You can’t run an online business in isolation. Instead, you should develop relationships with bloggers and marketers in your niche.
Whereas most entrepreneurs might view others as their “competition,” I prefer a win-win approach where we can help one another.
So how do you form online business relationships?
Through networking.
Even though I’ve built a few successful online businesses over the last decade, networking has never been my strength. In the past, I took a passive approach where I let relationships evolve organically. But for September’s and October’s 30 Day Habit Challenge (30DHC), I decided to develop my networking habit.
30DHC for September and October – Daily Networking with Bloggers and Marketers
Here’s an overview of this habit challenge:
#1 – Reason Why
We’ve all heard this adage before:
[click_to_tweet tweet=”It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” quote=”It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” theme=”style4″]
This is an accurate description of what it’s like to run a business—both online and offline. You can have all the talent in the world, but it doesn’t mean a thing if nobody knows you exist.
As I mentioned before, my biggest limitation has been a lack of online relationships. As someone who is introverted, I find “networking” to be a disingenuous activity where people push their own agenda. However, I’ve come to realize that this is a limiting-belief which has prevented me from making friends with people who are doing interesting things.
So I figured, the best way to get over this stumbling block was to form the habit of networking on a daily basis.
#2 – Description
Since networking was an unfamiliar habit, I had to develop a system for how I’d contact people. I only wanted to talk to genuinely interesting people, so I mapped out a three-step process for finding them.
First, I created spreadsheet that I used to maintain information about people in my market. Each entry contains six pieces of information:
Name of the blogger/marketer
Website or social media handle
Contact information
Affiliate program? (yes or no)
Initial outreach sent? (yes or no)
Notes (what I like about this person and anything we’ve discussed)
The key here is to organically grow this spreadsheet. Whenever I come across someone interesting, I include their information in this database. This is a simple process where I’d post a reminder on my daily task sheet and add the names at the end of the day.
Next, I researched the personal development market. I started with my favorite blogs and connected with their followers. This included a number of activities:
Subscribed to a number of personal development/business blogs.
Checked out the sites of people who commented on their posts.
Researched each site to see if we share similar viewpoints.
Looked for interesting projects/posts they’ve developed.
Did a “light outreach” by commenting on their blog or social media account.
What’s surprising is how long it took to do this step. Initially, I thought it would take a take a few hours to complete, but it took over 10 hours to add 50 solid contacts to this spreadsheet. Ultimately, this led to my decision to turn “September’s habit” into “September and October’s habit.”
Finally, for October, I created a simple daily habit:
[click_to_tweet tweet=”Email outreach to one person every day” quote=”Email outreach to one person every day” theme=”style4″]
Why did I only pick one person per day? Because I wanted to make this habit super simple to do on a daily basis. All I had to do was write for five minutes and send a single email. That made it hard to come up with a justifiable excuse for not doing it.
Each email contained three important elements:
A genuine compliment about something the person has done.
A quick question about one of their current projects.
An offer to help out in some way.
While I included all three elements, each message was different. The important thing here is I didn’t talk about myself. Instead, I looked for a way to help the other person. I feel this is an important distinction because most people view networking as a way to push their own agenda on other people. Honestly, that attitude won’t get you very far because you’ll be regarded as an aggressive marketer or even a spammer.
#3 – Obstacles
Time was the biggest obstacle to the successful completion of this habit. I underestimated how long it would take to research the personal development market. While many people blog about this topic, I don’t agree with a lot of viewpoints. The point of this habit was to reach out to people I genuinely like. So this meant researching and eliminating a variety of websites/blogs.
Originally, I planned on developing this habit for September. But it took two weeks to build the networking spreadsheet, so I decided to delay the actual email outreach until October.
#4 – Results
In total, I did 28 total email outreaches. Not quite the 31 (or one per day) like I planned for, but still a good start to building a few solid relationships.
That said, I still feel like the email outreach process is a bit contrived. Sure, there were many times when I’m genuinely interested in getting to know another blogger. But there were some days when I emailed someone just because it was a daily habit that had to be completed.
#5 – Verdict
Ditch it!
I still love the idea of networking and feel like it’s an important part of building a successful online business. However, I don’t like having a habit of being forced to reach out to someone on a daily basis.
