197
59
Network according to
the law of reciprocity.
Your professional contacts are like spies who are on your
side: Full of useful information and willing to help at the
right time. This is networking.
But most people go about it all wrong. They see a po-
tential contact solely as a means to an end. That makes
them a taker, not a giver, and no one likes to associate
with a taker.
Instead, you need to look at networking as reciprocal.
The value of a contact is proportional to the value you
bring to them.
Be subtle! Be subtle! And use your spies for every
kind of business.
—Sun Tzu
That’s why you should never join an online group
just to hawk your work. Bring something to the group.
Earn the right to talk about yourself and, when the op-
portunity comes up naturally, you’ll be ready.
Here is a networking checklist:
Z4273i_184-220.indd 197Z4273i_184-220.indd 197 9/24/09 11:21:25 AM9/24/09 11:21:25 AM
198
1. Join groups and attend meetings.
2. Be a good listener. Utilize the 2-1 Rule: Try, by
pointed questions, to get to know essential infor-
mation about someone in two minutes. Give them,
in return, your own essential information in one
minute. Make your answer “low-key dazzling.”
That means you don’t oversell yourself, but you
don’t sell yourself short, either.
3. Follow up any contacts with e-mails or short notes.
4. Keep a record of every contact, and the information
you gleaned (e.g., family, kids, interests).
5. Prioritize contacts.
6. Don’t be a gadfl y. Only make occasional and appro-
priate contact.
7. If you run across an article online that might be
of interest to a contact, send the link to them.
8. If something big happens (a contract, a great re-
view, taking on an agent), let your contacts know.
But don’t tell them everything about your life.
9. In the words of Joseph Story, a former U.S. Supreme
Court Justice, “Be brief, be pointed, let your matter
stand lucid in order, solid and at hand; …”
10. Review your contacts list frequently, expand it
intentionally, and work it systematically.
Z4273i_184-220.indd 198Z4273i_184-220.indd 198 9/24/09 11:21:25 AM9/24/09 11:21:25 AM
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.