It’s called networking, and every successful business person uses it to increase their business. Writers too need to be aware of just how beneficial networking is to their success.
As writers, we depend on having an audience in order to make money. While one or two articles might achieve overnight success and thousands of views without our doing a single thing to promote that article on the whole, most of writing goes unnoticed unless we take the time to bring it to the attention of others.
Many writers all ready do this in number of ways which are extremely helpful. Whether you realize it or not, reading one another’s articles, and posting to social websites where you have built up a large number of friends, are forms of networking and they often work well.
There are other kinds of networking you can do as well. Recently I had a friend who is part of a homeschooling group take one of my history articles to a group meeting. She liked the article and thought that the group could use it in an American history lesson they were doing. The next thing I knew three of my history articles on various sites suddenly gain a multitude of views.
This got me thinking as to where else I might network to get some of my articles read. The first place I thought of is where I work. They are always looking for new recipes to try as a weekly special. So, I suggested to my boss that she might a couple of sites where recipes abound. She did, viewing my recipes as well as those others have contributed. This increased not only my views slightly, but those of other writers as well.
I am now in the process of trying to find other areas where networking might benefit my views and therefore my income. Some of the places I have come up with are:
My local craft store. Why not give them directions for a craft project that would use materials from their store, let them hand out the directions for free, and include links to other craft articles at the bottom of the article.
I also know more than a few grandmothers who are always looking for craft ideas to do with their grandchildren. So, although I have not written any articles specifically geared towards younger children, I am now thinking that I might have a ready audience if I did so.
I am not sure whether networking in this manner will get me more views in the long run or not, but it seems a worthwhile idea to think about and pursue.
Networking after all has worked for businesses for generations. So, perhaps writers can use it to their advantage as well.