Moving forward, there will be days when I’ll send a few emails and other days when I’ll send none. The important lesson here is this habit helped me understand the importance of reaching out to others. Now, whenever I come across an interesting blogger, I’ll add him/her to my spreadsheet and schedule a time to reach out to that person.
How to Improve Your Networking Habit
If you rely on any sort of online income, it’s important to establish relationships with other people in your market. The good news is it’s not that hard to form a daily networking habit. Here are a few tips for getting started:
Look for people who create content you genuinely like.
Add their contact information to a networking spreadsheet.
Send a complimentary email that opens the door for a future conversation.
Look for ways to help each other out.
Keep adding people to this list and learn from each interaction.
Networking is a skill that doesn’t happen overnight. It requires continuous practice and a commitment to learn from each experience. Even though I’m no longer doing it as a daily habit, I now have a simple system for building online relationships. Simply follow the tips I just outlined and you can be one step closer to building your sphere of influence.
14 thoughts on “Networking Habit: How to Develop Online Relationships Even If You’re an Introvert [30DHC]”
I know SJ that you are ‘down-to-earth’ type of person, but there is ceartainly something in ‘the law of attraction’ and similar stuff.
Today morning I sat and reflected on the proper discipline for networking. Then I visited DGH and what did I found? A very timely response for my needs.
Task for today: create an sheet and put there several names I have gathered in many different locations.
Thanks a lot
SJ–great post! The email outreach idea was something that I’ve been thinking about for a while. I even put together a spreadsheet of other blogs, just never followed through on reaching out because it always felt so contrived. So your article was timely and relevant for me. That’s the hardest part about running an online business–connecting with other people. Thanks for sharing!
I actually did this back in July for several weeks. I didn’t fill out detailed spreadsheets and stuff like that, but I did set the goal of emailing one person per day. Although it does help when trying to connect with cool people, it can also become verrrry insincere. But you already know that.
I like the word connecting more than networking because I feel that’s what we should be doing when building a business. Just trying to connect and see what other people are up to is far better than forcing a relationship.
Thanks for sharing this man. I don’t think too many people would have the courage to talk about this. Major props.
Yeah, I certainly feel the insincerity. Personally I prefer to grow relationships organically. But I think it could be viewed perhaps as a way to speed up the natural relationship building process.
Yes, connecting is a good word. Particularly at first it is best, IMO it is best to just touch base at first and see what others are like. No push. NEVER sales. Just connection.
Thanks for a great comment Kevin!
Emailing one person per day is certainly interesting 😀
I am kind of an introvert (I have no problem starting a conversation or being part of one…but, I prefer myself; I like to talk to myself more than to others).
As for online networking, most of my effort is put into commenting and social media 😀 (I prefer social media to emails, especially when it comes to blog networking, plus I feel that commenting and social media are more personal than emails). And when it comes to blogging, I am looking for friends, not just professional contacts (I am not sure if that’s bad. I mean, as people we should put more effort into forming friendships, right?).
Anyways, thank you for sharing your habit, Steve 🙂 Appreciate it!
I totally understand what you said about being an introvert Jeevan. I feel exactly the same. It is an effort, at least to some degree, for me to reach out -because it is not normal for me being a bit introverted.
I think the key to networking is what you said. Sure there will be a few that might at best develop into a mutual back scratching. But what I am really hoping for is to grow at least one or two relationships to the point where they become real friendships.
It will take time and effort, but the first step is always opening that dialogue, whether it is through social media, networking or old fashioned “meet and greets”
Hey S.J.,
Came over from your comment on Dumb Little Man. I love the article. I am also an advocate of win-win. I don’t believe personal development is a zero sum game where there can only be so many successes. Different people all have different views and will connect differently with it.
I really appreciate this article because I’m just starting out in the PD world with my own blog, and I’ll have to start networking. Hopefully, I’ll experience some success and find some like minded individuals who appreciate my mindset.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks Derek, glad you found me, and hope I will see you again! Networking is certainly something you are going to want to start. I have done it before, but never proactively. Having worked online for over 10 years, I really wish I had been a little more proactive from the very start, because I have found a lot of good things happen from friendships and relationships I have grown organically over the past years.
Good luck with your new site. I look forward to seeing more of your future success.
This is an interesting experiment. As someone who has been in the online community for over three years, I can definitely attest to the power of networking. I can also attest to the time suck it can have. Networking is long and hard and you’ll find a lot of dead ends. But it can have huge payoffs too if you work hard enough at at it.
