Content creation and networking

– It’s not necessarily intuitive to think of content creation, such as writing a blog post or creating an online video as a form of networking, but it’s an extraordinarily powerful and under-utilized strategy, because it has the power to draw the right people to you. For instance, I didn’t expect to meet David Allen, the productivity guru, but I wrote an article about him for the Huffington Post, and he contacted me directly to thank me, and we set up a call. You could also write about people on your own blog or blog on sites like LinkedIn or Medium, I also didn’t expect to meet Ramit Sethi, the well-known blogger, but I mentioned him in an article I wrote and we ended up having breakfast. Thanks to Google Alerts, it’s easy for people you write about to see that you’ve done so, and sometimes they’ll reach out to you directly. If you wanna hasten the process, you can even email them a link. You may not get a response, but surprisingly often you will. An even more direct way to meet interesting, high level people, is to ask to interview them. If you have a podcast or a blog, oftentimes people will say yes, especially if they have a book or new project to promote. If you have mutual contacts who can introduce you, that’s the best, but if not just send along a short email asking if they’d be open to an interview, and include sample links to past interviews you’ve done. Don’t immediately ask the most famous person for an interview, work up to it with people you know well, and will be tolerant of any rookie foibles as you get comfortable with the process. It’s great if you have a ton of listeners, or write for a brand name publication, but even if you’re just writing for your own blog, or on LinkedIn, many high level professionals will still be willing to say yes. Perhaps the right people who you wanna attract are potential clients. If that’s the case, think strategically up front about which issues you’ll cover when you’re creating content. If you blog or podcast, or make videos consistently on a particular industry or theme, over time you begin to get more search engine traction, and people will begin to discover your work. That’s much harder to do if you’re focus is scattered. So, get clear. If you wanna attract left-handed consultants focused on HR issues, make sure your content reflects their needs and will be of interest to them. Content creation is often lauded as a great thing to do for your brand, but its networking benefits are frequently overlooked. But when one right, it can be one of the best ways to meet people and attract them to you.