Initiating Contact 101

This is the first post in the Initiating Contact series which is about networking with other bloggers/publishers in your niche. I will be going over the do’s and don’ts of networking for the purpose of “crew” building (otherwise known as an inner circle), why you need one, and who you want to invite into your world. Shall we?

So you have a blog, what are you doing with it? If you’re reading this, chances are you are either trying to make money by sharing your knowledge with others, or maybe you’re trying to spread the word about something that’s very important to you, such as environmental issues or helping people to lead better lives. Whatever the case may be, there is one skill that will make or break your endeavor…

Networking with other passionate, involved individuals who see things the same way you do.

This one piece will, if applied, take you from just screwing around on the internet to the forefront of your community. This skill can and will take you and your brand to the next level.

Don’t get me wrong. You need to have top shelf content, a well laid out site, SEO, etc. But if you miss the networking piece, the rest of this only goes so far. I mean, are you just interested in hearing your self talk? Or do you want to be an integral part of your community?

Unless you are ok with spending the next two years doing this the hard way, you need to be communicating and sharing with the people in your niche. There are only a handful of differences between an online business and a traditional brick and mortar business. If you owned a clothing store, you wouldn’t share the spotlight with the competition down the street and you certainly wouldn’t share your “insider info” with them. On the internet this is imperative.. You won’t share all your secrets with everyone, but you will with a a small group. This is networking: Building your “crew” for the betterment and success of each individual within your “crew.”

If you want to turn this hobby into a viable business, the best way to do so is jump into your community with both feet… WAIT! Before you do there are some things you have to know to get it right the first time. No one is perfect and you will make some mistakes, but if I can give you some guidelines ahead of time, hopefully you will miss a couple of the bumps in our road.

First things first… You have a site? You have some interesting content? You have some contacts? Do you research the topics your niche is centered in regularly? Yeah? Let’s move on.

There are a couple things you need to do before you can be Mr./Mrs. Mingles…

• More research. But not the kind your thinking.
• Make a couple of lists. Can you make a plan and follow it through to the end ? Good.
• Go friend hunting. Slow down, this comes later. It just sounded funny in my head!
• Do you know who is at the top of the food chain in your niche? Bookmark at least three of them if you haven’t already.
• So basically, you have done your homework? Good. Guess what? You are going to do A LOT more of it.

Here we go:

I am going to give you some homework, and when you get it done, come back and follow the link below to Part 2.

• Go find five new people in your niche that you haven’t met or who you didn’t even know were in your niche.
• These five people need to meet some standards to fit with what you are going to be doing with them.
  1. They need to have at least a good idea of what they are talking about as far as your niche is concerned.
  2. They must have a well thought out blog with decent or better than decent content. You need to be able to relate to these five people. By that I mean you need to be able to feel the feelings they felt when they wrote that article.
  3. Bookmark their sites in a new folder called - The First 5.

• Find a forum that relates to your niche that you do not belong to already. Become a member.
• You need to have a clear “why” I am interested in this niche. What do you want to get out of your participation in this niche?
• Don’t take that last one lightly. You will need this, I promise!

Write two new posts about a particular aspect of your niche, center this post around how you want to help further the goal of those involved by coming together to achieve this as a team.

If you need help with the above leave a comment below, include your email address and I will contact you.

If you can follow these directions, I can help you get to where you want to go.

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