I’ve never done the email thing before, but I’ve had a lot of bloggers email me and introduce themselves. They definitely stand out and I immediately check out their blog and all of that. On rare occasions I get so many emails from people for various things that they fall through the cracks. I’d just suggest making sure you stand out as much as possible in those emails. And if you don’t hear anything back, it might just mean their busy or forgot about your email.
I’ve also found it helpful to connect on Twitter a lot. Follow a bunch of people and make connections that way. I’ve found quite a few people that I regularly interact with just from doing that.
Agreed. Networking is powerful, time consuming as you say, but worth it. Having worked online for over 10 years, I wish I had done it more “proactively”a long time ago
About email: agreed. I understand emails get missed and don’t hold it against people. It is like greeting someone as you walk by. It opens the door for conversation, but if they do not seem to want it, or don’t hear, that is fine too.
You make a good point about social networks. The “bigger” and busier someone is, the less time they have to field dozens of emails. So it is important to stand out. One way to do this is to engage on multiple levels long before you send the first email. Comment on their blog. Comment share on facebook, G+, Twitter etc. Having engaged a bit means your message and name in their email goes from, “who the hell is this” to “one of my commenting fans”. I know which one of those “I” am more likely to spend my time replying too.
Hi Steve,
This was an interesting read. I understand that it ended up feeling more like a chore than a joy forcing that type of connection.
I just wondered what the results of reaching out those 28 people was. Did people connect with you? Did you feel that you had forged the beginnings of some sort of relationship? Did it feel like time well spent or wasted?
Thanks
V
Victoria,
It did become a chore. But I think it will definitely become worthwhile in long term. I am still going to network, just not in such a “daily task” manner. Because I think it is extremely worth while long term.
Most of the 28 gave at least some sort of reply. More than a handful connected with me via Skype or repeated messages back and forth. At this point it is only “get to know” each other stage. But I have respect for some of the people I connected with and I think their is potential moving forward. Certainly time well spent.
-Steve
Love this! As an introvert and business owner I struggle with what I feel are people and ways of work that do not feel authentic to me. But I do also realize I have to network – both online and off. I do have quite a bit of success networking offline, but it tends to be exhausting! I am going to implement the strategy in this article for 30 days and see how it works for me.
I do believe, whether I keep it or ditch it, I will have a different mindset and find some really interesting people doing interesting stuff.
Thanks so much!
Shelly,
I am really starting to see the results of networking personally. (I wrote this article a while back) It is/ and has been something that did not come easily to me, but is well worth the effort long term. Good luck to you!
I know SJ that you are ‘down-to-earth’ type of person, but there is ceartainly something in ‘the law of attraction’ and similar stuff.
Today morning I sat and reflected on the proper discipline for networking. Then I visited DGH and what did I found? A very timely response for my needs.
Task for today: create an sheet and put there several names I have gathered in many different locations.
Thanks a lot
SJ–great post! The email outreach idea was something that I’ve been thinking about for a while. I even put together a spreadsheet of other blogs, just never followed through on reaching out because it always felt so contrived. So your article was timely and relevant for me. That’s the hardest part about running an online business–connecting with other people. Thanks for sharing!
I actually did this back in July for several weeks. I didn’t fill out detailed spreadsheets and stuff like that, but I did set the goal of emailing one person per day. Although it does help when trying to connect with cool people, it can also become verrrry insincere. But you already know that.
I like the word connecting more than networking because I feel that’s what we should be doing when building a business. Just trying to connect and see what other people are up to is far better than forcing a relationship.
Thanks for sharing this man. I don’t think too many people would have the courage to talk about this. Major props.
Yeah, I certainly feel the insincerity. Personally I prefer to grow relationships organically. But I think it could be viewed perhaps as a way to speed up the natural relationship building process.
Yes, connecting is a good word. Particularly at first it is best, IMO it is best to just touch base at first and see what others are like. No push. NEVER sales. Just connection.
Thanks for a great comment Kevin!
Emailing one person per day is certainly interesting 😀
I am kind of an introvert (I have no problem starting a conversation or being part of one…but, I prefer myself; I like to talk to myself more than to others).
