help, try to provide something of value to the group. It isn’t that networking can’t involve getting help with your independent writing or editing business in general or with specific aspects of that business, but that you don’t want to be seen as someone who constantly takes from colleagues and never gives anything back to the group. And “Gimme” is definitely not the image you want to present in your message to a networking group!

 

What to share

Networking can include sharing information about yourself—publishing triumphs, new projects, speaking engagements, awards, certifications, etc.—but is most effective if what you share is genuinely helpful to others. That can mean, for instance, letting colleagues know about new books, events, and software programs that are useful for our work; providing tips for managing an independent writing or editing business (including how to use standard tools like Word); answering colleagues’ questions about their work or projects; etc.

It can also mean alerting colleagues to new scams aimed at our profession, such as the one that circulated recently through various professional associations involving a fake editing job offer—supposedly from major companies such as Penguin and Bayer—apparently intended to either capture respondents’ identity information or sending counterfeit checks for more than promised to clean out recipients’ bank accounts. Networking also often includes warning colleagues about skeevy clients.

 

What not to do

If you’re new to networking, keep in mind that—again—it’s a two-way process and not a purely self-promotional one. That means your first message to a networking group should not be a request for “overflow” work or referrals. No one knows who you are, or what your training, skills, and experience are, so why would members of the group hand off work to you or refer you to potential clients on first appearance? We build our networks of clients and colleagues with care, and we will not jeopardize those connections by bringing in or referring someone who’s a total unknown. And we would probably be comfortable with telling a stranger the names of our contacts at publications, publishing houses, and other client businesses.

 

When it works

Doing networking right can have huge benefits. Being seen as someone who provides value builds your credibility and visibility, which makes it likely that prospective clients will learn of your existence and colleagues will contact you about working together, or refer you when they hear of projects that they don’t handle or can’t take on. A good networker is likely to be asked to make speeches, write for professional publications, and take on new projects. Your business—and income—should increase as you become noted for your networking chops and contributions.

And while those are the self-serving reasons to network, there is also a strong sense of gratification in being helpful to others in the field; it does feel good to do good. Not to mention that effective networking also can result in making new friends!

 

Ruth Thaler-Carter has been a full-time freelance writer, editor, proofreader, and desktop publisher for more than 30 years. She has been published locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally in, and does editing and proofreading for, publications, websites, service firms, and businesses. She sold her first freelance articles when she was still in high school. Renowned as a skilled networker, Ruth is a newsletter editor, publication author, speaker/presenter, blogger, program host or planner, and chapter leader. In 2006, Ruth launched the Communication Central “Be a Better Freelancer”® annual conference to help aspiring and established freelancers find greater success and connections with colleagues. Ruth received the Philip M. Stern Award of Washington (DC) Independent Writers for service to freelancers; the Writers and Books Big Pencil Award for teaching adults and contributions to the literary community; EFfie awards for writing, editing, and newsletters; and the APEX award for feature writing. Ruth was also the IABC/DC Communicator of the Year.

It’s an honor and a pleasure to start the new year as a member of NAIWE’s Board of Experts, especially with networking as my area of NAIWE expertise. As many of you know, I’m a long-time passionate believer in networking, as evidenced by the many professional associations and online communities of colleagues that I belong to, along with the Communication Central “Be a Better Freelancer”® conference that I host every year. Even more important to the concept of networking is that I’m far more than what I call a “checkbook member”—I don’t just pay dues and wait for the membership to do something for me; I’m active and visible in every group I belong to (yes, it’s OK to end a sentence with a preposition).

For organizations such as the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), ACES-The Society for Editing, Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists (GSLABJ), International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Association of Independent Information Professionals, Association for Women in Communications (AWC) and National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE), I do everything from write for and edit newsletters to  present webinars, workshops and conference speeches; write booklets; contribute to online conversations; manage and update websites; organize events, etc. That may seem like a lot of work, but I enjoy it (I’m the poster child for extroverts) and it means that I’m constantly learning from, not just sharing knowledge with, colleagues at all levels of professionalism. Even better from a professional success standpoint, it means I become visible and known within these groups, which often leads to being hired or referred for projects. I even make a few bucks from some of these activities in and of themselves.

In addition to the professional advantages of networking, I’ve also made great friends through many of these organizations and found resources that have made my work life easier, more diverse and more interesting.

My point is that networking is a two-way process. You don’t get much, if anything, out of joining an organization or group and waiting for it to do something for you. When you engage in genuine networking, the group benefits you in a number of ways, many of which can be quantified in terms of income and renown. Do keep that in mind as NAIWE makes it possible to do more for ourselves and each other in this new year.

Here’s to a successful, profitable, enjoyable year of writing, editing, and networking for all NAIWE members. To coin a version of a popular phrase, may we live well and prosper!

 

Ruth Thaler-Carter has been a full-time freelance writer, editor, proofreader, and desktop publisher for more than 30 years. She has been published locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally in, and does editing and proofreading for, publications, websites, service firms, and businesses. She sold her first freelance articles when she was still in high school. Renowned as a skilled networker, Ruth is a newsletter editor, publication author, speaker/presenter, blogger, program host or planner, and chapter leader. In 2006, Ruth launched the Communication Central “Be a Better Freelancer”® annual conference to help aspiring and established freelancers find greater success and connections with colleagues. Ruth received the Philip M. Stern Award of Washington (DC) Independent Writers for service to freelancers; the Writers and Books Big Pencil Award for teaching adults and contributions to the literary community; EFfie awards for writing, editing, and newsletters; and the APEX award for feature writing. Ruth was also the IABC/DC Communicator of the Year.