As for online networking, most of my effort is put into commenting and social media 😀 (I prefer social media to emails, especially when it comes to blog networking, plus I feel that commenting and social media are more personal than emails). And when it comes to blogging, I am looking for friends, not just professional contacts (I am not sure if that’s bad. I mean, as people we should put more effort into forming friendships, right?).
Anyways, thank you for sharing your habit, Steve 🙂 Appreciate it!
I totally understand what you said about being an introvert Jeevan. I feel exactly the same. It is an effort, at least to some degree, for me to reach out -because it is not normal for me being a bit introverted.
I think the key to networking is what you said. Sure there will be a few that might at best develop into a mutual back scratching. But what I am really hoping for is to grow at least one or two relationships to the point where they become real friendships.
It will take time and effort, but the first step is always opening that dialogue, whether it is through social media, networking or old fashioned “meet and greets”
Hey S.J.,
Came over from your comment on Dumb Little Man. I love the article. I am also an advocate of win-win. I don’t believe personal development is a zero sum game where there can only be so many successes. Different people all have different views and will connect differently with it.
I really appreciate this article because I’m just starting out in the PD world with my own blog, and I’ll have to start networking. Hopefully, I’ll experience some success and find some like minded individuals who appreciate my mindset.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks Derek, glad you found me, and hope I will see you again! Networking is certainly something you are going to want to start. I have done it before, but never proactively. Having worked online for over 10 years, I really wish I had been a little more proactive from the very start, because I have found a lot of good things happen from friendships and relationships I have grown organically over the past years.
Good luck with your new site. I look forward to seeing more of your future success.
This is an interesting experiment. As someone who has been in the online community for over three years, I can definitely attest to the power of networking. I can also attest to the time suck it can have. Networking is long and hard and you’ll find a lot of dead ends. But it can have huge payoffs too if you work hard enough at at it.
I’ve never done the email thing before, but I’ve had a lot of bloggers email me and introduce themselves. They definitely stand out and I immediately check out their blog and all of that. On rare occasions I get so many emails from people for various things that they fall through the cracks. I’d just suggest making sure you stand out as much as possible in those emails. And if you don’t hear anything back, it might just mean their busy or forgot about your email.
I’ve also found it helpful to connect on Twitter a lot. Follow a bunch of people and make connections that way. I’ve found quite a few people that I regularly interact with just from doing that.
Agreed. Networking is powerful, time consuming as you say, but worth it. Having worked online for over 10 years, I wish I had done it more “proactively”a long time ago
About email: agreed. I understand emails get missed and don’t hold it against people. It is like greeting someone as you walk by. It opens the door for conversation, but if they do not seem to want it, or don’t hear, that is fine too.
You make a good point about social networks. The “bigger” and busier someone is, the less time they have to field dozens of emails. So it is important to stand out. One way to do this is to engage on multiple levels long before you send the first email. Comment on their blog. Comment share on facebook, G+, Twitter etc. Having engaged a bit means your message and name in their email goes from, “who the hell is this” to “one of my commenting fans”. I know which one of those “I” am more likely to spend my time replying too.
Hi Steve,
This was an interesting read. I understand that it ended up feeling more like a chore than a joy forcing that type of connection.
I just wondered what the results of reaching out those 28 people was. Did people connect with you? Did you feel that you had forged the beginnings of some sort of relationship? Did it feel like time well spent or wasted?
Thanks
V
Victoria,
It did become a chore. But I think it will definitely become worthwhile in long term. I am still going to network, just not in such a “daily task” manner. Because I think it is extremely worth while long term.
Most of the 28 gave at least some sort of reply. More than a handful connected with me via Skype or repeated messages back and forth. At this point it is only “get to know” each other stage. But I have respect for some of the people I connected with and I think their is potential moving forward. Certainly time well spent.
-Steve
Love this! As an introvert and business owner I struggle with what I feel are people and ways of work that do not feel authentic to me. But I do also realize I have to network – both online and off. I do have quite a bit of success networking offline, but it tends to be exhausting! I am going to implement the strategy in this article for 30 days and see how it works for me.
I do believe, whether I keep it or ditch it, I will have a different mindset and find some really interesting people doing interesting stuff.
Thanks so much!
Shelly,
I am really starting to see the results of networking personally. (I wrote this article a while back) It is/ and has been something that did not come easily to me, but is well worth the effort long term. Good luck to you!